M. William Shak-speare, His True Chronicle Historie of the Life and Death of King Lear and His Three DaughtersWhat modern readers and audiences generally know as 'Shakespeare's King Lear' is a composite construction created by merging The Tragedie of King Lear (1623) and the earlier (1608) Quarto version. In the last twenty years these two texts have again been disentangled from one another, and recognised as different states in a process of textual production: but only since editors and critics have generally agreed that both texts were separately written by Shakespeare himself, who produced the 1623 version by adapting, editing and 'revising' the Quarto. This new critical edition presents the play in a largely unmodernised form, with a minimum of editorial interference; and argues that both in terms of its relation to the Folio and its character as an individual text, it is better approached formally and historically as an independent play than evaluated on the basis of a speculative theory of authorship. |
Common terms and phrases
Alack Albany authority Bad Quartos Bast Bastard bloud Burgundie busines Complete King Lear conflated Cord Cordelia Corn critical death of King deere dogge dost doth Duke Duke of Albany Duke of Cornwall Edgar editorial Edmund emendation Enter Exit eyes father Folio text follow Foole France Gary Taylor Gent Glost Gloster Gods Gonorill Grazia Halio hath heart History of King John Turner Kent kingdome knave Lady letter Lord loue Madam maister Michael Warren modern editions Nahum Tate narrative night Nunckle Oxford play poore pray Quarto text Regan restoration revision revisionist romance scene selfe Shake Shakespearean authorship Shakespearean tragedy shee sister sonne speake speech Stew textual textualisations theatrical thee ther's thine thou art three daughters Titus Andronicus traditional tragedy traytor true chronicle historie University Press villaine Weis William Shak-speare Wilson Knight