King Lear is widely considered to be Shakespeare's greatest and most challenging play. This unique volume features:
• a scene-by-scene commentary that traces the play's on-stage life and an audience's progressive experience of performance
• a close reading of the text that leads to a re-assessment of the tragedy's achievement
• discussion of the play's sources, and its cultural and political context
• accounts of major performances on stage and screen, and of notable critical assessments.

Inspiring and stimulating, this essential study of King Lear in both text and performance offers a path to a fuller knowledge of Shakespeare's verbal, theatrical and imaginative art.

'This is an excellent guide, written with John Russell Brown's characteristic wisdom, his distinguished scholarship and acute perception.' - Peter Holland, Notre Dame University, USA

General Editor's Preface
Preface
Acknowledgements
Texts and Early Performances
Commentary
The Play's Sources and Cultural Context
Key Productions and Performances
The Play on Screen
Critical Assessments
Further Reading
Index

JOHN RUSSELL BROWN is Honorary Professor at University College London, UK, and has held chairs of English and Theatre in both England and the USA, directed plays in student and professional theatres, and was Associate Director of the Royal National Theatre. His previous publications include Shakespeare: The Tragedies, Shakespeare and the Theatrical Event and Shakespeare Dancing, all of which are published by Palgrave Macmillan.