King Lear

The authoritative edition of King Lear from The Folger Shakespeare Library, the trusted and widely used Shakespeare series for students and general readers.

The bestselling, authoritative Folger Shakespeare Library edition of King Lear, featuring Shakespeare's complete original text, expert annotations, scene-by-scene summaries, and trusted scholarship for students, teachers, and general readers.

For more than seventy years, the Folger Shakespeare Library editions have been the standard classroom and reading editions of Shakespeare's plays. Used in high schools, colleges, universities, and theaters around the world, each volume combines the complete original text with expert editorial guidance that makes Shakespeare's language more accessible while preserving every nuance of the play.

Shakespeare’s King Lear challenges us with the magnitude, intensity, and sheer duration of the pain that it represents. Its figures harden their hearts, engage in violence, or try to alleviate the suffering of others. Lear himself rages until his sanity cracks. What, then, keeps bringing us back to King Lear? For all the force of its language, King Lear is almost equally powerful when translated, suggesting that it is the story, in large part, that draws us to the play.

The play tells us about families struggling between greed and cruelty, on the one hand, and support and consolation, on the other. Emotions are extreme, magnified to gigantic proportions. We also see old age portrayed in all its vulnerability, pride, and, perhaps, wisdom—one reason this most devastating of Shakespeare’s tragedies is also perhaps his most moving.

Whether you're reading King Lear for school, teaching it in the classroom, preparing for AP English Literature, studying Shakespeare in college, performing the play, or simply returning to one of the greatest works of English literature, this edition provides the context and guidance to help you read Shakespeare with confidence.

This Folger Shakespeare Library edition includes:

• Shakespeare's complete original text, carefully edited from the best early printed version of the play
• Clear explanatory notes conveniently placed on facing pages
• Scene-by-scene plot summaries for quick review and study
• An introduction to Shakespeare's language and dramatic style
• A guide to the play's most famous speeches, quotations, and memorable lines
• A scholarly introduction exploring the play's historical background, themes, characters, and enduring significance
• An essay by acclaimed Shakespeare scholar Susan Snyder
• Illustrations and images from the Folger Shakespeare Library's world-renowned collections
• An annotated guide for further reading and study

The Folger Shakespeare Library in Washington, DC, is home to the world's largest collection of Shakespeare's printed works and one of the world's leading centers for Shakespeare scholarship, performance, and education. Every Folger Shakespeare Library edition combines authoritative scholarship with practical classroom support, making it an ideal choice for students, educators, actors, book clubs, and anyone seeking an accessible, reliable edition of Shakespeare's original plays.