King Lear, William Shakespeare
King Lear, William Shakespeare
15 Rating(s)
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King Lear
Full Cast Drama

Author: William Shakespeare

Narrator: Geoffrey Giuliano, The Arc

Unabridged: 4 hr 4 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Published: 04/19/2024


Synopsis

"King Lear," one of William Shakespeare's most renowned tragedies, presents a harrowing narrative of a monarch's downfall amidst familial turmoil and political upheaval. At its core, the play explores themes of power, madness, and the complexities of human nature. Lear's decision to divide his kingdom among his daughters based on their professions of love sets in motion a chain of events that exposes the treachery and ingratitude lurking beneath the surface of filial relationships.
As Lear descends into madness, wandering the stormy heath in a state of profound despair, he undergoes a spiritual and psychological journey that forces him to confront his own flaws and the consequences of his misguided actions. Meanwhile, his loyal but foolhardy companion, the Earl of Gloucester, suffers a parallel fate, blinded both physically and metaphorically by his misplaced trust in his deceitful son, Edmund.
Through the interplay of characters such as the virtuous Cordelia, the villainous Edmund, and the morally ambiguous Edmund, Shakespeare crafts a searing indictment of human folly and the corrupting influence of power. The play's tragic conclusion, marked by death, destruction, and a glimmer of redemption, serves as a poignant reminder of the fragility of human existence and the enduring relevance of Shakespeare's timeless exploration of the human condition.

About William Shakespeare

William Shakespeare was born in April 1564 in the town of Stratford-upon-Avon, on England’s Avon River. When he was eighteen, he married Anne Hathaway. The couple had three children—an older daughter Susanna and twins, Judith and Hamnet. Hamnet, Shakespeare’s only son, died in childhood. The bulk of Shakespeare’s working life was spent in the theater world of London, where he established himself professionally by the early 1590s. He enjoyed success not only as a playwright and poet, but also as an actor and shareholder in an acting company. Although some think that sometime between 1610 and 1613 Shakespeare retired from the theater and returned home to Stratford, where he died in 1616, others believe that he may have continued to work in London until close to his death.


Reviews

Goodreads review by Bill on February 11, 2020

I've read Lear many times, and, although I didn't learn much about the play this reading, I did learn a little about myself. I have always loved the play, but in the past I found its injustice and evil nigh overpowering, its victims pathetically guiltless, its perspective verging on the nihilistic.......more

Goodreads review by s.penkevich on July 01, 2024

Hot Shakespeare Summer continues with this tale of a King that should have internalized the phrase “flattery gets you nowhere.” Flattery gets you a pile of dead bodies and a collapsed kingdom now, Pops, but hey I guess thats why they call these “tragedies.” Brush the bodies aside for a moment becaus......more

Goodreads review by Amit on July 09, 2019

King Lear can be read in various ways - as a theological drama, as a philosophical one, as a supreme example of Shakespeare's intuitive egalitarianism or even as a melodrama lifted towards tragedy only by its superb poetry. It is the most titanic of Shakespeare's tragedy.......more

Goodreads review by Henry on August 20, 2024

"How sharper than a serpent's ( snake's ) tooth it is to have a thankless child"...Good King Lear, feared in his younger days, has two, in pagan Britain, the inhabitants worship the numerous gods, there, hundreds of years before the birth of Christ, the ancient ruler, in his eighties, can no longer......more