An overview of Shakespeare's King Lear, covering the main themes, important quotations and character analysis. Please take both quizzes at the end of the course.
Some historical context on Shakespeare's life and background, along with a look at the Elizabethan world at the time and a brief synopsis of some of his other famous works.
King Lear is a play about family, power and ageing. But, like all of Shakespeare's plays, it is also about so much more. In the following resources we will cover some of the themes that have been worked into the play.
King Lear is dominated by several important characters. These resources cover the main proponents in the play, along with the seemingly fringe characters who also have a great impact on how the play develops.
Shakespeare used a wide variety of literary techniques, wordplay and vocabulary to give his plays and characters significant depth. This resource exams some of these including his use of simile, imagery, verse and diction.
When discussing King Lear, it is important to be able to back up your points with supporting references. The following resources capture some of the more important character exchanges of dialogue.
This resource brings together video of stage performances of key scenes from King Lear as well as some discussion on understanding the character of Lear.
