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Understanding King Lear A Student Casebook to Issues, Sources, and Historical Documents
Donna Woodford
ISBN: 0-313-31936-7
ISBN-13: 978-0-313-31936-5
208 pages
Greenwood Press
Publication: 7/30/2004
List Price: $51.95 (UK Sterling Price: £35.95)
Discount Price: $25.98 Sale Price for U.S. Customers Only. Save 50%. Ends 12/31/2009.
Availability: In Stock
Media Type: Hardcover
Trim Size: 6 1/8 x 9 1/4
Subjects:
Description: Considered one of Shakespeare's most powerful dramas, King Lear, with its combined elements of political and domestic tragedy, is as interesting to today's readers as it was to Elizabethan audiences. While the play's intricate plot and timely themes can be challenging to students, studying the play in its historical contexts sheds a great deal of light on important dramatic elements and topical references. This casebook was prepared to help students understand the literary and historic issues in King Lear, as well as its contemporary applications. Readers are introduced to the work with a Dramatic Analysis focusing on genre, character archetypes, themes, and sources. Excerpts from actual historical and literary sources demonstrate how King Lear incorporates elements of fairy tale, legend, and history as it alludes to the political controversies of Shakespeare's day. The final chapter in the casebook helps readers appreciate the thematic relatedness of King Lear to contemporary issues by focusing on the treatment of the elderly in our own society.
Table of Contents:
  • Acknowledgments
    Introduction
    Dramatic Analysis
    Historical Context: "That way madness lies": Insanity in Shakespeare's Time
    Historical Context: Kingship: The Responsibilities and Weaknesses of a Ruler
    Historical Context: "According to my bond": Family Ties in Shakespeare's Time
    Adaptations: A Tale Retold
    Contemporary Application: Treatment of the Elderly
About the Author: DONNA WOODFORD is Assistant Professor of English at New Mexico Highlands University.
LCC Class: 822
PDF Catalogs:
Sale Catalog 2008.pdf
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