King Lear (Shakespeare Made Easy)

Good read

This great work is immense so I will just mention two themes that had an impact on me. This play shows both the self-destruction that unrestrained greed can lead to and also how someone who loves his or her sons or daughters can easily be exploited by them. In addition, this play made me think about the relationship I have with my parents.This play describes how unchecked human desires for prestige and land lead to a life full of suspicion and unhappiness. Goneril and Regan, immediately after acquiring their father's kingdom, begin to treat him with less and less respect because he isn't rich anymore. For instance, neither sister allows King Lear to stay in the castles of their respective husbands to provide him with shelter from a violent storm. In another example, both Goneril and Regan have the Earl of Kent, a high ranking dignitary who is openly a loyal supporter of King Lear, put out in the stocks without King Lear's permission. Again, this is symbolically an act of disrespect against Lear. But, this unrestrained and unprincipled selfish attitude catches up with the two sisters, Goneril and Regan. They eventually turn against each other when they both compete for the handsome Edmund. Maybe what Shakespeare is saying here is that if one seeks happiness through material wealth or status, then that individual is doomed to always feel jealous of others who are more wealthy or who have more prestige in some way.Another theme I found in this play relates to how a loving parent can easily let him or herself be manipulated by his or her own children. In the beginning of the play, King Lear was basically controlled by his two daughters, Goneril and Regan. King Lear strikes me as a capricious person because he makes important decisions based on a whim. For example, Goneril and Regan, knowing that King Lear both loves them and that he is impetuous, give him what he wants -- approval and attention. By contrast, King Lear becomes exasperated with Cordelia when she refuses to feed his ego with flattery. King Lear, in a subsequent fit of rage, decides to bequeath his entire kingdom to Goneril, Regan and their respective husbands with nothing remaining for Cordelia. Perhaps what the author is trying to get across is that if we are to ever entrust a daughter, son or friend with land or a large sum of money, then what we feel for that person can prevent us from properly evaluating whether that daughter, son or friend is really responsible and loyal.Thirdly, this situation between King Lear and his three daughters made me think about what will happen to the relationship I have with my parents. My mom and dad raised, fed and clothed me. Eventually, however, my parents will become weak, infirm and forgetful of what they say or do. So, will I ditch my parents and leave them to fend for themselves in an elderly home? Or will I remain by their side even if they may no longer be in a position to provide me with money or property? In other words, will the "Goneril-Regan" side of me win over my "Cordelia" side?In conclusion, King Lear offers humanity an example of how an individual's sincere love for another person can blind his or her sense of judgment. When King Lear gave away his kingdom, he didn't evaluate the character of his sisters, he just evaluated what came out of their lips.

I bought this for my Shakespeare class. Hell no I am not reading the original edition in hard to read language. This has a simple version next to it in PLAIN english so I can comprehend what the story is actually about instead of dozing off as i take in zero. It made me appreciate Shakespeare and enjoy this story. I used it for a college class (non-english majors) and I passed all quizzes and was able to discuss what happened and identify quotes. PLUS there is the original version on the page next to it. When the teacher asked what we thought the line meant I always had the answer.This makes me ENJOY the story, PASS the class and save TIME. Get this series for each adn every shakespear book.

This is a good book if you need to have a quick review and understanding of King Lear. If you are hard up of time (exams due soon or deadline for assignment..) and you haven't even got to reading the actual shakespearean verson, then I suggest you read the Easy version for a quick understanding of the play and it might just help you to get through the assignment or the exams. For real desperate students, this is a great help. But if you can, don't just read the easy version as you will miss out the beauty of Shakespeare use of language.....

The play is fantastic and I enjoyed having the side-by-side option for times when the complexity of the dialogue was a bit hard to unravel. However, the book is nearly useless to me because I'm reading it with other people and THERE ARE NO LINE NUMBERS printed on either side. When someone is referring to Act 1, Scene 2, Line whatever -- or, worse yet, as the long play goes on -- Line 826 -- there are no line numbers. So, there's discussion going on while I'm frantically trying to find the correct line in the scene. I would have returned it if I had noticed it in the beginning, but by the time the lectures started, I only realized then that THERE ARE NO LINE LINE NUMBERS and I had already heavily highlighted and added commentary and notes. I had to find a version online and I'm manually writing in line numbers at various random places as hints about where to find my place in discussion. Other books in the series have line numbers, or at least the few I've purchased. I strongly urge anyone who needs this for a discussion or a class to just not buy it. There are other side-by-side books that are just as good, if not better.

I needed this book for a course I am taking in college this spring. I am enjoying the side by side explanation of the play because without it I would be lost.

Every one of the plays in this series is marvelous. I bought every single one. I'm a Shakespearean scholar, and STILL was enlightened by these books!

Nice translation for each page on opposite page. Can see both versions at once. Great for my student.

Ok