King Lear : Key info
King Lear is a notable literary work by William Shakespeare. A complete discussion of this literary work is given, which will help you enhance your literary skills and prepare for the exam. Read the Main texts, Key info, Summary, Themes, Characters, Literary devices, Quotations, Notes, and various study materials of King Lear.
Key info
Key Facts
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- Full Title: The Tragedy of King Lear
- Author: William Shakespeare
- Type of Work: Play
- Genre: Tragedy
- Acts and Scenes: 5 acts 26 scenes (5+4+7+7+3)
- Source: Geoffrey of Monmouth’s Historia Regum Britanniae or The History of the Kings of Britain from 1135.
- Language: English
- Written In: England, between 1604–1605
- First Published: 1623 in the First Folio
- Publisher: John Heminge and Henry Condell, Shakespeare’s acting colleagues
- Climax: The blinding of Gloucester in Act 3, Scene 7
- Protagonist: King Lear, the aging king of Britain
- Antagonists: Lear’s two ungrateful daughters, Goneril and Regan, and Edmund, the illegitimate son of Gloucester.
- Tone: Serious and tragic, though there are moments of dark humor.
- Setting
- Time: Set in a distant time, around the 8th century B.C.
- Place: Various parts of England