In this Book
- King Lear and the Gods
- Book
- 2014
- Published by: The University Press of Kentucky
summary
Many critics hold that Shakespeare's King Lear is primarily a drama of meaningful suffering and redemption within a just universe ruled by providential higher powers. William Elton's King Lear and the Gods challenges the validity of this widespread optimistic view. Testing the prevailing view against the play's acknowledged sources, and analyzing the functions of the double plot, the characters, and the play's implicit ironies, Elton concludes that this standard interpretation constitutes a serious misreading of the tragedy.
Table of Contents
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- Acknowledgments
- pp. vii-viii
- Note on the Text
- pp. ix-x
- Part I
- I. The Problem
- pp. 3-8
- IV. From Leir to Lear
- pp. 63-72
- Part II
- V. Prisca Theologia: Cordelia and Edgar
- pp. 75-114
- VI. Pagan Atheism: Goneril and Regan, Edmund
- pp. 115-146
- VII. Pagan Superstition: Gloucester
- pp. 147-170
- VIII. Deus Absconditus: Lear
- pp. 171-264
- Part III
- IX. Double Plot
- pp. 267-283
- XI. Irony as Structure
- pp. 329-334
- XII. Conclusion
- pp. 335-338
- King Lear Studies: 1967-1987
- pp. 339-345
Additional Information
ISBN
9780813161303
Related ISBN(s)
9780813101781, 9780813116402, 9780813133621, 9780813160054, 9780813183299
MARC Record
OCLC
900344929
Pages
384
Launched on MUSE
2016-01-01
Language
English
Open Access
No