In this Book

King Lear and the Gods

Book
William R. Elton
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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Cover

Title Page, Copyright

Contents

pp. v-vi

Acknowledgments

pp. vii-viii

Note on the Text

pp. ix-x

Part I

I. The Problem

pp. 3-8

II. Renaissance Concepts of Providence

pp. 9-33

III. Sidney's Arcadia: Four Attitudes to Providence

pp. 34-62

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

X. Minor Characters: Kent, Cornwall, Albany, the Fool

pp. 284-328

XI. Irony as Structure

pp. 329-334

XII. Conclusion

pp. 335-338

King Lear Studies: 1967-1987

pp. 339-345

Index

pp. 346-375
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