Hardcover, 213 pages
Finnish language
Published Aug. 7, 2005 by WSOY.
Kuningas Lear on yksi Shakespearen suurista tragedioista, äärimmäisen epätoivon täyttämä tarina muinaisen Britannian vanhasta kuninkaasta, joka pöyhkeydessään luulee imartelua rakkaudeksi. Lear hylkää uskollisen tyttärensä Cordelian, lahjoittaa valtakuntansa petollisille lapsilleen Reganille ja Gonerilille ja sysää liikkeelle tapahtumasarjan, joka johtaa hulluuteen ja kuolemaan.
([source][1])
[1]: www.shakespeare.org.uk/explore-shakespeare/shakespedia/shakespeares-plays/king-lear/
I liked it a lot. Nothing revolutionizing here for sure, the idea has been played before, but it's nicely executed, I like the tone and eventually I got drawn it.
King Lear might be the most tragic of Shakespeare's tragedies. An old king slowly losing his faculties pushes away the one daughter who truly loves him while the others - and many other actors - scheme to grab power for themselves. Seeing the way things continually get worse and worse for both Lear and Cordelia is just heartbreaking, resulting in one of the only Shakespearean climaxes to leave me truly sad about the characters. It's not something they bring on themselves like his other tragic heroes, they are simply people who are unable to do anything about the horrible things happening to them.
The villains are also downright impressive in this play. Edmund and Goneril may be blatantly on the antagonistic side of the story, but they have their own moments of nobility that almost make you sad to be against their actions. No one is evil in this play …
King Lear might be the most tragic of Shakespeare's tragedies. An old king slowly losing his faculties pushes away the one daughter who truly loves him while the others - and many other actors - scheme to grab power for themselves. Seeing the way things continually get worse and worse for both Lear and Cordelia is just heartbreaking, resulting in one of the only Shakespearean climaxes to leave me truly sad about the characters. It's not something they bring on themselves like his other tragic heroes, they are simply people who are unable to do anything about the horrible things happening to them.
The villains are also downright impressive in this play. Edmund and Goneril may be blatantly on the antagonistic side of the story, but they have their own moments of nobility that almost make you sad to be against their actions. No one is evil in this play - there is good and bad from all the characters, and the line between protagonist and antagonist is drawn more based on greed than any really bad actions.
I read a version off of Project Gutenberg, and while there are a few turns of phrase that get a bit obscure this is a very readable play for Shakespeare. I usually like to have annotations to spare myself a bit of brain power but they're really not important here. Never mind Romeo and Juliet, I wish they'd taught Lear in school to get kids into Shakespeare easier.
The reason why this isn't five stars is just that I think the play drags quite a bit in the beginning. Things don't really feel like they start coming together until act three or four, until then it feels like it's just Lear being a senile old dick wandering around with his fool. Which is not totally fair, there's a lot being set up, it just takes a bit of time to come into focus.
natural law versus our own desires. the best.
natural law versus our own desires. the best.
It can be a great play, but to read it in a book... it's a normal story.
I only read it because it was Shakespeare, and as in Hamlet, I'm a little bit disappointed.
