Often, when a book references another book heavily, I feel compelled to read the original book before I can continue. This was true of Exley, which made numerous references to A Fan's Notes, both of which I read earlier this year. It should then come as no surprise that when I started looking at Christopher Moore's Fool, a parody of Shakespeare's King Lear, I felt a desire to read the original play. For some reason, I'd never got around to reading it, nor had I even seen a production of it. In fact, I'd bet my only exposure to the play was the ubiquitous crossword clue "One of Lear's daughters: Regan."
Book 10 - King Lear - William Shakespeare
Shakespeare's King Lear tells the tragic story of an early king of Britain (Shakespeare plays fast and loose with the history) who is getting on in years and decides to divide his kingdom and the responsibilities thereof between his three daughters, Regan, Goneril, and Cordelia. Lear is a bit of a dick, so he makes each of the daughter's tell them how much they love him before he formally hands over the land and the power. Regan and Goneril kiss-ass in royal fashion, telling how they love their father above all else, but Cordelia takes a much more honest approach, telling him that she loves him just like a daughter should love her father - no more, no less. Lear sees this as a slight and overreacts, splitting Cordelia's portion of the kingdom between the sycophantic daughters and banishing her forever. Despite her beauty, her potential suitors are disappointed that there is no longer a big fat hunk of Britain as her dowry, so they drop their proposals of marriage. The King of France however sees her honesty as endearing, and jumps at the chance to marry her, dowry or no.
Lear soon learns that he should have placed honesty above flattery. His original plan was that he would still be treated like a king, but he would have none of the responsibilities, and his supposedly loving daughters would take care of him in his old age. Regan and Goneril quickly turn the tables on him, and the indignities Lear suffers at their hands are too much to bear, driving him to madness.
Meanwhile in Castle Gloucester, The Earl is sitting on a tragedy of his own. His son Edmond, conceived with Gloucester's mistress, is frustrated with his bastard status and wants to deny Edgar, Gloucester's legitimate son, his birthright. He successfully hatches a plot to make Gloucester believe that Edgar is trying to kill him.
Lear is not without his allies. There is the loyal Kent, who sticks with Lear despite the fact that the King has banished him too. Gloucester suffers greatly trying to protect the King. The King's fool offers brutally honest counsel, seemingly immune to Lear's anger as long as he couches his insults in humor. Even Cordelia, when she catches wind of what her sisters have done, musters an army to try to rescue Lear.
Of course the various plots eventually converge. Edgar, assuming the guise of a madman in order to escape his father's men, meets the genuinely mad Lear, who mistakes him for a philosopher. Edgar also winds up guiding Gloucester after Cornwall and Regan pluck his eyes out. Edmund gets romantically involved with both Regan and Goneril. And in the end, in true Shakespearean fashion, almost everyone dies.
Despite the fact that I've only read a handful of the plays, I've always been a big fan of Shakespeare. I don't buy into this currently fashionable notion that Shakespeare could not have written his plays. I think it gives short shrift to the power of imagination to say that the only a formally educated, well-traveled person could have penned these works. However in the end, I really don't think it really matters who wrote them. They stand the test of time as being some of the greatest works of the English language (although you've never experienced Shakespeare until you've heard it in the original Klingon). The language can sometimes be a struggle, but there are plenty of annotated versions of the works to help you through that, and the payoff is worth the effort.
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