William Shakespeare's King Lear

King Lear is one of the most difficult plays of Shakespeare. It takes ordinary jealousies, demand for love, sibling rivalries, desire for money and power, and petty cruelties to the extreme on one hand and portrays old age in all its vulnerability, helplessness, pride and wisdom on the other. The present study aims at making it more accessible to the serious student of Shakespeare. Besides providing the socio-political background of Shakespeares milieu, it gives a scene-wise summary of the text, along with critical comments. It has numerous citations from the text, thus providing ample opportunity for the reader to become familiar with the text. The analyses of the different elements of drama are accompanied with the views of renowned critics. Classical theories of tragedy as well as Elizabethan connections have been lucidly and briefly explained. A Select Bibliography has been provided at the end. The book is highly readable, self-contained and comprehensive. It will undoubtedly prove an invaluable reference book for both students and teachers of English Literature.

Ratri Ray is a retired University Professor and the Head of the Department of English, Patna University. She obtained her Ph.D. and D.Litt. degrees in 1981 and 2002 respectively. Her studies of six Shakespearean plays according to the Rasavda had been serialised in the cultural periodical Mother India during the 80s and the 90s. A series of articles on the element of myth in Sri Aurobindos poetry, serialised during the late 90s in S¸nvantu, has been recently published in book form. At present two of her serialised studies are being published: Sri Aurobindos Poetry and the Pastoral Tradition in Rtam and Re-reading Perseus the Deliverer in Rbhu, published from Kolkata. Besides these, her recently published books, William Shakespeares The Merchant of Venice and William Shakespeares Twelfth Night (The Atlantic Critical Studies) have received overwhelming response from the readers.