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This engaging book provides in-depth discussion of the various influences that an audience in 1606 would have brought to interpreting ‘King Lear’. How did people think about the world, about God, about sin, about kings, about civilized conduct? Learn about the social hierarchy, gender relationships, parenting and family dynamics, court corruption, class tensions, the literary profile of the time, the concept of tragedy – and all the subversions, transgressions, and oppositions that made the play an unsettling picture of a disintegrating world in free fall.
‘“King Lear in Context” provides a comprehensive but lively and accessible guide to the literary, political and intellectual contexts of the play, including much useful material on ideas of kingship, nature and the family. Students’ experience of the play will be enriched by Linley’s commendable emphasis on evidence from primary sources.’ —Martin Garrett, writer and senior A-level examiner
Introduction; Prologue; 1. The Historical Context; 2. The Elizabethan World Order: From Divinity to Dust; 3. Sin, Death and the Prince of Darkness; 4. The Seven Cardinal Virtues; 5. Kingship; 6. Patriarchy, Family and Gender Relationships; 7. Man in His Place; 8. Images of Disorder: The Religious Context; 9. The Contemporary Political Context; 10. The Literary Context; 11. The Context of Tragedy; 12. The Family Context; 13. Sins, Transgressions, Subversions and Reversals; Notes; Bibliography; Index