Originally published in 1911 as a portion of the author’s larger “Stories of Shakespeare’s Tragedies,” and equivalent in length to a physical book of approximately 30 pages, this Kindle edition retells, in plain English, the story of Shakespeare’s tragedy “King Lear.”
Sample passage:
Thus defrauded of the adulation he expected from his favourite, Lear angrily disowns Cordelia as an unnatural daughter, and in spite of the Earl of Kent’s well-meant attempts to dissuade him, says the Lords of France and Burgundy can take her portionless if they will, and divides the lands intended for her between her two sisters. Then he proclaims he will live alternately a month at a time with each of these daughters, retaining only the title and pomp of a king, together with a retinue of one hundred knights.
On hearing Lear thus rashly despoil himself of all power, the faithful Kent again ventures to interfere. Under plea that it behooves him to be unmannerly since Lear is mad, he assures his master that Cordelia does not love him less than her sisters, and warns him that the protestations of his elder daughters are false. Irritated by this protest, yet unable to silence Kent otherwise, the king is about to draw his sword, when his sons-in-law interfere. Balked in this purpose, the angry monarch now banishes Kent, setting a price upon his head! With a fidelity unshaken by such injustice, Kent departs, piously commending Cordelia to the gods, imploring the two other princesses to prove their “large speeches” by their deeds, and bravely declaring he will “shape his old course in a country new.”
About the Author:
Helene A. Guerber (1859-1929) brings literature and history to life. She is the author of numerous books, including “The Story of the Greeks,” “Stories of Shakespeare’s Comedies,” and “The Story of the Thirteen Colonies.”
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