Book Club Guide

King Lear

by William Shakespeare · 1608 · Classics

Key themes

Power, age and the cruelty of those who inherit both
Blindness — literal and metaphorical — and what it takes to see clearly
Justice, suffering and the silence of the gods

About this book

An ageing king divides his kingdom between his daughters in exchange for declarations of love, disinheriting the one who refuses to perform. What follows is one of literature's most devastating explorations of power, age, loyalty, ingratitude and the cruelty that families inflict on each other.

Probably written in 1605-06, King Lear is considered by many critics to be Shakespeare's greatest achievement. Samuel Johnson found the ending so painful he couldn't reread it for years.

Discussion questions

Lear divides his kingdom as a test of his daughters' love, then is bewildered when Cordelia refuses to perform. Is he a fool, a tyrant, or a man who simply never had to face reality before? How does the play develop your sympathy for him?
The subplot of Gloucester and his sons mirrors the main plot. What does this doubling achieve — and what does it say about the play's thesis on parental blindness?
The storm on the heath is the play's central image. What does Lear's exposure to the elements — without shelter, without status — reveal about what it means to be human stripped of power?
Cordelia's love is presented as the only real love in the play. But she also refuses to perform it. Is her refusal admirable, stubborn, or naive — and does the ending vindicate or punish her?
King Lear is often described as Shakespeare's bleakest play — the ending offers no redemption, no restoration of order. Is this bleakness the play's truth or its flaw?