A new King Lear text-guide

New worlds of emotional experience

Part of the thrill in studying great literature is that it gives you insight into life and experiences beyond that which you already know.

I have never forgotten my A Level English teacher identifying with the middle aged Cleopatra’s desperation to hold on to her sexual allure. Now I am heading to that age myself, I understand the reality of Cleopatra’s – and Mrs C_’s - hopes and needs.

King Lear opens up worlds of relationship that you may understand (sibling rivalry, anyone?) or may not yet have observed (for example, the intense grief about one’s failing powers and memory). All of this is conveyed through dramatic plotting, full of twists and turns, and couched in memorable poetry. Encountering Shakespeare’s mighty tragedy can be a life changing experience.

Understanding technique

But of course an examiner wants to know not just how you have responded to the text, but why. They want to see your analysis of what is it that Shakespeare has done to create that reaction within you…. It is a relief to know that there is help at hand to give you a thorough understanding of Shakespeare’s technique.

Launched this week, the new Crossref-it text-guide on King Lear will help all students currently in lower or upper Sixth form, who may be studying the play for:

• A Level English Lit., with OCR and WJEC boards
• A Level Language and Lit, with AQA
• Cambridge Pre U exam.

In the new guide you can place Shakespeare within the context of his contemporaries via the Timeline. Accessing Synopses and commentaries gives you speedy reminders of what’s going on or you could explore the Themes of the play. Every tricky concept has a handy pop-up to illuminate the meaning and there is loads of advice about how to write effective essays.

Teaching the text

Meanwhile teachers may have already got an eye out for the texts they will be teaching in the reformed specifications first being delivered from this September. Has your English department opted for:

• AQA Eng. Eng. Lit. B
• Edexcel Eng. Lit. 
• WJEC Eng. Lit. or Lit. & Lang? 

King Lear appears on all these specifications and knowing that there is an accessible but academically rigorous guide to help you teach it successfully might spur you to lay claim to the class set in the stock cupboard!

Probably composed in the same year as the Gunpowder plot, Crossref-it.info Context sections help you see how King Lear reflected topical concerns about the role of the monarch and the insecure social conditions of the time. You can discover how verbal Motifs run through the play and of course can link these to our free searchable text on site. There’s lots more, so why not explore?

The Crossref-it team believe in the power of literature to transform – and take the headache out of preparation. What’s not to like!

King Lear revealed

For many critics, King Lear is the mightiest of Shakespeare’s tragedies. It is a play about age and irresponsibility, about parents and children, about the boundaries between rational and irrational behavior. Many may be studying it for A Level English Lit. with OCR and WJEC boards, or for A Level Language and Lit with AQA, or for their Cambridge Pre U exam.

If you are due to be examined on King Lear this summer, you’ll will be pleased to know that, just in time to help you, a Crossref-it.info text guide is about to be released – watch this space!

Read Lear online

To help you easily flick through the play meanwhile, you can find a searchable online version of the King Lear text. Just when you are struggling to remember in which scene the old King calls his daughters ‘unnatural hags’, Crossref-it.info’s speedy search facility will lead you to Act 2 Scene 4, where you can trace the development of Lear’s distress with his elder offspring.

Examiners keep saying that there is no substitute for knowing the text really well. Using the online version, you can quickly scan through the play a scene at a time to remind yourself of the complex plot and Shakespeare’s vivid imagery.

Catch current and forthcoming productions while you can!

Of course, the true impact of a play is only experienced when you see the relationships within it embodied in a theatre. The good news is that you don’t have to make your way to London to see Lear come to life on stage in 2015.

If you hurry, Guildford Shakespeare Company are performing until 14th February at Holy Trinity Church, Guildford, Surrey. The play’s parent/child inter-relationship will be given an added twist by the pairing of real-life father and daughter, Brian Blessed (King Lear) and Rosalind Blessed (Goneril). (Box office: 01483 304384; or www.guildford-shakespeare-company.co.uk)

With slightly more time to book, it’s worth trying to get to a new touring production. Renowned director Jonathan Miller is currently rehearsing Northern Broadsides Theatre Company in William Shakespeare’s King Lear. The production will tour to:

• The Viaduct Theatre, Halifax (27 Feb-7 Mar)
• Hull Truck Theatre (10-14 Mar)
• Theatre Royal Bath (17-21 Mar)
• Everyman Theatre Cheltenham (24-28 Mar)
• West Yorkshire Playhouse (8-18 Apr)
• Stephen Joseph Theatre, Scarborough (21-25 Apr)
• Liverpool Playhouse (28 Apr-2 May)
• The Lowry, Salford Quays (5-9 May)
• York International Shakespeare Festival (12-16 May)
• Rose Theatre, Kingston (19-23 May)
• New Vic Theatre, Newcastle under Lyme (27 May-13 June).

Meanwhile, watch out for the new text-guide and let us know if you agree that King Lear really is the mightiest of Shakepeare’s tragedies.