King Lear by William Shakespeare

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William Shakespeare, acclaimed to be one of the greatest literary figures in history, is known all over the world for his forty plays and one-hundred fifty-four sonnets encompassing romance. Shakespeare was born and raised in Stratford-upon-Avon in the late 1500s where he attended basic grammar school and began his career as a playwright and author (Gaines 18). Shakespeare’s culmination of love at the center of his work gives it the flare necessary to maintain its relevance to modern day literature. The romantic genre has enchanted audiences since biblical times, was expertly developed through the sonnets and plays of the famed William Shakespeare, and flourishes today within popular literature and motion pictures of today.
The timeless theme of love, not only amid couples but between parents and their children as well, has existed throughout literature dating as far back as the Bible and continues to thrive in the works of today. In the biblical stories, one of the most common messages is of Jesus Christ’s unconditional love for his people or children. It is through that absolute compassion that Christ was able to sacrifice his own life for his followers. In Shakespeare’s play King Lear, Lear allots all of his land and wealth to his children out of love. King Lear loves his daughters with all his heart and describes his youngest as having a “voice was ever soft, gentle, and low, an excellent thing in woman” (Lr. 5.5). However, Lear’s daughters Goneril and Regan are ungrateful for the gifts of land they receive from their elderly father. Lear is heartbroken as he wanders along the countryside battling the elements with the Fool saying, “These daughters’ hearts against their father, fool me not so much to bear it tamely; touch me w...

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... 13 Jan. 2014.
The New American Bible. New York: Catholic Book Publishing Co., 1992. Print.
Shakespeare, William. King Lear. New York: Dover Publications, 1963. Print.
---. Romeo and Juliet [Electronic Resource] / William Shakespeare. n.p.: San Diego, CA: ICON Group International, 2005. Louisiana Tech University. Web. 10 Jan. 2014.
---. “Sonnet 43.” 1590. Shakespeare’s Sonnets. New York: Marboro Books Corp., 1992. 43. Print
---. “Sonnet 116.” 1590. Shakespeare’s Sonnets. New York: Marboro Books Corp., 1992. 116. Print.
Singer, Irving. The Pursuit of Love. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press, 2010: 31-35. eBook Collection (EBSCOhost). Web. 13 Jan. 2014.
Sparks, Nicholas. The Notebook. New York: Warner Books, 1996. Print.
Whited, Lana A., and M. Katherine Grimes. "Harry Potter Novels." Masterplots, Fourth Edition (2010): n.p. Literary Reference Center. Web. 15 Jan. 2014.

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