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King Lear - A Complete Analysis (Shakespeare's Works Explained)

Times Tales & Treasures

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King Lear is a tragedy written by William Shakespeare in the 17th century and features a tired, old king share his kingdom with his daughters... but he soon finds out the disadvantages of keeping it in the family as he descends into madness.

1:22 - The Story of King Lear

14:18 - King Lear Character Analysis

26:01 - The Fool Character Analysis

32:05 - Cordelia Character Analysis

36:39 - Edmund Character Analysis

42:14 - Themes of King Lear

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Artwork/Illustrations by Karlo Lottersberger (artstation.com/karlottersberger)

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#KingLear #Shakespeare

20 Comments

@TimesTalesTreasures Creator 6 years ago Pinned

1:22 - The Story of King Lear

14:18 - King Lear Character Analysis

26:01 - The Fool Character Analysis

32:05 - Cordelia Character Analysis

36:39 - Edmund Character Analysis

42:14 - Themes of King Lear

@DreadPirateRobertz 2 years ago

The fact that the only people who seem to read Shakespeare anymore are college students who are doing so out of coercion rather than enjoyment speaks volumes about our current state of affairs. Shakespeare found me in the hole in prison when I was 19 and I was immediately enthralled that anyone could write with such eloquence and a comprehensive understanding of human nature in all its decadent depravity. 15 years after reading his plays for the first time I'm still coming back trying to unravel the sheer complexity of these stories that took me years to even somewhat grasp because I'm kind of a moron. And still I'm discovering things that I hadn't noticed before, because these plays really are that profound. I appreciate everyone who continues to keep these works alive, I just wish more people knew how fortunate we are to have this kind of stuff available to us. We would be all the poorer without it.

@jenniferrodolfo7555 6 years ago

Thank you for making the world more cultured and educated.

@bhangrafan4480 2 years ago

42:30 "King Lear" is a supremely logical play. It makes perfect sense. It is not really about either Justice or Karma. More it is about actions and consequences. Delusions versus power realities. The ending is both just and unjust. The actions of the characters play out logically, it is a REALISTIC play, philosophically.

@nonnobissolum 4 years ago

"A bit of a dick." Hmmm. If only I had thought to write *that* down on my AP English essay exam re Lear back in 1983. 👼 Cheers!

@chancecolbert7249 6 years ago

Lear always felt Sophoclean to me: kings, blindness, daughters, will of the gods and all that. Highly recommend Kurosawa's Ran (1985) as alternative to the typical Lear play. For that matter, I've always liked Throne of Blood as the go-to Macbeth performance. Thanks for the video!

@matthewmillington-king1529 1 year ago

The Nihilism (in this play and others) is not intended to teach us that 'life is meaningless, so nothing matters' but rather 'life is meaningless, so everything matters'.

@Dysphoriccreative 4 years ago

I have a literature exam tomorrow, i love the way you break the characters and themes down!

@bhangrafan4480 2 years ago (edited)

Lear's main flaw, which is the cause of the main plot, is his VANITY. His vanity is not just that he has come to believe his 'Yes men', but that he believes his personal authority and charisma will out live the practical sources of his power. He thus renders himself powerless and experiences the entirely logical consequences of this. To me the main theme of the play is the "Vanity of power", and that those who wield power should not believe their own propaganda or disaster can result. In this case civil war and invasion. Look not to Greek tragedy to understand Lear but to Machiavelli.

@avagreen1487 5 years ago

I have an English exam tomorrow so this is brilliant, thanks so much!!! I love the way everything is phrased.

@yasseralsaidi1168 2 years ago

Shak was truly a genius

@DKCGamerGirl 1 year ago

"Or maybe Shakespeare wasn't all that good at writing. There, I said it! Come at me!" Had me just busting out laughing after an hour of very serious content. 😂

@estaluvsu 2 years ago

Have a final exam on king Lear and have been looking for something to listen to while I do regular tasks so I can revise while doing other things. This helped so much xx

@rodawg64 1 year ago

i am actually playing king lear! this is unbelievablely helpful

@bigbob9706 6 years ago

Love your legends of history channel didn't know you had another one made my day 💖💖

@WhitneyDahlin 1 month ago

Please come back! YouTube is just filled with AI slop and people having AI write their video scripts. They stretch out the scripts as long as possible. So there isn't that much information it just repeats itself over and over again. We need long form in depth content written by a human like this!

@helpraznidentitystopanti-a3946 5 years ago

Such an underrated channel wow cant believe I found a gem by accident

@mikeshoults4155 2 years ago

Thanks for explaining this convoluted plot line. Romeo Juliet is much better because its pretty straightforward.
Some of Shakespeares plays are more like 4 season TV shows

@johnstrasswimmermdphd7424 1 year ago (edited)

Thank you very much for this concise and thoughtful reflection. One recurring theme is perhaps that people have to hit rock bottom before their eyes open up to the world.