King Lear is a Shakespearian tale of family and trust. King Lear banishes one of his three daughters from the kingdom for wanting to marry for love rather than money while the other two daughters do his bidding in order to inherit his kingdom. In the end, King Lear loses his kingdom after he is betrayed by his family. Later, he also loses his sanity. He realizes that the one daughter he banished from his kingdom was the one family member who loved him the most.
Review
Although not as tragic as most of Shakespeare’s works, King Lear ends in poverty and heartache, but manages to leave the reader with a lesson in humility and family honor. Lear slides into insanity quite quickly and ends up shattering his own kingdom. A transfer of power gone badly is the core element in this novel. This book will be enjoyed by any Shakespeare freak who craves something different from his typical tale.