Shakespeare, W: King Lear

A royal family is thrown into utter ruin by its own poisonous web of distrust, deceit and struggle for power. Shakespeare's tragedy is one unsurpassed power and depth. It follows the descent of the ageing King Lear into madness, perpetuated by his malevolent daughters Goneril and Regan who struggle to gain power over the kingdom. Having banished his favorite daughter Cordelia, a loving, compassionate and honest woman, when she refuses to partake in a competition of flattery, he sets in motion a catastrophic sequence of events that will ultimately destroy his sanity, family and kingdom. The lines between good and evil are faultlessly drawn in this exploration of filial ingratitude, injustice, avarice and love. In a time when swollen words, false pretexts and the struggle for power are again the order of the day the message of King Lear carries renewed significance.

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Notă biografică

William Shakespeare (1564¿1616) is widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language. His surviving works consist of 38 plays, 154 sonnets, two long narrative poems and several other poems. His plays have been translated into every major living language and are performed more often than those of any other playwright. // Richard Appignanesi graduated with a doctorate in classical art history. He was a founder and co-director of the Writers & Readers Publishing Cooperative and Icon Books, where he originated the internationally acclaimed Introducing series. His own best-selling titles written for that series include Freud, Postmodernism and Existentialism. He is the author of the fiction trilogy Italia Perversa (Stalin's Orphans, The Mosque and Destroying America) and the novel Yukio Mishima's Report to the Emperor. He has served as a curator of art exhibitions, university lecturer and conference organiser for the British Council. He is currently associate editor of the art and culture journal Third Text and reviews editor of the policy and futures studies journal Futures. // ILYA¿s work has been published by Marvel, DC and Dark Horse in the USA, Kodansha in Japan, and numerous independent companies worldwide. His previous books include the award-winning graphic novel series The End of the Century Club, It¿s Dark in London (for SelfMadeHero), and the kitchen sink drama Skidmarks. His Illustration clients include the BBC, the Royal Academy of Arts, The Times and the Guardian newspapers, and most recently East End Life, for whom he crafts a regular strip. ILYA edits the Mammoth Book of Best New Manga series. His first and most recent publication is a novel, The Clay Dreaming [Myriad Editions, 2011].