'The most perfect specimen of the dramatic art existing in the world' Percy Bysshe Shelley Shakespeare's bleak and brutal tragedy begins when an ageing king, seeking a successor, rejects the young daughter who loves him and misplaces his trust in her malevolent sisters. In return they strip him of his power and condemn him to a wretched wasteland of horror and insanity. Set in a pitiless universe, King Lear is a towering, elemental masterpiece of fierce poetry and vast imaginative scope. Used and Recommended by the National Theatre General Editor Stanley Wells Edited by George Hunter Introduction by Kiernan Ryan