William Shakespeare’s tragedy

has been considered his supreme achievement by a widespread (if not unanimous) critical consensus since the end of the Second World War, momentum for this evaluation having begun with the Romantics and accelerated thereafter. Earlier periods showed a much more mixed reaction to the play, mingling praise and fault-finding. Today,

is valued for its acute probing into the meaning of human life and suffering, its investigations into human nature and the relation of humanity to the cosmos and of the costs of the transition of society from medieval to modern forms and values. To most critics since the mid-twentieth century, its poetic richness and dramatic intensity have seemed equal to its grand themes. At the same time, it is both a domestic…

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Citation: Grady, Hugh. "King Lear". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 11 August 2004; last revised 21 November 2019. [https://www.litencyc.com/php/sworks.php?rec=true&UID=4216, accessed 24 November 2024.]

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