The History of King Lear the complete Shakespeare text in 1845. In Shakespeare's version, Lear, King of Britain, is growing old, and decides to divide his kingdom among his three daughters – Goneril, wife of the Duke of Albany, Regan, wife of the Duke of Cornwall, and the youngest daughter, Cordelia, sought in marriage by the Duke of Burgundy and the King of France. The King decides that he will give the best part of the kingdom to the daughter who loves him most, and asks his three daughters to state how much they love him. Goneril and Regan make hypocritical, flattering speeches, and are
The Yiddish King Lear was later successfully revived. The play is not a translation of William Shakespeare's "King Lear", but the title is an acknowledgement of the roots of the plot. Gordin's play is set in Vilna (Vilnius, Lithuania), in 1890. It begins at the Purim feast given by David Moishele, a wealthy Russian Jewish merchant – a personification of what Adler referred to as the "Grand Jew", surrounded by family, friends, servants: in effect, a monarch in his court. As he divides his empire, the story of Shakespeare's "Lear" is recounted to him as a warning by the virtuous daughter who denied his