In Our Time | Lear

Duration: 27'53''

Synopsis

Melvyn Bragg is joined by Jonathan Bate, Catherine Belsey and Katherine Duncan-Jones to examine Shakespeare's tragedy, King Lear; how its themes of rule and misrule, of old age and family break-up would have spoken powerfully at the end of Elizabeth I's long and once glorious reign.

Further Information

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Book of the Week | William Shakespeare and the Year of Lear

In 1606, Shakespeare was writing for a royal family hungry for new entertainment while the threats of plague, insurrection and rebellion threatened English society.
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