Suggestions
Use up and down arrows to review and enter to select.Please wait while we process your payment
If you don't see it, please check your spam folder. Sometimes it can end up there.
If you don't see it, please check your spam folder. Sometimes it can end up there.
Please wait while we process your payment
By signing up you agree to our terms and privacy policy.
Don’t have an account? Subscribe now
Create Your Account
Sign up for your FREE 7-day trial
Already have an account? Log in
Your Email
Choose Your Plan
Individual
Group Discount
Save over 50% with a SparkNotes PLUS Annual Plan!
Purchasing SparkNotes PLUS for a group?
Get Annual Plans at a discount when you buy 2 or more!
Price
$24.99 $18.74 /subscription + tax
Subtotal $37.48 + tax
Save 25% on 2-49 accounts
Save 30% on 50-99 accounts
Want 100 or more? Contact us for a customized plan.
Your Plan
Payment Details
Payment Summary
SparkNotes Plus
You'll be billed after your free trial ends.
7-Day Free Trial
Not Applicable
Renews December 16, 2023 December 9, 2023
Discounts (applied to next billing)
DUE NOW
US $0.00
SNPLUSROCKS20 | 20% Discount
This is not a valid promo code.
Discount Code (one code per order)
SparkNotes PLUS Annual Plan - Group Discount
Qty: 00
SparkNotes Plus subscription is $4.99/month or $24.99/year as selected above. The free trial period is the first 7 days of your subscription. TO CANCEL YOUR SUBSCRIPTION AND AVOID BEING CHARGED, YOU MUST CANCEL BEFORE THE END OF THE FREE TRIAL PERIOD. You may cancel your subscription on your Subscription and Billing page or contact Customer Support at custserv@bn.com. Your subscription will continue automatically once the free trial period is over. Free trial is available to new customers only.
Choose Your Plan
For the next 7 days, you'll have access to awesome PLUS stuff like AP English test prep, No Fear Shakespeare translations and audio, a note-taking tool, personalized dashboard, & much more!
You’ve successfully purchased a group discount. Your group members can use the joining link below to redeem their group membership. You'll also receive an email with the link.
Members will be prompted to log in or create an account to redeem their group membership.
Thanks for creating a SparkNotes account! Continue to start your free trial.
Please wait while we process your payment
Your PLUS subscription has expired
Please wait while we process your payment
Please wait while we process your payment
The protagonist of King Lear is Lear. In dividing his kingdom between Cordelia, Goneril, and Regan, Lear sets in motion the events of the play. Lear divides his kingdom because he wants the last years of his life to be restful, and because he expects his daughters will take care of him. Although Lear has already decided which land to give to each daughter, he insists they prove their love to him. This insistence on his daughters’ public declarations of love becomes Lear’s tragic mistake. Lear has no real motivation for requiring his daughters to profess their love to him other than his own egotism. Lear does not see himself or his situation clearly, blinded to the fact that Goneril and Regan do not really love him. He cannot see that Cordelia does love him, and that his own anger with Cordelia is extreme and misplaced. Lear’s lack of self-knowledge causes his plan to go horribly wrong. He ends up homeless and mad, wandering in a violent storm.
Once he is reduced to the status of a homeless beggar, Lear begins to acquire real self-knowledge. The process of acquiring knowledge is painful for Lear, and comes at the price of everything he previously valued. Lear comes to realize that many of the things he believed in—like kingship, justice, and his family’s love—are unreliable or non-existent. He sees that without power, a human is just a “poor, bare, forked animal” (III.iv). Lear realizes he can’t take for granted even the most basic human necessities like clothes or shelter. Only after he has lost everything is Lear able to see himself clearly, as “a foolish, fond old man” (IV.vii). This self-knowledge allows him to be reconciled with Cordelia, and Lear’s loving bond with her gives him a new sense of meaning. However, Lear’s relationship with Cordelia proves to be one last thing that can be taken from him. After Cordelia’s murder, Lear ends the play howling with grief, unable to accept his daughter’s death. He even seems to lapse back into madness, suggesting he may have lost the self-knowledge he so painfully acquired.
Please wait while we process your payment