King Lear by William Shakespeare

King Lear by William ShakespeareShakespeares King Lear challenges us with the magnitude, intensity, and sheer duration of the pain that it represents. Its figures harden their hearts, engage in violence, or try to alleviate the suffering of others. Lear himself rages until his sanity cracks. What, then, keeps bringing us back to King Lear? For all the force of its language, King Lear is almost equally powerful when translated, suggesting that it is the story, in large part, that

But as Marin settles in

he offers her an impossible deal: If she becomes his private assassin and eliminates his political rivals—whose deaths he swears would be for the good of both their worlds and would protect her people from further brutalization—her family will never starve or suffer harm again

Once we’re sharing a last name–and a bed–our make-believe match starts to feel a little too real

Rumored to be a witch

and their onstage chemistry off the scale

And he can’t keep his hands off of me

She spends her nights as a songgirl in Haak’gong

as she’s exposed to a side of London she never knew existed

and more money than he could spend in a lifetime

Variation is dangerous

and has to carve out a new path for herself in a world whose existence she never suspected

she’s suddenly thrust into the limelight again -- and into battle