Re Lear: differenze tra le versioni

Versione delle 07:03, 16 ott 2005

Versione delle 07:09, 16 ott 2005

Riga 17:

<!--King Lear is generally regarded as one of [[William Shakespeare]]'s greatest [[Tragedy|tragedies]]. It is believed to have been written in [[1605]] and is based on the legend of [[Leir of Britain|Leir]], a [[Monarch|king]] of pre-[[Roman Empire|Roman]] [[Britain]]. His story had already been told in [[chronicle]]s, [[poem]]s and [[sermon]]s, as well as on the [[stage]], when [[Shakespeare]] undertook the task of retelling it.

After the [[English Restoration|Restoration]], the play was often modified by [[theatre]] practitioners who disliked its [[nihilistic]] flavour, but, since [[World War II]], it has come to be regarded as one of Shakespeare's greatest achievements. The part of King Lear has been played by many great actors, but is generally considered a role to be taken on only by those who have reached an advanced age.

Riga 23:

==Personaggi==

{{da tradurre|inglese}}

*'''[[Leir of Britain | King Lear]]''' is ruler of Britain. He's a [[patriarchal]] figure whose misjudgement of his daughters brings about his downfall.

Riga 39 ⟶ 38:

==Plot==

{{da tradurre|inglese}}

The play begins with the earl of Gloucester commending his bastard son Edmund to the Earl of Kent. Thereafter we find King Lear taking the decision to abdicate the throne and divide his [[monarchy|kingdom]] equally among his three daughters: Goneril, Regan and Cordelia. The eldest two are married, but Cordelia is much sought after as a bride, partly because she is her father's favourite. However, when Lear attempts to auction off his kingdom to the most admiring and flattering of his daughters, the plan backfires. Cordelia refuses to outdo the flattery of her elder sisters, as she feels it would only cheapen her true feelings to flatter him purely for reward. Lear, in a fit of pique, divides her share of the kingdom between Goneril and Regan, and Cordelia is [[Exile#Personal exile|banished]]. The [[King of France]] however marries her, even after she has been [[inheritance|disinherited]], possibly as he sees value in her honesty or as a [[casus belli]] to subsequently invade England.

Riga 51 ⟶ 50:

==Sources for ''King Lear''==

{{da tradurre|inglese}}

* King [[Leir of Britain|Leir]] was a semi-legendary [[King of the Britons]] as accounted by [[Geoffrey of Monmouth]].

* King [[Llyr_Llediaith|Llyr]] was a semi-legendary king who reigned in [[Cornwall]] and [[Devon]] in present-day [[England]]. According to the ''[[Historia Britonum]]'', Llyr may have been taken as a prisoner to [[Rome]], and this traditional lore may be the origin of Shakespeare's play.

Riga 67 ⟶ 66:

===Confusing opening===

{{da tradurre|inglese}}

The modern reader of ''King Lear'' could benefit from the demystification of some subtleties in the text, as Shakespeare often brushes over details that are made clearer in his sources, and were perhaps more familiar to Elizabethan theatregoers than to modern ones.

Riga 73 ⟶ 72:

===Tragic ending===

{{da tradurre|inglese}}

[[Image:James Barry 002.jpg|thumb|''King Lear mourns Cordelia's death'', [[James Barry (painter)|James Barry]], 1786-1788]]

The [[adaptation]]s that Shakespeare made to the legend of King Lear to produce his tragic version are quite telling of the effect they would have had on his contemporary audience. The story of King Lear (or [[King Leir|Leir]]) was familiar to the average [[Elizabethan theatre]] goer (as were many of Shakespeare's sources) and any discrepancies between versions would have been immediately apparent.

Riga 91 ⟶ 90:

=== Edmund (figlio bastardo di Gloucester) ===

{{da tradurre|inglese}}

Gloucester’s younger illegitimate son is an opportunist, whose ambitions lead him to form a union with Goneril and Regan. The injustice of Edmund’s situation fails to justify his subsequent actions. Edmund rejects the laws of state and society in favor of the laws he sees as eminently more practical and useful—the laws of superior cunning and strength.

Edmund’s desire to use any means possible to secure his own needs makes him appear initially as a villain without a conscience. But Edmund has some solid economic impetus for his actions, and he acts from a complexity of reasons, many of which are similar to those of Goneril and Regan. To rid himself of his father, Edmund feigns regret and laments that his nature, which is to honor his father, must be subordinate to the loyalty he feels for his country. Thus, Edmund excuses the betrayal of his own father, having willingly and easily left his father vulnerable to Cornwall’s anger. Later, Edmund shows no hesitation, nor any concern about killing the king or Cordelia. Yet in the end, Edmund repents and tries to rescind his order to execute Cordelia and Lear, and in this small measure, he does prove himself worthy of Gloucester’s blood.

===Revisioni===

{{da tradurre|inglese}}

The modern text of King Lear derives from three sources: two quartos (Q), published in 1608 and 1619 respectively, and the version in the First Folio of 1623 (F). The differences between these versions are significant. Q contains 285 lines not in F; F contains around 100 lines not in Q. The early editors, beginning with [[Alexander Pope]], simply conflated the two texts, leading to a fairly long play by the standards of the time. Although the differences between the sources were remarked on, this traditional combination remained nearly universal for centuries. As early as 1931, [[Madeleine Doran]] suggested that the two texts had basically different provenances, and that the differences between them were critically interesting. This argument, however, was not widely discussed until the late 1970s, when it was revived, principally by Michael Warren and Gary Taylor. Their thesis, while controversial, has gained significant acceptance. It posits, essentially, that Q derives from something close to Shakespeare's original papers; F, from something like a playhouse version, prepared for production by Shakespeare or someone else. In short, Q is "authorial"; F is "theatrical." In criticism, the rise of "revision criticism" has been part of the pronounced trend away from mid-century formalism. The New Cambridge Shakespeare, among others, has published separate editions of Q and F; the New Arden edition edited by R.A. Foakes is not the only recent edition to offer the traditional conflated text.

==Adattamenti==

{{da tradurre|inglese}}

Since the 1950s, there have been various "reworkings" of King Lear. These are the major works:

Riga 111 ⟶ 110:

==Film==

{{da tradurre|inglese}}

*[[1915]] - The play ''[[Hobson's Choice]]'' by [[Harold Brighouse]] is a [[comic]] version which takes place in [[Manchester]] in the [[1880s]]. This in turn has been adapted to film numerous times, most notably by [[David Lean]] in [[1954]].

*[[1953]] - Directed by [[Andrew McCullough]] with [[Orson Welles]] as Lear. This one does not feature the subplot of Gloucester and his sons, and has Poor Tom as a character in his own right.

Riga 128 ⟶ 127:

==Note==

{{da tradurre|inglese}}

*&sup1; <small>While it has been claimed that "Cordelia" derives from the [[Latin]] "cor" (heart) followed by "delia", an [[anagram]] of "ideal", this is questionable. A more likely etymology is that her name is a feminine form of ''coeur de lion,'' meaning "lion-hearted". Another possible source is a [[Welsh language |Welsh]] word of uncertain meaning; it may mean "jewel of the sea" or "lady of the sea".

*&sup2; <small>These titles are [[anachronistic]]. The first use of the title of ''[[Duke of Albany]]'' occurred in [[1398]]. The first use of the title of ''[[Duke of Cornwall]]'' took place about [[1140]]. The first use of the title of ''[[Earl of Gloucester]]'' took place in [[1122]]. The first use of the title ''[[Earl of Kent]]'' was in [[1067]].</small>

Riga 138 ⟶ 137:

*[http://william-shakespeare.classic-literature.co.uk/the-tragedie-of-king-lear/ The Tragedie of King Lear] - HTML version of this title.

*''[http://www.users.bigpond.net.au/catchus/chapters.html Cordelia, King Lear and His Fool]'' Free online book.

*[http://www.wxs.ca/lear/ Diagram of character relationships] in King Lear, as well as short explanations.-->

{{letteratura}}

[[Categoria:Shakespeare|Shakespeare, William]]

[[categoriaCategoria:opere teatrali]]

[[da:Kong Lear]]

Riga 149 ⟶ 151:

[[pl:Król Lear]]

[[fi:Kuningas Lear]]

{{letteratura}}

[[Categoria:Shakespeare|Shakespeare, William]]

[[categoria:opere teatrali]]