| This web site originally took the form of a
booklet intended to be of use to high school teachers whose students were going to attend
a production of King Lear presented by the University College of Cape Breton's Dramagroup.
At the heart of that booklet was a series of "reading questions" formulated
according the assumption that King Lear was written primarily as a play to be performed
rather than a work of literature to be read. The nature and number of the questions
reflect the reality of classtime available to study the play. More time seems to be
devoted to earlier parts of the play, but questions asked early on tend to set up later
questions. The questions are followed up by comments that are not intended to be
"answers." Rather they might be of help in encouraging students to refer back
continually to the script (or memory of the play) in order to enrich their judgements and
appreciation. Most importantly, the comments try to appeal to students' prior
understanding, and their own experience of human nature -- of family dynamics, love,
sadism, political power and violence, madness, suicide, etc.) |
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