King Lear

Shakespeare's sources

A king called Ler, Leir or Lyr can be found in British and Irish mythology.

The story of Lear and his daughters was told by the Welsh bishop Geoffrey of Monmouth in his Historia Regum Britanniae. (c. 1136). It drew upon Celtic tales, early British history and Monmouth’s own imagination.

Geoffrey of Monmouth invented an historical sequence to bridge the gap between Aeneas and the arrival of the Romans in Britain. He presents his tales as history but they are fabulous history, closer to folk legend than to politics.

Raphael Holinshed (? d.1580) retold Monmouth’s story of Lear in his Chronicles of England, Scotland and Ireland (1577). So did Edmund Spenser (c.1552-99) in the second volume of his poem The Faerie Queene (pub. in two 3-volume sets, in 1590 & 1596). According to Monmouth, Lear ruled for 60 years. Another version of the Lear story appears in Higgins’ Mirror for Magistrates (1574). According to Holinshed’s Chronicles, Lear ruled Britain for 40 years around 800BC.

Shakespeare’s chief source appears to have been a play called The True Chronicle History of King Leir and his three daughters, Gonerill, Ragan and Cordella (pub. 1605), in which tale, as in Holinshed and Spencer, Lear and Cordelia are restored to power and happiness.

Another important source appears to be Montaigne’s Essays, translated into English by John Florio and published in 1580. Scholars have pointed out that 100 words, never used by Shakespeare before King Lear, appear in Florio’s translation and that Shakespeare uses many of the main themes from Montaigne’s essay, ‘Apology for Raymond Sebonde’ in King Lear.

The story of Gloucester and his two sons derives from the story of Paphlagonia in Sir Philip Sidney’s Arcadia.

Bill Alexander's notes on Shakespeare's sources
Notes about Shakespeare’s sources from the director Bill Alexander’s notebook:

Chronology of Sources

- Geoffrey of Monmouth 1136

- Mirror for Magistrates 1574

- Holinshed’s Chronicles 1587

- Spencer’s The Faerie Queene 1590 & 1596

- Sidney’s Arcadia is also 1590s

Shakespeare departs from sources in Holinshed, Monmouth, King Leir, Mirror for Magistrates and Spencer in that he does away with happy endings and invents:

- the fool

- Lear’s madness

- the character of Poor Tom

In Spencer:

- Gonerill loved her father more than her own life

- Regan loved him greater than the world

- 'But Cordelia said she loved him as behoved'

In Holinshed, Cordelia is harder, in that she says 'so much as you have, so much you are worth, so much I love you' after saying 'I love you as my natural father'.

In Higgins, Cordelia implies more that she’s referring to her sisters’ flattery. Having said 'I loved you ever as my father well', she says, 'We love you chiefly for the goods you have.'

In Shakespeare’s sources the land is to be divided after Lear’s death – but Cornwall and Albany are impatient and rebel and seize it. Shakespeare thus makes the division even more reckless and adds the idea of kingship minus responsibility.


			A king called Ler, Leir or Lyr can be found in British and Irish mythology. The story of Lear and his daughters was told by the Welsh bishop Geoffrey of Monmouth in his Historia Regum Britanniae. (c. 1136). It drew upon Celtic tales, early British history and Monmouth’s own imagination. Geoffrey of Monmouth invented an historical sequence to bridge the gap between Aeneas and the arrival of the Romans in Britain. He presents his tales as history but they are fabulous history, closer to folk legend than to politics. Raphael Holinshed (? d.1580) retold Monmouth’s story of Lear in his Chronicles of England, Scotland and Ireland (1577). So did Edmund Spenser (c.1552-99) in the second volume of his poem The Faerie Queene (pub. in two 3-volume sets, in 1590 & 1596). According to Monmouth, Lear ruled for 60 years. Another version of the Lear story appears in Higgins’ Mirror for Magistrates (1574). According to Holinshed’s Chronicles, Lear ruled Britain for 40 years around 800BC. Shakespeare’s chief source appears to have been a play called The True Chronicle History of King Leir and his three daughters, Gonerill, Ragan and Cordella (pub. 1605), in which tale, as in Holinshed and Spencer, Lear and Cordelia are restored to power and happiness. Another important source appears to be Montaigne’s Essays, translated into English by John Florio and published in 1580. Scholars have pointed out that 100 words, never used by Shakespeare before King Lear, appear in Florio’s translation and that Shakespeare uses many of the main themes from Montaigne’s essay, ‘Apology for Raymond Sebonde’ in King Lear. The story of Gloucester and his two sons derives from the story of Paphlagonia in Sir Philip Sidney’s Arcadia. Notes about Shakespeare’s sources from the director Bill Alexander’s notebook: Chronology of Sources - Geoffrey of Monmouth 1136 - Mirror for Magistrates 1574 - Holinshed’s Chronicles 1587 - Spencer’s The Faerie Queene 1590 & 1596 - Sidney’s Arcadia is also 1590s Shakespeare departs from sources in Holinshed, Monmouth, King Leir, Mirror for Magistrates and Spencer in that he does away with happy endings and invents: - the fool - Lear’s madness - the character of Poor Tom In Spencer: - Gonerill loved her father more than her own life - Regan loved him greater than the world - 'But Cordelia said she loved him as behoved' In Holinshed, Cordelia is harder, in that she says 'so much as you have, so much you are worth, so much I love you' after saying 'I love you as my natural father'. In Higgins, Cordelia implies more that she’s referring to her sisters’ flattery. Having said 'I loved you ever as my father well', she says, 'We love you chiefly for the goods you have.' In Shakespeare’s sources the land is to be divided after Lear’s death – but Cornwall and Albany are impatient and rebel and seize it. Shakespeare thus makes the division even more reckless and adds the idea of kingship minus responsibility.