Wild Man

Abstract

King Lear is a play riddled by onlys, haunted by the exceptional. It is the only one of Shakespeare’s major tragedies that has a subplot; the only major tragedy whose protagonist (Lear) confronts a double (Edgar); the only tragedy where madness, real or feigned, is purely Shakespeare’s invention, not to be found in the acknowledged sources. Finally, it is the only tragedy whose actions mainly unfold in a non-military outdoors setting, an original feature looking ahead to the late romances.

L’homme est la maladie mortelle de la nature.

Alexandre Kojève