BACKGROUND INFORMATION
William Shakespeare wrote this play between 1603-1606. It is based on the legend of Leir of Britain, a mythological pre-Roman Celtic king. Shakespeare's most important source is probably the second edition of The Chronicles of England, Scotlande, and Irelande by Raphael Holinshed, published in 1587. Besides the subplot involving the Earl of Gloucester and his sons, the main alteration Shakespeare made to this story was the death of Cordelia and Lear at the end. "During the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, this tragic ending was much criticized and alternative versions were written and performed, in which the leading characters survived and Edgar and Cordelia were married, despite the fact that Cordelia was already betrothed to the King of France."