King Lear

Arguably Shakespeare's greatest tragedy, King Lear is certainly one of the most monumental landmarks in all drama.  The story of the old king and his three daughters may begin like a fairy story but, with its depiction of a country partitioned and ravaged by war, with homeless beggars and madmen roaming the land, and sudden and apparently senseless acts of brutality, the play rapidly assumes an uncomfortably familiar shape.  

Underlying the events of the play is an image of humanity's destructive potential and the elemental forces of Nature.  In some ways, Shakespeare anticipates som eof our contemporary ecological concerns.