A.C. Bradley's Answers to Frequently Asked Questions About King Lear:
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Q: Is King Lear the greatest of Shakespeare's tragedies?
A: "King Lear seems to me Shakespeare's greatest achievement, but it seems to me not his best play." See p. 243 ff.
Q: What did Nahum Tate do to King Lear?
A: He gave it a happy ending. See p. 243, and p. 251 ff.
Q: Was King Lear's plan of dividing his kingdom absurd?
A: Lear's "whole original plan, though foolish and rash, was not a 'hideous rashness' or incredible folly." See p. 249 ff.
Q: What is the effect of the double plot?
A: It suggests "that in that dark cold world some fateful malignant influence is abroad." See p. 262.
Q: Why are there so many references to animals in King Lear?
A: They suggest that humans have become bestial. See p. 266 ff.
Q: Is King Lear a pessimistic play?
A: No; "we feel at last, not depression and much less despair, but a consciousness of greatness in pain, and of solemnity in the mystery we cannot fathom." See p. 273 ff. See also pp. 303-304, and p. 327 ff.
Q: Is Lear more "sinned against than sinning"?
A: Yes, and "There is nothing more noble and beautiful in literature than Shakespeare's exposition of the effect of suffering in reviving the greatness and eliciting the sweetness of Lear's nature." See p. 280 ff.
Q: Is the Fool really a half-wit?
A: Yes. See p. 311 ff.
Q: What became of the Fool?
A: Nobody knows, probably not even Shakespeare. See p. 314.
Q: Did Cordelia deserve to die?
A: Of course not, but she did make a tragic mistake when she said "nothing." See p. 317 ff.
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