Manga Classics: King Lear – Full Original Text Edition
byWilliam Shakespeare

4.5 out of 5 stars

King Lear decides to divide his kingdom between his three daughters and relinquish his royal power to them, retaining only the title of king and a hundred of his own knights as a guard. After his retirement, he plans to reside with his daughters and their husbands as a guest in their castles. In order to divide up the kingdom, he asks each daughter to prove her love for her father, and two of his daughters, Goneril and Regan, give flowery speeches about how much they love and respect him. However, Cordelia includes a reasonable caveat that when she is married, she will give half her heart to her husband, so her father cannot be first in her affections. King Lear is offended, and cuts Cordelia off completely.

Even without a dowry, the King of France is eager to take her as his bride, and they are happily married. Soon after the exchange of power to his other two daughters, King Lear is upset when Goneril and Regan insist that he dismiss the knights in his personal guard. They come up with random excuses and lying accusations, and King Lear is offended that they would disrespect him to such an extent. Soon the secret plot becomes clear to him. His daughters are planning to murder him, so they must get rid of his guard first. King Lear is so grieved that he begins to lose his grip on reality, and events are set in motion that lead to tragedy.

I really enjoyed rereading this Shakespearean tragedy in manga format! Seeing the play come to life in the illustrations was really fascinating, especially because the manga also illustrates certain metaphors and concepts. The artwork is so beautiful and emotional. It really tugs at your heart to see the grieving father crying over the treachery of his daughters. But there is also a lot of violence that is illustrated rather graphically with blood and injuries and deaths, so I did not enjoy that part as much.

I was interested to see how universal themes were explored in this play. Right away, we the readers can tell that Goneril and Regan are liars and Cordelia is innocent and true. But King Lear will not listen to a truth that contradicts his own inclinations. He banishes the Earl of Kent just for being honest and speaking the truth. That theme of truth vs. lies is repeated over and over through other secondary plotlines. Edmund, the second son of the Earl of Gloucester, lies to his father, and turns him against the elder brother, Edgar. So there’s another theme that is repeated about relationships between parents and children, and children vying for power against their parent. The family discord that is in the royal family is mirrored in Gloucester’s family, with one sibling being evil and one sibling being good. We see some characters acting through greed, and others respecting their parents in gratitude. King Lear talks about Goneril’s ingratitude to her father, and that seems to wound him most deeply. This is also the play that includes the famous line “more sinned against than sinning”, as King Lear mourns the sins of his daughter against him.

Another big theme is that of reason vs. emotion. King Lear allows his emotions to rule over him, and so he loses his reason. He will not accept the truth, and so he completely loses his grip on reality. Cordelia, on the other hand, has a healthy mixture of reason and emotion. Her emotions are tempered with wisdom. Ultimately, King Lear is in denial about his daughter’s betrayal, and that denial of reality is what propels him into madness. When he first learns of their evil plans, he keeps saying that it can’t be, that can’t be my daughter. Until finally, he has denied reality and reason so much that he doesn’t even recognize his own hands in front of him. In contrast, we have Edgar in disguise as Poor Tom who is feigning madness as part of his disguise and also a little mad himself, I think. Edgar has a monologue where he talks about how sharing a grief lessens the impact of the emotions, and that his own grief over the betrayal of his evil brother and his deceived father has become lighter in comparison with the grief of King Lear.

Oddly, I thought one of the most interesting characters was the villain Edmund. He is so slick and sly, and he will put on a mask of deception in two seconds flat. The artwork is really good at showing how Edmund will assume this trustworthy persona and tell the most outrageous lies with a straight face. His scheming brought a lot of tension into the plot, reminding me of Iago, another scheming Shakespearean character. Edmund is the best at sensing what is really motivating the other characters, and then playing into their fears and desires to get the results he wants. There’s a point where Edmund says that his honest brother Edgar is “a brother so noble, whose nature is so far from doing harms, that he suspects none.” And that’s why Edmund gets away with a lot of his deceptions in the beginning, because he is lying to trusting good people.

The most compelling character for me is the Earl of Gloucester. He is deceived by his evil son Edmund, and separated from his beloved son Edgar. When he learns the truth that Edgar did not betray him, Gloucester is thrown into a severe depression. He is tortured and blinded by the bad guys, but later when someone tries to help him on his way, he says, “I have no way, and therefore I want no eyes; I stumbled when I saw.” That is one of the most powerful lines in the play, when he realizes that he can see the truth better now when he is blind.

This is such a brilliant play with many layers, and I loved every magnificent scene!

Disclaimer: I received a copy of this book from the publisher in exchange for a free and honest review.

This book has been screened on the Screen It First website for violence and sensitive content. https://screenitfirst.com/book/manga-classics-king-lear-full-original-text-edition-paperback-manga-classics-paperback-2595600