This edition first published in 1966. Previous edition published 1965 by the University of California Press.
Perhaps more than any other play of Shakespeare's King Lear has been subjected to almost totally contradictory interpretations. In the first historical section of the book the author describes the varying concepts of the play and the distortions of text and even plot that have been widely used. Garrick's playing of Lear as a pathetic and down-trodden old man. Laughton's and Olivier's versions and Herbert Blaus's theory of the 'subtext' are described and analysed. The central section of the book examines the medieval, folk and romance sources of the play. The final chapter illustrates how the action of the play and its pervading violence and evil are not explained in terms of human motive and rely for their meaning more on their effects than their antecedents. An important theme is the play's examination of society and the ties of service and family love.

This edition first published in 1966. Previous edition published 1965 by the University of California Press. Perhaps more than any other play of Shakespeare's King Lear has been subjected to almost totally contradictory interpretations. In the first historical section of the book the author describes the varying concepts of the play and the distortions of text and even plot that have been widely used. Garrick's playing of Lear as a pathetic and down-trodden old man. Laughton's and Olivier's versions and Herbert Blaus's theory of the 'subtext' are described and analysed. The central section of the book examines the medieval, folk and romance sources of the play. The final chapter illustrates how the action of the play and its pervading violence and evil are not explained in terms of human motive and rely for their meaning more on their effects than their antecedents. An important theme is the play's examination of society and the ties of service and family love.

Winner of the Christian Gauss Award of Phi Beta Kappa and the Robert Kirsch Award of the Los Angeles Times.

"[A] crowning achievement. . . . The rewards of reading [Pope] are immense—and so are the rewards of reading about him in this excellent biography." —John Gross, New York Times

"Mack brings us both Pope and the age in a biography as entertaining as it is masterly." —Publishers Weekly

"Mack's long-awaited life fulfills the highest expectations. . . . Written with elegance and clarity. . . . [A] superb work." —Library Journal

"A first-rate biography. . . . Doubles as a masterly work of literary and cultural history. . . . Beautifully written." —New Statesman

"Brings to life in richly imagined historical context the controversial figure of Alexander Pope, the most important poet of his time. . . . Brilliant analysis." —Patricia Meyer Spacks, Chicago Tribune

"Long-awaited. . . . Mr. Mack has now laid before us in impressive and authoritative fashion the whole life of Pope, an invaluable gift of scholarship and judgment. . . . Reads like a good Russian novel." —John M. Aden, Sewanne Review

Everybodys Shakespeare brings the insights and wisdom of one of the finest Shakespearean scholars of our century to the task of surveying why the Bard continues to flourish in modern times. Mack treats individually seven playsHamlet, King Lear, Macbeth, Othello, Romeo and Juliet, Julius Cesar, and Antony and Cleopatraand demonstrates in each case how the play has retained its vitality, complexity, and appeal. Maynard Mack is Sterling Professor of English at Yale University. Among his publications are King Lear in Our Time, Rescuing Shakespeare, and Alexander Pope: A Life.