In Shakespeare's King Lear, the titular ruler undergoes multiple trials in his wish to pass the kingdom on to his three daughters and their fiancées. After his youngest daughter Cordelia is disowned and banished, Lear's eldest daughters, Goneril and Regan, soon begin attempting to overthrow their father and usurp his power. In the midst of this unfolding plot, Lear's debilitating mental illness leads his mind into a deeper and deeper spiral toward madness. In the second half of the play, a brief scene of reconciliation between Lear and Cordelia seems to bring the king to a more lucid state of mind. However, Cordelia is then sent to die by hanging shortly after, and Lear fails to save her. Thus, in the dramatic conclusion of the play, Lear dies not as a mad king but as a heartbroken father, screaming with Cordelia's body in his arms. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on “Why violent video games should not be banned”? Get the original essay Through the four selected historical copies of King Lear: the Quarto (1608), the First Folio (1623), the Fourth Folio (1685), and the Works Pope version (1725) – the passage following Lear's entrance with Cordelia's corpse in 5.3 undergoes several minor adjustments. Although the content of Lear's short proclamation remained essentially the same, there are notable variations in spelling, arrangement, and punctuation. The title of the play also changes throughout the different versions, starting with "History" (1608), before moving on to "Tragedy" (1623) and "Tragedy" (1685), finally settling on "Life and the death of the king. Lear” (1725). The piece is thus no longer linked to a single and restrictive genre, creating a greater feeling of realism. In turn, the events, characters, and various motifs of King Lear seem more authentic, thus adding to the growing sense of ambiguity in each scene and allowing greater freedom of interpretation by its readers and audiences. The first referenced version, Quarto I, published "The History of King Lear" in 1608. The aforementioned scene occurs in the upper third of the page, quickly following the Duke's previous line. Lear then enters with Cordelia in his arms and 4 consecutive animal “howls” (1608). While this quadruple repetition completes the meter of the verse, it also lengthens its duration, because two utterances of a monosyllabic word are read differently from an iamb. Yet the meter is disrupted by an extra syllable in Lear's next line about how "[he] would use" (1608) the tongues and eyes of others. Additionally, the main punctuation marks found in this passage are commas. Periods are only used twice: when Lear finishes his speech and Kent then wonders if this is "the promised end" (1608). In the other three versions, Kent's line is isolated and posed as a question. In the Quarto, however, he relies on Lear's final line as a statement, thereby limiting the emotional depth of this moment in the play. The first Folio publication of 1623 titled this play "The Tragedy of King Lear" and arranged the text in adjacent, divided columns. Lear's entrance with Cordelia's body occurs toward the bottom of the page, following a pause after the Albany line and dividing the passage over two pages. This draws more attention to this tragic moment, almost functioning as a brief cliffhanger. Two typos are also present in this sheet: the page number printed as 38 instead of 308, and the poorly typed line “O you are men of stone” (1623). These errors remind us ofmanual labor involved in printing text with the possibility of human error. In this version of the play, Lear “howl[s]” (1623) 3 times instead, and what was “I would” in the Quarto is contracted to “He'd” (1623). This reverses the Quarto's problem: the first line now has too few syllables, while the next line adheres to iambic pentameter, similar to the Fourth Folio. Variations in capitalization and punctuation – the colon in particular, 3 to be exact – also come into play, moving away from the monotonous tone and presentation of the Quarto. As a result, the First Folio retains certain elements of the Quarto, notably in the metrical arrangement of lines, while establishing new distinctive stylistic qualities. In the Fourth Folio, published in 1685, "The Tragedy of King Lear" returns to a two-column format, reminiscent of the First Folio. Lear's entry occurs once again in the right column, now placed at the top of the page. This adds a sense of transition to the scene and differentiates itself from events before that moment. Lear "howl[s]" (1685) 3 times, and the slightly modified contraction of "I'ld" (1685) is used, reflecting the same metrical discrepancy found in the first folio. Likewise, there are once again 3 colons in the text, like the First Folio. However, more words are capitalized, almost creating opposite pairs with "Tongues" and "Eyes", "Vault of Heaven" and "Earth", perhaps even "Lend" and "Mirror" - something borrowed can still represent an accurate reflection of itself, therefore also corresponding to the paired columns of the page format. The dynamic arrangement of this version's passage highlights both Lear's tumultuous emotions, as well as the meaningful similes evoked in his words. Finally, the Works Pope version offers a whole new take on the tale of King Lear, as its title features neither. “History” nor “Tragedy”. Published in 1725, the first page of the text states "The Life and Death of King Lear", abbreviated simply to "King Lear" in the page headers. The selected passage exists in the form of a completely new scene, scene “men of stone” (1725), rather than “stones” as printed in earlier versions, paralleling its final line “If his breath mists or stains the stone” (1725). The contraction of "I'd" also appears, equalizing and regulating the meter in Lear's first two lines. With the added combination of hyphens, semicolons, and exclamations, the extra syllable in the line “That the vault of heaven should crack; She's gone forever! ” – a feature retained in all four versions – becomes all the more obvious and powerful, especially when we consider Lear's dispirited state of mind. Additionally, the first word of the next page appears in the lower right corner of this post. In this case, Kent's name is printed as he speaks next. This perhaps shows that even though Lear has lost his most pious and devoted daughter, he still has the Earl of Kent, his most faithful servant, at his side. Unfortunately, Lear does not realize this. As a result, although Lear realizes how much he appreciated Cordelia's honest loyalty, he is essentially as blind as ever to the other staunchly devoted people in his life. So this is his biggest folly of all.Keep in mind: This is just a sample.Get a custom paper from our expert writers now.Get a custom essayIn conclusion, throughout the four,.