Play Script - Text
King Lear

Picture - The Globe Theatre which was the
venue of many first performances of
William Shakespeare's plays

Text / Script of King Lear a play by William Shakespeare

King Lear the play by William Shakespeare
Cast and characters in the play by William Shakespeare
Index of plays by William Shakespeare

Introduction - Full , free online text - King Lear
This section contains the free online text of King Lear the famous Shakespearean play. The enduring works of the great Bard feature many famous and well loved characters. The full online text and script of King Lear convey vivid impressions. The language used today is, in many ways, different to that used in the 16th century Elizabethan era and this is often reflected in the script and text used in Shakespearean plays. It is therefore not surprising that we have no experience or  understanding of some of the words contained in the text / script of King Lear. We have therefore included a free online  Shakespeare Dictionary for most of the more obscure words used in the script and text of his plays, some of which are obsolete in modern language or Dictionaries. Make a note of any unusual words or text that you encounter whilst reading the online text of the play and then check their definition in the free online Shakespeare Dictionary.

Script / Text of King Lear
The script of the play is extremely long. To reduce the time to load the script of the play, and for ease in accessing specific sections of the script, we have separated the text into Acts. Please click on the appropriate links to access the Act of your choice.

William Shakespeare never published any of his plays and therefore none of the original manuscripts have survived. Eighteen unauthorised versions of his plays were, however, published during his lifetime in quarto editions by unscrupulous publishers (there were no copyright laws protecting Shakespeare and his works during the Elizabethan era). A collection of his works did not appear until 1623 ( a full seven years after Shakespeare's death on April 23, 1616) when two of his fellow actors, John Hemminges and Henry Condell, posthumously recorded his work and published 36 of William’s plays in the First Folio. 

Script of King Lear a play by William Shakespeare