El rey Lear

King Lear is one of the main tragedies of William Shakespeare, who began its writing in 1603. Its main source is an earlier play, King Leir (performed in 1594 and printed in 1605), and both are indebted from the main source, the Historia Regum Britanniae written around 1135 by Geoffrey of Monmouth, of purely Celtic roots. Its main theme is filial ingratitude, although it also deals with old age and madness. Lear is the old King of Britain who, due to his old age, decides to divide his kingdom among his daughters Gonerilda, Regania and Cordelia. He divides it into parts according to the love they profess for him, but Cordelia who is sincere tells him that she could not express her love in words, the king enraged by the response of his most beloved daughter disinherits her. This is the trigger for the tragedy, one of the most famous in world literature.