SOURCE: Lindheim, Nancy R. “King Lear as Pastoral Tragedy.” In Some Facets of King Lear: Essays in Prismatic Criticism, edited by Rosalie L. Colie and F. T. Flahiff, pp. 169-84. Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 1974.

In the following essay, Lindheim examines the pastoral elements in King Lear and maintains that in the play Lear comes to understand such pastoral concerns as how individuals should interact with nature and society and the importance of demonstrating pity and compassion for others.

That King Lear has some connection with pastoral literature is not altogether a new idea. Critics of As You Like It have long noted various parallels between that play and King Lear,¹ and recently Maynard Mack has suggested Lear's relation to pastoral romance. In Professor Mack's assessment, King Lear alludes to the patterns of pastoral romance only to turn them upside down: ‘It moves from extrusion not to...