Forty-one years old when he wrote King Lear, Shakespeare created the play to be performed for King James, who had assumed the English throne in 1603. Shakespeare's play features a ruler quite different from the one that James I was proving to be. Despite some disharmony with parliament and other problems during his reign, James gained a reputation as a ruler with a peaceful nature, a concern for justice, and an interest in unifying Britain. In contrast, the ancient King Lear divided his kingdom, which led to bloodshed and war.
English history-fact and legend. Scholars describe Shakespeare as being less interested in historical accuracy than in the passions and psychology of his own time. Nevertheless, although the setting of King Lear is not firmly fixed, the play appears to take place in the southern portion of the British island in the first thousand years B.C. Cornwall, Kent, and Gloucester, the names of characters in Shakespeare's play, are likewise names of regions in the southern portion of the island. According to the early English scholar Geoffrey of Monmouth, in his Historia Regum Britanniae (History of the Kings of Britain, 1136), the events on which King Lear is based took place in the era before recorded history, around 750 s.c.
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