Since first performed in 1606, William Shakespeare's 'King Lear' has been at the centre of controversy. With themes as varied as madness, death, politics, justice, love and sexuality, it was deemed "unactable" by 19th-century critic Charles Lamb, and "too great for the stage" by William Hazlitt. A more telling comment on the play, however, is that of A. Riemer, who writes that 'King Lear' "resists total categorisation." Indeed, the very breadth of the play in its concerns for all aspects of human life means that it is open to any number of interpretations. The on-going, renewing process of interpretation ensures that 'King Lear' not only remains on the literary agenda, but even gains added meaning as time passes and responders bring different ideas and values to the play. We see this in the development of debates about the optimism and pessimism of the play, in the development of a...