Critical response to Lear's literary, journalistic, musical and artistic output.

This book is a history of how critics from the nineteenth century on have regarded Lear's extensive work. The survey includes not only what has been written in Great Britain and North America; it is also includes that which has come out of Spain, Italy, Germany, France, Greece, India and the Ukraine. In addition to offering a chronological sense of the various responses to Lear's work, the book identifies patterns of thought that run through the numerous critical reactions.