"Sources" helps readers navigate the rich history of King Lear and includes the nine essential primary sources from which Shakespeare significantly borrowed when creating his work, along with two additional possible sources. "Criticism" provides thirteen main critical interpretations and three provocative adaptations and responses to King Lear. The critical interpretation is provided by Samuel Johnson, Charles Lamb, Peter Brook, Michael Warren, Linda E. Boose, Janet Adelman, and R. A. Foakes, among others. The adaptations and responses are by Nahum Tate, John Keats, and Edward Bond. A Selected Bibliography is also included.