Based on the ancient legend of a Celtic king Leir in England, William Shakespeare’s King Lear is regarded by many as one of the finest of his tragedies. When the title character divides his kingdom among the two daughters who flatter his vanity with their fulsome (and false) words of love, disaster shortly follows as the disloyalty of his family erupts into deadly conflict. His third and youngest daughter, who truly cares for him, is cast out, and in the end he pays the ultimate price with her death. King Lear is Shakespeare’s darkest, most psychologically powerful work.