The king is weary. To get peace in his old age, he turns over his kingdom to his daughters. What does he get in return for his generosity? Betrayal, warfare . . . and madness.

“Nothing can come of nothing.”  (Act I, Scene I)
“You shouldn’t have grown old until you were wise.”  (Act I, Scene V)
“When we’re born, we cry that we have come to this great stage of fools.”  (Act IV, Scene VI)

李爾王心力交瘁，他希望能在老邁時安享天年，因此將國度交給女兒們繼承。但他的慷慨得到了什麼回報呢？背叛、戰爭……和瘋狂混亂。

“Nothing can come of nothing.”
無話可說即無有所得。 (Act I, Scene I)

“You shouldn’t have grown old until you were wise.”
你不應該在你變得睿智之前就先變得老邁。 (Act I, Scene V)

“When we’re born, we cry that we have come to this great stage of fools.”
嬰孩在出生之際，即因降臨這充滿傻瓜的偌大舞台而哭泣。(Act IV, Scene VI)

威廉‧莎士比亞William Shakespeare（1564－1616）

威廉．莎士比亞出生於英國，被公認是英國文學史和戲劇史上最傑出的詩人和劇作家。父親在他十三歲時因經商失敗而破產，他因此無法上大學。他十八歲時娶了大他八歲的Anne Hathaway，育有三名小孩。莎士比亞在1590年成為劇作家，起初只是模仿別的作家寫故事，藉此磨練寫作技巧，後來他越漸歡迎，最後成為成功的演員與劇作家。

莎士比亞擅於刻畫人物心理，運用生動的戲劇語言扣動讀者心弦，他的故事結構嚴謹、情節豐富多元，更富含人生哲理。他一生共寫了37部作品，可分成四個時期：歷史劇、喜劇、悲劇和浪漫喜悲劇。其中四大悲劇：《哈姆雷特》、《奧賽羅》、《李爾王》和《馬克白》寫於悲劇時期。這些戲劇故事在世界各地不斷地改編、上演，數百年來雋永不朽，為他贏得最偉大的劇作家的聲譽。