- Who is it for?
- Ages 12–99
- How long is it?
- 30 min
- What does it include?
- Synced read-along and a quiz
- What does it cost?
- Premium access in Emma's Library
About this audiobook
Old King Lear decides to divide his kingdom among his three daughters according to how well each one says she loves him. Goneril and Regan perform magnificently and take everything; Cordelia, who loves him most, refuses to turn love into a speech — and is disinherited and banished for it. Stripped of his knights and his dignity by the daughters who flattered him, Lear walks out into a storm with only his Fool, and on the bare heath learns what he never knew as king: what the poor endure, which words were true, and how much was lost when he mistook silence for coldness. Cordelia returns with an army and forgiveness; the old story does not spare him, or her — but it lets them find each other first.
Why it's worth a listen
Lear asks his daughters to turn love into a contest of speeches and gives power to the finest flatterers. On the storm-swept heath, stripped of rank and certainty, he begins learning what kingship hid from him: poverty, dependence, and the difference between devotion and performance. Shakespeare's hardest family tragedy makes compassion feel costly, late, and still indispensable.
What listeners will learn
Subjects: literature, storytelling, historical imagination.
- character
- setting
- conflict
- choice
- consequence
- theme
- retelling
- king
- lear
- classic
Questions for after listening
- Retell the central conflict in order.
- Name one important choice and what happened because of it.
- How did the setting or tradition shape the story?
A question to keep
How do you tell real love from beautiful words?
Chapters
- The Map and the Silence
- Two Houses, Two Fathers
- The Coldness of the Hearth
- The Storm on the Heath
- The Cost of Loyalty
- A Question to Keep
Editorial review
Quality reviewed · 96/100 on . Certificate EL-6B94-06D8 is bound to the exact narrated script.
The review checks factual care, audience fit, teaching quality, structure, tone and source honesty. Read the editorial standards.
Published 2026-07-19 · Updated
