Reading King Lear in the Age of Trump

Yes, my photoshop skills are actually this bad.

Two years ago, I wrote “Comrade with the Wolf and Owl,” a short piece arguing that King Lear offers powerful commentary on the consumer culture of the twenty-first century. I have continued to read and teach the play to university students since then, and last month as the summer semester began, standing in front of a full lecture hall, I was struck by a revelation. I found myself making this comment: “This is the first…