Download or read book Poor Tom written by Simon Palfrey and published by University of Chicago Press. This book was released on 2014-09-10 with total page 283 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: One of the most memorable and affecting Shakespearean characters is Edgar in King Lear. He has long been celebrated for his faithfulness in the face of his father's rejection, and the scene in which he saves his blinded father from suicide is regarded as one of the most moving in all of Shakespeare. In 'Poor Tom', Simon Palfrey asks us to rethink all those received ideas - and thus to experience King Lear as never before. He argues that Edgar is Shakespeare's most radical experiment in characterization - and also his most exhaustive model of both human and theatrical possibility.