Your assignment is to write a 1000 word (4pp) essay about textual variants in the texts of King Lear.
Modern editions of King Lear are derived from the two earliest printed versions. The Quarto (1608) contains approximately 300 lines that are not in the Folio (1623); the Folio contains approximately 100 lines not in Quarto. (Click on these terms in the Handbook.) Most modern editions are composites: the editor has combined Quarto and Folio to produce a version of the play which we can be reasonably sure Shakespeare never wrote. Some modern scholars think that Shakespeare himself made the changes between Quarto and Folio, and that the changes reflect his own theatrical second-thoughts. But even these scholars disagree about the effect of the changes.
Go to the Workbook page for King Lear. There you will find portions of the play text in the Quarto version and the Folio version. You're the editor, or a director preparing a stage version. Compare the texts, think about the differences in light of your reading of the entire play. Choose the version you prefer for your critical or theatrical purposes, or simply analyze the differences. In your essay, explain and defend your decision, or give the results of your analysis of the differences. You should be as specific as possible about the passage you choose, while also speculating about the shape, tone, and meaning of the play as a whole, in light of the specifics.