How good can smart taste?
"And it immediately establishes a parallel, by displacement, between action of the play, firmly placed in the British past, and the current times in which Shakespeare and his fellow Londoners were living."
This is the beauty of period pieces.
you could read King Lear over and over again, but unless you put yourself in Shakespeare's shoes and immerse yourself in the culture of the times, you may never absorb the full meaning of the play. Feudalism was not exactly the first thing that came to mind when i read the play, however, when comparing the text to the events of the time, the characters and plot assume an entirely new role. Though Zunder seemed to be stretch his assumtions, and occassionally digress from his topic, i think he makes an extremely valid point about the plays interpretation. There is an obvious connection between the subplots of the play and the political and social aspects of the time.