90 pages • 3 hours read
Emily St. John MandelA modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more. For select classroom titles, we also provide Teaching Guides with discussion and quiz questions to prompt student engagement.
On the last day of his life, Arthur gets up after a restless night. Sipping coffee, he thinks of his recently finalized decision to move to Israel after King Lear to be close to Tyler. At the theater, paparazzi ask about Miranda, who visited two weeks earlier, and he feels guilty for her sake. He spends a few hours at the theater before dining at a café that he and Clark frequented in their youth.
Back at the theater, he visits with Tanya, who shows interest in the copies of Dr. Eleven; Arthur admits that he never understood it. Wanting to let go of material possessions, he gives Tanya the paperweight Miranda sent over. Kirsten visits a few minutes later, and he gives her the copies of Dr. Eleven. Half an hour before the play, Arthur calls Tanya and promises to pay off her student debt. He then calls Elizabeth and speaks to Tyler for a few minutes, asking him about the Dr. Eleven comic books that he sent to him; Tyler responds enthusiastically.
The current staging of King Lear opens with Arthur sitting silently on a throne. During the first preview performance, Arthur found his thoughts filled with regrets, so he shifts his focus to positive memories for subsequent performances.
By Emily St. John Mandel