Plagiarism of King Lear by Shakespeare In creating the tragedy King Lear, William Shakespeare plagiarized many sources to obtain the basic story, but required his genius and intellect to put them together to create the true tragedy with its multiple plots that his work ultimately turned out to be. The story of King Lear (or as it began, King Leir) is first seen in literature in the year 1135, contained in Geoffrey of Monmouth's Historia Regum Britanniae. Other authors have incorporated King Leir into their stories, including; John Higgins in A Mirror for Magistrates (1574), by Warner in Albion's England (1586), by Holinshed in The Second Book of the Historie of England (1577), and by Spencer in The Faerie Queen (1590). The most influential of all was probably The True Chronicle History of King Leir, which was anonymous. This comedy was performed as early as 1594, when it appeared in the "Register of Stationers". Kenneth Muir even suggested that Shakespeare “might have acted in it” (Muir 141). Shakespeare took the best from all of King Leir's sources, added his own touches and personality, and created the masterpiece we enjoy today. Geoffrey of Monmouth in Historia Regum Britanniae, gave us the description of King Lear and his three daughters, and also the basis for the test of love. One of the main differences is that, unlike Shakespeare's Lear, Geoffrey's Leir does not appear to be mad and has not lost control of his mind. In fact, he regains control of the kingdom, with the help of the king of France. According to Geoffrey Bullough, “This is not a senile man” (Bullough 273). It is not possible to prove whether Shakespeare actually read this tale of daughters and the test of love or read it in a later version, but... in the middle of the paper... continuously it was masterful. Despite the use of all sources, the Fool's additions, Cordelia's early death, Edmund's plot to take over the kingdom, and the blindness of Gloucester (literally) and Lear (emotionally) it was Shakespeare's pure genius. The fusion of both sources and her genius has resulted in a complete and astonishing story of redemption, in the same way that Jane Smiley used Shakespeare's King Lear as a source to create her Pulitzer Prize-winning, A Thousand Acres on a Farm twentieth century. Cited Bullough, Geoffrey. "King Lear". Shakespeare's narrative and dramatic sources. London: Routledge and Kegan Paul, 1973. Muir, Kenneth. "Great Tragedies I: King Lear." Shakespeare's sources. London: Methuen & Co Ltd, 1957. Satin, Joseph. "King Lear." Shakespeare and his sources. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Company, 1966.