History TearJerker / KingLear

* The KillEmAll ending was such a ridiculous TearJerker for its earliest audiences that a different, happier ending was created for productions in later centuries, one that lasted until the 1900s. It wasn't until after World War II that the original ending was performed again, and once again the tears began to flow.

* ''"[[DespairEventHorizon Break, oh heart! I beg you, break!]]"''

* "Why should a dog, a horse, a rat, have life, And thou no breath at all?"
* "I have a journey, sir, shortly to go. My master calls me; I must not say no."

--->'''Lear''': If you have poison for me, I will drink it.\\

* Sir Ian [=McKellen=] as Lear, every time he's onstage from the storm scene on.

* Why should a dog, a horse, a rat, have life, And thou no breath at all?
* I have a journey, sir, shortly to go. My master calls me; I must not say no.

--->'''Lear''':If you have poison for me, I will drink it.\\

* The production with DerekJacobi: the first time at the end when you hear him "HOWL!"

* A mention also needs to go to Lear's breakdown before Act III, when Lear discovers his daughter's conspiring against him. Especially when King Lear basically tells them "even beggars have things they don't need".

* When this troper saw Sir Ian [=McKellen=] as Lear she cried pretty much every time Lear was onstage from the storm scene on, and was a hysterical sobbing wreck for an hour afterwards.
* This troper did not cry through the ending of ''King Lear''...but then, in this production, after the ending, the few characters that were still alive began to "raise" the rest from the dead, touching them one by one, ending with Regan and Goneril who went to Lear, and Lear who went to Cordelia. By then this troper was weeping.

* For me, it was the scene where they do the fake trial against Goneril and Regan (which sadly, is often cut out of productions), and Edgar's reaction to it. Despite all the crap Edgar's been through (his half-brother tricking everyone into thinking that Edgar's a villain, forcing him to flee his beloved father and home and pretend to be a madman just to stay alive), he still feels nothing but sympathy and pain for Lear, ignoring his own pain.
* The production with DerekJacobi: the first time at the end when you hear him "HOWL!" Got this not-easily-moved troper to tear up.

* For me, it was the scene where they do the fake trial against Goneril and Regan (which sadly, is often cut out of productions), and Edgar's reaction to it. Despite all the crap Edgar's been through (his half-brother tricking everyone into thinking that Edgar's a villain, forcing him to flee his beloved father and home and pretend to be a madman just to stay alive), he still feels nothing but sympathy and pain for Lear, ignoring his own pain.

* A mention also needs to go to Lear's breakdown before Act III, when Lear discovers his daughter's conspiring against him. Especially when King Lear basically tells them "even beggars have things they don't need".