Questa tesi si occupa di percorrere il percorso di evoluzione del King Lear attraverso due secoli e mezzo di adattamenti teatrali e riscritture. Prende in esame gli adattamenti di Nahum Tate, David Garrick, George Colman, John Philip Kemble, Edmund Kean e William Charles Macready. La tesi propone anche l’analisi del melodramma di W.T. Moncrieff nonché i burlesques di John Chalmers, Joseph Halford e C.J. Collins, e Frederick Marchant. / This doctoral thesis focuses on the evolution of the story of King Lear through two centuries and a half of theatrical history. The research is concentrated on the adaptations proposed by Nahum Tate, David Garrick, George Colman, John Philip Kemble, Edmund Kean and William Charles Macready. The analysis also takes into considerations some rewritings such as the melodrama written by W.T. Moncrieff and the burlesques produced by John Chalmers, Joseph Halford and C.J. Collins, and Frederick Marchant.