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In his definitive interpretation of Shakespeare, Harold Bloom (Shakespeare, the Invention of the Human) notes...

SHAKESPEARE ENABLES US TO SEE REALITIES THAT MAY ALREADY HAVE BEEN THERE BUT THAT WE WOULD NOT FIND IT POSSIBLE TO SEE WITHOUT HIM (p.487)

Bloom's vision of the "Lear Universe" should be read in full, and compared to the views of Bradley (Shakespearean Tragedy) and Knight's "The Lear Universe" (The Wheel of Fire). Perhaps one "reality" we may investigate is the many references in the text to daemonology. Of course, the issue is not new. Muir's (editor of the Arden Edition) study and Brownlow's text discuss Shakespeare's allusions in relation to, for example, Harsnett's Declaration: Interpretations range from Shakespeare's acute satiric perspective to perhaps an intention more encompassing.

Your project will be develop a hypothesis concerning Shakespeare's Intentions. Why the many illusions? Consult the following print sources:

Bloom, Harold. Shakespeare: The Invention of the Human. New York: Riverhead Books, 1999.

Bradley, A.C. Shakespearean Tragedy. New York: Fawcett Press, n.d.

Brownlow, F.W. Shakespeare, Harsnett and the Devils of Denham. Newark: Univ. of Del. Press, 1993

DeGivry, E. Sorcery, Magic and Alchemy. N.Y.: Mallard Press, 1991.

Knight, G. Wilson. The Wheel of Fire. N.Y.: Barnes and Noble, 1964.

Murphy, J. Darkness and Devils: Exorcism and King Lear. Athens, Ohio: Ohio Univ. Press, 1984.

Muir, Kenneth. (editor). King Lear: Arden Edition. N.Y.: Random House, 1952.

Muir, Kenneth. "Samuel Harsnett and King Lear," RES. Vol. II, No 5. (1951), pp.11-21.

Online resources make available texts that are more difficult to locate. Use the following tables:

RENAISSANCE PRIMARY SOURCES
James I including
The Daemonologie
Witchcraft Documents--15th C
The Malleus Maleficarum
ON LINE BIBLIOGRAPHICAL SITES
A History of Witchcraft
Best Shakespeare Web Sites
Renaissance History of ideas including
Witchcraft
Renaissance History
Spirits, Witches and Science
Hackney, Harsnett and the
Devils in King Lear (Bowen)

WHEN YOU HAVE EXAMINED A SUFFICIENT NUMBER OF SOURCES, CONSTRUCT A HYPOTHESIS, AND CITE THE TEXT. REMEMBER THAT LEAR CAN BE SEARCHED ON LINE: CLICK HERE.