Earl made king (4)
I believe the answer is:
lear
'king' is the definition.
(King Lear)
'earl made' is the wordplay.
'made' indicates an anagram.
'earl' is an anagram of 'LEAR'.
(Other definitions for lear that I've seen before include "Tragic king in play" , "Edward, writer of nonsense verse" , "Nonsense poet; drama king" , "Tragic Shakespeare king - quite real" , "Shakespear's king" .)