King Lear Text Book - Act 1 - Scene 1

What Happens in Shakespeares King Lear by Nick Buchanan
What Happens in
Shakespeares
King Lear
Comprising the whole of Shakespeares text annotated
By
Nick Buchanan
All rights reserved

Copyright Nick Buchanan 2013
The moral right of the author has been asserted
Nick Buchanan is hereby identified as author of this
work in accordance with Section 77 of the
Copyright, Design and Patents Act 1988
Book Cover Design by Nick Buchanan 2013
Book layout and design by Nick Buchanan 2013
This book is sold subject to the condition that it shall not, by way of trade or
otherwise, be lent, re-sold, hired out or otherwise circulated without the authors
prior consent in any form of binding or cover other than that in which it is published
and without a similar condition including this condition being imposed on the
subsequent purchaser
A CIP record of this book is available from the British Library
ISBN 978-1-291-63507-2
This is the Second Edition of this book
For my mother and father

lovers of literature who encouraged
a love of language and
a curiosity about
life itself.
This is for you both with
All the love a little boy can give.
King Lear
Dramatis Personae
LEAR - King of Britain
GONERIL Eldest Daughter of Lear
REGAN Second Daughter of Lear
CORDELIA - Youngest Daughter of Lear
DUKE OF CORNWALL Husband to Regan
DUKE OF ALBANY Husband to Goneril
DUKE OF BURGUNDY Suitor to Cordelia
KING OF FRANCE - Suitor and later Husband to Cordelia
FOOL Lears entertainer
EARL OF GLOUCESTER Friend of Lear
EDGAR - Son of Gloucester (later disguised as Poor Tom)
EDMUND - Illegitimate Son of Gloucester.
OSWALD - Steward of Goneril.
EARL OF KENT Courtier of Lear (later disguised as Caius)
CURAN - Courtier of Gloucesters household
OLD MAN A Servant of Gloucester
DOCTOR - Attendant on Cordelia
GENTLEMAN - Attendant on Cordelia
A CAPTAIN Employee of Edmund.
A HERALD
Servants to Cornwall.
Knights of Lear's train, Captains, Messengers, Soldiers, and Attendants
Scene: Britain
Act 1
Act 1 Scene 1
King Lear
Act 1: Scene 1
King Lear's palace
The play opens with friends and family waiting around in Lears palace
he will enter soon and set about dividing his inheritance between his
three daughters. As he is eighty-odd years old, he wants to shake all
cares and business from [his] age; Conferring them on younger
strengths.
We first meet the Earl of Kent and the Earl of Gloucester both friends
of Lear. We also meet Edmund, who is Gloucesters illegitimate son.
As with so many of Shakespeares plays, the opening dialogue reveals
a key theme that will be revisited throughout the play. In King Lear,
the leitmotif introduced here is the contrast between appearance and
reality; between what merely seems and what is. In the very first line
of the play, Kent remarks that he thought Lear favoured one son in law
(the Duke of Albany) more than the other (the Duke of Cornwall):
Enter KENT, GLOUCESTER and EDMUND
KENT:
I thought the King had more affected the Duke of
Albany than Cornwall.
Had more affected means was fonder of, loved more, favoured more.
Albany comes from Albanacte whose region was from the River Humber to the point of
Caithness (Holinshead); that is from Hull, all the way up to Caithness in Scotland. In this play,
which opens with the division of a kingdom, the characters themselves are named after regions.
Cornwall included a region far greater than todays Cornwall. Indeed it extended much nearer
to London.
Gloucesters reply contains arcane words which we are not familiar

with (moiety) and a familiar word (curiosity) used in an unfamiliar
way. Rest assured that this is about as hard as it gets and the vast
majority of the play is much easier. Gloucester is saying that as far as
Lear favouring Albany over Cornwall, it always seemed that way to
him, but now that Lear is dividing up his Kingdom it isnt clear, since
both may be receiving an equal share:
GLOUCESTER:
It did always seem so to us; but now, in the
division of the kingdom, it appears not which of the
Dukes he values most, for equalities are so weighed that
curiosity in neither can make choice of either's moiety.
Us could mean Edmund and I
Curiosity here means careful scrutiny (i.e. careful enquiry).
Moiety means share (parts into which something can be divided. From the French: moiti,
meaning half).
As they wait for Lear to appear, they continue with their small-talk.
Kent asks Gloucester if the man nearby (Edmund) is one of
Gloucesters sons. Even in such a minor line, the question concerns
matters of appearance and reality. Gloucester playfully concedes that
Edmund is his, though illegitimate. He also tells Kent that he has
another son (Edgar) who is a year older and legitimate, adding that his
affection for both is equal (thus echoing Lears perceived equal favour
for Albany and Cornwall). Gloucester introduces Edmund to Kent, and
they promise a duty of service to one another.
KENT:
Is not this your son, my lord?
Act 1 Scene 1
GLOUCESTER:
His breeding, sir, hath been at my charge.
I have so often blushed to acknowledge him that now I
am brazed to it.
10
Breeding means upbringing (but puns on intercourse to set up the conceive pun which
follows)
At my charge means my responsibility (could mean financial responsibility, i.e. charged to
my account.)
Brazed to it means unashamed of it, brazen to fact, bold about it.
KENT:
I cannot conceive you.
Conceive means understand (but Gloucester then puns on it exploiing its other meaning as
one who becomes pregnant).
GLOUCESTER:
Sir, this young fellow's mother could;
whereupon she grew round-wombed, and had indeed,
sir, a son for her cradle ere she had a husband for her
bed. Do you smell a fault?
Ere means before.
Fault is also slang for womens genitals. So this doubles as a bawdy joke.
KENT:
I cannot wish the fault undone, the issue of it being
so proper.
The Fault undone as well as its obvious meaning, this also plays upon the bawdy use of fault
meaning Vagina. Thus, the fault undone means the vagina uncopulated.
Issue means result (i.e. Edmund himself).
Proper means handsome, fine looking.
Gloucester tells Kent he has another son who is older than Edmund
and he loves them both the same:
GLOUCESTER:
But I have a son, sir, by order of law, some
year elder than this, who yet is no dearer in my account.
Though this knave came something saucily to the world,
before he was sent for, yet was his mother fair; there
was good sport at his making, and the whoreson must be
acknowledged.
By order of law means legitimately, lawfully.
Some means about.
20

No dearer in my account means worth the same, no greater in my estimation.
Knave means boy (although this is Gloucesters obvious meaning, Knave can also mean villain.
It is likely that Shakespeare chose the word for its ambiguity).
Something means somewhat.
Saucily means rudely, lasciviously, insolently.
Good sport means enjoyable energetic sexual passion
Whoreson here simply means illegitimate son (but can mean a detestable person)
There are many financial puns above...values...weighed...my charge...

dearer...account. These precede Lears love auction wherein he puts a
price on his daughters love for him.
The fact that Gloucester is willing to speak about his sexual dalliances
in such a tactless way in front of Edmund shows a lack of judgement.
His boasting is in poor taste. Now he formally introduces Edmund to
Kent:
Do you know this noble gentleman,
Edmund?
EDMUND:
No, my lord.
GLOUCESTER:
My lord of Kent. Remember him hereafter
as my honourable friend.
EDMUND:
My services to your lordship.
KENT:
I must love you and sue to know you better.
Sue means appeal to you, request from you, (modern equivalents would be strive, or seek)
EDMUND:
Sir, I shall study deserving.
GLOUCESTER:
He hath been out nine years, and away he
shall again. The King is coming.
30
Study deserving means do everything I can to deserve your favour.

Out means out of the country, abroad.
No sooner are Edmund and Kent introduced, and Gloucester has

commented on how Edmund has been abroad (as a soldier?) than King
Act 1 Scene 1
Lear enters with his daughters (Goneril, Regan and Cordelia), the Duke
of Albany (Gonerils Husband), the Duke of Cornwall (Regans
husband) and attendants.
Gloucester has just told us that he loves both of his children equally.
Lear will now test if his three daughters all love him equally. The
informal prose of Kent, Edmund and Gloucesters chit-chat is now
traded for the more formal poetry of the Kings court. Lear begins by
asking Gloucester to call the King of France and the Duke of Burgundy
(both suitors to Cordelia):
Sound a sennet. Enter one bearing a coronet.
Enter KING LEAR, CORNWALL, ALNBANY,
GONERIL, REGAN, CORDELIA and Attendants
Sennet is a trumpet call, heralding entrances and exits.
Coronet means crown.
KING LEAR:
Attend the lords of France and Burgundy,
Gloucester.
GLOUCESTER:
I shall, my liege.
Exeunt GLOUCESTER and EDMUND
Attend means Wait on, bring into attendance, bring here, fetch, let them attend.
KING LEAR:
Meantime we shall express our darker purpose.
Give me the map there. Know that we have divided
In three our kingdom; and 'tis our fast intent
To shake all cares and business from our age,
Conferring them on younger strengths, while we
Unburdened crawl toward death.
40
We means I. Lear is using the Royal plural.

Our means my. Lear is using the Royal plural.
Darker means not yet revealed, hidden, secret (it could be deliberately ambiguous to suggest
something ominous).
Fast intent means fixed intention, firm resolve.
Business means official duties, regal responsibilities.
Conferring means bequeathing, bestowing.
The antithesis between strong youth and the weak elderly is a theme
which runs throughout the whole play. Shakespeare uses further
antithesis in the above passage; the firmness of fast is followed by

the precariousness of shake; those who are unburdened still crawl
as if their burdens were not gone. These brilliant contrasts precede
the fact that Lears intent to have an easier life will be violently
thwarted.
The play could be read as a warning against the folly of dividing up a
kingdom. The King James Version of the bible has the verse Every
Kingdom divided against itself is brought to desolation, (St. Matthew
12:25). This would be known by audiences contemporary to this play.
As a fable against division, it would also have found favour with James
1st who wanted a united Britain.
The use of a map here is not accidental. It serves as a representation
of reality. In a moment Lear will confuse representation with reality
when he takes flattery to signify love. But first he lets his daughters
husbands and suitors know that he is about to make clear their
inheritance.
Our son of Cornwall And you, our no less loving son of Albany We have this hour a constant will to publish
Our daughters' several dowers, that future strife
May be prevented now.
Son means son in law (in both line 41 and 42).
Constant will means resolution, determined intention, a steadfast desire.
Publish means proclaim, make public.
Several means separate, individual, respective.
That means so that.
Lears intent - that future troubles may be avoided by means of this

division of his Kingdom is not only, not realised; but his imminent
behaviour positively guarantees that there will be conflicts and
difficulties. Not least of all because he rewards the bad and punishes
the good. But first, having addressed Goneril and Regans husbands,
the king now turns to Cordelias two suitors and addresses them:
The princes, France and Burgundy,
Great rivals in our youngest daughter's love,
Long in our court have made their amorous sojourn,
And here are to be answered.
Great means noble, strong.
Act 1 Scene 1
Youngest daughters means Cordelias.
Sojourn means stay.
Answered means offered a response, conclusion.
Kents opening line I thought the king had more affected the Duke of
Albany, than Cornwall, is now revisited in Lears question of which
daughter loves him (affects him) most:
Tell me, my daughters,
Since now we will divest us both of rule,
Interest of territory, cares of state,
Which of you shall we say doth love us most?
50
We means I (Lear is using the Royal plural).

Both - Shakespeare follows the word both with three items (not the conventional two). He
does this a few times in King Lear. Apparently the practice was common in Elizabethan times.
Interest of territory means titles to land, ownership of a region.
Cares of state means administrative responsibilities.
From their answers Lear will determine which of them will receive the
most. Whoever has the most natural affection for him will gain the
largest portion of his kingdom. But already he is mistaking lip-service
for actual love:
That we our largest bounty may extend
Where nature doth with merit challenge. Goneril,
Our eldest born, speak first.
Bounty means gift, offering.
Challenge means lay claim to it, stake a claim.
Goneril suggests that words are inadequate to express her love, which
is more valuable to her than her eyesight, movement and freedom:
GONERIL:
Sir, I love you more than word can wield the matter,
Dearer than eyesight, space, and liberty,
Wield means handle, shape, express, contain. The metaphor is of a sword which is too heavy
to be lifted or used properly (such is the gravitas of her love).
Space means movement, scope, freedom to roam.
Liberty means the enjoyment of freedom, the experience of self-determination.
Ironically, the three things Goneril claims to hold dear eye-sight,

space and liberty are all things which she and Regan between them
take from others as the play progresses (in the characters of
Gloucester, Lear and Cordelia, respectively).
Sight and seeing are recurrent motifs in King Lear. Through them we
explore how we get our information about the outside world and how
rich or poor our vision is. Goneril is only referring to eye-sight as
something less dear than her love for her father. Her litany continues
as it started, full of hyperbole:
Beyond what can be valued, rich or rare;
No less than life, with grace, health, beauty, honour,
Grace means virtue.
She goes on to say that she loves him as much as any father found
himself to be loved by his child:
As much as child e'er loved or father found;
Eer means ever.
With a love which makes words poor and speech inadequate;

exceeding all the different ways she could possibly express greatness:
A love that makes breath poor and speech unable;
Beyond all manner of so much I love you.
60
Breath means words, language.

Poor means inadequate, weak, feeble.
Unable means useless, incompetent, inadequate.
As the play unfolds it becomes clear that Goneril is professing a love in

words that she doesnt genuinely feel or manifest at any point in the
play.
Cordelia, hearing Gonerils lies and seeing her fathers pleasure at
them, is thrown into a quandry as to what she should do. She doesnt
want to participate in such a charade and resolves not to:
CORDELIA: (Aside)
What shall Cordelia speak? Love, and be silent.
Many productions have a Cordelia who is coldly resolute, and even

priggish. However she says herself Love and be silent showing that in
her resolve is compassion and love. Cordelias asides help to create
dramatic tension as the reader/viewer is invited to share her dilemma.
Act 1 Scene 1
The King, flattered by Gonerils fiction, offers her a generous portion

of his land (which presumably, he indicates on his map):
LEAR:
Of all these bounds, even from this line to this,
With shadowy forests and with champains riched,
With plenteous rivers and wide-skirted meads,
We make thee lady. To thine and Albany's issues
Be this perpetual.
Bounds means boundaries.
Shadowy means shady.
Champains riched means fertile plains, (enriched plains).
Wide-skirted meads means broad meadows.
Issues means children, offspring, lineage.
Be this perpetual means forever (i.e. Britain, now divided, should ever remain so, and these
lands be owned by Goneril and Albanys offspring).
If Lear were really dividing his land according to each daughters

flattery, he would have waited until all three had spoken before
deciding each portion. In deciding Gonerils portion before hearing
Regan and Cordelia, we can assume that his decisions have already
been made and this love auction is merely a pretentious indulgence
for a King who craves public flattery.
Lear then invites Regan to profess her love:
What says our second daughter,
Our dearest Regan, wife of Cornwall?
Regans response amounts to I love you in the same way as Goneril,

but even more!
REGAN:
I am made of that self mettle as my sister,
And prize me at her worth. In my true heart
I find she names my very deed of love;
Only she comes too short,
70
That self means exact, identical.

Mettle means material, substance (also a pun on metal suggesting coins or coldness).
Deed means action, the very items of her love (also a pun on deeds as in legal documents and
ownership).
In effect, Regan is saying the love which Goneril speaks is the love I
practice in all my actions. Regans intent is clear; she not only
professes the same love as her sister, but also insists that Lear give her
land of equal portion (and prize me at her worth). It is as if she is not
just playing the game of flattery, but also telling Lear how much her
flattery should be worth. This exchange of nice words for land is very
clear in Regans mind indeed her mercenary nature gets the better
of her and halfway through her speech (above) she claims to love her
father even more than Goneril (whose performance she now says
comes too short).
that I profess
Myself an enemy to all other joys
Which the most precious square of sense possesses,
And find I am alone felicitate
In your dear highness' love.
That means in that, because.
Precious square of sense means balanced good sense.
Alone means only.
Felicitate means joyful, happy.
Regan is suggesting that Lear is her solitary source of happiness; that

nothing in life gives her pleasure only her fathers love.
The following aside by Cordelia reveals that she is feeling growing
pressure to deliver even greater flattery than her false sisters. She
contrasts her poor position (an obligation to be false and please her
father with flattery) with the genuine richness of her love:
CORDELIA: (Aside)
Then poor Cordelia!
And yet not so, since, I am sure, my love's
More ponderous than my tongue.
Poor means pitiful (but also a pun on monetary impoverishment which is prophetic due to
her imminent lack of remuneration).
Ponderous means weighty, substantial.
Cordelia knows that words fail to accurately describe or express

genuine love.
Meanwhile Lear, pleased with Regans obsequiousness, rewards her
with a portion of his kingdom equal to that bestowed on Goneril:
Act 1 Scene 1
KING LEAR:
To thee and thine hereditary ever
Remain this ample third of our fair kingdom;
No less in space, validity, and pleasure,
Than that conferred on Goneril.
80
Hereditary ever means offspring forever (this echoes his bequeathment to Goneril earlier To
thine and Albanys issue be this perpetual).
Validity means value.
Finally, Lear invites Cordelia to say sweet words in order to gain an

even greater portion than her sisters:
Now, our joy,
Although our last and least, to whose young love
The vines of France and milk of Burgundy
Strive to be interessed; what can you say to draw
A third more opulent than your sisters? Speak.
Vines means vineyards.
Milk of Burgundy refers to the fact that Burgundy was known for its fertile land used to graze
cows for milk production.
Be interessed means claim an interest, be admitted, granted a share.
Draw means claim, pull, attract (as in draw lots).
Opulent means generous.
Lear refers to Cordelia as Our Joy he is quite clear about her being
his favourite. This must have made her silence all the harder to bear.
Lear speaks of Cordelias suitors in terms of the land they own. As with
this whole love auction, he is equating love with land; as if choice
ought to be decided on assets alone.
CORDELIA:
Nothing, my lord.
Cordelias lines are most likely delivered with great sadness and
discomfort. After all she loves her father. Too many productions have
her as an ice-maiden or a shrinking violet. She is of course neither.
Her response could be seen as an Elizabethan attempt at No
Comment. She simply wishes to abstain from this empty pageant of
affection. Lear misreads her response as an affront to him as if her
Nothing referred in some way to him, or indicated the measure of
her love for him:
KING LEAR:
Nothing?
CORDELIA:
Nothing.
The whole engine of the play is driven from Cordelias previous two
replies. From this point onwards, Lear begins his sad steps towards
estrangement from Cordelia, then Kent, then finally himself (and his
own sanity):
KING LEAR:
Nothing will come of nothing. Speak again.
90
Nothing will come of nothing comes from the latin Maxim, ex nihilo
nihil fit (first argued by Parmenides) which Shakespeare probably
knew. Sixty years after this play was written the phrase was
appropriated by many in the Enlightenment to express their challenge
to the religious assertion that creation sprang from nothing.
Whilst Lear is referring to Cordelias inheritance when he says Nothing
will come of nothing, we see the irony of his comments in that
everything in this play is driven from Cordelias nothing; her nothing
causes everything which follows:
CORDELIA:
Unhappy that I am, I cannot heave
My heart into my mouth. I love your majesty
According to my bond, no more nor less.
Bond means filial obligation, the bond of natural affection, duty.
Lear continues to treat Love as a commodity which can be used to

purchase favours. He encourages Cordelia to say more to get more:
KING LEAR:
How, how, Cordelia? Mend your speech a little,
Lest you may mar your fortunes.
Mend means alter, improve, fix.
Mar means spoil, ruin.
But Cordelia does not wish to link her inheritance with any
proclamations of love let alone false ones. She responds with a
Act 1 Scene 1
realistic appraisal of her love (which clearly lacks the overblown claims
of her sisters words).
CORDELIA:
Good my lord,
You have begot me, bred me, loved me:
I return those duties back as are right fit,
Obey you, love you, and most honour you.
Good my lord was a common form of address in Shakespeares time is usually affectionate
like my dear lord.
Begot means conceived.
I return those duties...fit means I reciprocate in an appropriate manner.
Obey you...honour you this line echoes the marriage service in the Prayer book (Wilt thou
obey him, love, honour and keep him?) and it precedes her discussion about her sisters marital
obligations.
To dispel any further ideas that Cordelia is wan and twee, it is worth
noting that she now (in front of everyone) proceeds to take her sisters
to task over their false claims of love:
Why have my sisters husbands, if they say
They love you all? Haply when I shall wed,
That lord whose hand must take my plight shall carry
Half my love with him, half my care and duty.
Sure, I shall never marry like my sisters,
To love my father all.
100
All means with all of their being, entirely.

Haply means perhaps.
Take my plight means receive my pledge, accept my troth, take my hand in marriage (Edgar
mentions troth-plight in Act 3, Scene 4, line 117).
Lear regards Cordelias love as scant and meagre. However it is clear

that Cordelia did say [I] obey you, love you, and most honour you.
However her sincere level-headedness sounds impoverished
compared to her sisters impressive and colourful lies. Lear remains
shocked:
KING LEAR:
But goes thy heart with this?
CORDELIA:
Ay, my good lord.
Although Cordelia is being courageous and showing great integrity,
she appears naive as to the likely impact of her short replies. She
might have got a better response by making clear her desire not to
participate in such a show of love. Instead she offers only clipped and
terse responses. Perhaps she lacks tact and diplomacy. Her short
answers are too easily mistaken for insolence or disrespect. Lear
continues to view her refusal to participate as a sign of her
indifference towards him:
KING LEAR:
So young, and so untender?
CORDELIA:
So young, my lord, and true.
Cordelia has tried to correct Lear, but again the misunderstandings

persist. She is asserting the truth of her of her statements that her
love for him is genuine and not mere flattery but Lear reads this as
an unyielding affront. He punishes her by offering her nothing:
KING LEAR:
Let it be so; thy truth then be thy dower,
Then, rashly he disowns her as his daughter swearing to disclaim her

by the suns radiance, by magic and by the stars and planets that
govern life and death:
For by the sacred radiance of the sun,
The mysteries of Hecate and the night,
By all the operation of the orbs
From whom we do exist, and cease to be,
Hecate was Goddess of the infernal world and of witchcraft.
Operation means influence, machinations.
Lear renounces any fatherliness towards Cordelia, severing any

relationship forged by their common blood. He resolves to forever
regard her as a stranger to his feelings and to himself:
Here I disclaim all my paternal care,
Propinquity and property of blood,
And as a stranger to my heart and me
Hold thee from this for ever.
Propinquity means closeness (as in a relationship).
110
Act 1 Scene 1
Property of blood means family ties, blood obligations.
This could mean Lear himself (i.e. he holds her away from him), or it could mean her
inheritance (i.e. the land on the map) or it could mean this moment (as in this moment on).
In his rage, which is really a measure of his misplaced hurt, Lear

invokes a horrible image saying that Cordelia would now be as
welcome to him as barbarians who eat their own:
The barbarous Scythian,
Or he that makes his generation messes
To gorge his appetite, shall to my bosom
Be as well neighboured, pitied, and relieved
As thou my sometime daughter.
Scythian means savage (the Sythians who lived in southern Russia were thought to be
cannibalistic by those who feared them).
Makes his generation messes means eats his own children (turns his offspring into messes =
food).
Neighboured means kindly treated (i.e. with neighbourly hospitality).
Sometime means former, previous, one-time.
It is worth noting that this first part of King Lear is very like a fairy
tale...Once upon a time a King had three daughters and one day he
gathered them together to ask which of them loved him the most...
The ending of Lear, of course, is far from fairytale; far from... and they
all lived happily ever after.
Already the themes of appearance and reality are looming large.
Cordelia was disinherited because Lear thought her unloving (when in
fact she loved her father dearly) and Goneril and Regan were
rewarded because Lear thought them loving (when in fact they only
spoke as if they were loving in order to get his land).
Kent cannot bear this miscarriage of justice and he appeals to Lear:
KENT:
Good my liege --
But Lear is unrelenting:

KING LEAR:
Peace, Kent!
Come not between the dragon and his wrath.
I loved her most, and thought to set my rest
On her kind nursery.
120

th
th
Set my rest means retire to, retire with (the phrase comes from the 16 and 17 Century card
game Primero where it means risk all on. Shakespeare is probably alluding to the fact that he
would have betted everything on Cordelia, as well as the fact that she is the daughter he would
wish to reside with most).
Nursery means nursing, care (i.e. of Lear).
Lears concession that he loved Cordelia most, further explains Kents

shock at this turn of events. He has just confessed also that he was
intending to spend his retirement years with her. The words Kent
spoke at the very opening of the play reverberate powerfully and (with
a change of names only) would fit perfectly here I thought the king
had more affected [Cordelia], than [her sisters]. But Lear is
unrelenting Kent is to go. Lear says that his own death will be his
consolation since he has withdrawn his love from Cordelia:
(To Cordelia)
Hence, and avoid my sight!

So be my grave my peace as here I give
Her father's heart from her. Call France! Who stirs?
Call Burgundy! Cornwall and Albany,
Avoid means leave, keep away from.
As means since.
Give means take (i.e. give away elsewhere).
Who stirs? means is nobody awake here? Get on with it! Shape up!
Lear gives away Cordelias portion to Goneril and Regan, mistaking

Cordelias integrity for pride. He misreads her regretful nonparticipation in the love trial as evidence of someone infuriatingly
pious and aloof:
With my two daughters' dowers digest the third.
Let pride, which she calls plainness, marry her.
Digest means absorb, assimilate, incorporate, include.
Third means the one third which was going to be Cordelias land.
In effect, Lear is saying lets see her find a husband without her
having any inheritance; lets see her marry with just her pride on
offer. Rashly, Lear then gives away his power and authority to Goneril
and Regan.
I do invest you jointly with my power,
Pre-eminence, and all the large effects
That troop with majesty.
130
Act 1 Scene 1
Pre-eminence means superiority.
Large effects means wide ranging perks, extras.
That troop with majesty means which accompany royalty (i.e. the trappings of privilege).
He then says he will stay with each of them - alternating on a monthly

basis, reserving the right to have a hundred Knights looked after by
them:
Ourself, by monthly course,
With reservation of an hundred knights,
By you to be sustained, shall our abode
Make with you by due turn;
Ourself means I (Lear is using the royal plural).
By monthly course means through alternate months.
Reservation means reserving the privilege.
Sustained means supported, cared for, well-maintained.
Finally, he announces that he will be King in name only, that he will

retain the ceremonies of king, but will give away his influence, tax
revenues, and all other administrations. Symbolically he offers his
sons-in-law his crown, inviting them to share it:
Only we still retain
The name and all thaddition to a king; the sway,
Revenue, execution of the rest,
Beloved sons, be yours: which to confirm,
This coronet part between you.
Giving the crown
Addition means titles and honours.
Sway means control, influence.
Coronet means crown.
Part means share, split, divide.
But (to borrow a line from Henry IV Part 2) Uneasy lies the head that
wears the crown. In the case of Albany and Cornwall, they have none
of the qualities necessary for leadership and diplomacy.
Kent courageously tries to intervene once more. Before he publicly
criticises Lear, he first reminds the King of the respect, honour, love
and loyalty he has always afforded him:
KENT:
Royal Lear,
Whom I have ever honoured as my king,

Loved as my father, as my master followed,
As my great patron thought on in my prayers --
140
Patron means benefactor.
Lear, impatient with Kents endless preface (Royal Lear, whom...in my

prayers), tells him to get on with it (i.e. your arrow is loaded, now fire
it.)
KING LEAR:
The bow is bent and drawn, make from the shaft.
Many commentators believe that the previous line shows Lear

threatening to fire his wrath at Kent. However I believe it is Lear telling
Kent to speak and not delay further. I dont think it is Lear referring
to his own anger (as many suggest). Had it been, then I would expect
Lear to say we will make from the shaft (i.e. using the royal plural).
Kent knows that in speaking the truth he will incur the kings wrath. In
this sense Kent is aware that if he fires his arrow (of truth) then the
result may well pierce his own heart. Nevertheless he suggests that
this is not a time for manners - when Lear is losing his senses:
KENT:
Let it fall rather, though the fork invade
The region of my heart. Be Kent unmannerly,
When Lear is mad. What wouldst thou do, old man?
Fall means strike home.
The fork means the arrowhead.
Unmannerly means rude, lacking manners, not following etiquette.
When Lear is mad Kents words prove prophetic.
It is worth noting that within the space of seven lines Kent has gone
from addressing the King as Royal Lear to Old Man. Appealing to the
Leadership of his King, he finds only the foibles of an old man. He tells
Lear that he is not afraid to speak when he has seen the King taken-in
by flattery, and he resolves to tell Lear straight because he can see the
Kings mistakes. He hopes Lear will repent:
Think'st thou that duty shall have dread to speak,
When power to flattery bows? To plainness honour's bound,
When majesty stoops to folly.
Act 1 Scene 1
Thou is a rough way of addressing the King (second person singular) emphasizing Kents
bluntness and the urgency of his point.
Much of what Kent says here proves prophetic; Lear does go mad. He
appeals once more for Lear to retain his power and not to lose his true
authority to this monstrous impulsiveness, telling him that Cordelias
answers were not an indication of a lack of love, but rather they were
quieter because they were not hollow:
Reserve thy state,
And, in thy best consideration, check
This hideous rashness. Answer my life my judgment,
Thy youngest daughter does not love thee least,
Nor are those empty-hearted whose low sounds
Reverb no hollowness.
150
Best consideration means wise and careful reflection.

Check means restrain, reconsider, stop.
My life my judgement Kent is staking his life on his own judgement.
But Lear will hear none of it:

KING LEAR:
Kent, on thy life, no more.
Cordelia and Kents exchanges with the King form a great contrast. In
Cordelias case, Lear wanted more (Speak again, nothing will come
of nothing). With Kent, Lear wants less (no more, out of my sight
etc.) In both cases Lear wishes them to Mend [their] speech... lest it
may mar [their] fortunes.
Kent persists (putting himself in danger) telling Lear that he would
gladly lay down his life for him, especially when the Kings safety is at
stake:
KENT:
My life I never held but as a pawn
To wage against thy enemies; nor fear to lose it,
Thy safety being motive.
Pawn means a piece which is easily sacrificed (Chess).
Wage means use, risk, gamble with.
Motive means goal, motivator, spur.
In this, Kent has shown great vision he sees, not just the action, but
also where it will lead (the implications and consequences). He offers

to be for Lear the clear sight that Lear is missing. But Lear will have
none of it:
KING LEAR:
Out of my sight!
KENT:
See better, Lear; and let me still remain
The true blank of thine eye.
Still means always, steadfastly.
True Blank means the straight path to your target, the direct, point blank, the point of your
aim. The origin of this word is the French blanc because the centre of most archery targets is
white. Kent is saying focus on what I am saying and your aim will be true.
In imploring Lear to see better, when Lear says Out of my sight, Kent
refers to another great theme of the play, that of sight and seeing. In
the beginning of Act 1 Scene 2 this theme will be explored further, and
as the play unfolds it will become a powerful theme.
Kent continues to try to break through Lears stubbornness, and Lear
counters him at every turn:
KING LEAR:
Now by Apollo --
160
KENT:
Now, by Apollo, King,
Thou swear'st thy gods in vain.
KING LEAR:
O, vassal! Miscreant!
Laying his hand on his sword
Apollo is the Sun God who is also the God of Archery (both appropriate to the previous
dialogue about aim, targets and seeing).
Vassal means an inferior, a wretch.
Miscreant means an unbeliever (because Kents reply suggested he did not believe in Apollo).
It is probable that Lears reaching for his sword is merely a rash threat;
nevertheless it is an act of violence against a loyal servant and friend.
Even the husbands of Goneril and Regan appeal to the Kings better
judgement:
Act 1 Scene 1
ALBANY and CORNWALL:

Dear sir, forbear!
Forbear means stop, cease, desist.
Kent then reminds Lear that he can kill the doctor who brings accurate
diagnosis, but that would simply leave him with the disease. He tells
Lear that as long as he has the breath to speak, he will say that Lear
has done wrong.
KENT:
Kill thy physician and thy fee bestow
Upon thy foul disease. Revoke thy gift,
Or whilst I can vent clamour from my throat,
I'll tell thee thou dost evil.
Revoke thy gift means retain that which you are giving away. This probably refers to
Cordelias portion which has been given to Goneril and Regan (or it could refer to the broader
issue of Lear dividing his kingdom).
Vent clamour means shout out a cry, make a noise.
It should be remembered that Kents opposition to the King has been

played out before a large cohort of family, friends, suitors (including
Goneril, Regan, Cordelia, Albany, Cornwall, servants and attendants,
etc). Lear, being so publicly opposed by Kent, resorts to his authority,
demanding servility from Kent:
KING LEAR:
Hear me, recreant,
On thine allegiance, hear me!
Recreant means traitor.
At this point, Lear looks like an ego out of control; truth is ignored and
he has only insults for good people. In this case he has just called his
good friend a traitor, and now he goes further, to banish and hate
him also.
He tells Kent that because he tried to make him reverse his decision
(which he has never done before) and with such a forceful manner,
trying to prevent the Kings judgement from becoming law (which
neither Lear nor his office can allow)...:
That thou hast sought to make us break our vow,
Which we durst never yet, and, with strained pride
To come betwixt our sentence and our power,

Which nor our nature nor our place can bear,
170
That means seeing that, since, in that, because.

Durst means ventured, dared to venture.
Strained means forced, excessive, strained to the limit.
Sentence means judgement.
Power means ability to carry out a sentence.
...Lears power will have direct effect (he asserts his royal authority).
Kent is to be banished:
Our potency made good, take thy reward.
Potency means power, authority, command.
Made good means expressed, executed, fulfilled, finding expression.
Reward means just deserts, sentence, punishment.
Then Lear outlines the terms and conditions of Kents banishment:

Five days we do allot thee for provision
To shield thee from disasters of the world,
And on the sixth to turn thy hated back
Upon our kingdom. If, on the tenth day following,
Thy banished trunk be found in our dominions,
The moment is thy death. Away! By Jupiter,
This shall not be revoked.
Disasters means troubles.
Trunk means body.
Revoked means retracted, reversed.
In this first part of the play, Lear is very like the archetype of Jove; the
God of the Old Testament who is jealous and quick to anger, the God
who tests his subjects to breaking point - asking Abraham to kill his
own son as a show of love, and tormenting Job to prove to Lucifer that
his servant loves him whatever his circumstance. His rages are
thunderous and he demands obedience.
Kent comments that if the king insists on behaving this way, then he
will resign himself to liberty elsewhere. Kent now speaks in four
couplets; first to Lear, then Cordelia, then to Goneril and Regan,
before finally offering a farewell to everyone. The tone of his speech is
more general and less direct than his previous exchanges with Lear:
Act 1 Scene 1
KENT:
Fare thee well, King, sith thus thou wilt appear,
Freedom lives hence and banishment is here.
180
Sith means since.
Kent then defends and encourages Cordelia, by wishing that the Gods
safeguard her; he confirms to her that she was fair and spoke the
truth:
To Cordelia
The gods to their dear shelter take thee, maid,

That justly think'st, and hast most rightly said.
He tells Goneril and Regan that he hopes they live up to their flowery
words of love (since he knows what they are made of, he probably
says it more to shame them for their deceitfulness):
To Regan and Goneril
And your large speeches may your deeds approve,

That good effects may spring from words of love.
Approve means prove true.
Effects means conclusions, outcomes, results.
He then says farewell:

Thus Kent, O princes, bids you all adieu;
He'll shape his old course in a country new.
Exit
This apparently trite couplet of Kents, carries within it the idea of a

person remaining authentic despite their changing circumstances (his
old course remains). Thus, echoing one of the great themes of Lear
what is real and what is merely a show? Cordelia too kept her old
course (of truthfulness) when her sisters were flattering their father.
This is reminiscent of a line from another of Shakepeares works
(which also suggests that real love is unchanging) Love is not love
which alters when it alteration finds.(Sonnet 116).
In King Lear, couplets often conclude or summarize a persons position
or intent. They are used many times when a character is effectively
saying farewell (e.g. Cordelia with her sisters Act 1 Scene 1, line 280)
Flourish. Enter GLOUCESTER, with KING OF FRANCE,

BURGUNDY, and Attendants
GLOUCESTER:
Here's France and Burgundy, my noble lord.
It is perhaps worth emphasizing that in the short time Gloucester has

been gone (fetching the King of France and the Duke of Burgundy)
Kent has been told of his banishment and Cordelia of her
disinheritance. The returning cohort could not possibly have predicted
such an outcome, especially since they know Cordelia and Kent to be
held dear by the King.
Lear now asks Burgundy what is the smallest share he would accept to
take Cordelia:
KING LEAR:
My lord of Burgundy.
We first address toward you, who with this king
Hath rivalled for our daughter: what in the least
Will you require in present dower with her,
Or cease your quest of love?
190
In the least means is the least (i.e. what is the cheapest dower you would be willing to accept).
Present means immediate.
BURGUNDY:
Most royal majesty,
I crave no more than hath your highness offered,
Nor will you tender less.
Tender less means offer less (might also be a pun on tenderless).
Burgundys answer here insists that the king offer no less than he had
promised. His pushy Nor will you tender less, sounds very similar to
Regans earlier selfish insistence on remuneration And prize me at
her worth.
Lears vanity has clouded his judgement. His excessive punishing of
Cordelia and Kent are really testimony to the fragility of his ego. His
response to Burgundy degrades Cordelia in a very hurtful and cruel
way; this is a father publicly announcing that his daughter is worthless
Act 1 Scene 1
to Burgundy directly he says (in effect) if you want her, you can have
her:
KING LEAR:
Right noble Burgundy,
When she was dear to us, we did hold her so;
But now her price is fallen. Sir, there she stands;
If aught within that little-seeming substance,
Or all of it, with our displeasure pieced,
And nothing more, may fitly like your grace,
She's there, and she is yours.
200
Dear means loved, precious (but also a pun on expensive once again love and material value
are interchangeable).
With our displeasure pieced means now combined with our displeasure (Lear appears to be
using sarcasm to tell Burgundy he will now get more for his money she comes now with our
hatred).
May fitly like your grace means may please your grace by its fitness.
BURGUNDY:
I know no answer.
This response echoes Cordelias previous Nothing my Lord. And Lear

presses Burgundy to make up his mind:
KING LEAR:
Will you, with those infirmities she owes,
Unfriended, new-adopted to our hate,
Dowered with our curse and strangered with our oath,
Take her or leave her?
Owes means owns.
Strangered with our oath means estranged from me because I am sworn, made a stranger
from us by our oath (note: our means my Lear is using the Royal plural).
Burgundy complains that it is difficult to make choices with terms such

as these (i.e. changed and reduced):
BURGUNDY:
Pardon me, royal sir,
Election makes not up in such conditions.
KING LEAR:
Then leave her, sir; for, by the power that made me,
I tell you all her wealth.
Tell means have told (another pun on material values tell can also mean count as in a bank
teller).
Lear advises the King of France to place his love with someone else
worthier than Cordelia. He tells him that he would not wish to
estrange him by matching him with Cordelia:
To KING of FRANCE
For you, great king,

I would not from your love make such a stray
To match you where I hate;
For you means as for you.
Make such a stray means stray so far.
Lear implores the King of France to look elsewhere for a wife for
someone worthier:
therefore beseech you
Tavert your liking a more worthier way
Than on a wretch whom Nature is ashamed
Almost tacknowledge hers.
210
Beseech you means I beseech you, I appeal to you, I ask you.

Tavert means turn (to avert).
Tacknowledge means to acknowledge, to claim, to admit.
Lear appears to be placing Cordelia, not just outside of his family, but
outside the whole human race. France then comments on the oddness
of Lears complete turnaround:
KING OF FRANCE:
This is most strange,
That she, whom even but now was your best object,
The argument of your praise, balm of your age,
The best, the dearest, should in this trice of time
Commit a thing so monstrous to dismantle
So many folds of favour.
Your best object means your favourite, the one you loved most.
Argument means subject, theme, focus.
To means to thus, so as to, to cause to.
Dismantle so many folds of favour means strip away the clothing of your favour (dismantle
means remove the outer mantle or layer) - an interesting image in a play full of disguise and
deceit.
France (who entered this scene only after Lears rage against Cordelia)
concludes that either Cordelia has done something so monstrous, as
to merit such wrath or else Lears earlier proclamations of love were
not pure or true.
Act 1 Scene 1
Sure, her offence

Must be of such unnatural degree
That monsters it; or your fore-vouched affection
Fall into taint:
220
Monsters it means makes it monstrous.

Fore-vouched means previously promised (i.e. vouched for before).
He adds that he cant imagine Cordelia behaving monstrously (the

inference being that Lears idea of love must be faulty or lacking in
some way). To imagine Cordelia behaving in such a poor way would
require a leap of faith and a miracle:
which to believe of her,
Must be a faith that reason without miracle
Should never plant in me.
Believe of her means believe that of her (i.e. believe that she could be monstrously offensive).
Cordelia wishes to confirm Frances conclusion that she hasnt done

anything monstrous or foul. What she lacks is the ability to lie and to
make false promises. She doesnt broadcast false pledges; she simply
acts instead of talking:
CORDELIA:
I yet beseech your majesty -If for I want that glib and oily art
To speak and purpose not, since what I well intend
I'll do't before I speak - For I want means I am lacking.
Purpose not means do nothing (to say the words, never intending to translate them into
actions).
She has done nothing awful, despite Lears comments that Nature is
ashamed of her (line 212).
that you make known
It is no vicious blot, murder, or foulness,
No unchaste action or dishonoured step
That hath deprived me of your grace and favour,
Dishonoured means dishonourable.
She knows her fortunes are hurt by her lack of conniving and her
refusal to speak lies and flatter. Nevertheless she is glad to lack such
attributes even though it has cost her dearly:
But even for want of that for which I am richer;
A still-soliciting eye, and such a tongue
That I am glad I have not, though not to have it
Hath lost me in your liking.
230
Still soliciting means always begging, always selfishly looking for favours.
Lost means ruined, spoiled, trashed.
Lears responses by this time are appalling and petulant:

KING LEAR:
Better thou
Hadst not been born than not thave pleased me better.
France responds by asking if this is really all about someone who

prefers to act rather than broadcast their intentions?
KING OF FRANCE:
Is it but this? A tardiness in nature
Which often leaves the history unspoke
That it intends to do?
A tardiness in nature means a demure nature, a reticent disposition.
He wants Cordelia but he has the good grace to allow Burgundy his say
first (after all Lear was inviting Burgundys opinion first):
My lord of Burgundy,
What say you to the lady? Love's not love
When it is mingled with regards that stands
Aloof from thentire point. Will you have her?
She is herself a dowry.
240
Regards means considerations, concerns (in this case the dowry).

Stands aloof from thentire point means are separate from the main thing (love).
Frances questions to Burgundy form bookends to the good advice he

gives in-between; namely that real love isnt compromised by other
issues. Although France was not present when Cordelia wouldnt join
in the pageant of flattery, he is echoing her values precisely. The line
She is herself a dowry, is perfectly apposite to the themes in Lear.
Burgundy was viewing the land offered as the main prize, whereas
Act 1 Scene 1
France knows Cordelia herself is the real prize; Burgundy is interested

in what Cordelia represents but France is interested in Cordelia.
Burgundy appeals again to Lear to restore the initial deal, offering to
marry Cordelia as part of the bargain; but Lear is resolute:
BURGUNDY:
Royal Lear,
Give but that portion which yourself proposed,
And here I take Cordelia by the hand,
Duchess of Burgundy.
That portion means the original dowry (i.e. the amount first offered).
KING LEAR:
Nothing: I have sworn; I am firm.
Lears Nothing is a perfect counterpoint to Cordelias nothing

earlier. Lear is resolved that Nothing will come of Nothing.
Burgundy tells Cordelia that he is no longer interested:
BURGUNDY:
(To Cordelia)
I am sorry, then, you have so lost a father

That you must lose a husband.
Cordelia tells Burgundy that she has heard enough and that because
he is really after land and not herself, she would not wish to marry him
anyway:
CORDELIA:
Peace be with Burgundy!
Since that respect and fortunes are his love,
I shall not be his wife.
Since that means because, since, if, as.
Respect and fortunes means mercenary interests, affection for material things.
Where Lear has rejected Cordelia unjustly; Cordelia has rejected

Burgundy justly.
The King of France recognises the true value of Cordelia and expresses
amazement that her true worth has not been acknowledged. He
wishes to claim her for his own:
KING OF FRANCE:
Fairest Cordelia, that art most rich, being poor;
Most choice, forsaken; and most loved, despised.
Thee and thy virtues here I seize upon.
Be it lawful I take up what's cast away.
250
He remarks how strange it is that even though she is being coldly

neglected, his warm love for her still grows:
Gods, gods! 'Tis strange that from their cold'st neglect
My love should kindle to inflamed respect.
Kindle means grow greater (as a fire from a spark).
He tells Lear that Cordelia is precious to him, despite others devaluing

her. Fate has thrown her his way and no offer could persuade him to
part with her:
Thy dowerless daughter, King, thrown to my chance,
Is queen of us, of ours, and our fair France.
Not all the Dukes of waterish Burgundy
Can buy this unprized precious maid of me.
Thrown means cast, allotted (but also a pun on throne).
To my chance means to me by fate.
Waterish could mean having many rivers, but also carries the connotations of watered down,
weak, insipid, insubstantial, etc.
Unprized means undervalued, unappreciated, not prized.
He invites Cordelia to say her farewells and promises her a happier

future:
Bid them farewell, Cordelia, though unkind:.
Thou losest here, a better where to find.
260
Here means in this place.

Where means other place.
Once again a couplet has been used to summarize and conclude a

situation (lines 260-261).
Lear responds to Frances appraisal of Cordelia with a churlish rebuke.
His spiteful words are chilling and he will live to regret them:
Act 1 Scene 1
KING LEAR:
Thou hast her, France: let her be thine, for we
Have no such daughter, nor shall ever see
That face of hers again. Therefore be gone
Without our grace, our love, our benison.
Come, noble Burgundy.
Benison means blessing.
Flourish. Exeunt LEAR, BURGUNDY,

CORNWALL, ALBANY, GLOUCESTER and Attendants
KING OF FRANCE:
Bid farewell to your sisters.
CORDELIA:
The jewels of our father, with washed eyes
Cordelia leaves you. I know you what you are;
Jewels of our father means Goneril and Regan (who are treasured by Lear).
Washed eyes means tearful eyes (but could also mean cleansed vision as of one who now sees
clearly).
Cordelia is letting them know that she is not fooled by their show of
love she knows what they really are. And she is reluctant to call their
faults by their true name (so distasteful are they). Again the theme of
representation and reality is to the fore.
And, like a sister, am most loath to call
Your faults as they are named.
270
Like a sister means just like a sister.

Most loath means loathed, very reluctant.
As they are named means what they really are.
She invites them to look after the king, knowing that she is having to
leave him in the care of their false love. If she were still in favour, she
would see to it that he was looked after in a better place:
Love well our father.
To your professd bosoms I commit him.
But yet, alas, stood I within his grace,
I would prefer him to a better place.
So, farewell to you both.
REGAN:
Prescribe not us our duty.
Professed bosoms means loudly proclaimed warmth and love (from their big hearted words).
Commit means entrust (has connotations of someone relinquished to prison).
Within his grace means in his favour.
Prefer means recommend, suggest, advocate.
After Regan has just told Cordelia not to tell them what to do, Goneril
tells Cordelia to focus her attention on France suggesting that he has
charitably taken her. She adds callously that Cordelia has not been
dutiful and deserves her poor predicament:
GONERIL:
Let your study
Be to content your lord, who hath received you
At fortune's alms. You have obedience scanted,
And well are worth the want that you have wanted.
Study means concern, endeavour.
At fortunes alms means as an act of charity (as if Cordelia were a beggar who should be
grateful for whatever she gets).
Obedience scanted means failed to obey your father (scanted means stinted, as in
withholding, miserliness, ungiving).
The want that you have wanted refers to the lack of affection (from Lear) which Goneril
thinks matches Cordelias lack of affection (for Lear).
Cordelia tells her sisters that in time their deceits will be exposed and
they will be shamed. It is worth noting that (like Gonerils previous two
lines) Cordelia answers in another summarizing couplet:
CORDELIA:
Time shall unfold what plighted cunning hides:
Who covers faults, at last with shame derides.
Well may you prosper!
280
Unfold means reveal, expose, open for all to see.

Plighted means pleated, as in folds in a garment (here it refers to Goneril and Regans deceit
which is concealed).
Who covers faults, at last with shame derides could refer to time itself, which may at first
conceal a fault only to expose it later (thus Time, who...); or it may refer to those who strive to
deceive, who will be exposed and shamed later on.
KING OF FRANCE:
Come, my fair Cordelia.
Exeunt KING OF FRANCE and CORDELIA
Once Cordelia and France have gone, Goneril has a private

conversation with Regan concerning their father. She raises issues
Act 1 Scene 1
which she believes are important and will affect them both. She
believes Lear will leave his palace this evening (to stay with her):
GONERIL:
Sister, it is not little I have to say of what most
nearly appertains to us both. I think our father will
hence tonight.
Appertains means concerns (the nearly suggests that she is referring to growing concerns).
Hence means go hence (i.e. leave his palace - to stay with me).
It is worth noting Gonerils change from verse (earlier) to prose

indicating a change in tone. Goneril and Regans false posturing is now
replaced (in private) with open cynicism and obvious plotting.
Regan agrees that Lear will leave his castle this evening, confirming
that he intends to stay with Goneril - adding that the following month
he will stay with her:
REGAN:
That's most certain, and with you; next month with us.
Goneril then comments on her fathers mood swings and his obvious
lack of judgement, especially in disinheriting his once favourite,
Cordelia:
GONERIL:
You see how full of changes his age is. The
observation we have made of it hath not been little. He
always loved our sister most; and with what poor
judgment he hath now cast her off appears too grossly.
290
Grossly means obviously (i.e. his lack of judgement is now plain to see; obvious to everyone).
Earlier Lear referred to Cordelia as our joy; France referred to her as

your best object and here Goneril confirms that Lear always loved
our sister most.
REGAN:
'Tis the infirmity of his age. Yet he hath ever but slenderly
known himself.
Regans reply (above) is a very important text. It strikes at the very

heart of Lears problem - He doesnt really know himself. He lacks self-
awareness and is under-developed as a human being. He may well

have hidden beneath his crown to play the king but now that he is
giving up that role, he doesnt know who he really is. It is clear, at least
in this first scene, he was being a King to his daughters when what
they really needed was a father.
Goneril suggests that Lear will get worse. His impulsive nature will be
compounded with the infirmities of old age:
GONERIL:
The best and soundest of his time hath been but
rash; then must we look from his age to receive not
alone the imperfections of long-ingraffed condition, but
therewithal the unruly waywardness that infirm and choleric
years bring with them.
Rash means impulsive, impetuous, hot-headed.
Look means expect, anticipate.
Long-ingraffed means habitual, deep rooted.
The rashness of which Goneril speaks was first noted by Kent earlier
when he urged Lear to Check this hideous rashness (Act 1, Scene 1,
Line 148). Regan believes that Lears impulsive behaviour, as
evidenced by Kents expulsion, will continue:
REGAN:
Such unconstant starts are we like to have from
him as this of Kent's banishment.
300
Unconstant starts means unpredictable impulses.
Although Goneril and Regan are morally despicable, they are

nevertheless perceptive (like Edmund). Goneril draws attention to the
way Lear parted from France:
GONERIL:
There is further compliment of leave-taking
between France and him.
Compliment means formal courtesy, protocol (in this context, it could also mean example,
demonstration).
Then she invites Regan to present a united front to deal with their
father because he is becoming troublesome:
Act 1 Scene 1
Pray you, let us hit together.

If our father carry authority with such disposition as he
bears, this last surrender of his will but offend us.
Hit means agree, be of one accord.
This last surrender means the land and power he has just bequeathed to Goneril and Regan.
Offend us means become a problem to us.
In essence, Goneril is saying if hes going to retain any power and

behave so unpredictably, then it will be a problem for us (now that
hes given everything away and wants to lodge with us in turns).
Regan suggests they consider what might be their best approach.
Goneril advises that action is needed and urgently:
REGAN:
We shall further think of it.
GONERIL:
We must do something, and i' th heat.
Exeunt
Do notice how this contrasts with Regans think in the previous line.
I th heat means in the heat, very soon (i.e. strike while the iron is hot).
In these exchanges Goneril, the eldest, appears to be a stronger

driving force than Regan. But what Regan lacks in initiative, she more
than makes up for in cruelty (as we shall see).
Act 1 Scene 1
Thank you
- for sampling Act 1, Scene 1 of my 500 page
Guide to Shakespeares King Lear.
I hope you enjoyed it?
What Happens in Shakespeares King Lear

Is available from any bookstore (just give them the
ISBN 9781-291-635-072) or order online from
The Book Depository - http://www.bookdepository.com/WhatHappens-Shakespeares-King-Lear-NickBuchanan/9781291635072 (free delivery worldwide)
(continued)...
Amazon U.K. - http://amzn.to/1mMC1zl

Amazon U.S. - http://amzn.to/1rlQ2Jz
Amazon Canada - http://amzn.to/1nI2vmL

Lulu Publishing - http://bit.ly/1iwP1F9
Barnes & Noble - http://bit.ly/1iwPdE8
etc...
I hope this helps - and thank you very much, I

appreciate your interest.
You might like the Facebook page

associated with the book (and all
things King Lear)
www.facebook.com/shakespeareskinglear - let me know

what you think.
Here are some of the Unique aspects of this book:
Theres a chapter on some key versions of the

play (On the Stage and On the Page)
Theres a chapter citing all the evidences for

Shakespeare actually being Shakespeare (Was
Shakespeare Shakespeare?)
When the pages are fanned there are markers for
Act 1 Scene 1
easy navigation (by fanning the pages one can see

where Act 4, Scene 6 is, for example)
Theres a chapter explaining early versions (Folio

and Quarto) etc.
Theres a chapter for actors and directors on

how to play Shakespeare.
There are charts which show the proportion of

prose to poetry, and the length of this play in
relation to all of Shakespeares others.
There is a 20 page flow chart in the back which

identifies each characters journey through the play
Act by Act and Scene by Scene so someone playing
Lear can see at a glance which scenes they are in and
which they are not as well as what key things happen
for them when they are on stage.
Theres a short piece on two of the most famous

depictions of Shakespeare (The Chandos and the
Droeshout portraits)
The attractive book design will be echoed by a

follow up book on another very popular
Shakespeare play (which begins a series).
Difficult words are defined immediately next

to the text in which they occur (so no bouncing up and
down page to footnotes and noting line numbers or
worse thumbing to the back pages).
The whole text is annotated and discussed as

a kind of walk-through guide.
Key themes are cross referenced and identified

using exact line numbers.
Shakespeares words are clearly identified

(being in grey boxes and indented) and my annotations
and definitions are left aligned.
I sincerely hope this book helps to illuminate

Shakespeares amazing text.
- Nick Buchanan
n.buchanan@hotmail.co.uk

King Lear Text Book - Act 1 - Scene 1

Enviado por

Dados do documento

Direitos autorais

Formatos disponíveis

Compartilhar este documento

Compartilhar ou incorporar documento

Opções de compartilhamento

Você considera este documento útil?

Este conteúdo é inapropriado?

Direitos autorais:

Formatos disponíveis

King Lear Text Book - Act 1 - Scene 1

Enviado por

Direitos autorais:

Formatos disponíveis

What Happens in Shakespeares King Lear by Nick Buchanan

What Happens in Shakespeares King Lear by Nick Buchanan

What Happens in Shakespeares King Lear by Nick Buchanan

All rights reserved

This is the Second Edition of this book

What Happens in Shakespeares King Lear by Nick Buchanan

For my mother and father

What Happens in Shakespeares King Lear by Nick Buchanan

What Happens in Shakespeares King Lear by Nick Buchanan

What Happens in Shakespeares King Lear by Nick Buchanan

Enter KENT, GLOUCESTER and EDMUND

Gloucesters reply contains arcane words which we are not familiar

What Happens in Shakespeares King Lear by Nick Buchanan

There are many financial puns above...values...weighed...my charge...

Study deserving means do everything I can to deserve your favour.

No sooner are Edmund and Kent introduced, and Gloucester has

We means I. Lear is using the Royal plural.

What Happens in Shakespeares King Lear by Nick Buchanan

antithesis in the above passage; the firmness of fast is followed by

Lears intent - that future troubles may be avoided by means of this

We means I (Lear is using the Royal plural).

Ironically, the three things Goneril claims to hold dear eye-sight,

What Happens in Shakespeares King Lear by Nick Buchanan

With a love which makes words poor and speech inadequate;

Breath means words, language.

As the play unfolds it becomes clear that Goneril is professing a love in

Many productions have a Cordelia who is coldly resolute, and even

The King, flattered by Gonerils fiction, offers her a generous portion

If Lear were really dividing his land according to each daughters

Regans response amounts to I love you in the same way as Goneril,

That self means exact, identical.

What Happens in Shakespeares King Lear by Nick Buchanan

Regan is suggesting that Lear is her solitary source of happiness; that

Cordelia knows that words fail to accurately describe or express

Finally, Lear invites Cordelia to say sweet words in order to gain an

What Happens in Shakespeares King Lear by Nick Buchanan

Lear continues to treat Love as a commodity which can be used to

All means with all of their being, entirely.

Lear regards Cordelias love as scant and meagre. However it is clear

Although Cordelia is being courageous and showing great integrity,

What Happens in Shakespeares King Lear by Nick Buchanan

Cordelia has tried to correct Lear, but again the misunderstandings

Then, rashly he disowns her as his daughter swearing to disclaim her

Lear renounces any fatherliness towards Cordelia, severing any

In his rage, which is really a measure of his misplaced hurt, Lear

But Lear is unrelenting:

What Happens in Shakespeares King Lear by Nick Buchanan

Lears concession that he loved Cordelia most, further explains Kents

Hence, and avoid my sight!

Lear gives away Cordelias portion to Goneril and Regan, mistaking

He then says he will stay with each of them - alternating on a monthly

Finally, he announces that he will be King in name only, that he will

What Happens in Shakespeares King Lear by Nick Buchanan

Whom I have ever honoured as my king,

Patron means benefactor.

Lear, impatient with Kents endless preface (Royal Lear, whom...in my

Many commentators believe that the previous line shows Lear

Best consideration means wise and careful reflection.

But Lear will hear none of it:

What Happens in Shakespeares King Lear by Nick Buchanan

also where it will lead (the implications and consequences). He offers

ALBANY and CORNWALL:

It should be remembered that Kents opposition to the King has been

What Happens in Shakespeares King Lear by Nick Buchanan