King Lear GradeSaver ClassicNote

ClassicNote on King Lear
Table of Contents
Biography of Shakespeare, William (1564-1616)................................................................................................1
About King Lear.....................................................................................................................................................4
Character List.........................................................................................................................................................6
Lear, King of Britain..................................................................................................................................6
King of France...........................................................................................................................................6
Duke of Burgundy......................................................................................................................................6
Duke of Cornwall.......................................................................................................................................6
Duke of Albany..........................................................................................................................................6
Earl of Kent................................................................................................................................................7
Earl of Gloucester......................................................................................................................................7
Edgar, son to Gloucester............................................................................................................................7
Edmund, bastard son to Gloucester...........................................................................................................7
Old Man, tenant to Gloucester...................................................................................................................7
Doctor........................................................................................................................................................8
Lear's Fool..................................................................................................................................................8
Oswald, steward to Goneril........................................................................................................................8
A Captain under Edmund's command.......................................................................................................8
Gentleman loyal to Lear.............................................................................................................................8
Goneril, daughter to Lear...........................................................................................................................8
Regan, daughter to Lear.............................................................................................................................9
Cordelia, daughter to Lear.........................................................................................................................9
Short Summary....................................................................................................................................................10
Act I:........................................................................................................................................................10
Act II:.......................................................................................................................................................10
Act III:......................................................................................................................................................11
Act IV:.....................................................................................................................................................12
Act V:.......................................................................................................................................................13
Summary and Analysis of Act I..........................................................................................................................15
Act I Summary:........................................................................................................................................15
scene i:.....................................................................................................................................................15
scene ii:....................................................................................................................................................15
scene iii:...................................................................................................................................................16
scene iv:...................................................................................................................................................16
Table of Contents
Summary and Analysis of Act I
scene v:.....................................................................................................................................................17
Act I Analysis:.........................................................................................................................................17
Summary and Analysis of Act II.........................................................................................................................21
Act II Summary:......................................................................................................................................21
scene i:.....................................................................................................................................................21
scene ii:....................................................................................................................................................21
scene iii:...................................................................................................................................................22
scene iv:...................................................................................................................................................22
Act II Analysis:........................................................................................................................................23
Summary and Analysis of Act III.......................................................................................................................26
Act III Summary:.....................................................................................................................................26
scene i:.....................................................................................................................................................26
scene ii:....................................................................................................................................................26
scene iii:...................................................................................................................................................26
scene iv:...................................................................................................................................................27
scene v:.....................................................................................................................................................27
scene vi:...................................................................................................................................................28
scene vii:..................................................................................................................................................28
Act III Analysis:.......................................................................................................................................29
Summary and Analysis of Act IV.......................................................................................................................32
Act IV Summary:.....................................................................................................................................32
scene i:.....................................................................................................................................................32
scene ii:....................................................................................................................................................32
scene iii:...................................................................................................................................................33
scene iv:...................................................................................................................................................33
scene v:.....................................................................................................................................................33
scene vi:...................................................................................................................................................34
scene vii:..................................................................................................................................................35
Act IV Analysis:......................................................................................................................................35
Summary and Analysis of Act V.........................................................................................................................39
Act V Summary:......................................................................................................................................39
scene i:.....................................................................................................................................................39
ii
Table of Contents
Summary and Analysis of Act V
scene ii:....................................................................................................................................................39
scene iii:...................................................................................................................................................39
Act V Analysis:........................................................................................................................................41
Related Links........................................................................................................................................................44
About Shakespearean Theater:...........................................................................................................................45
Author of ClassicNote and Sources....................................................................................................................47
Essay: Folly of the Fool........................................................................................................................................48
Quiz 1.....................................................................................................................................................................50
Quiz 1 Answer Key...............................................................................................................................................58
Quiz 2.....................................................................................................................................................................59
Quiz 2 Answer Key...............................................................................................................................................64
Copyright Notice..................................................................................................................................................65
iii
Biography of Shakespeare, William (1564-1616)

In the mid-sixteenth century, William Shakespeare's father, John Shakespeare, moved to the idyllic town of
Stratford-upon-Avon. There, he became a successful landowner, moneylender, glove-maker, and dealer of wool
and agricultural goods. In 1557, he married Mary Arden.
John Shakespeare lived during a time when the middle class was expanding in both size and wealth, allowing its
members more freedoms and luxuries as well as a louder voice in local government. He took advantage of the
change in times and in 1557 became a member of the Stratford Council. This event marked the beginning of his
illustrious political career. By 1561, he was elected one of the town's fourteen burgesses and subsequently
served successively as constable, one of two chamberlains, and alderman. In these positions, he administered
borough property and revenues. In 1567, he became bailiffthe highest elected office in Stratford and the
equivalent of a modern-day mayor.
Town records indicate that William Shakespeare was John and Mary's third child. His birth is unregistered, but
legend pins it on April 23, 1564, possibly because it is known that April 23 is the day on which he died 52 years
later. In any event, his baptism was registered with the town on April 26, 1564. Little is known about his
childhood, although it is generally assumed that he attended the local grammar school, the King's New School.
The school was staffed by Oxford-educated faculty who taught the students mathematics, natural sciences,
logic, Christian ethics, and classical language and literature.
Shakespeare did not attend university, which was not at all unusual for the time. University education was
reserved for wealthy sons of the elite, mostly those who wanted to become clergymen. The numerous classical
and literary references in Shakespeares plays are a testament, however, to the excellent education he received in
grammar school (and to his ability as an autodidact). His early plays in particular draw on the works of Seneca
and Plautus. Even more impressive than his formal education is the wealth of general knowledge exhibited in
his works. His vocabulary exceeds that of any other English writer by a wide margin.
In 1582, at the age of eighteen, William Shakespeare married the twenty-six-year-old Anne Hathaway. Their
first daughter, Susanna, was baptized only six months latera fact that has given rise to speculation concerning
the circumstances surrounding their marriage. In 1585, Anne bore twins, baptized Hamnet and Judith
Shakespeare. Hamnet died at the age of eleven, by which time Shakespeare was already a successful playwright.
Around 1589, Shakespeare wrote his supposed first play, Henry VI, Part 1. Sometime between his marriage and
writing this play, he moved to London, where he pursued a career as a playwright and actor.
Although many records of Shakespeare's life as a citizen of Stratfordincluding marriage and birth
certificateshave survived, very little information exists about his life as a young playwright. Legend
characterizes Shakespeare as a roguish young man who was once forced to flee London under suspect
circumstances perhaps having to do with his love life. But the little written information we have of his early
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years does not necessarily confirm this characterization.

In any case, young Will was not an immediate and universal success. The earliest written record of
Shakespeare's life in London comes from a statement by the rival playwright Robert Greene. In his Groatsworth
of Witte (1592), Greene calls Shakespeare an "upstart crow...[who] supposes he is as well able to bombast out a
blank verse as the best of you." While this is hardly high praise, it does suggest that Shakespeare rattled the
London theatrical hierarchy even at the beginning of his career. It is natural, in retrospect, to attribute Greene's
complaint to jealousy of Shakespeare's ability, but of course we can't be sure.
With Richard III, Henry VI, The Comedy of Errors, and Titus Andronicus under his belt, Shakespeare was a
popular playwright by 1590.* The year 1593, however, marked a major leap forward in his career. By the end of
that year, he secured a prominent patron in the Earl of Southampton and his Venus and Adonis was published. It
remains one of the first of his known works to be printed and was a huge success. Next came The Rape of
Lucrece. Shakespeare had also made his mark as a poet and most scholars agree that the majority of
Shakespeare's sonnets were probably written in the 1590s.
In 1594, Shakespeare returned to the theater and became a charter member of the Lord Chamberlain's Mena
group of actors who changed their name to the King's Men when James I ascended to the throne. By 1598, he
was the "principal comedian" for the troupe; by 1603, he was "principal tragedian." He remained associated
with the organization until his death. Although acting and playwriting were not considered noble professions at
the time, successful and prosperous actors were relatively well respected. Shakespeares success left him with a
fair amount of money, which he invested in Stratford real estate. In 1597, he purchased the second largest house
in Stratfordthe New Placefor his parents. In 1596, Shakespeare applied for a coat of arms for his family, in
effect making himself a gentleman. Consequently, his daughters made good matches, marrying wealthy men.
The same year that he joined the Lord Chamberlain's Men, Shakespeare wrote Romeo and Juliet, along with
Love's Labour's Lost, The Taming of the Shrew, and several other plays. Two of his greatest tragedies, Hamlet
and Julius Caesar, followed around 1600. Hamlet is widely considered the first modern play for its
multi-faceted main character and unprecedented depiction of his psyche.
The first decade of the seventeenth century witnessed the debut performances of many of Shakespeares most
celebrated works, including many of his so-called history plays: Othello in 1604 or 1605, Antony and Cleopatra
in 1606 or 1607, and King Lear in 1608. The last play of his to be performed was probably King Henry VIII in
either 1612 or 1613.
William Shakespeare lived until 1616. His wife Anna died in 1623 at the age of 67. He was buried in the
chancel of his church at Stratford. The lines above his tomballegedly written by Shakespeare himselfread:
Good friend, for Jesus' sake forbear
To dig the dust enclosed here.
Blessed be the man that spares these stones

And cursed be he that moves my bones.
*The dates of composition and performance of almost all of Shakespeare's plays remain uncertain. The dates
used in this note are widely agreed upon by scholars, but there is still significant debate around when and
where he wrote most of his plays.
About King Lear

The story of King Lear and his three daughters existed in some form up to four centuries before Shakespeare
recorded his vision. Lear was a British King who reigned before the birth of Christ, allowing Shakespeare to
place his play in a Pagan setting. Predated by references in British mythology to Lyr or Ler, Geoffrey of
Monmouth recorded a story of King Lear and his daughters in his Historia Regum Britanniae of 1137. Dozens
of versions of the play were then written up, highlighting certain events, such as the love test, or expanding
upon the story, such as creating a sequel where Cordelia committed suicide. Most of these versions had a happy
ending, though untrue to the story, where peace was restored under the reign of Lear and Cordelia. Shakespeare
however had no interest in writing a tragicomedy.
The main version that Shakespeare had likely read and from which he had definitely borrowed was The True
Chronicle History of King Leir and his Three Daughters. He also borrowed from Raphael Holinshed's Chronicle
of England, Scotland, and Ireland (who adopted the story from Monmouth), Edmund Spencer's The Faerie
Queene, Sir Philip Sidney's The Countess of Pembroke's Arcadia (from which Shakespeare drew his subplot),
and John Higgins' A Mirror For Magistrates. He stole pieces and ideas from these versions to create the type of
story he wanted to tell. For instance, The True Chronicle provides the basis of the story, though sentimentalizing
it by ignoring the sequel. "Leir" is betrayed by two of his daughters but is reconciled to his youngest at the end.
"Cordella" is accompanied by a Fool-type character who is loyal to her and Leir is reseated on the throne after
beating Gonerill and Regan's armies. Moreover, Shakespeare left out main components of the earlier stories of
Lear and created wholly new ones as well. Most considerable of the changes was the creation of a subplot and
Lear's descent to madness.
In Shakespeare's time, numerous events, historical considerations, relationships, and cultural trends influenced
his writing of King Lear. Scholars tend to believe that the play was written after Othello and before Macbeth,
thus assigning it to 1604-1605. Further proof of this comes from the apparent influence the 1603 texts, A
Declaration of Egregious Popishe Impostures, by Samuel Harsnett, and John Florio's translation of Montaigne's
Essays, had on Shakespeare's conglomeration of the story. Critics have noted that more than one hundred words
found in King Lear which Shakespeare had never before used can be found in Florio's translation. In addition,
Montaigne's famous essay, "Apology for Raymond Sebonde," apparently refers to the same major themes which
Shakespeare's King Lear presents. He also borrowed from a very convenient contemporary true story of a
gentleman pensioner of Queen Elizabeth, Sir Brian Annesley, whose daughters tried to get him declared insane
in late 1603 so that they could legally take control of his estate.The youngest daughter, named Cordell,
intervened on his behalf.
As Shakespeare's players were the king's men, he knew they would have to perform for King James I and his
court. Subsequently, Shakespeare imbued his plays with certain aspects that would appeal to James. For
instance, the dangers of a divided kingdom was often the topic of James' speeches because of his wish to unite
Scotland with England. Further topics from the time which Shakespeare took into account were the honor and
About King Lear
wisdom endowed to the elderly as opposed to the rash ambition of the young as well as the ritualistic reverence
showed to royalty. Shakespeare himself had moved into his period of writing tragedies as he felt they were more
respected by critics although audiences generally preferred comedies. After his publication of Julius Caesar, he
was looked at as the greatest tragedian since Sophocles and was at the zenith of his literary capacity. The play
was first performed for the King in December of 1605. It was first published in a quarto in 1608 and titled M
William Shak-speare His Historie, of King Lear. A completely revised version was reprinted by Shakespeare in
a 1623 First Folio edition, now referred to as The Tragedy of King Lear. The two versions were conflated in the
eighteenth century until editors realized how significantly different the two were and now each edition and the
conflated text can be found.
About King Lear
Character List
Lear, King of Britain
An old king, he originally divides the kingdom among his three daughters but ends up refusing it to Cordelia as
she will not flatter him like her sisters. He banishes her, though regretting this action once living with Regan and
Goneril who are ungrateful and treat him horribly. He escapes to the woods and encounters poor Tom, a
madman, with whom he sympathizes. He wishes to reduce himself to essential man. He then goes mad. Kent
and Gloucester help him to Dover where he is reunited with Cordelia. They lead the battle with France against
Albany and Edmund, but lose and Cordelia and Lear are taken prisoner. After Cordelia's death, Lear grieves and
dies.
King of France
A suitor for Cordelia, France is not turned away by Cordelia's lost inheritance but finds her more attractive. He
marries her and helps her try to avenge the maltreatment of Lear. He is absent for the large battle at the end.
Duke of Burgundy
The other suitor for Cordelia, he refuses to accept her without the promised inheritance.
Duke of Cornwall
Regan's husband, Cornwall matches her for cruelty and vileness. He puts Kent in the stocks and places his trust
in Edmund once Edmund betrays his father. Most cruelly, he blinds Gloucester. He receives a fatal blow from a
servant who defends Gloucester.
Duke of Albany
Goneril's husband, he appears at first to be similar to Cornwall. We soon learn that there is a conflict, likely for
land, between the two of them. Once Albany learns of Goneril and Regan's harsh treatment of Lear, he becomes
highly moral and is enraged with Goneril, calling her a monster. He leads the fight versus France but intends to
take mercy on Cordelia and Lear. He aids Edgar in killing Edmund and tries to right some of the wrongs at the
end by reinstating Lear's absolute power. After Lear dies, he names Kent and Edgar as joint rulers.
Character List
Earl of Kent
Outraged by Lear's disinheritance of Cordelia, he steps in to support her decision. He too is banished. Ever
loyal, he returns in disguise as a servant named Caius and aids Lear in this position. He exchanges
communication with Cordelia and accompanies Lear to Dover. He reveals himself finally but the King is too
mad to realize who Kent is and thus may never know. Kent is dying at the end and thus does not accept Albany's
offer to rule jointly with Edgar.
Earl of Gloucester
The parallel character to Lear in the subplot, Gloucester is tricked by his bastard son Edmund into thinking that
Edgar wishes to kill him. He trusts Edmund with his secrets until it is revealed that Edmund has betrayed him.
He is blinded for being a traitor and helping Lear escape to Dover. Edgar, as poor Tom, leads him to Dover
where he is tricked out of committing suicide. He sees Lear in his madness and wishes it upon himself. The
news of Edgar's true identity overwhelms him, cracking his heart.
Edgar, son to Gloucester

Hunted by Gloucester's men due to Edmund's trickery, Edgar disguises himself as poor Tom of Bedlam, a
demonic madman, who believes the foul fiend is torturing him. He provides a character for Lear to sympathize
with during his encroaching madness and leads his blinded father to Dover where he saves him from suicide.
Using many different disguises, he kills Oswald, alerts Albany to Goneril's adultery, and slays Edmund. Once
his identity is revealed, he informs the audience of the events they missed and becomes King at the end.
Edmund, bastard son to Gloucester

Resentful of his illegitimacy and having a cruel drive for power, he plots against his brother and father and
succeeds. Once Cornwall dies, he gains even more power and Goneril and Regan vie for his hand. He plans to
kill Cordelia and Lear after beating them in battle so that he can rule over a united Britain. He is forced to
confess his crimes by Albany and killed by Edgar.
Old Man, tenant to Gloucester

A faithful attendant to Gloucester, he leads him through the woods after he is blinded. Gloucester chooses poor
Tom to continue leading him but asks the old man to meet them later with clothes for Tom.
Earl of Kent
Doctor
Cordelia's physician, he gives Lear a sleeping pill in an attempt to restore him to sanity.
Lear's Fool
The hired court Fool, he attends Lear regularly and points out the truths which are missed or ignored. Upset by
Cordelia's banishment, he ridicules Lear for being foolish enough to banish the good daughter and trust the evil
ones. He further mocks his decision to give up his authority so fully. Once Lear goes mad, the Fool seems
incredibly sane, making Lear remain dressed and playing along with his ideas of a trial versus Goneril and
Regan.
Oswald, steward to Goneril

Loyal to Goneril, Oswald helps her insult Lear. As a result, Kent's argument with him at Gloucester's castle
lands Kent in the stocks. He acts as messenger between Goneril and her sister and Edmund. He alerts Goneril
that Albany has changed and he carries her love letter for Edmund. Edgar intercepts it and kills him.
A Captain under Edmund's command

He is given instructions by Edmund to hang Cordelia and then is killed by Lear when he is in the process of
doing so.
Gentleman loyal to Lear

Kent sends him to Dover with news of Lear's condition and a ring to identify him to Cordelia. Kent later finds
him in Dover and he reports to Kent on Cordelia's reaction to the information which he had brought earlier in
the play.
Goneril, daughter to Lear

The eldest daughter, she contrives to strip Lear of his power from the beginning, flattering him and leading her
sister in how to act. She drives Lear from her house with coldness and then aids Regan in rejecting him and
throwing him out into the storm. Disgusted by her husband's weakness, she tries to persuade Edmund to kill him
so they can marry. Her letter allows Albany proof against Edmund and herself. She poisons Regan out of
jealousy and then stabs herself when she realizes that Albany knows of her intentions.
Doctor
Regan, daughter to Lear

The other evil daughter, Regan conspires with Goneril to strip Lear of his power. She assists in sending Lear out
in the storm and also helps Cornwall punish Gloucester. She herself grabs the sword and kills the servant who
defends Gloucester. She wants Edmund for her husband after Cornwall's death and is very jealous that he is
intimate with Goneril. She is poisoned by Goneril and dies.
Cordelia, daughter to Lear

The good daughter, Cordelia refuses to insincerely flatter her father with false estimations of love and is
disinherited. France marries her and she becomes Queen. We hear of her knowledge of Lear's mistreatment and
her movement to Dover with the French army through Kent. She takes Lear to a doctor to treat his madness. She
and Lear are captured by Edmund when the French lose the war. Lear hopes to spend quality time with her, but
she is hanged by Edmund before Albany can send help. Lear carries her body into the final scene and dies with
her in his arms.
Regan, daughter to Lear
Short Summary
Act I:
The Earls Kent and Gloucester discuss the division of King Lear's kingdom. Lear has divided the kingdom into
three parts, allotting the largest to Cordelia, his most favored of the three daughters. Lear first addresses his two
eldest daughters, asking them to express their love for him before they and their husbands will receive the land
he has allotted for them. It is a selfish request and Goneril, the eldest, responds readily. Regan answers his
request next, attempting to outdo her sister, and thus says that she has given all of her love to Lear. Cordelia
finds her sisters extremely boorish in their exaggerated and completely insincere flattery and refuses to
participate. Upon her turn, she tells Lear that she loves him as her duty as a daughter requires but no more, as
she will save some of her love for her soon to be husband. Lear becomes extremely angry but Cordelia still
refuses to stoop to the level of her sisters. As a result, Lear strips Cordelia of her inheritance and her title. Kent
steps in to support Cordelia's behavior but Lear will hear none of it. Insulted by Kent's opposition, Lear banishes
him from the kingdom. The suitors then learn of Cordelia's position. Burgundy cannot accept her as a mate
without the promised entitlements but France finds her more endearing in her sincerity and makes her his wife,
Queen of France. Goneril and Regan plot to take all of Lear's power out of his hands quickly.
Edmund, Gloucester's bastard son, vows to steal the land and legitimacy of his half brother Edgar by
manipulating both father and brother against each other. His father sees him hiding a letter he is carrying and
forces him to show it. It is a fabricated letter from Edgar asking for Edmund's help in overturning their father.
Gloucester is enraged but Edmund tells him to not jump to conclusions until he can arrange a meeting between
himself and Edgar. Edmund then finds Edgar and alerts him to Gloucester's anger, suggesting he flee to
Edmund's house and stay armed.
Lear resides with Goneril, who plans to drive him out of her residence and to her sister's by pretending that his
knights and servants are creating havoc. She orders her servants to treat Lear coldly. Kent returns disguised and
becomes Lear's servant, Caius. Lear is outraged at Goneril's charges and the coldness against him and his train.
He curses Goneril and her unborn children before leaving for Regan's home. Albany reproaches Goneril for her
treatment of Lear. Goneril sends her servant, Oswald, to warn her sister.
Act II:
Edmund hears from a courier that there are rumors of conflict between Albany and Cornwall. He uses this idea
when he encounters Edgar, informing him that he has offended both parties and is in danger. Upon hearing
Gloucester, Edmund has Edgar draw his sword and then run off. Edmund wounds himself and pretends it was
received in his duel with Edgar because Edgar had wished to kill Gloucester. Gloucester sends men out to
capture Edgar and promises Edmund the land to which he has never been privileged. Regan and Cornwall, who
Short Summary
10
have traveled to Gloucester's castle to escape Lear's arrival, hear of Edgar's betrayal and place their trust with
Edmund.
Oswald and Kent meet at Gloucester's castle, both delivering messages. Kent insults him for his previous
treatment of Lear and begins to strike him. The noise brings Cornwall, Regan, Gloucester, and Edmund.
Cornwall and Regan place Kent in the stocks as punishment. Lear arrives to find him there but cannot believe
his own daughter and son-in-law were responsible. His Fool continuously ridicules his choices: chastising
Cordelia, trusting his other daughters, and giving up his authority. Lear sends Gloucester for Regan and
Cornwall but they refuse to see Lear until he threatens to wake them himself. They feign happiness in seeing
him. Lear entreats Regan to feel sympathy for him because of Goneril's treatment of him but Regan instead says
he should return to her for the intended month and apologize.
As Goneril arrives, he finally asks who put Kent in the stocks. Cornwall admits to it. Goneril and Regan unite to
oppose Lear, claiming that he does not need one hundred knights and servants. When Regan proclaims that he
could only have twenty-five with her, he wishes to return to Goneril whose previous promise of fifty must mean
she loves him more. The two sisters then lower the size of a train they will allow to ten, then five, and then
none. Lear is outraged and wishes to be with neither daughter, escaping out into the woods. Gloucester pleads
with them to allow Lear back inside as a storm is approaching, but they refuse.
Act III:
Kent encounters one of Lear's train and sends him to Dover with his purse and a ring to show Cordelia if he sees
her. He is to fill her and the others in as to Lear's condition and treatment. Lear is quickly becoming one with
the storm as he approaches madness, though he reasons that the heavens owe him less than his daughters did. He
rages on and on about betrayal and filial ingratitude. Lear admits that he has sinned but recognizes too that he
was even more sinned against. Kent tries to get Lear inside a hovel for shelter. The Fool prophecies that when
men are honest and sincere, England will fall apart. Lear sends the Fool into the hovel first but he comes out
screaming when he meets Edgar disguised as the beggar, poor Tom of Bedlam. Tom's babble illustrates his
demonic madness and Lear believes that he must have suffered from ungrateful daughters. Tom tells his history
as a servingman given over to lust, bringing Lear to question the make up of man. Lear himself approaches
unaccommodated, essential man. He attempts to strip off his clothes but the Fool stops him.
Gloucester confides in Edmund that he has received a letter with news of a movement to avenge the King. He
tells him to remain silent on the issue. Gloucester then goes to find Lear, unable to follow the orders of Regan
and Goneril, and hopes to take Lear to shelter. Lear would rather stay to talk with Tom, the "philosopher". Kent
suggests that Tom accompany Lear to shelter and they move to it. The Fool, Lear, and Tom muse over the
definition of a madman. Lear decides to hold a mock trial for Regan and Goneril and indict them for their
offenses, placing the Fool and Tom as the judges. Lear has lost his wits. Gloucester returns with news of Regan
and Goneril's plot against Lear's life. He has secured transportation for him and sends him off to Dover. Edgar
remains.
Act II:
11
Edmund eagerly uses Gloucester's confidence to forward his means by divulging it to Cornwall. He pretends to
be sad that he is betraying his father. Cornwall makes him the new Earl of Gloucester, accepts him as a son, and
calls for a search for Gloucester. He then sends Goneril and Edmund to Albany so that Edmund will not be
present for his father's punishment. Regan and Goneril call for Gloucester to be hanged or blinded. Gloucester is
brought to Regan and Cornwall, who tie him up. Gloucester is shocked by the rudeness of his guests. Once they
tell him they have his letter, he admits that he has sent Lear to Dover because of the horrible cruelty of his
daughters. Cornwall blinds one of Gloucester's eyes. A servant interjects angrily, wounding Cornwall, and
Regan slays him. Cornwall then blinds the other eye as well and Regan notifies Gloucester that Edmund was the
one who informed against him. Gloucester realizes that he has wronged Edgar. He is turned out into the storm,
aided by a few loyal servants.
Act IV:
Gloucester is led by an old man though he wishes to be left alone. He prays to be able to see his son Edgar
again. When they come upon poor Tom, Gloucester chooses to allow Tom to lead him because the time had
come where madmen were leading the blind. Gloucester asks to be taken to a high cliff in Dover where he can
commit suicide. He gives Tom his purse in an effort to better balance the economic inequality of the world.
When they reach Dover, Edgar tricks his father into thinking his has climbed the steep hill. Thus when he tries
to fall of the cliff, he merely falls flat. Before he falls, he blesses Edgar. Edgar runs back to him, pretending to
be another stranger, and tells him that it was a miracle that he fell and did not die. He explains that a spirit left
him at the summit, insinuating that poor Tom was a spirit and Gloucester believes him, though depressed that he
is not even allowed death.
Goneril and Edmund are greeted by Oswald who alerts them to Albany's reverse in attitude. He is pleased by the
invasion of France and displeased by Edmund. Goneril sends Edmund back to Cornwall, with a vow to unite as
mates and rulers. She finds her husband enraged against her for the treatment he has heard she and Regan bore
against Lear. He would tear her apart if she were not a woman. He then learns that Gloucester has been blinded
and that Cornwall died from a wound caused by the servant defending him. Goneril feels torn about Cornwall's
death. Albany learns that Edmund informed against Gloucester and he promises to avenge Gloucester's
blindness. Regan is then greeted by Oswald. She remarks that they should have killed Gloucester as his situation
arouses too much sympathy. Edmund is supposed to be looking for him. She is worried that Edmund and her
sister are planning to become intimate and she warns Oswald to remind Edmund of the promises he has made to
her.
Kent meets the gentleman he sent ahead to Dover and learns that the King of France has had to return, though
Cordelia and others remain. He asks how Cordelia received his message and is told that she was a mixture of
smiles and tears. Lear has not yet been reconciled to Cordelia because he is too ashamed to face her. She worries
that he has gone completely mad but the doctor assures her that rest should help. Lear stumbles upon Gloucester
and Edgar, rambling about the manipulation of his daughters and the evil nature of women. He recognizes
Gloucester's voice and mentions, ignorant of Edmund's betrayal, how his adulterous ways have been more
Act III:
12
fortunate than Lear's legitimate ones. Lear tells him that blindness should in fact help him to see and that
pretense is the largest flaw of most in authority. Cordelia's gentlemen find Lear and try to bring him to her but
he thinks he is being captured and runs away.
Oswald tracks Gloucester down and hopes to kill him. Edgar intercedes. They fight and Oswald falls. He tells
Edgar to give the letter he was carrying to Edmund. Edgar is infuriated to find that the letter is from Goneril and
is in reference to her wish to kill Albany and marry Edmund. Lear has been found and given a sleeping drug by
Cordelia's doctor. Cordelia thanks Kent for all of his support and goodwill toward the King. She bemoans the
the horrific treatment her sisters have shown him. Lear is brought into them, barely awake and does not
recognize them. Finally he understands that he is with Cordelia but is still very confused.
Act V:
Regan questions Edmund as to his relationship with Goneril. He promises that he is not intimately involved with
her. Goneril notes that she would rather lose to France than to her sister for Edmund's hand. Goneril and Albany
discuss the importance of being united with Regan to face France. Edgar, still disguised, finds Albany and
passes on the letter from Goneril. Edgar tells him to call by herald if he is needed again. Edmund soliloquizes on
the question of which sister to choose and decides to takes Goneril if she manages to kill Albany. He is most
concerned with ruling a reunited Britain.
The battle begins. Cordelia and Lear lead one army. Edgar leaves Gloucester safely while he fights on their side.
Edgar returns after the quick off stage war with the news that Lear and Cordelia have been taken prisoner.
Edmund is in charge of them and has them sent away to prison. Cordelia tries to be strong and Lear hopes the
time will be one where they can catch up and talk about life. Edmund hands a death note to a captain of his to
carry out. Albany praises Edmund for his acts of battle but reminds him he is a subordinate. Edmund lies, saying
that Cordelia and Lear are merely being retained. Regan declares that as her new partner Edmund is an equal,
which incites Goneril's jealousy. Albany responds with a claim of treason and challenges Edmund to a duel. Ill,
Regan is escorted out. The herald sounds the trumpet three times and a disguised Edgar appears to fight
Edmund. Edmund falls but Albany spares him until he can incriminate him. Albany quiets Goneril with the her
letter though she maintains she is above any law as she is the ruler of it. She flees his anger. Edmund admits his
guilt and Edgar reveals himself. In response to Albany's questioning, Edgar explains how he had been disguised
as a beggar and that he has led and cared for Gloucester until his death. He died, overwhelmed by happiness and
sadness, shortly after Edgar revealed his identity to him. Edgar was then met by Kent who also told of his
disguise, Lear's state, and his own coming death.
A gentleman brings in the knife Goneril used to kill herself after admitting that she poisoned Regan. The bodies
are called for. Kent comes hoping to bid Lear goodbye which reminds Albany to ask about Lear and Cordelia's
condition. Edmund informs them that he and Goneril had ordered Cordelia hanged so that it would look like a
suicide. A servant tries to stop it but Lear enters with Cordelia's body. He had killed the man who hanged her
but she does not live. Lear is inconsolable. Kent tries to say goodbye to him but Lear barely recognizes him and
Act IV:
13
likely does not understand that he has been undercover as his servant Caius all along. They are told Edmund is
dead. Albany gives Lear back absolute rule and Kent and Edgar their rights. Still swooning for Cordelia, Lear
dies. Albany then gives Kent and Edgar shared rule but Kent notes he will soon follow Lear, thus leaving Edgar
as the next King.
Act V:
14

Act I Summary:
scene i:
Gloucester and Kent, loyal to King Lear, objectively discuss his division of the kingdom (as Lear is preparing to
step down) and to which dukes, Cornwall and Albany, they believe it will equally fall. Kent is introduced to
Gloucester's illegitimate son, Edmund. Gloucester nonchalantly admits that the boy's breeding has been his
charge ever since impregnating another woman soon after his legitimate son, Edgar, was born. Kent is pleased
to meet Edmund. Gloucester mentions that Edmund has been nine years in military service and will return
shortly.
Lear enters and sends Gloucester to find France and Burgundy, Cordelia's suitors. He then begins to discuss the
partitioning of Britain he has devised to each of his three daughters and their husbands. Lear decides to ask each
of his daughters to express how much they love him before he hands over their piece of the kingdom. As oldest,
Goneril speaks first, expressing her love as all encompassing. Regan adds that she is enemy to other joys. Lear
gives each their parcel, wishing them well. Cordelia, as the youngest and most liked daughter, is saved the
choicest piece of land. However, she responds to her father's request by saying she has nothing to add. She loves
only as much as her obligation entitles and will save some of her love for a husband. Lear is enraged and hurt.
After giving her a few chances, he strips Cordelia of any title or relation. Kent intercedes on her behalf but he
too is estranged by Lear. Kent cries that honesty will continue to be his guide in any kingdom.
Cordelia's suitors enter. Lear apprises them of Cordelia's new state of non-inheritance. Burgundy cannot accept
her under the circumstances, but France finds her more appealing and takes her as his wife. Cordelia is not
unhappy to leave her sisters and leaves with France. Goneril and Regan conspire to take rule away from Lear
quickly as he is becoming more unreasonable.
scene ii:
The scene centers around Edmund, at first alone on stage, crying out against his position as bastard to the
material world. He is envious of Edgar, the legitimate son, and wishes to gain what he has by forging a
treasonous letter concerning Gloucester from Edgar. Gloucester enters, amazed at the events which have
occurred during the last scene. He wishes to know why Edmund is hiding a letter and demands to see it. He
shrewdly acts as if he is embarrassed to show it to Gloucester and continually makes excuses for Edgar's
apparent behavior. Gloucester reads the letter detailing "Edgar's" call to Edmund to take their father's land from
him. Edmund asks that he not make too quick a judgment before they talk to Edgar as perhaps he is simply
testing Edmund. He suggests forming a meeting where Edmund can ask Edgar about his proposals while
15
Gloucester listens in secret. Gloucester agrees, musing on the effects of nature and its predictions. He leaves
directly before Edgar enters. Edmund brings up the astronomical predictions he had discussed with Gloucester
and alerts Edmund that Gloucester is very upset with him, though he knows not why. Edmund offers to take
Edgar back to his lodging until he can bring he and Gloucester together and advises him to go armed. Edgar
leaves and Edmund notes that he will soon take his due through wit.
scene iii:
Scene iii reintroduces Goneril, as she is outraged by the offenses she contends Lear has been showing her since
moving into her residence. He has struck Oswald for criticizing his fool, his knights are riotous and so on, she
claims. Lear is out hunting. Goneril commands Oswald to allow her privacy from Lear and to treat Lear with
"weary negligence". She does not want him to be happy, hoping that he will move to Regan's where she knows
he will face the same contempt. She demands Oswald to treat his knights coldly as well. She leaves to write
Regan.
scene iv:
Kent enters, disguised and hoping to serve in secret as a servant to Lear so that he can help him though he is
condemned. Lear accepts to try him as a servant.Oswald comes in quickly before exiting again curtly. A knight
tells Lear that Goneril is not well and that Oswald answered him curtly as well. The knight fears Lear is being
treated wrongly. Lear had blamed himself for any coldness but agrees to look into a problem in Goneril's
household. Lear's fool has hidden himself since Cordelia's departure so Lear sends the knight for him. Oswald
reenters, showing Lear the negligence Goneril had suggested. Lear and Kent strike him, endearing Kent in
Lear's eyes. Oswald exits as Fool enters. Fool persistently mocks and ridicules Lear for his actions in scene i, his
mistreatment of Cordelia, trust in Goneril and Regan, and giving up of his authority. He calls Lear himself a
fool, noting he has given away all other titles. The fool notes that he is punished by Lear if he lies, punished by
the household if he speaks the truth, and often punished for staying silent.
Goneril harps on the trouble Lear and his retinue are causing, such as the insolence of Fool and the riotous
behavior of the knights. She states that he is not showing her the proper respect and consideration by allowing
these actions to occur. Lear is incredulous. Goneril continues by adding that as Lear's large, frenzied train
cannot be controlled she will have to ask him to keep fewer than his hundred knights. Outraged, Lear admits
that Goneril's offense makes Cordelia's seem small. As Albany enters, Lear curses Goneril with infertility or, in
its stead, a thankless child. He then finds that his train has already been halved and again rages against the
incredible impudence Goneril has shown him. He angrily leaves for Regan's residence. Albany does not approve
of Goneril's behavior and is criticized by her for being weak. Goneril sends Oswald with a letter to her sister,
detailing her fear that Lear is dangerous and should be curtailed as soon as possible.
scene ii:
16
scene v:
Impatient, Lear sends the disguised Kent to bring letters to Gloucester. The Fool wisely warns that Regan will
likely act no better than her sister had. He criticizes Lear for giving away his own home and place, using
examples such as a snail carrying his shell. Lear recognizes he will have to subdue his fatherly instincts toward
Regan as well. Fool points out that Lear has gotten old before he is wise. Lear cries out, praying that he will not
go mad.
Act I Analysis:
The kingdom's division as alluded to by Kent and Gloucester is strange in that it is not mentioned in the context
of Lear's daughters. The seeming arbitrariness this sheds on Lear's enactment of the love test provides a contrast
through which to view the misplaced importance Lear is placing on words, appearance, and position. We will
soon learn that Kent and Gloucester are two of the only men who could provide Lear with sound, sincere advice,
thus endowing their original take of the situation with a greater significance. They have no problem with Lear's
decision to divide the kingdom as he is old and is attempting to escape greater conflict after his death. Thus
Kent's revolt against Lear's actions arises not from Lear's initial undertaking but from his reaction to Cordelia.
Notice too that he does not protest when Lear asks for an estimation/competition for love from his daughters or
when Goneril and Regan respond in very coarse, superficial words. He only strikes against Lear's rule when
Lear does not notice the sincerity of Cordelia's words and then moves to strip her of his love and titles. This is
not only foolish but hurtful and unjust.
The love test was foolish but, on the surface, harmed little. Yet, Goneril and Regan likely knew that their sister
would not compete with them if their were extravagant enough in their claims of love toward their father. Of
course, they did not love him with their all, but in Lear's old and insecure state, they knew he would fall for their
insincerity and Cordelia would refrain from competing on such a hypocritical level. Notice the sonorous quality
of the sisters' names. The two oldest have very harsh, coarse sounding names, lacking in femininity or beauty.
Cordelia's name is much more melodic and feminine. This is the first constructed quality which sets her apart
from her sisters. Also pay attention to the inflated verse Goneril and Regan use when addressing their father as
opposed to the much harsher prose they regress to upon his exit in scene i. Their true voices are symbolized by
the harsh prose we receive from them when alone, just as their names reverberate with crudeness. Cordelia
however often speaks in rhyming couplets, a much more elevated form than her sisters, which allows her to be
further set apart from their hypocrisy. We also note that Kent will at times, especially in his defense of Cordelia,
slip into rhyming couplets. Shakespeare stresses the elevation of language to symbolize the true nature of
characters, highlighting Kent and Cordelia as honorable characters.
Cordelia frequently however understates her sincerity and true affections. She is aware that her sisters speak
superficially, employing terms of value and worth in expressing their love, and refuses to echo their hypocrisy,
thus responding more coldly than she likely otherwise would. Her asides to the audience give an unadulterated
scene v:
17
view into her thoughts, similar to the true voices of Goneril and Regan we meet at the end of scene i. Her
response "Nothing" echoes these asides instead of disguising them and illustrates to the reader how Cordelia as
a character is stripped of pretense and artifice. The idea is echoed literally and symbolically in Lear's comment
of scene iv, "Nothing can be made out of nothing" (I.iv.126). In the very same scene that Lear admits he has
overreacted toward Cordelia, though only at this point acknowledging that Goneril's offense is greater, he
perceives that truth and sincerity cannot be represented by pretense. Regardless of how well Lear has been
fooled by the artifice of his older daughters, he allows the Fool to counteract his elderly need for praise and
love. Not surprisingly in Shakespeare's plays, the Fool is often the least foolish, directing the lead characters to
their miscues in slightly comedic or condescending ways. His singing to Lear illustrates further the use of
language and the presentation of language which Shakespeare employs to distinguish between different
characters' qualities or the different intentions of single characters.
King Lear is a parable, encrusted with symbolic figures and actions toward a predicted and fabled end.
Suspension of disbelief must be enacted on a level as many readers are moved to question Lear's decision
making and early blindness toward truth and goodness. As one critic raises, how would Kent and France
recognize Cordelia's sincerity and inner beauty when her own father cannot? On a realistic level, Lear has
started to regress toward dementia and old age. We know by Kent and Gloucester's loyalty toward him, that he
had once been more reasonable. On the figurative and more appropriate level, Lear is a allegorical figure in a
parable and must move blindly toward this character demise in order to be resurrected to honesty and the
goodness his fallen daughter represents in the end. He committed a fatal and selfish human error which cannot
be mended without the journey and transformation he must undergo. The story of King Lear had been kicked
around in old British literature and lore, but Shakespeare appears to be the first to allow it to end as tragically as
the story's course first suggests. With this in mind, Lear's life is headed in an almost inevitable downward spiral.
The plot centers more around how Lear will handle this spiral and his conquering of artifice and insincerity.
Blindness is one of the most frequently employed metaphors in King Lear. Blindness will become a physical
problem for Gloucester later in the play, but its metaphoric weight is used to foreshadow and heighten this
development. Lear is blind to the blatant hypocrisy of his two oldest daughters from the first moment we meet
him. However, unlike the implication that he was once a more noble man since he has the support of seemingly
noble subcharacters, Kent and Gloucester, we are not given the impression that he ever knew well enough to
previously suspect Goneril or Regan of ingratitude or dishonesty. They have obviously shown their true colors
at some point before though since Cordelia responds in such a manner to alert us that she will not sink as low in
hypocrisy as her sisters will. For instance, she comments, "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" (I.i.231-233).
Thus, although Lear has obviously favored Cordelia, he has been blind to the inherent ingratitude of his two
other daughters and is foolish enough to trust them with his livelihood after more foolishly disinheriting
Cordelia and exiling Kent. A good example of this is presented in the very first scene. Lear cries to Kent, "Out
of my sight!" to which Kent retorts, "See better, Lear, and let me still remain/ The true blank of thine eye"
(I.i.158-159). He wishes to be allowed to remain the one who could center Lear's focus. Yet even when Kent
Act I Analysis:
18
reenters the play disguised, he cannot alter the course that Lear has begun. Lear becomes increasingly blind to
the truth around him. Sight, or the lack of it, is referenced a few scenes later more explicitly when Lear himself
notices that he has lost sight of what is important, so to say. He cries, "Does any here know me? This is not
Lear./ Does Lear walk thus? speak thus? Where are his eyes?" (I.iv.216-217). Kent cannot become his eyes as
the tragic plot and subplot move toward blindness and disillusion.
The subplot of child betraying sibling and father eerily and intentionally mirrors the plot of children betraying
father and father betraying child. Shakespeare's method of juxtaposing the two plots through the interspersing of
a scene relating to the plot with a scene centered around Edmund's sinister conspiracy allows the audience to
have a heightened awareness of the actions of one through the other. In both, the strong, honorable patriarch is
undone by the ingratitude of at least one of his children. Both patriarchs seem to have contributed slightly to the
misdeeds of their children. Gloucester directly separates his sons as legitimate and illegitimate and mentions it
frequently. He also notes that he sent Edmund away, likely because of his illegitimacy, for a long period of time
and plans to do so again. Stripped of property and title, one is less surprised by Edmund's move to undo his
destiny. However, Shakespeare creates in the characters of Edgar and Gloucester hearts which seem honorable
and trusting, making Edmund's plot to betray them more disgusting. Note that Gloucester immediately believes
the letter which Edmund shows him, not at once questioning Edmund's honesty although it would be doubtful
that Gloucester had any previous reason to suspect or distrust Edgar. Similarly, Edgar immediately believes
Edmund when he tells him he should worry about his safety and his relationship with his father. The audience
gains from these interactions that Edmund has done nothing in the past to arouse suspicion. Instead it seems that
he has been waiting patiently to upset the familial balance and now hurries to do so when threatened with
further military service.
But remember, we must also keep in mind that an attempt to make sense out of every encounter and character
intention is not the purpose of the play. Instead, we must explore the character flaws and relationship
developments as they are entwined within the parable Shakespeare is constructing and expanding. The parable's
breadth is exaggerated and amplified by the doubling of themes in the plot and subplot. The demise of the
father's position through betrayal by his own children was considered to be one of the cruelest, harshest offenses
imaginable. This reflection of plot, for which the seeds are planted in Act I, magnifies the horrors of the tragedy.
In this manner, blindness is one of the main symbolic and physical vehicles through which Shakespeare
describes the horrors of ingratitude, insincerity, and hypocrisy.
Goneril is represented to the audience as one of the most evil participants in the familial crimes taking place.
This character description is illustrated through the contrast Shakespeare establishes between her and her
husband. Woman as the most evil of characters is not a new experiment for Shakespeare. Shortly before writing
King Lear, he created a Lady Macbeth who expressed the need to sacrifice one's own children if necessary to
gain more power and who urged her more weakhearted husband to kill the kindhearted King. Though in the end
of Macbeth Lady Macbeth is suffering from her evil, she was still the instigator who brought about the
continued evils by urging her husband to yearn for more and more power. Here, Goneril also yearns for power
but does not feel the need to aim indirectly for it. Albany is basically told to stay out of her way as he is too
Act I Analysis:
19
weak to know what is best. She places more trust in her servant Oswald, it seems, as she sends him off to run
her important letter to Regan whereas she pushes Albany off to the side. She manipulates how her sister will act
and the manner in which they will strip Lear of his property and authority. The stories she creates of Lear's
riotous knights and so on are supported by nothing in Shakespeare's text. The characters in Lear's train who
speak to him are well behaved, polite, and honorable. They try to protect him and Lear himself is shown well
when he places the blame for Goneril's coldness on himself instead of her and her household. Thus we exit the
first Act with the knowledge of Cordelia's goodness, Lear's previous goodness and impending madness, Fool's
truth telling, Edmund's plotting, and Goneril's evil. The parable is well in place.
Act I Analysis:
20
Summary and Analysis of Act II

Act II Summary:
scene i:
Act II begins with a return to the secondary plot of Edmund, Edgar, and Gloucester. Edmund speaks with the
courtier, Curan, who advises him that Regan and Cornwall will arrive shortly at Gloucester's castle. He also
passes on the gossip that there may soon be a war between Cornwall and Albany. After Curan leaves, Edmund
expresses his delight over the news he has learned as he can use that in his plot. Edgar enters and Edmund
cleverly asks if he has offended Cornwall or Albany. Edgar says he has not. Edmund cries that he hears
Gloucester coming and forces Edgar to draw his sword with him. Telling Edgar to flee, Edmund then wounds
himself with his sword before calling out to Gloucester for help. Gloucester arrives quickly and sends servants
to chase down the villain. Edmund explains that he would not allow Edgar to persuade him into murdering their
father causing Edgar to slash him with his sword. He continues that Edgar threatened him and by no means
intended to permit Edmund, an "unpossessing bastard", to stop him from his evil plot. Gloucester is indignant
and claims that Edgar will be captured and punished. He promises that Edmund will become the heir of his land.
At this point, Cornwall and Regan enter the scene, wondering if the gossip they had heard about Edgar is
correct. Gloucester confirms it is. Edmund cleverly confirms Regan's fear that Edgar was acting as part of Lear's
riotous knights. Cornwall acknowledges the good act Edmund has done for Gloucester and promises to take him
into their favor. After Gloucester and Edmund thank them, Regan explains why she and Cornwall have come to
Gloucester's castle. She had received a letter from Goneril and so had left home to avoid Lear. She asks for
Gloucester's assistance.
scene ii:
Oswald, Goneril's servant, and Kent, still disguised as Lear's servant Caius, meet at Gloucester's castle after first
trekking to Cornwall's residence with messages. Oswald does not first recognize Kent but Kent recognizes him
and responds to him curtly with curses and name-calling. He claims that Oswald comes with letters against the
King and sides with his evil daughter. He calls Oswald to draw his sword at which Oswald cries out for help.
The noise brings in Edmund, Cornwall, Regan, Gloucester, and some servants.
When asked what the commotion is, Kent continues to insult Oswald, who is breathless. Oswald claims that he
has spared Kent because of his grey beard at which Kent scoffs. He describes that Oswald is like a dog,
ignorantly following a master. To Cornwall's incredulousness, Kent says that he does not like the look of his
face. Oswald explains that Kent had no reason to strike him in Lear's company or to draw on him at
Gloucester's. Kent refers to Cornwall and Regan as cowards and they call for the stocks. Regan comments that
Summary and Analysis of Act II
21
they should leave him not only until noon, as Cornwall had suggested, but for over a day. Gloucester protests
but is overruled. After the others have exited, Gloucester apologizes to Kent and admits that the Duke is to
blame. Alone, Kent muses over a letter he has received from Cordelia, implying that she knows he has taken
disguise and promises to try to save her father from the evil of her sisters. Kent recognizes he is at the bottom of
luck. He falls asleep.
scene iii:
Scene iii is solely a soliloquy by Edgar discussing his transformation into poor Tom, the beggar. He tells us that
he has just missed being hunted as he heard them coming for him and hid in a hollow tree. In order to remain
safe, he proposes to take on "the basest and most poorest shape", that of a beggar. He covers himself with dirt
and filth, ties his hair in knots, strips off much of his clothing, and pricks his skin with pins and nails and so on.
He no longer resembles Edgar.
scene iv:
Lear enters the scene with his fool and a gentleman, who tells him that he was not advised of Regan and
Cornwall's removal to Gloucester's castle. They come upon Kent, still in the stocks. Lear does not believe that
Regan and Cornwall would commit such an offense to Lear has to place his servant in the stocks but Kent
reassures him that they have. He stresses that their punishment came only because he was angered enough by
Oswald's presence and his letter to Regan to draw his sword upon Oswald. Fool comments on human nature,
retorting that children are only kind to their parents when they are rich and that the poor are never given the
chance for money. Lear feels ill and goes to look for Regan. Kent asks why Lear's train has shrunk to which
Fool replies that many have lost interest in Lear as he has lost his riches and power. He advises all that are not
fools to do the same.
Lear returns, amazed that Regan and Cornwall refuse to speak with him over weariness from travel. Gloucester
attempts to excuse them by mentioning Gloucester's "fiery quality". Lear is enraged by this excuse. Although he
momentarily considers that Gloucester may truly be ill, he is overwhelmed by anger and threatens to beat a
drum by their door until they speak to him. Gloucester leaves to get them and shortly returns with them. They
appear to act cordial at first to Lear and set Kent free. Lear is cautious toward Regan and tells her that if she is
not truly glad to see him he would disown her and her dead mother. He expresses his grief to her over his stay
with Goneril and Goneril's demands on him. Regan replies that he is very old and should trust their counsel. She
advises him to return to Goneril and ask for her forgiveness as she is not yet prepared to care for him. Lear
admits that he is old but pleads with Regan to care for him. She again refuses even with his arguments that
Goneril has cut his train and his subsequent curses of Goneril. Regan is horrified. Lear pleads with her to act
better than her sister. He finally asks who put Kent in the stocks.
scene ii:
22
Goneril arrives, as forecast in a letter to her sister. Lear calls on the gods to help him and is upset that Regan
takes Goneril by the hand. He asks again how Kent was put in the stocks and Cornwall replies that that it was
his order and Lear is appalled. Regan pleads again for him to return to Goneril's but he still holds hope that
Regan will allow him all hundred of his train. However, Regan assures him that she has no room for the knights
either and alerts him that he should only bring twenty-five with him after his month stay with Goneril. Lear
replies that he has been betrayed after giving his daughter's his all, his land, authority and his care. He decides to
go then with Goneril as she must love him more if she will agree to fifty knights. At this point, Goneril
diminishes her claim, asking him if needs twenty-five, ten, or five? Regan adds that he does not even need one.
Lear cries that need is not the issue. He compares his argument to Regan's clothes which are too scant for
warmth. She wears them not for need but for vanity just as a King keeps many things he does not need for other
reasons. He hopes that he will not cry and fears that he will go mad. He leaves with Fool, Kent, and Gloucester.
A storm is heard approaching and Cornwall calls them to withdraw. Regan and Goneril discuss how it is Lear's
own fault if they leave him out in the storm. Gloucester asks them to reconsider but is again overruled. Regan
has the house boarded up.
Act II Analysis:
Interestingly, we begin Act II with the subplot, encountering Edmund with a minor character, the courier Curan.
Shakespeare is pointing out that the subplot carries significant weight in his message. Furthermore, stylistically
it makes sense for the subplot to start the Act because the main plot had finished the Act before and the two
plots generally alternate. Edmund speaks with the courtier so that he can learn of Regan and Cornwall's
approach and so the audience can see his inherent ability to quickly manipulate information and use it to his
advantage. Within moments, he has succeeded in convincing Edgar that Albany and Cornwall are after him and
that it is better to draw swords.
He also easily manages to demonize Edgar in Gloucester's eyes with out arousing any suspicion toward himself.
His appeals to Gloucester are craftily devised, even to the extent that he brings up the subject of his position in
such a manner that he creates sympathy in his father while further ruining Edgar. These events further establish
Edmund as evil, especially compared to the gullible Gloucester and Edgar, and move him closer to the monster
we will see him become. It is common in Shakespeare's plays, however, for the good characters to easily fall
victim to their evil counterparts, whether to show how trusting they are or simply to make the plot flow easier.
Especially in King Lear, which follows a very patterned, symbolic parable form, the good characters must fulfill
their role without questioning much of the evil they encounter. We see Gloucester making attempts to overcome
the cruelty Cornwall and Regan show to Kent when they put him in the stocks and to Lear when he is closed out
in the storm. However as he is overruled on both occasions, we note that Gloucester is too weak to follow his
conscience at this point in the play.
These encounters also illustrate Regan's dominance over her husband, paralleling the relationship we saw
between Goneril and Albany except for in the manner in which the husbands react. Cornwall easily acquiesces
to his wife's demands and calls them into action himself. Albany shows a bit of humanity when he questions
scene iv:
23
Goneril's treatment of her father and refuses to agree with her. Thus Regan and Cornwall set up a united and
cruel front when facing Kent and Lear. Regan's demands are harshest as she calls for Kent to remain in the
stocks through the next night. Furthermore, it is her idea to close her father out in the storm. The largest front
though which Lear faces is the united team of Goneril and Regan who, regardless of their husband's supposed
land quarrel, stand together against their father's attempt to guard his dignity. In much the same way
Shakespeare allows the audience to feel a certain sympathy to Edmund, people could empathize with Goneril
and Regan's positions as they are forced to have a new and somewhat pompous house guest with a hundred
followers. The evil they show more and more as the play progresses thus hits the audience harder as they must
come to realize the true and hardened evil the sisters represent. Again, they are emblems following a pattern in
the parable. King Lear, it has been said, is very much a Cinderella type fable and Goneril and Regan satisfy the
roles of the evil stepsisters. They are coldhearted and by the end of the Act we cannot help but feel pity for Lear
is stripped of every one of his knights if he wishes to live in accordance to the agreement he set up with his
daughters so that he could live out his retirement happy. That will not be and they are cruel in understanding his
transition.
Moreover, the two sisters calmly justify their treatment of Lear to each other while they nonchalantly decide to
leave their elderly and emotional father out in the large storm forming. Symbolically that storm is a
representation of Lear's own fury and the evil doings of his daughters, while also foreshadowing the mental
storms to come for Lear and Gloucester. With the familial conflicts brewing, the gods, so to say, are not pleased,
thus echoing the emotional environment on Earth. In this Pagan play, the symbolism becomes important,
establishing a spiritual signifier, an agent, for expressing the mood which Shakespeare is creating. Gloucester
functions as the character who follows the messages of the gods and cosmos the most in order for the audience
to get a feel for its importance in the lives of the characters without having to involve Lear himself too deeply in
this issue. Gloucester predicts the disasters to come through comments such as, "'Twill be ill taken" (II.2.155).
He cannot be referring to the household itself with this comment, spoken about Cornwall's action in putting
Kent in the stocks. Likely the action would be ill taken by Lear but also by the Gods and they prepare to show
their fury and unleash their storm.
Lear's descent toward madness is foretold further, and more explicitly, when he cries, "O fool, I shall go mad!"
(II.4.281). During Act II, the symbolic components in addition to the cruelty of Goneril and Regan surpass
Lear's threshold for sanity and he is thrown out into the elements and left to find himself. Lear after this point
will move toward what many call essential man, stripping himself of the pretense and artifice and assumed
importance he has drawn around himself as King and ruler and father. Lear, though seeming more the honorable
man we know he must have once been, is still hung up on love as an object which can be quantified. He decides
which daughter he would most want to live with based on how many knights they will allow him to keep. He
claims, "I'll go with thee [Goneril]./ Thy fifty yet doth double five-and-twenty,/ And thou are twice her love"
(II.4.253-255). By so basely equating love and quantity, love and material things, the audience feels dearly how
much Lear is still missing the point.
Act II Analysis:
24
One almost wonders if the methods through which Goneril and Regan expressed to Lear their love in Act I was
based somewhat on the way they had been taught to love by their father. We must conclude, however, that love
was not their intention, but manipulation. We are given even greater notice of their contrast with Cordelia as we
hear of Kent's letter from her. Time is left vague in the play purposely. We are not meant to question how it is
Cordelia knew how to find Kent, nor how she knew he was in disguise when it had been about a day, it seems,
since he had arrived to Lear in disguise. Instead, recognize these events as part of the sequence of patterned
movement in the parable. Cordelia, often seen as a Christ figure (though less significant in a pagan setting), is
moving behind the scenes to aid her ailing father and save him from her evil sisters before too much cruelty is
enacted. Kent is her agent on the front, seeing more clearly through his disguise than Lear has yet been able to
in broad daylight.
It is intriguing to consider Kent in his disguise along with the disguise Edgar takes on as Tom the beggar and to
think about them in the context of clothing within the play. One of the best speeches Lear makes in the play
concerns the topic of need. Of course he does not need his knights and train, but so little of life is made up with
solely what we need. He points to Regan's skimpy clothing, noting that she needs warmth from her clothing but
sacrifices that for fashion and beauty whereas the poor must simply wear clothing for warmth. He is taking his
first step her to stripping humanity of its artifice, by relating need to clothing and the way in which humans wear
both. Edgar is Shakespeare's attempt to combine a number of the issues it seems he wished to be brought to
attention. The beggar costume will allow Edgar to remain on stage much of the time without his father having
an inkling who it is. It also allows the struggle of the poor in Shakespeare's time to be commented on. We will
speak much more about Edgar and the contemporary issues he raised. For now, think about the act of disguise
and how it is honorable characters who are forced to create themselves anew in order to accepted in their
society. The ruling people after Lear gives up his authority will only promote a society in which good is covered
or put in the stocks or abandoned.
Act II Analysis:
25
Summary and Analysis of Act III

Act III Summary:
scene i:
As it continues to storm, Kent enters the stage asking who else is there and where is the King. A gentleman, one
of Lear's knights, answers, describing the King as struggling and becoming one with the raging elements of
nature. The King has been left alone except for his fool. Kent recognizes the gentleman and fills him in on the
events he has learned concerning the Dukes and the news from France. He explains that a conflict has grown
between Albany and Cornwall which is momentarily forgotten because they are united against Lear. He then
mentions that French spies and soldiers have moved onto the island, nearly ready to admit openly to their
invasion. He urges the gentleman to hurry to Dover where he will find allies to whom he can give an honest
report of the treatment to the King and his declining health. Kent gives him his purse and a ring to confirm his
honor and to show to Cordelia if he sees her. They move out to look for Lear before the gentleman leaves on his
mission.
scene ii:
We meet Lear, raging against the storm, daring the storm to break up the Earth. Fool pleads with him to dodge
his pride and ask for his daughters' forgiveness so that he can take shelter in the castle. Lear notes that the storm,
unlike his daughters, owes him nothing and has no obligation to treat him any better. Still, the storm is joining to
help his ungrateful daughters in their unnecessary punishing of him. The fool says he is foolish, nevertheless, to
reside in the house of of the storm but Lear responds that he will say nothing to his daughters.
Kent enters, pleased to have found the King, and remarks that he has never witnessed a more violent storm. Lear
cries that the gods will now show who has committed any wrongs by their treatment in the storm and Kent
pushes him toward a cave where they can find a little shelter. Lear agrees to go, recognizing the cold which
must be ravaging he and his fool. Before entering the hovel, Fool prophecies that when the abuses of England
are reformed, the country will come into great confusion.
scene iii:
Gloucester and Edmund speak in confidence. Gloucester complains of the unnatural dealings of Cornwall and
Regan, taking over his home and forbidding him to help or appeal for Lear. Edmund feigns agreement. Taking
him further in confidence, Gloucester alerts him to the division between Albany and Cornwall. He then tells him
that he has received a letter, which he has locked in the closet because of it dangerous contents, divulging that a
Summary and Analysis of Act III
26
movement has started to avenge Lear at home. Gloucester plans to go find him and aid him until the forces
arrive to help. He tells Edmund to accompany the Duke so that his absence is not felt and if they ask for him to
report that he went to bed ill. Gloucester notes that he is risking his life but if he can save the King, his death
would not be in vain. After he departs, Edmund tells the audience that he will alert Cornwall immediately of
Gloucester's plans and the treasonous letter. The young will gain, he comments, where the old have faltered.
scene iv:
Kent and Lear find their way to the cave, where Lear asks to be left alone. He notes that the storm rages harsher
in his own mind and body due to the "filial ingratitude" he has been forced to endure. Thinking it may lead to
madness, Lear tries not to think of his daughters' betrayal. Feeling the cruelty of the elements, Lear remarks that
he has taken too little care of the poor who often do not have shelter from such storms in life. The fool enters the
cave first and is frightened by the presence of Edgar disguised as poor Tom. Edgar enters, speaking in confused
jargon and pointing to the foul fiend who bothers him greatly. Lear decides that Tom must have been betrayed
by daughters in order to have fallen to such a state of despair and madness. Kent attempts to tell Lear that Tom
has no daughters, but Lear can comprehend no other reason. Fool notes that the cold night would turn them all
into madmen. Lear finds Tom intriguing and asks him about his life, to which Edgar replies that Tom was a
serving man who was ruined by a woman he had loved. Lear realizes that man is no more than what they have
been stripped to and begins to take off his clothes before Fool stops him.
Gloucester finds his way to the cave. He questions the King's company before remarking that he and Lear must
both hate what their bodies have given birth to, namely Edgar, Regan, and Goneril. Although he has been barred
from securing shelter in his own castle for Lear, Gloucester entreats the King to come with him to a better
shelter. Lear wishes to stay and talk with Tom, terming him a philosopher. Kent urges Gloucester to plead with
Lear to go, but Gloucester notes it is no surprise that Lear's wits are not about him when his own daughters seek
his death. Lear is persuaded to follow Gloucester when they agree to allow Tom to accompany him.
scene v:
Cornwall and Edmund converse over the information Edmund has shared with him. Edmund plays the part of a
tortured son doing his duty for the kingdom. Cornwall muses that Edgar's disloyalty is better understood in
terms of his own father's betrayal. Handing over the letter Gloucester had received, Edmund cries out wishing
that he were not the filial traitor. Cornwall makes Edmund the new Earl of Gloucester and demands he find
where his father is hiding. In an aside, Edmund hopes he will find Gloucester aiding the King to further
incriminate him although it would be greater filial ingratitude on his part. Cornwall offers himself as a new and
more loving father to Edmund.
scene iii:
27
scene vi:
Gloucester finds the group slightly better shelter and then heads off to get assistance. Edgar speaks of the foul
fiend and Fool tells the King a rhyme, concluding that the madman is the man who has too greatly indulged his
own children. Lear pretends to hold a trial for his evil daughters, placing Edgar, the fool, and Kent on the bench
to try them. Lear tries Goneril first and then Regan before crying that someone had accepted a bribe and allowed
one to escape. Kent calls for him to remain patient as he had often been in the past and Edgar notes in an aside
that he has nearly threatened his disguise with tears. He tells Lear that he will punish the daughters himself. Lear
appreciates the gesture and claims that he will take Tom as one of the hundred in his train if he will agree to
change his seemingly Persian garments. As Gloucester returns, he urges Kent to keep the King in his arms due
to the death threats circulating. There is a caravan waiting which will take Lear to Dover and safety if they
hurry. Edgar is left on stage and soliloquizes that the King's pains are so much greater than his own and he will
pledge himself to helping him escape safely.
scene vii:
Cornwall calls for Goneril to bring the letter concerning France's invasion to her husband and calls to his
servants to seek out the traitor, Gloucester. Regan and Goneril call for tortuous punishment. Edmund is asked to
accompany Goneril so as not to be present when his father is brought in. Oswald enters and alerts the court to
the news of Gloucester's successful move of the King to Dover. As Goneril and Edmund depart, Cornwall sends
servants in search of Gloucester. Gloucester enters with servants and Cornwall commands that he be bound to a
chair. Regan plucks his beard as he protests that they are his guests and friends.They interrogate him on the
letter he received from France and his part helping King Lear. Gloucester responds that he received the letter
from an objective third-party but he is not believed. He admits that he sent the King to Dover, explaining that he
was not safe out in the terrible storm nor in the company of those who would leave him in such conditions. He
hopes that Lear's horrific children will have revenge light upon them. Cornwall answers that he will see no such
thing, blinding one of his eyes.
A servant speaks up in Gloucester's defense and is quickly stabbed by Regan using the sword Cornwall had
drawn. Before the servant dies, he cries that Gloucester has one eye remaining to see harm come to the Duke
and Duchess. Cornwall immediately blinds the other eye. Gloucester calls out for Edmund to help him in the
time of peril to which Regan replies that it was Edmund who had alerted them to Gloucester's treachery. At this
low point, Gloucester realizes the wrong he has shown Edgar if Edmund has done such evil. Regan has
Gloucester thrown out of the castle and then helps Cornwall, who has received an injury, out of the room. Two
servants discuss the incomprehensible evil of Cornwall and Regan, proposing to aid Gloucester in his blind
stumbles. One of the servants leaves to find him while the other searches for ointments to sooth Gloucester's
wounds.
scene vi:
28
Act III Analysis:

The theme of madness is explored deeply in Act III as we encounter at least three different forms of madness in
at least three different characters. King Lear most notably goes, or is driven, to a madness he had predicted in
this Act, but he is accompanied by two others whom are meant to be playing fools or madmen but to whom he
grants the greatest sincerity. These two men, the two Lear places on the bench of his fictitious jury, are Edgar as
poor Tom and Lear's Fool. Edgar feigns a madness as poor Tom that provides a great contrast to Lear's actual
madness by bringing into question what madness is and how it was looked upon in Shakespeare's day. History
shows that in Shakespeare's time lunatics were viewed as comic entertainment. Elizabethans would go to certain
places simply in order to watch lunatics act crazy. Furthermore, Edgar's character was believable on the level of
a mad trickster, a common character in the day who was known to trick others into believing him out of his wits.
In a time such as this, one had to be careful to illuminate a lunacy which would be taken seriously if that was
Shakespeare's intent, which concerning King Lear we must assume it was. The reasons which justify his serious
plunge into insanity are many as the audience is privy to the actions of his daughters and the indignity he has
been shown since giving up his title which could easily drop an old proud former king into madness. The
horrific action of all but two children in the play, Cordelia and Edgar, is summed up in a neat sentence by
Gloucester as he enters the hovel to speak to Lear. He cries, "Our flesh and blood, my lord, is grown so vile/
That it doth hate what gets it" (III.4.136-137). The vileness, the evil, of Lear's two daughters and of Edmund
(though ironically, at this point Gloucester is still speaking of Edgar) is such a betrayal that it has made the skin
crawl and wish to reject the beings it helped to create. They have forsworn any human tie to their parents in
such a vile way that hatred is the only word which can describe the relation. We also learn from Gloucester that
Lear's daughters are now trying to kill him. Not only have they stripped him of all dignity, condescendingly and
hypothetically turned many of his own knights against him, and thrown him unsheltered out into a raging
dangerous storm, but they have finally cut the corner of pretense in which they said they would accept their
father if he came without train and resolved to kill their own father who gave them all of his kingdom. Lear's
fault in facing them was a quick temper and a love quantified into value and material weight. This love, as we
have discussed, could not have always existed in this form as we know from Lear's reaction in Act I that
Cordelia had been his favorite daughter and that she had never rejected him or his wish previously. Thus, the
self-centered plea for love seems to be a fault of old age as well as ego. As Gloucester mentions flesh and blood,
Lear's daughters have turned out for blood and power, in a way again similar to the ambition of Lady Macbeth,
to which they have no need to battle for but of which they can seemingly not get enough. The rumors continue
along the vein of a rift between Albany and Cornwall and we will soon encounter a major rivalry between
Regan and Goneril. Their undoing, their evil, is thus based on an arrogant ambition and a horrific filial
ingratitude.
This evil leads Lear to his belief that madness on a large scale can only result from the betrayal of daughters. He
has sincerely been led astray in his trust and loyalty and thus plunges into a darkness and a madness which the
storm, the hovel, and the night quite literally and symbolically portray. Vividly Shakespeare portrays the
transformation of man into storm and storm into man as Lear goes mad. Personifying the storm with himself and
the children he has begotten, Lear wails, "Rumble thy bellyful. Spit, fire. Spout, rain./ Nor rain, wind, thunder,
Act III Analysis:
29
fire are my daughters" (III.2.14-15). The storm is given a belly and the elements are compared to daughters.
Note even the sound effects are called for at key points in the dialogue to echo Lear's mutation. "Storm still " is
included by Shakespeare, for example, between poor Tom's continuing rants and Lear's conclusion that his
madness must be the result of the betrayal of his daughters (III.4.59-61).
In this state of rugged, stripped, essential man, Lear is able to focus on some important human issues that he has
overlooked as king. Left to battle the elements of nature and the storms that are its products like the poor, Lear
is forced to think on the daily lives of the homeless and his ignorance of the poor's situation. He comments,
"Poor naked wretches, wheresoe'er you are,/ That bide the pelting of this pitiless storm,/ How shall your
houseless heads and unfed sides,/ Your looped and windowed raggedness, defend you/ From seasons such as
these? O, I have ta'en/ Too little care of this!" (III.4.28-33). This is a climactic moment for Lear, as he stands on
the threshold of madness. He will descend, it seems, as soon as he comes face to face with Edgar the reflection
of madness he holds as philosophy and wisdom. And perhaps Lear comes much closer to a wisdom of
humankind as a result. Madly, he attempts to strip himself naked only moments later before being stopped by
the Fool, whose madness (when faced with Lear's) becomes simple complacency as he tries to look out for his
master's safekeeping. In this, we see again how sane the Fool has been all along and how real Lear's madness is
to make the Fool's speech become so practical. Lear is trying to physically strip himself of the artifice he has
noticed within himself and most of mankind. He wishes to be put on par with poor Tom, a man who has lived
much closer, he thinks, to the truth of nature.
Edgar's character of poor Tom of Bedlam was based greatly on a text published shortly before Shakespeare's
writing of King Lear. Harsnet's Declaration of Egregious Popishe Impostures, published in 1603, seems to
provide much of the basis for Tom's language as well as the mention of the surreptitious "foul fiend" which
plagues Tom constantly, biting at his back and instigating other evils upon him. With a feigned demonic
madness, Tom's character is questioned less by the other characters allowing Edgar to provide commentary
through his asides and the irony he often provides, especially in the contrast established between the disguised
and acted madness he chooses and the uncontrollable, anguished madness which overtakes Lear. Tom also
provides the physical character to represent the man Lear realizes he has ignored during his rule as King of
Britain. Immediately after Lear cries out in recognition of his ignorance, he meets poor Tom. This allows
Shakespeare to give more distinct meaning to Lear's, and later Gloucester's, wish for greater equality among the
population in terms of money and favors. Lear exclaims, "Take physic, pomp;/ Expose thyself to feel what
wretches feel,/ That thou mayst shake the superflux to them/ And show the heavens more just" (III.4.33-36). In
much the same vein as Robin Hood, Shakespeare here promotes a system where the rich would share their
excess, their artifice, with the poor in order to even out the ranks a bit. Lear, in this manner, places himself at an
equitable level with Tom and refuses to leave the stormy outdoors for shelter unless he can bring Tom with him.
Lear has made his greatest leaps in humane awareness since his descent toward madness and his acquaintance
with Tom. He states this for the audience when he remarks, "Is man no more than this? Consider him well. Thou
ow'st the/ worm no silk, the beast no hide, the sheep no wool, the cat no perfumeThou art the thing itself;
unaccomodated man is no/ more but such a poor, bare, forked animal as thou [Edgar] art" (II.4.97-102).
Clothing, excesses such as Lear referred to when speaking to Regan and Goneril about the need of his train, is
Act III Analysis:
30
superfluous and a great symbol of the artifice Lear has finally stripped from his body.
Regan and Goneril move ever closer to their tragic ends as they progress substantially in their evil, as evidenced
through their desire to kill Lear and the blinding of Gloucester. Regan, thought at first to be the tenderer of the
two by Lear, leads the charge against Gloucester. Gloucester responds finally to the demands of why he sent
Lear to Dover by addressing her and her sister as the basest of evils. It is her nails he mentions, not the power of
Cornwall, even though the two have been joined in the punishment of Gloucester. He declares, "Because I
would not see thy cruel nails/ Pluck out his poor old eyes" (III.7.56-57). Ironically, this statement has greater
truth for Gloucester himself. Regan taunts Gloucester after one eye is blinded and then takes the sword herself
to kill a servant who stands up for Gloucester's honor. Moreover, she happily brags to Gloucester that his trusted
Edmund was the one who alerted them to his treachery and then sends Gloucester out to "smell his way to
Dover" (III.7.93-94). In truth, we recognize this woman as more of a beast, a "bare, forked animal" than any of
the characters against whom she is battling.
Act III Analysis:
31
Summary and Analysis of Act IV

Act IV Summary:
scene i:
Edgar is alone on stage soliloquizing about his fate. He seems more optimistic than earlier, hoping that he has
seen the worst. This changes when Gloucester and an old man enters, displaying to Edgar the cruelty of Regan
and Cornwall's punishment. Gloucester urges the old man aiding him to leave him, noting that his blindness
should not affect him as "I have no way, and therefore want no eyes;/ I stumbled when I saw" (IV.1.18-19). He
then laments the fool he has been toward his loyal son, Edgar. The old man tells him a mad beggarman is
present to which Gloucester replies that he cannot be too mad if he knows to beg. Ironically, he notes that his
introduction to a madman the night before (who was poor Tom) had made him think of Edgar. This causes
Edgar further pain. Gloucester again urges the old man to leave, commenting that poor Tom can lead him. He
reasons that the time is such that madmen will lead the blind and tells the old man to meet them in a mile with
new clothes for the beggar. The old man agrees to and leaves.
Edgar wishes he did not have to deceive his father but reasons that he must. He speaks in his poor Tom manner
of all of the fiends whom have plagued him. Gloucester gives him his purse, hoping to even out some of the
inequality which exists between them, and asks him to lead him to the summit of the high cliff in Dover and
leave him there.
scene ii:
Goneril and Edmund are en route to Goneril's home when Goneril asks Oswald why her husband has not met
them. Oswald answers that Albany is a changed man. To all events Oswald expects he would be pleased by, he
is upset and vice versa. The examples Oswald gives are the landing of the French army at which Albany smiled
and Edmund's betrayal of Gloucester to which Albany was very displeased. Goneril is disgusted and sends
Edmund back to Cornwall's with a kiss, telling him that she will have to become master of her household until
she can become Edmund's mistress.
After Edmund's departure, Albany enters and greets Goneril with disgust toward her character and the events
with which she and Regan have been involved. He notes that humanity is in danger because of people like her.
Goneril responds that he is weak, idly sitting by and allowing the French to invade their land without putting up
protest or guarding against traitors. He lacks ambition and wisdom. The woman form she takes, Albany
proclaims, disguises the fiend which exists beneath and if it were not for this cover, he would wish to destroy
her.
Summary and Analysis of Act IV
32
A messenger enters, conveying the news that Cornwall has died from the wound given him during the conflict
with the servant who had stood up for Gloucester after one of his eye's had been blinded. In this manner, Albany
learns of the treatment and subsequent blindness imparted to Gloucester by the hands of Regan and Cornwall.
Though horrified, Albany remarks that the gods are at least conscious of justice and have already worked
toward avenging the death of Gloucester by killing Cornwall. The messenger then delivers a letter to Goneril
from Regan. In an aside, Goneril comments that the news of Cornwall's death is bad for her in that it leaves
Regan a widow so she could easily marry Edmund. However, it may be a positive event since it takes
Cornwall's threat to her reign out of the picture. She leaves to read and answer the letter. Albany asks the
messenger of Edmund's location when Gloucester was blinded. The messenger informs him that Edmund was
with Goneril at the time but that Edmund knew of the events which were to take place because it was he who
had informed on Gloucester's treason. Albany swears to fight for Gloucester who has loved the good king and
received such horrible treatment.
scene iii:
We learn from Kent's conversation with a gentleman that the King of France has had to return to France for
important business and has left the Marshal of France in charge. The gentleman informs him also of Cordelia's
response to Kent's letter. She was very moved, lamenting against her sisters and their treatment of her father.
Kent comments that the stars must control people's characters if one man and one woman could have children of
such different qualities, like Cordelia and her sisters. Kent notifies the gentleman that Lear refuses to see
Cordelia as he is ashamed of his behavior toward her. The gentleman confirms that Albany and Cornwall's
powers are advancing. Deciding to leave Lear with him, Kent goes off to handle confidential business.
scene iv:
Pained, Cordelia laments the mad state of Lear and asks the doctor if there is a way to cure him. Rest might be
the simple answer, the doctor replies, since Lear has been deprived of it. Cordelia prays for him and hopes that
he will be revived. She must leave briefly on business for France.
scene v:
Regan and Oswald discuss how Albany's powers are afoot. Oswald points out that Goneril is the better soldier
and informs Regan that Edmund did not have a chance to speak with Albany. Regan asks what the letter which
Oswald brought from Goneril for Edmund says but Oswald knows only that it must be of great importance.
Regan regrets blinding Gloucester because allowing him to live arouses sympathy which results in more parties
turned against Regan and her company. Stating that Edmund has gone in search of Gloucester to put him out of
his misery, she then claims that he is checking out the strength of the enemy forces. She urges Oswald to remain
with her because the roads are dangerous. She is jealous of what she fears the contents of the letter may be,
namely entreaties to Edmund for his love. Advising him to remind Edmund of the matters he had discussed with
scene ii:
33
her considering their marriage, Regan allows Oswald to continue. Oswald agrees to halt Gloucester if he comes
upon him and thus show to whom his loyalty lies.
scene vi:
Edgar leads Gloucester to Dover and pretends they are walking up the steep hill Gloucester wished to be taken
to. Edgar says that it is steep and he can hear the ocean, noting that Gloucester's other senses must have grown
dim as well if he cannot feel these things. Gloucester comments that poor Tom's speech seems much more
elevated than before so Edgar attempts to drop back into his beggarman dialect. Edgar says they have reached
the highest spot and Gloucester asks to be placed where he is standing. He then takes out another purse for Tom
and requests to be left. Thinking Tom has gone, Gloucester prays to the gods to bless Edgar and then wishes the
world farewell and falls forward of the cliff, he believes. Edgar approaches again as another man entirely,
playing along with the idea that Gloucester has fallen off the high cliff and survived, calling it a miracle.
Gloucester believes what the man says, though he cannot look up to verify. Edgar helps him up and questions
the thing which left him at the top of the cliff, making it sound like it was not an actual man but a spirit.
Gloucester is skeptical at first but realizes that would make sense for why he lived.
Stumbling onto the scene is Lear, still mad and wearing weeds. He rambles on about being king and then
bitterly speaks of Goneril and Regan agreeing to all he said and then stabbing him in the back. Gloucester
recognizes the voice and Lear confirms he is the King. He lectures about Gloucester's adultery being no cause to
fear because his bastard son treated him better than Lear's own daughters. He then rages on the evil nature of
women in his daughter's shapes, similar to Centaurs but fiends from the waist down instead of horses.
Gloucester is saddened by this diatribe and wonders if Lear knows him. He does, but refuses to be saddened by
Gloucester's blindness since one sees the world better through other venues than the eyes. In his ranting, Lear
touches on such issues as the artifice of politicians and others in positions of authority who cover up their
evil-doing and self-centered ambition with wealth and fashion. Edgar notices the sanity in his madness. Lear
then identifies Gloucester and rages bitterly against the state of the world which has made them as they are.
A gentleman enters and, glad to find Lear, calls for them to put a hand upon him. Lear is afraid he is being taken
prisoner but they are the attendants of Cordelia and happy to follow Lear as King. Still confused and mad, Lear
runs out so they will not catch him. The gentleman informs Edgar that the army is approaching speedily, except
for Cordelia's men who are on a special purpose and have moved on. When he leaves, Edgar assures Gloucester
that he will lead him to a biding place. Oswald enters, pleased to have found Gloucester, and draws his sword
upon him. Edgar interposes, using a rustic accent to play the part of a peasant. They fight and Oswald falls.
Before dying, Oswald pleads with Edgar to take his purse and deliver his letter to Edmund, "Earl of Gloucester".
Edgar reads the letter which is from Goneril, pleading with Edmund to slay Albany so Goneril can be free and
they can be together. Edgar vows to defend Albany and defeat the lechers. Gloucester muses that he is
self-centered to worry about his plight when Lear is mad. He wishes though that he too were mad in order to
numb the pain he feels.
scene v:
34
scene vii:
Cordelia thanks Kent for the goodness he has shown her father and the bravery he has espoused. She asks him to
discard his disguise but he knows that he will be able to work better for Lear if he remains disguised. The
Doctor remarks that Lear has slept for a long while so that they may try waking him. Lear is brought in, still
sleeping. Hoping to resolve the horrors committed by her sisters, Cordelia kisses Lear and reflects on the
vileness and ingratitude of her sisters, treating Lear worse than a dog by shutting their doors on him in the
storm. Lear wakes and Cordelia addresses him. Lear feels awakened from the grave and wishes they had left
him. Very drowsy at first, Lear thinks Cordelia is a spirit and then realizes he should know her and Kent
(disguised) but has difficulty putting his memory together. Finally he recognizes Cordelia, to her delight, but
thinks he is in France. The Doctor advises them to give Lear his space so Cordelia takes him for a walk. The
gentleman remains and asks Kent if the rumors of Cornwall's death and Edgar's position in Germany with the
Earl of Kent are true. Kent confirms the first, but leaves the latter unanswered. The gentleman warns that the
battle to come will be bloody.
Act IV Analysis:
Act IV begins on a misleading high note as Edgar is pleased that any changes in his life will have to bring better
times. Things cannot get worse, he implies. The paradox is established then with Gloucester's subsequent
entrance and Edgar realizes that his life has gotten worse now that he knows the terrible treatment his father has
endured. It is important to keep in mind that Edgar does not know how Edmund deceived his father into
believing Edgar was the evil doer. All Edgar knows is that he had to run for his life because of the feelings
Gloucester, Cornwall, and Albany held against him. Yet, even though he is incredibly saddened by Gloucester's
appearance and torment, he does not once act reluctant to aid his father.
Oddly however, to the audience, must have been Edgar's desire to remain disguised. He is still not sure of
Gloucester's feelings toward him and leads him to Dover regardless. But he does soon learn of the events which
have occurred, when Gloucester, thinking he is alone with the old man, wails, "O dear son Edgar,/ The food of
thy abusd father's wrath,/ Might I but live to see thee in my touch/ I'ld say I had eyes again!" (IV.1.21-24).
Thus, though Edgar cannot know yet of the plot led by Edmund, he is aware that his father dearly wishes to see
him and be reconciled to him. So why not give him this favor? The most practical answers critics provide
concern the theatrical quality of leaving Edgar in his beggar/madman attire. This disguise materially is quite
important to the theme of artifice which flows throughout the play. Picking up from Lear's discussion of poor
Tom's "Persian" robes when in fact he was wearing rags, we have moved through Lear's realization that rich
clothing and authority does not shield one from having to be human underneath. Need is often hugely exploited
by the wealthier and more powerful, Lear learns, as he becomes more cognizant of the many poor in his
kingdom whom he has ignored. This metaphor is again employed by Albany in scene ii who notes that a
woman's form saves Goneril from him ripping her apart but does not excuse the monster she is underneath.
Another allusion to this deceptive form is given by Lear in scene vi who compares women, especially the
scene vii:
35
women his daughters have represented, to centaurs as fiends from waist down. The covering of clothing or
womanly ways, in the case of evil Regan and Goneril, is a heavily significant symbolic weapon displayed by
Shakespeare. Thus many critics point to the symbolic utility of having Edgar dressed as a poor beggarman
leading a once authoritative and wealthy, now blind and ruined, old man.
Not only can Shakespeare further emphasize the dignified position which should be afforded to elders with this
move, but he can make social commentary. The essential man, the philosopher for whom Lear saw Tom as, is
stripped of social pretense and is leading the once powerful Earl. Moreover, he is the mad man leading the
blind. Gloucester now too has been stripped of the illusions he once entertained and thus is rather fitted for this
predicament. He gives voice to this element in the text by proclaiming, "'Tis the time's plague when madmen
lead the blind" (IV.1.46). Gloucester himself has finally developed as a character whom has learned, like Lear
has in his madness, of the errors in his life and of the things he has not given enough of his attention. He admits
to the audience the central paradox of the entire play, one which we have pointed out since the beginning as it
was highlighted very early by Shakespeare in many of the character's lines and references. "I have no way, and
therefore want no eyes;/ I stumbled when I saw. Full oft 'tis seen/ Our means secure us, and our mere defects/
Prove our commodities" (IV.1.18-21). The eyes are not the necessary vessels, such as the heart or mind might
be, to a better understanding of humankind.
He too, as Lear did, tries to equalize the financial inequalities by giving poor Tom his purse. Money provides
another agent of the artifice which is becoming abhorrent to Gloucester and Lear but is desired by Goneril and
Regan. Their battle for Edmund's hand stems not from love, as they eagerly wish to give up their husbands in
order to take Edmund's side, but from their ambition and thirst for power. With Cornwall dead and Albany
viewed as weak and overly moral, both sisters see Edmund as the proper choice for a mate. He has shown
himself to be ambitious and loyal, even at the price of his own father's torture. Goneril views Edmund head and
shoulders above a man who does not condone her ambition and refuses to fight for the power she wants to gain.
She, as with Regan, likely hopes to rule a reunited kingdom and knows that her husband will not help her in this
endeavor. Oswald, ever loyal to his mistress, retorts rightly to Regan that, "Your sister is the better soldier [than
Regan's brother-in-law]" (IV.5.3). Albany has raised himself in the standards of nobility and clearly has
separated himself from the evil of the two sisters, Cornwall, Edmund, and even Oswald. Though often paired
with Cornwall earlier, he here moves so far from this category that Edgar later vows to defend him. Albany's
angry outburst at Goneril echoes what the audience is likely thinking of her. It deepens their hatred for her when
they realize that he does not even know yet about the blinding of Gloucester and he has no idea of the adulterous
plans which Goneril has just hatched. We then look at Regan in scene v through the lens of the hatred toward
Goneril and find her steeped in a hypocrisy just as great. Regan tries to manipulates Oswald, Goneril's loyal
steward, to work for her means and when she cannot, she warns him to threaten Edmund.
By the time Cordelia enters the Act, she is already a paramount of good will and honor simply in comparison.
Her complete absence in the text, excepting the few times that Kent has mentioned her and the letter from her,
has created a curiosity, a void, which allows for a greater suspense and then satisfaction when she fills that void.
Some critics feel that the reason she is absent for such a long period has more to do with the fact that the Fool
Act IV Analysis:
36
may have been played by the same actor. They point to the Fool's entrance after Cordelia's banishment and his
disappearance before her return. In any case, the last time Cordelia was present in a scene was the very first
scene of Act I in which she acted rather coldly when questioned by her father. We are given good reason when
she points to the nature of her sisters, quantifying love and manipulating their father, as well as by the support
she receives from Kent and France and by the way her father had previously favored her. Yet, we are given no
proof from her own mouth until this point in the fourth act. Similar to Edmund's caretaking of Gloucester, she
immediately forgives her father for the misjudgment he has made and strives to bring him back to his comfort
and sanity. Echoing an the earlier outrage of Gloucester, she bemoans the manner in which her sisters turned
Lear out by crying,
Was this a face
To be opposed against the jarring winds?
To stand against the deep dread-bolted thunder?
In the most terrible and nimble stroke
Of quick cross lightening to watch, poor perdu
With this thin helm? Mine enemy's dog,
Though he had bit me, should have stood the night
Against my fire; and wast thou fain, poor father,
To hovel thee with swine and rogues forlorn
In short and musty straw? Alack, alack,
'Tis wonder that thy life and wits at once
Had not concluded all. (IV.7.31-42).
The audience had not heard any sort of passion from the earlier Cordelia but we hear her now, and the change is
extremely welcomed by the audience.
This nature of extremes allows for the conclusion many make, linking Cordelia to a Christ figure. Ironically,
this idea persists although she is a character in a pagan setting. Standing above the baseness of her fellow
creatures, she has arrived in order to nurse her father back to health, having them change his garments (also
Act IV Analysis:
37
significant if we think in terms of clothing and character) and bring him into the music. In a sense, she brings
him back from the dead, as he moans, "You do me wrong to take me out o' th' grave" (IV.7.45). Moreover, she
turns her other cheek to the abuses her father had committed and eagerly forgives him and accepts him back into
her life. Truly, there are Christian overtures in this, and throughout much of the play if we look for them. At any
rate, Cordelia's sense of forgiveness and the goodness she exudes sets her far above her sisters and justifies the
far lengths France and Kent have gone to defend her.
Act IV Analysis:
38

Act V Summary:
scene i:
Edmund sends an officer to learn of Albany's plans since he has become so fickle. Regan approaches Edmund,
sweetly asking him if he loves her sister and if he has ever found his way into her bed. He replies that though he
loves in "honored love" he has done nothing adulterous or to break their vow. Warning him to stay away from
Goneril, Regan threatens that she will not put up with her sister's entreaties to him. Goneril and Albany enter as
Goneril tells the audience that her battle for Edmund is more important to her than the battle with France.
Albany informs Regan of Cordelia and Lear's reunion. Regan wonders why he brings up the subject of the King
and his grievances. Goneril points out that they must join together against France and ignore their personal
conflicts.
As the two camps separate, Regan pleads with Goneril to accompany her instead of the other camp where
Edmund will be present. Goneril refuses at first but then sees Regan's purpose and agrees. Edgar finds Albany
alone and asks him to read the letter to Edmund from Goneril he had intercepted. Though he cannot stay while
Albany reads it, he prays him to let the herald cry when the time is right and he will appear again. Albany leaves
to read it when Edmund reenters to report of the oncoming enemy. In soliloquy, Edmund wonders what he will
do about pledging his love to both sisters. He could take both of them, one, or neither. He decides to use Albany
while in battle and after winning, to allow Goneril to kill him. Moreover, he plans to forbid any mercy Albany
may show Cordelia and Lear because his rule of the state is his highest priority.
scene ii:
The army of France, accompanied by Cordelia and Lear, crosses the stage with their battle colors and drums and
exits. Next, Edgar and Gloucester enter. Edgar offers Gloucester rest under a nearby tree while he goes into
battle. The noises of the battle begin and end, at which time Edgar reenters the stage to speak with Gloucester.
He calls for Gloucester to come with him as Cordelia and Lear have lost and been taken captive. Entertaining
ideas of suicide again, Gloucester tries to remain but Edgar talks him into accompanying him, noting that men
must endure the ups and downs of life.
scene iii:
Edmund holds Cordelia and Lear prisoner. Trying to keep Lear's spirits up, Cordelia tells him that they are not
the first innocent people who have had to endure the worst and she will be happy to endure for the King. She
39
asks if they will see Goneril and Regan but Lear rejects that notion. He wants them to spend their days in prison
enjoying their company, conversing and singing and playing and debating the "mystery of things". As they are
taken away at Edmund's command, Lear encourages Cordelia to dry her tears and enjoy their reunion as they
will never again be separated. Edmund demands the subordinate captain follow Lear and Cordelia to prison and
carry out the punishment detailed by his written instructions. Threatened with demotion, the captain agrees.
Albany praises Edmund for his work in the battle and in obtaining his prisoners. He then commands Edmund to
turn Cordelia and Lear over into his protection. Edmund replies that he thought it best to send Lear and Cordelia
into retention so that they did not arouse too much sympathy and start a riot, but he assures Albany that they
will be ready the next day to appear before him. Albany warns Edmund to remember that he is only a
subordinate to which Regan replies that Edmund is in fact her husband and thus an equal. Goneril proclaims that
he is more honorable on his own merit than as Regan's partner. Not feeling well, Regan implores Edmund to
accept all of her property and herself. Goneril asks if she means to be intimate with him to which Albany retorts
that the matter does not relate to her. Edmund disagrees and Regan calls for him to take her title. Albany
interrupts, arresting Edmund for treason and barring any relationship between Goneril and Edmund. He calls
Edmund to duel, throwing down his glove. Edmund throws down his glove as well and Albany alerts him that
all of his soldiers have been sent away. Feeling very ill, Regan is taken off.
The herald reads aloud Albany's notice, calling for anyone who holds that Edmund is a traitor to come support
that claim. The trumpet is sounded three times and Edgar, still disguised, appears after the last. Asked why he
has responded, Edgar states that he is a noble adversary who desires to fight with Edmund, a traitor to "thy gods,
thy brother, and thy father". They fight and Edmund falls. Albany calls for him to be spared while Goneril
supports Edmund for fighting an unknown man when not required, noting that he cannot be defeated. Albany
quiets her with the letter she wrote desiring Edmund's hand but Goneril retorts that as she is the ruler, he can
bring no punishment upon her. She leaves before he can take command over her. Dying, Edmund asks his
conqueror to reveal himself. Edgar tells of his identity and their relation, noting that Edmund has rightly fallen
to the bottom as a result of his father's adulterous act, which also cost Gloucester his sight. Edmund agrees that
he has come full circle and Albany rejoices in Edgar's true identity, sorrowful that he had ever worked against
him or his father. Edgar describes his disguise and how he led his blinded father, protecting him and sheltering
him. He had never revealed his identity until a half hour before, telling his father the entire story. Gloucester
was so overwhelmed by the news that his heart gave out. Furthermore, after learning who Edgar was, Kent
revealed his identity to Edgar, embracing him and spilling all of the horrid details of Lear's state and treatment.
Edgar then learned that Kent too was dying but was forced to rush off as he heard the trumpet call.
A gentleman runs onto the stage with a bloody knife, informing the company that it was just pulled from
Goneril's heart. She had stabbed herself after admitting that she had poisoned Regan. Edmund notes that as he
had been contracted to both sisters, now all three would die. Albany calls for the gentleman to produce the
bodies and comments on the immediate judgment of the heavens. Kent enters, hoping to say goodbye to Lear.
Realizing that he has forgotten about the safety of Cordelia and Lear in the excitement, Albany demands
Edmund to tell of their circumstances. Edmund admits that he had ordered their murders but as he hopes to do
scene iii:
40
some good, he sends an officer to try to halt Cordelia's hanging. He and Goneril had commanded it look like a
suicide. Lear stumbles in, carrying the body of Cordelia. Overcome by grief, Lear rages against the senseless
killing of Cordelia, admitting that he killed the guard who was hanging her. Lear recognizes Kent, though he
can hardly see, and Kent informs him that he has been with him all along, disguised as his servant Caius. It is
not clear if Lear ever understands. Kent tells him that his evil daughters have brought about their own deaths. A
messenger enters to tell them that Edmund has died. Albany tries to set things right, reinstating Lear's absolute
rule and Kent and Edgar's authority, promising to right all of the good and punish the evil. Lear continues to
mourn the loss of Cordelia and then dies himself. Albany thus gives Kent and Edgar the rule of the kingdom to
which Kent replies that he must move on to follow his master, leaving Edgar as the new ruler.
Act V Analysis:
Let us return to the idea of King Lear as parable, as a patterned and figurative story, as we approach the play's
conclusion and see the result of the prophesies and symbolic gestures we have noted all along. Lear was the
king whose major flaw was a need for flattery and whose major error was his banishment of the honest daughter
in favor of the two insincere daughters. Once this act is committed, Lear is destined to reap the consequences
through a painful journey to essential man. Unaccommodated man is reached, in and within Lear's madness, in
the very middle of the story, Act III, and his redemption begins following this point, conveniently as he is
transported to Dover where Cordelia and the allies await. It is a Cinderella type fairy tale where the good
daughter is cast aside for the betterment of the two wicked daughters. Lear makes this error and is punished for
it. We also have the parallel subplot of Gloucester whose major flaw was adultery. This backfires when his
bastard son resents his illegitimacy and moves to displace both Edgar and Gloucester. Somewhat coldly, Edgar
sums up the nature of these events after he has fatally wounded Edmund. He states, "The gods are just, and of
our pleasant vices/ Make instruments to plague us./ The dark and vicious place where thee he got/ Cost him his
eyes" (V.3.171-174). Some critics view this line very harshly whereas others feel that Edgar was explaining the
events in a manner which Edmund would understand and feel was justified. Edmund does respond in agreement
which supports the last viewpoint.
Furthermore, we have discussed Edgar as a parallel character to Cordelia and Kent, as he has both led his father
to safety and nursed him because of filial love and loyalty. None of the three hold a grudge against Lear or
Gloucester. This type of resentment was not necessary on their parts because of their roles as the good
characters. They have saved the fallen men, their masters, and led them to safety. This has been their role.
Edmund, Regan, and Goneril on the other hand, have been heavily tortured with resentment toward their fathers
or siblings or anyone else whom holds power. As completely evil characters, they work laterally, fulfilling their
evil role and not departing much from it. They are evil and become progressively so to the extent that Regan and
Goneril are responsible for their own deaths. And one could hardly say Goneril is more at fault because she was
the actual murderer in both occasions. We watched both women fight and claw for power from their father,
husbands, Edmund, and each other. Whichever action or behavior fit their motive at the time, whether it was
uniting against their father or becoming rivals for Edmund's hand, they eagerly took it on. Their jealousy and
hostility bore itself up to the point that they barely resembled women as we noted was commented on by both
Act V Analysis:
41
Lear and Albany.

Albany is one of the only characters who is seen to grow and develop over the course of the play. He is never
truly evil, simply ambitious at the start. He is quickly transformed once he uncovers the true nature of his wife.
Cordelia purposely remains at an even keel of goodness and virtue to aid the audience in understanding her
station. Note that in the few lines Cordelia has in Act V, she voices them in rhymed couplet as she did in the
very first scene. Melodically, she declares, "We are not the first/ Who with best meaning have incurred the
worst./ For thee, oppressd king, I am cast down;/ Myself could else outfrown false Fortune's frown" (V.3. 3-6).
Her figure stands above the others, nobly and saintly. On the other hand, Edmund progresses in degrees of evil
before alleviating his cruelty slightly at the end when he tries to stop the hanging of Cordelia. Most will feel
however that this action is too little too late, especially considering how he waits for awhile after insinuating
that he may do good before he actually does anything. The hesitation, this instance of the unsaid, is a metaphor
for the character of Edmund as he can be understood as a figure of circumstance. We do not know if he would
have been evil if he had been born into legitimacy and privilege as Edgar was. We know only that his largest
grievance is his bastard status and this drives all else. Thus, he cannot easily let go of this drive when dying and
is slow to think of anyone but himself. Edmund had continually worked between the lines to influence and
manipulate the other characters. Hence, as he tries to effect change up front, he is not able to do so effectively.
Lear and Gloucester both come to heavily allegorical ends, the first carrying his abused daughter dead in his
arms and the latter dying not from his torture or attempted suicide, but from the strain of knowing his wronged
son had helped him when he needed him most. They both seem a bit contrived, but that is the intention. This is
the ends they were fated to have, one echoing the fate of the other. In this manner, it is not surprising that the
play ends as it began with Lear and his three daughters on stage. Yet this time, all three are dead and Lear as
well, though he is the last to go. Kent and Gloucester spoke to open the play and here Kent and the new Earl of
Gloucester have the last two lines to end the play. Moreover, the kingdom is being divided in both cases with
Lear as the divider in the beginning and Albany, one of the previous inheritors, dividing at the end. Wisely,
Shakespeare ends the play without another shared division even though this means the death of Kent.
Regardless of whether this was Shakespeare's intention (it likely was not seeing that nearly every other good
character dies), a sole ruler bodes better for the kingdom overall. Edgar had shown himself true to his father and
the King throughout the text and as critics note, he played a different role in the play almost every couple of
pages, from beggar to rustic peasant to poor gentleman to soldier to kindly son. Thus, it makes sense,
allegorically if nothing else, that he would be best fitted to take over the role of king, which Lear taught us must
be a person of tolerance, removed from artifice. When Lear and Cordelia are being sent to prison, we see Lear
happy for the first time. He is looking forward to time when they can discuss life and sing and enjoy the world.
Edgar, as one who has grown from a too trusting young man to a man who has seen many levels of life and
death, can best support the void left by Lear.
This pleasant take on the end should not distract the reader from the dismal events of Act V. Lear dies without
knowing it was Kent who helped him and without having the chance he had wished for to spend time with
Act V Analysis:
42
Cordelia. Though Edgar's place on the throne at the end gives hope, the play ends with an overwhelming
sentiment of failure. The efforts that Kent, Cordelia, and Edgar took to save Lear and Gloucester come to little.
All prayers made to the gods to save the righteous or help the good were not answered. Many were senselessly
killed, including those killed in a battle which occurred behind the scenes. Ironically, as several characters tried
to persuade each other to focus on the larger battle against Lear's avengers rather than on their personal quarrels,
the actual battle is hidden from view whereas the personal confrontations are mainly staged in full view. Scene
ii of Act V is thus an example of synedoche, representing the whole of the play by broadcasting that the battle
with France plays second fiddle. Lear's battle with himself, for instance, takes precedent and points our attention
to the battles of man and of the self and of good versus evil over any war-like battles which take place. This
explains why the play must end in a brokenhearted atmosphere. Life's mysteries, as Lear referred to, are not
meant to be won through manipulation or sword fighting. Lear's battle with pretense and the physical
representations of it embodied in Regan, Goneril, Cornwall, and Edmund had to crumble the very existence of
those who survived in order to illustrate to the audience the meaning underneath the death and broken hearts.
Act V Analysis:
43
Related Links
http://lonestar.texas.net/~mseifert/lear.html
Critical essays Student essays and webpages, Exam topics, Artwork, Shakespeare editions, King Lear Folio and
Quarto versions, Information on the 16th Century Renaissance Literature, Essay on Mannerism.
http://www.pathguy.com/kinglear.htm
Enjoying "King Lear" study notes, main plot summary, secondary plot summary, themes and images patterns,
artwork, Lear links.
http://www.craigmont.org/tablecnt.htm
History of Shakespeare plot summary, character list, major themes, critical essays, important quotations, parody,
questions.
http://www-tech.mit.edu/Shakespeare/lear/index.html
E-text of the Play
Related Links
44
About Shakespearean Theater:

Before Shakespeares time and during his boyhood, troupes of actors performed wherever they could in halls,
courts, courtyards, and any other open spaces available. However, in 1574, when Shakespeare was ten years old,
the Common Council passed a law requiring plays and theaters in London to be licensed. In 1576, actor and
future Lord Chamberlain's Man, James Burbage, built the first permanent theater, called "The Theatre", outside
London city walls. After this many more theaters were established, including the Globe Theatre, which was
where most of Shakespeare's plays premiered.
Elizabethan theaters were generally built after the design of the original Theatre. Built of wood, these theaters
comprised three tiers of seats in a circular shape, with a stage area on one side of the circle. The audience's seats
and part of the stage were roofed, but much of the main stage and the area in front of the stage in the center of
the circle were open to the elements. About 1,500 audience members could pay extra money to sit in the
covered seating areas, while about 800 "groundlings" paid less money to stand in this open area before the stage.
The stage itself was divided into three levels: a main stage area with doors at the rear and a curtained area in the
back for "discovery scenes"; an upper, canopied area called "heaven" for balcony scenes; and an area under the
stage called "hell," accessed by a trap door in the stage. There were dressing rooms located behind the stage, but
no curtain in the front of the stage, which meant that scenes had to flow into each other, and "dead bodies" had
to be dragged off.
Performances took place during the day, using natural light from the open center of the theater. Since there
could be no dramatic lighting and there was very little scenery or props, audiences relied on the actors' lines and
stage directions to supply the time of day and year, the weather, location, and mood of the scenes. Shakespeare's
plays masterfully supply this information . For example, in Hamlet the audience learns within the first twenty
lines of dialogue where the scene takes place ("Have you had quiet guard?"), what time of day it is ("'Tis now
strook twelf"), what the weather is like ("'Tis bitter cold"), and what mood the characters are in ("and I am sick
at heart").
One important difference between plays written in Shakespeare's time and those written today is that
Elizabethan plays were published after their performances, sometimes even after their authors' deaths, and were
in many ways a record of what happened on stage during these performances rather than directions for what
should happen. Actors were allowed to suggest changes to scenes and dialogue and had much more freedom
with their parts than actors today. Shakespeare's plays are no exception. In Hamlet, for instance, much of the
plot revolves around the fact that Hamlet writes his own scene to be added to a play in order to ensnare his
murderous father.
Shakespeare's plays were published in various forms and with a wide variety of accuracy during his time. The
discrepancies between versions of his plays from one publication to the next make it difficult for editors to put
together authoritative editions of his works. Plays could be published in large anthologies called Folios (the First
45
Folio of Shakespeare's plays contains 36 plays) or smaller Quartos. Folios were so named because of the way
their paper was folded in half to make chunks of two pages each which were sewn together to make a large
volume. Quartos were smaller, cheaper books containing only one play. Their paper was folded twice, making
four pages. In general, the First Folio is of better quality than the quartos. Therefore, plays that are printed in the
First Folio are much easier for editors to compile.
Although Shakespeare's language and classical references seem archaic to some modern readers, they were
commonplace to his audiences. His viewers came from all classes, and his plays appealed to all kinds of
sensibilities, from "highbrow" accounts of kings and queens of old to the "lowbrow" blunderings of clowns and
servants. Even his most tragic plays include clown characters for comic relief and to comment on the events of
the play. Audiences would have been familiar with his numerous references to classical mythology and
literature, since these stories were staples of the Elizabethan knowledge base. While Shakespeares plays
appealed to all levels of society and included familiar story lines and themes, they also expanded his audiences'
vocabularies. Many phrases and words that we use today, like "amazement," "in my mind's eye," and "the milk
of human kindness" were coined by Shakespeare. His plays contain a greater variety and number of words than
almost any other work in the English language, showing that he was quick to innovate, had a huge vocabulary,
and was interested in using new phrases and words.
46
Author of ClassicNote and Sources

Cameron Peterson, author of ClassicNote. Completed on July 01, 2000, copyright held by GradeSaver.
Shakespeare, William. King Lear 1604-1605.
Author of ClassicNote and Sources
47
Essay: Folly of the Fool

by Anonymous
March 22, 2000
In Elizabethan times, the role of a fool, or court jester, was to professionally entertain others, specifically the
king. In essence, fools were paid to make mistakes. Many of the fool's quips and riddles were made at the
expense of the king. The "all-licensed" fool was able to get away with this due to his position (1.4.191). By
using the character of the Fool in King Lear, Shakespeare intends to illustrate the imperfections in human nature
by showing that all humans can be guilty of folly. He portrays this in a number of characters, but namely
through his protagonist, Lear, in several important scenes of the play.
As the tragedy opens, Lear presents his three daughters with a feigned hearing that allows them to make a public
pronouncement of their love for him. He is delighted when Goneril says hers is "Dearer than eyesight, space and
liberty" (1.1.56). He is similarly pleased with Regan's praises. Lear foolishly believes that Goneril and Regan
love and respect him the way they say they do; he is oblivious to the fact that his daughters, or anyone for that
matter, may lie for their own benefit. Because he believes his eldest daughters' insincere adulation, Lear's trial
proves him a fool.
In addition, Lear senselessly concludes that Cordelia is a disrespectful daughter and not worthy of her share of
the kingdom. He is irked when she states simply that she loves her father as a daughter should, no more and no
less: "I love your majesty/According to my bond, no more nor less" (1.1.92-93). Angry and humiliated at her
lack of honor, Lear immediately exiles Cordelia from the country. Through banishment, Lear intends "to reduce
her to "nothing," this being the recompense that she had earned by answering "Nothing" to his demand that she
demonstrate her love for him" (Willeford 210). He then orders her to marry the King of France and finally
divides the kingdom between his two eldest daughters and their husbands.
Furthermore, Lear's folly is again evident when both Goneril and Regan later shun him. As he ventures into the
night's storm, he tells the Fool, "O fool, I shall go mad" (2.2.475). He later remarks, "My wits begin to turn"
(3.2.68). Here, Lear begins his downward spiral toward madness. But in his madness, he discovers the essence
of humanity; he descends from his majestic position to a ranking of lower class. He declares, "When we are
born we cry that we are come/To this great stage of fools" (4.6.183-84). The Fool accurately comments, "this
cold night will turn us all to fools and madmen" (3.4.77). Later, he quips, "Marry, he's grace and a codpiece
that's a wise man and a fool" (3.2.40-41). Ironically, the Fool and the king begin to swap positions. Up until this
point, the Fool has granted Lear helpful understanding of his decisions; this establishes the question of which of
the two is now the real fool. Lear asks, "Dost thou call me a fool, boy?" The Fool replies, "All thy other titles
thou hast given away; that thou wast born with" (1.4.142). The "king has been openly debased to the level of the
Fool" (Willeford 218). Consequently, the Fool disappears after the storm; he has taught Lear all he knows.
Through Lear's metamorphosis, Shakespeare demonstrates that being a fool enables one to see things clearly.
48
Moreover, when Lear is reunited with Cordelia at the end of the play, "it is not as the petty tyrannical king who
has banished her but as a fool who has himself been banished by such a king and who yet preserves the future of
the kingdom in his enigmatic relationship with her" (Willeford 223). Lear is fooled a final time by Cordelia's
death. After she is hanged, Lear appears on stage holding her dead body in his arms. He cries,
Cordelia, Cordelia, stay a little. Ha?
What is't thou sayst? Her voice was ever soft,
Gentle and low, an excellent thing in a woman.
I killed the slave that was a-hanging thee.
(5.3.269-73)
Lear asks for a "looking-glass" and "feather" to see if she has "no breath at all." As Lear falls to his death, he has
a glimmer of hope. He asks, "Do you see this? Look on her: look, her lips,/Look there, look there!"
(5.3.308-309). Rather than part in misery, Lear journeys to his final rest in contentment for he is fooled into
thinking Cordelia still lives. The "imagined breath" is brought to the audience by "a king who is also a tragic
clown to a point of folly" (Willeford 225).
Although the Fool serves many functions in King Lear, his main role is that of a moral instructor to his king. He
teaches him that humans are unable to know themselves completely. Through his character, Shakespeare reveals
the magnitude of humanity.
Works Cited
Shakespeare, William. King Lear. Ed. R.A. Foakes. Surrey: International Thomson Publishing Company, 1997.
Willeford, William. The Fool and His Scepter: A Study in Clowns and Jesters and Their Audience. Evanston:
Northwestern University Press, 1969.
49
Quiz 1
1. Poor Tom says that his old occupation was as a _____?
A. engineer
B. day laborer
C. servingman
D. mason
2. Gloucester prepares a transport to Dover because he overheard what news?
A. There is a plot against Lear's life
B. Poor Tom is crazy and dangerous
C. Cordelia has taken ill and is resting in Dover
D. Edmund had lied about Edgar but has now gained too much power to be stopped
3. Who kills Cornwall?
A. Edmund's captain
B. Gloucester
C. Regan unintentionally
D. A servant defending Gloucester
4. What is Gloucester's punishment for treason?
A. blinding
B. amputation
C. hanging
D. the rack
5. Which of these events is proof of Lear's madness and delirium?
A. the trial he holds for Goneril and Regan with the Fool and poor Tom as judges
B. he no longer trusts Caius but gives all of his loyalty to his Fool
C. he will not get in Gloucester's livery for Dover because he thinks it is a plot against him
D. he speaks to Cordelia all day long even though she is not there
6. Which quotation best describes why Goneril's feelings are divided after Cornwall's death?
A. "Not so hot!/ In his own grace he doth exalt himself/ More than in your addition."
B. "O, the differences of man and man:/ To thee a woman's services are due"
C. "But being widow, and my Gloucester with her,/ May all the building in my fancy pluck/ Upon
my hateful life."
D. "Milk-livered man,/ That bear'st a cheek for blows, a head for wrongs;/ Who hast not in thy
brows an eye discerning/ Thine honor from thy suffering"
Quiz 1
50
Quiz 1
51
7. How does Albany find out about Goneril's plan to have Edmund kill him so that they can marry?
A. Edgar, disguised, brings him the letter he had intercepted from Oswald.
B. Edmund cannot take the deceit any longer and, hoping to do some good, tells Albany of the plot.
C. Gloucester, Edmund's confidant, sends an anonymous letter to Albany.
D. He overhears her speaking to him before they have reached the house and met Oswald.
8. What is Edmund's main concern when he contemplates which of the two sisters, Goneril or
Regan, he should marry?
A. ambition: He wishes to be the ruler of a united kingdom.
B. jealousy: Goneril makes him jealous when she is with Albany but Regan would be the safer one
to marry.
C. love: He finds both women beautiful, smart, and kind.
D. revenge: He desires to make Gloucester pay for treating him as a bastard.
9. Why does Lear run away when one of Cordelia's attendants approaches him kindly?
A. He is afraid they are going to find the important letter he has been hiding
B. He thinks the men were sent by Goneril and Regan and are trying to capture him.
C. He thinks an entire army is surrounding him
D. He recognizes the man as a soldier of the French army
10. What does the doctor prescribe to Cordelia as a remedy for Lear's madness?
A. a series of injections
B. sleep
C. a potion of herbs and newts
D. intense heat
11. Who is responsible for Regan's death and from what means?
A. Edmund, hanging
B. Cornwall, knife
C. Albany, sword
D. Goneril, poison
12. How does Edgar justify Edmund's bad situation in life after fatally wounding him?
A. the gods are unpredictable
B. Gloucester's adultery resulted in a bastard son whose luck was naturally bad
C. Edmund had caused Edgar to be hunted by his own father, so this was payback
D. bad things happen to bad people
Quiz 1
52
13. Which character does Edgar NOT play at some point?

A. rustic peasant
B. doctor
C. unknown soldier
D. poor Tom of Bedlam
14. Why does Kent reject Albany's offer to share ruling the kingdom with Edgar?
A. He hopes to marry Cordelia and move to France
B. He does not feel qualified
C. He is dying
D. He does not agree with Edgar's politics
15. Which fairy tale does the King Lear story most resemble?
A. Cinderella
B. Sleeping Beauty
C. Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs
D. Jack and the Beanstalk
16. What sentiment best describes the atmosphere at the end of the play?
A. euphoric
B. catastrophic
C. indignant
D. broken-hearted
17. What best describes the symbolic meaning behind this quotation: "Old fond eyes,/ Beweep this
cause again I'll pluck ye out/ And cast you, with the waters that you loose,/ To temper clay"?
A. It refers to the fairy tale setting where the evil characters pluck out the hearts of the good
characters.
B. The quote is a symbol of leadership from the Old Testament, referring to Moses as he parted the
Red Sea.
C. It refers to the theme of blindness. Eyes are symbols of the pretense which Lear hides behind
before stripping himself to unaccommodated man.
D. Clay is a symbol of the malleable attitude of Lear in facing the situations of Cordelia's refusal of
love and the evil of Regan and Goneril.
18. What term best describes the type of story King Lear is, as illustrated by the patterned tropes,
figurative allusions, and allegorical-type characters?
A. comedy of errors
B. parable
C. Jacobean tragedy
Quiz 1
53
D. narrative
Quiz 1
54
19. Which quotation best describes Oswald's sensibility?

A. "Would I could meet him, madam! I should show/ What party I do follow."
B. "Now then, we'll use/ His countenance for the battle, which being done,/ Let her who would be
rid of him devise/ His speedy taking off."
C. "Bless thee,/ good man's son, from the foul fiend. Five fiends has been in poor Tom at once"
D. "O look upon me, sir,/ And hold your hand in benediction o'er me./ You must not kneel."
20. Cordelia frequently speaks in what kind of poetic language in order to show her elevation as a
character?
A. rhyming couplets
B. iambic pentameter
C. triplets
D. prose
21. Clothing acts as a metaphor for which of these themes?
A. pretense
B. adultery
C. fashion
D. blindness
22. Which of the following lines by Lear does NOT illustrate his sanity in madness?
A. "Is man no more than this? Consider him well. Thou ow'st the worm no silk, the beast no hide,
the sheep no wool, the cat no perfume."
B. "A man may see how this world goes with no eyes. Look with thine ears. See how yond justice
rails upon yond simple thief."
C. "Get thee glass eyes/ And, like a scurvy politician, seem/ To see the things thou dost not."
D. "Arraign her first. 'Tis Goneril, I here take my oath before this honorable assembly, kicked the
poor king her father."
23. What sort of religious setting is the play set in?
A. Hebrew
B. none
C. Pagan
D. Christian
24. Which one of these components from the beginning of the play is NOT repeated in some manner
at the very end?
A. The Fool prophecies the era to come
B. Lear is with his three daughters
C. The kingdom is being divided
Quiz 1
55
D. Kent and an Earl of Gloucester set the stage
Quiz 1
56
25. Who is the only character in the play to commit suicide?

A. Gloucester
B. Regan
C. Goneril
D. Kent
Quiz 1
57
Quiz 1 Answer Key

1. (C) servingman
2. (A) There is a plot against Lear's life
3. (D) A servant defending Gloucester
4. (A) blinding
5. (A) the trial he holds for Goneril and Regan with the Fool and poor Tom as judges
6. (C) "But being widow, and my Gloucester with her,/ May all the building in my fancy pluck/ Upon my
hateful life."
7. (A) Edgar, disguised, brings him the letter he had intercepted from Oswald.
8. (A) ambition: He wishes to be the ruler of a united kingdom.
9. (B) He thinks the men were sent by Goneril and Regan and are trying to capture him.
10. (B) sleep
11. (D) Goneril, poison
12. (B) Gloucester's adultery resulted in a bastard son whose luck was naturally bad
13. (B) doctor
14. (C) He is dying
15. (A) Cinderella
16. (D) broken-hearted
17. (C) It refers to the theme of blindness. Eyes are symbols of the pretense which Lear hides behind
before stripping himself to unaccommodated man.
18. (B) parable
19. (A) "Would I could meet him, madam! I should show/ What party I do follow."
20. (A) rhyming couplets
21. (A) pretense
22. (D) "Arraign her first. 'Tis Goneril, I here take my oath before this honorable assembly, kicked the poor
king her father."
23. (C) Pagan
24. (A) The Fool prophecies the era to come
25. (C) Goneril
Quiz 1 Answer Key
58
Quiz 2
1. King Lear banishes which of the following people from his kingdom?
A. Regan
B. the Fool
C. Kent
D. Gloucester
2. Lear is the king of which country?
A. Ireland
B. Denmark
C. Britain
D. France
3. Which suitor of Cordelia refuses to marry her after she is disinherited?
A. Burgundy
B. France
C. Edmund
D. Kent
4. Why does Cordelia refuse to flatter Lear as her sisters have done?
A. She has promised France that she would not accept her division of the kingdom.
B. She is scared of her sisters as they have threatened to harm Lear if she competes for his
affections.
C. She finds them insincere and does not want to stoop to their level of hypocrisy.
D. She cannot think of a good answer to give them so is silent instead.
5. Who parallel's Lear in the subplot storyline?
A. Edgar
B. Edmund
C. Kent
D. Gloucester
6. How does Edmund first deceive Gloucester into believing that Edgar is plotting against him?
A. He has several servants and attendants tell Gloucester of rumors about Edgar's loyalty.
B. He pretends to hide a letter which he had fabricated, incriminating Edgar.
C. He stages a suspicious conversation with Edgar while Gloucester overhears.
D. He tells Gloucester of several very suspicious purchases Edgar has made.
Quiz 2
59
7. Which of these characters could NOT be considered evil?

A. Regan
B. Goneril
C. Albany
D. Edmund
8. Which character spoke these lines, "I love your Majesty/ According to my bond, no more nor
less" ?
A. Cordelia
B. Lear
C. Albany
D. Gloucester
9. Which act solidifies Lear's trust for his new servant, Caius (Kent disguised)?
A. The Fool immediately ridicules Caius as he would ridicule Lear
B. Caius trips Oswald after Lear has struck him because he is being impolite
C. Caius insults Goneril, defending Lear's claim that his knights are not rowdy
D. Caius finds Lear a place of shelter in the storm at a neighbor's residence
10. Why is Kent put in the stocks at Gloucester's castle?
A. Caius refuses to act coldly toward Lear as Regan has instructed him
B. Caius insults and then strikes Oswald, the servant, who cries out
C. Cornwall tries to show Regan how he is not afraid to use his authority
D. Regan thinks the act may drive her father over the edge and out of her hands
11. How many servants/knights do Regan and Goneril finally agree upon as the number they will
allow Lear to keep in his train if he wishes to live with either of them?
A. 0
B. 5
C. 25
D. 50
12. What literary device best describes this statement, "For you, Edmund,/ Whose virtue and
obedience doth this instant/ So much commend itself, you shall be ours./ Natures of such deep
trust we shall much need;/ You we first seize on" (II.1.112-116)?
A. metaphor
B. hyperbole
C. personification
D. irony
Quiz 2
60
13. What natural element/happening becomes personified with Lear's feelings when he leaves
Gloucester's castle and is shut out by his daughters?
A. sunshine
B. strong wind
C. tornado
D. storm
14. What demon does Edgar, disguised as poor Tom, frequently complain of?
A. the devil
B. Jabberwocky
C. foul fiend
D. Modo
15. What best describes the state Lear is trying to reach when he empathizes with poor Tom and
wishes to strip himself of all of his clothes?
A. regressed child
B. primitive being
C. Tom's acold
D. unaccommodated man
16. Poor Tom says that his old occupation was as a _____?
A. engineer
B. day laborer
C. servingman
D. mason
17. Gloucester prepares a transport to Dover because he overheard what news?
A. Poor Tom is crazy and dangerous
B. Edmund had lied about Edgar but has now gained too much power to be stopped
C. There is a plot against Lear's life
D. Cordelia has taken ill and is resting in Dover
18. Who kills Cornwall?
A. Regan unintentionally
B. A servant defending Gloucester
C. Edmund's captain
D. Gloucester
Quiz 2
61
19. What is Gloucester's punishment for treason?

A. amputation
B. hanging
C. the rack
D. blinding
20. Which of these events is proof of Lear's madness and delirium?
A. he will not get in Gloucester's livery for Dover because he thinks it is a plot against him
B. he no longer trusts Caius but gives all of his loyalty to his Fool
C. he speaks to Cordelia all day long even though she is not there
D. the trial he holds for Goneril and Regan with the Fool and poor Tom as judges
21. Which quotation best describes why Goneril's feelings are divided after Cornwall's death?
A. "Milk-livered man,/ That bear'st a cheek for blows, a head for wrongs;/ Who hast not in thy
brows an eye discerning/ Thine honor from thy suffering"
B. "O, the differences of man and man:/ To thee a woman's services are due"
C. "Not so hot!/ In his own grace he doth exalt himself/ More than in your addition."
D. "But being widow, and my Gloucester with her,/ May all the building in my fancy pluck/ Upon
my hateful life."
22. How does Albany find out about Goneril's plan to have Edmund kill him so that they can marry?
A. Edgar, disguised, brings him the letter he had intercepted from Oswald.
B. He overhears her speaking to him before they have reached the house and met Oswald.
C. Gloucester, Edmund's confidant, sends an anonymous letter to Albany.
D. Edmund cannot take the deceit any longer and, hoping to do some good, tells Albany of the plot.
23. What is Edmund's main concern when he contemplates which of the two sisters, Goneril or
Regan, he should marry?
A. ambition: He wishes to be the ruler of a united kingdom.
B. jealousy: Goneril makes him jealous when she is with Albany but Regan would be the safer one
to marry.
C. revenge: He desires to make Gloucester pay for treating him as a bastard.
D. love: He finds both women beautiful, smart, and kind.
24. Why does Lear run away when one of Cordelia's attendants approaches him kindly?
A. He thinks an entire army is surrounding him
B. He recognizes the man as a soldier of the French army
C. He is afraid they are going to find the important letter he has been hiding
D. He thinks the men were sent by Goneril and Regan and are trying to capture him.
Quiz 2
62
25. What does the doctor prescribe to Cordelia as a remedy for Lear's madness?
A. a potion of herbs and newts
B. sleep
C. intense heat
D. a series of injections
Quiz 2
63
Quiz 2 Answer Key

1. (C) Kent
2. (C) Britain
3. (A) Burgundy
4. (C) She finds them insincere and does not want to stoop to their level of hypocrisy.
5. (D) Gloucester
6. (B) He pretends to hide a letter which he had fabricated, incriminating Edgar.
7. (C) Albany
8. (A) Cordelia
9. (B) Caius trips Oswald after Lear has struck him because he is being impolite
10. (B) Caius insults and then strikes Oswald, the servant, who cries out
11. (A) 0
12. (D) irony
13. (D) storm
14. (C) foul fiend
15. (D) unaccommodated man
16. (C) servingman
17. (C) There is a plot against Lear's life
18. (B) A servant defending Gloucester
19. (D) blinding
20. (D) the trial he holds for Goneril and Regan with the Fool and poor Tom as judges
21. (D) "But being widow, and my Gloucester with her,/ May all the building in my fancy pluck/ Upon my
hateful life."
22. (A) Edgar, disguised, brings him the letter he had intercepted from Oswald.
23. (A) ambition: He wishes to be the ruler of a united kingdom.
24. (D) He thinks the men were sent by Goneril and Regan and are trying to capture him.
25. (B) sleep
Quiz 2 Answer Key
64
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ClassicNote on King Lear

Biography of Shakespeare, William (1564-1616)

Biography of Shakespeare, William (1564-1616)

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years does not necessarily confirm this characterization.

Biography of Shakespeare, William (1564-1616)

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Blessed be the man that spares these stones

Biography of Shakespeare, William (1564-1616)

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About King Lear

About King Lear

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About King Lear

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Edgar, son to Gloucester

Edmund, bastard son to Gloucester

Old Man, tenant to Gloucester

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Oswald, steward to Goneril

A Captain under Edmund's command

Gentleman loyal to Lear

Goneril, daughter to Lear

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Regan, daughter to Lear

Cordelia, daughter to Lear

Regan, daughter to Lear

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Summary and Analysis of Act I

Summary and Analysis of Act I

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Summary and Analysis of Act II

Summary and Analysis of Act II

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Summary and Analysis of Act III

Summary and Analysis of Act III

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Act III Analysis:

Act III Analysis:

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Act III Analysis:

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Act III Analysis:

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Summary and Analysis of Act IV

Summary and Analysis of Act IV

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