King Lear English Revision

Characters
Lear
Classic tragic hero- a powerful but fatally flawed ruler who, through hubris (excessive pride
or arrogance), destroys both himself and those around him.
Initially Lear is introduced as a powerful character- it is made obvious that he has
experienced absolute power for many years.
o His disinheritance of Cordelia and banishment of Kent affirm that he is a despotic
monarch
o
He craves flattery rather than truth in the love test
Gradually his sanity and senility comes more and more under scrutiny
o By the end of the first scene Regan comments he hath ever but slenderly known
himself
Once he has given away his freedom the play charts his journey from pride and arrogance to
self-knowledge and redemption
The further Lear descends into madness, the sharper becomes his awareness of the worlds
evils
Briefly he emerges from his tortured madness to find some kind of peace and reconciliation
with Cordelia
Infuriatingly self-obsessed, morally blind, unjust and unfair
Cordelia
Speaks only in four scenes yet her presence permeates most of the play
Early exchanges with Lear show honesty in the face of falsity
o her asides to the audience accentuate the integrity of what she says and feels
o she abhors deception and pretence (Who covers faults, at last with shame derides)
Takes courage to stand up to her father
Her candid assessments of her sisters behaviour smack of insight and perception (I know
you what you are)
When she returns to England her regal qualities are often accentuated (powerful costume
changes etc). Her language resonates with words of healing and therapy, leading some to
interpret her in a particularly Christian way.
In displaying unconditional love and forgiveness for her father, she is a symbol of hope and
goodness
That her life should be so pointlessly extinguished is perhaps the cruellest act of all
Gonerill
Speaks first in the love test and instantly displays how devious and deceitful she is. Her
words are slick and oily and play to Lears vanity- she exploits his weaknesses.
Systematically schemes with Regan to erode the last vestiges of the Kings power (reduce
followers and make him homeless)
Hates her husband and plots adultery with Edmond
Poisons her sister
When Edmond is mortally wounded she kills herself- an act of courage or perverse self-
destruction?
Regan
Initially seems less spiteful and more restrained than Gonerill
As the play unfolds her sadistic disposition comes to the fore
o Proposes Kents punishment in the stocks should be extended (Till night, my Lord,
and all night too)
o Wants to deny Lear even one follower
o Orders the castle gates to be locked against him
o Participates fully in the torture of Gloucester- urges Cornwall to take out the other
eye les One side will mock another
o Ambitious
o Keen to seek sexual pleasure, competing for Edmonds favour
o When poisoned she meets what many see as a symbolically just demise
Gloucester
Lears loyal and long-serving counsellor
Like Lear he is an elderly father who misjudges his children and who achieves self-knowledge
and reconciliation with his virtuous child only after suffering extremes of pain and distress
His flippant joking about his illegitimate son Edmond and the ease with which the latter
exploits his gullible and superstitious nature do not create a good first impression
Sympathises with Lear and seeks to offer him solace when he is cast out in the storm
His blinding, like Lears madness, leads to new insight and understanding
In despair he attempts to leap off a cliff in Dover but is saved by Edgar in disguise
Edmond
Gloucesters bastard son
Speaks in asides directly to the audience but his soliloquies are more powerful and engaging
than Edgars
Often portrayed as physically robust and attractive- exudes raw energy and desire
Unabashed in his selfishness and ruthlessly seeks to better himself, using whatever means
possible
Seems to be no pity or remorse in him
Close to death he is strangely capable of one final gesture of decency in attempting to repeal
Cordelias death warrant: Some good I mean to do, / Despite of mine own Nature.
Edmund attempts to save Lear and Cordelia because it is the kingly thing to do. Only a king
has the ability to pardon those about to be executed. By attempting to pardon Lear and
Cordelia, Edmund symbolically takes on the power of kingship. Edmund, originally just an
illegitimate child and a social outcast, dies in command of the kind of power only held by
those in the highest position.
Edgar
Gloucesters legitimate and virtuous son
Duped by Edmonds scheming
Accused of plotting his fathers murder, he disguises himself as the mad beggar Poor Tom to
avoid capture
In his disguised forms he helps both Lear and Gloucester attain self-knowledge and
understanding
Used as a chorus device- comments directly to the audience on the intensity of the other
characters suffering
Becomes an overt force for good- kills Oswald who had been sent to murder Gloucester and
then mortally wounding Edmond
Neither Albany nor Kent has the heart to take over governance of England, so it is left to
Edgar
Gloucester has realized that Edgar was innocent, and he longs to be reunited with his son.
"O dear son Edgar Might I but live to see thee in my touch, / I'd say I had eyes again"
Gloucester says in Edgar's presence (4.1.24-26). Edgar hears this, but does not reveal
himself. Some critics suggest that Edgar's refusal to tell his father his identity is Edgar's way
of getting revenge on his father. Scholar Stanley Cavell argues that Edgar's silence is cruel.
According to Cavell, by refusing to tell his father his identity, Edgar denies Gloucester the
chance to "see him in his touch" and say he "had eyes again." By doing this, Cavell claims
that Edgar symbolically blinds his father a second time. On the other hand, it's worth noting
that Gloucester does die of a combination of shock and joy when Edgar finally reveals his
identity to his father. Edgar might have delayed telling his father the truth out of fear that
something like this would happen. There are also reasons that Edgar might not reveal
himself to his father that have nothing to do with cruelty. Cavell, taking multiple sides as
usual, suggests that Edgar's horror at his father's weakness made him silent. By revealing
himself to his father, Edgar will have to watch his blind father realize that his son is now
stronger and more capable than he is. Cavell suggests Edgar may be afraid of rubbing his
strength in his father's face. "He wants his father still to be a father, powerful, so that he can
still remain a child," Cavell writes.
Albany
Albany is a force for good, but his role in King Lear suggests that good is often a weak force
that can't really stand up to evil.
Albany leads his armies into battle against the King and the French soldiers even though he
thinks the opposing forces are in the right. And he ultimately can't confront Edmund (who's
been sleeping with his wife) alone he brings in Edgar to do his fighting for him.
Cornwall
Cornwall, Regan's husband, represents abuse of power at its worst.
Fool
An allowed fool, such as feste in twelfth night, was able to say what he wanted without
fear of punishment
Lears fool is all-licensed, and so can speak frankly and critically about anything and anyone.
He acts as a kind of dramatic chorus, an ironic commentator on the action he observes.
Although he is threatened with whipping for impertinence, the fool constantly reminds Lear
of his folly. Lear is relentlessly used as the butt of the Fools barbed comments: this fellow
has banished two ons daughters and did the third a blessing against his will; thou hast
pared thy wit oboth sides and left nothing Ithmiddle; I am a fool, thou art nothing.
The fool moves easily between different styles of humour: stand up comedy (Thou hadst
little wit in thy bald crown when thou gavst thy golden one away); son (Fools had neer
less grace in a year); rhyme or proverb (Fathers that wear rags / Do make their children
blind); and sexual innuendo (She thats a maid now).
His language is a mix of sense and nonsense. They may be puzzling but carry significance in
relation to Lears plight- so out went the candle, and we were left darkling- spoken as
Gonerill begins to undermine Lears sanity, prophetic of the blindness and confusion that will
follow.
Fool appears in 6 scenes.
From his first appearance, his special relationship with Lear is evident. Sees him follow Lear
selflessly into the storm
Almost like Lears alter ego- perhaps his sane self?
Disappears in act 3 scene 6. When Lear says and my poor fool is hanged he could be
speaking of Cordelia (fool is a term of endearment), or the fool.
Kent
On stage for almost half the play
Presented as Lears loyal and devoted servant, he epitomises the kind of unconditional love
that the old king could inspire.
The voice of unflagging honesty and plain speaking, challenging Lear in the love trial to
check / this hideous rashness and to see better. Never afraid to speak bluntly.
In disguise as caius he remains constant in his dedication to his master, following him
through misfortune, storm and subsequent madness.
Acts as a bridge with Cordelia, reminding the audience that she keeps a watchful eye on her
father.
His selflessness is marked in contrast to the selfishness of others.
Ultimate act of loyalty is when he hints that he will follow his master into death: I have a
journey, sir, shortly to go: / My master calls me; I must not say no.

Themes
Madness
In Jacobean England, the mad were thought to be possessed by devils and therefore had to
be confined and whipped to expel the demonic spirits
Shakespeare was particularly interested in madness as an agent of beneficial change. For
example, hamlet finds calm and understanding after his journey of mental suffering
Madness in King Lear is most evident in the portrayal of Lear himself.
o Lears madness is that of a selfish, autocratic old man whose will is thwarted
o His moral blindness, misjudgements and lack of understanding of himself and others
inevitably lead to breakdown
Not only the psychological depiction of the insanity of an individual. Human madness is
reflected in disturbance at two levels- natural and social.
o The onset of the storm in Act 3 suggests that tempests in nature mirror those in an
individuals mind
As Poor Tom, Edgar puts on the madness of a bedlam beggar
The fools madness is professional, eccentric, witty, exposing weakness and folly
o may not an ass know when the cart draws the horse
Cornwall and Regan become possessed by the madness of evil in their obsession with
Gloucesters punishment and torture
o Hang him instantly.
Gloucester, near to death, thinks it better to be distract and lose his sorrow in wrong
imaginations as if madness were a blessing which would release him from his terrible
sufferings.
Lears journey of madness
Act 1
o Lears tendency to mental instability is established. He subjects his daughters to a
bizarre love trial, banishes his loyal adviser Kent and disowns Cordelia. He reacts
with violent curses to Gonerills challenges to his wilful behaviour
Act 2
o Lears sanity is undermined by his obsession with filial ingratitude, the unnatural
behaviour of Gonerill and Regan
o Infuriated by Kents punishment in the stocks, Regans refusal to speak to him and
Gonerills alliance with her sister, Lear rants impotently about revenge.
o Fearing the onset of madness, he storms out of Gloucesters castle
Act 3
o Lear rages at the storm, calling for universal destruction.
o His moods swing violently from raging in the storm to quieter sympathy for those
less fortunate than himself- poor naked wretches
o Lears mad companions, the fool and poor tom, deepen the sense of his decline
into insanity.
o He rips off his clothes- off, off you lendings
o Hallucinates about devilish spirits
Act 4
o A stage direction in scene 5 indicates Enter LEAR, *mad+.
o Talking with the blinded Gloucester, Lears language combines sexual loathing with
hallucinations about hell and damnation: let copulation thrive there is the
sulphurous pit, burning, scalding, stench, consumption
o Lears disordered thoughts range over morality, justice and authority, and erupt in
savage emotion: and when I have stoln upon these son-in-laws / then kill, kill, kill,
kill, kill, kill!
o At last, reunited with Cordelia, his mental torment ceases
Act 5
o The murder of Cordelia threatens Lears wits once more: howl, howl, howl, howl!
o He dies, his final words suggesting that he is deluding himself that she lives.
Nature
The words nature, natural and unnatural occur over 40 times
Almost every character appeals to nature to justify their actions or help them
Lear begins the love trial by asking his daughters to compete for their share in the kingdom
by expressing with adoring language their natural affection for their father where nature
doth with merit challenge. But within minutes he rejects Cordelia as a wretch whom nature
is ashamed almost tacknowledge hers. Later he calls Gonerill and Regan unnatural hags.
A reason why nature is important in the play is that it is a means of controlling people.
o It is natural for Lear to have absolute power and be obeyed and so he has power
over his subjects
o What is natural is what is right
o Any person who frustrates Lears desires is described as unnatural
o
Nature is a goddess
o Lear appeals to her in order to get revenge on Gonerill Hear, Nature, hear
The play is a slow and agonising transformation of Lears view of the natural order of things.
2 views of nature
Two different views of nature- malign or benign
Characters are grouped according to their view of nature- this defines their opinion of
society, of what people are like and how they should behave
Nature as malign
o Links to the ruthless individualism of Edmond, Gonerill and Regan
o A malign force that is a powerful motivator, drives and feeds selfish impulses
o Humans behave like violent animals, preying on the nave, innocent and vulnerable.
Lack conscience and sensitivity and are concerned with their own advancement and
profit
o Edmond sees nature as a deity Thou, Nature, art my goddess
Nature as benign
o Gloucester, Kent, Edgar and Cordelia see nature as a benevolent force which strives
for order, stability and harmony
o Gloucester sees the world as orderly and hierarchical, valuing trust, loyalty and
family bonds. His response to Edgars apparent villainy is to proclaim him as an
unnatural, detested, brutish villain.
o Kents loyalty to his master expresses itself in his unwavering and unquestioning
sympathy and concern for the king throughout the play
o Cordelias nature is truthful and honest. Her constancy and devotion to Lear act as
healing, cleansing forces
Power/politics
Firmly rooted in political and social conditions of Shakespeares times
Play reflects the political issues which were debated in Elizabethan and Jacobean England-
divine right of kings, the unity of the kingdom, the changing social order which triggered a
growth of conflicting factions and a threatening underclass.
A play about struggle for power, property and inheritance
The play opens with Lear portrayed as an absolute monarch who demands unquestioning
obedience. Ruling on gods behalf.
Such absolute rulers also acknowledged a god-given obligation. It was their sacred duty to
keep their kingdom intact. Elizabeth emphasised that she had to answer to god for her
government of the kingdom. It would be a sin against their divinely given authority to
abdicate or divide their country.
Jacobean society was one in transition. The feudal world of medieval times with its strong
allegiances and hierarchy was collapsing. A newly prosperous gentry and commercial class
challenged the power of the king and of an aristocracy divided among itself. Political factions
abounded- hinted at in the rivalry between Albany and Cornwall.
Newly acquired property gave power to a new kind of individual. Powerful memn emerged
who had no obligation to the old feudal loyalties- they were driven by self-interest. Edmond
refuses to stand the plague of custom. He seeks to thrive on his own cunning, mocking his
father- an upholder of the old feudal style loyalty to the king
The corrupt Oswald is another example of the new man. self-serving- ridiculed by Kent
such smiling rogues as these.
Some of these are still relevant- future of the British monarchy and the union of the
countries in the united kingdom.
Justice
At the end Albany confronts the bloody reality of the death and suffering caused by the
division of the kingdom and declares that both friends and foes will get what they
deserve.
Edmond is killed by the brother he wronged
The wicked Gonerill and Regan are dead
The innocent Cordelia dies cruelly
Gloucesters blinding and suffering are hardly fit punishment for the crime of fathering the
bastard Edmond
Does Lear deserve the agonies of madness he has undergone and the twisted irony of being
reconciled with Cordelia only to have her die
Divine justice
A belief in the power of divine justice runs through the play
Lear
o Strengthens his early displays of authority and paternal cursing by appearing to
pagan deities. He swears by the sacred radiance of the sun, the mysteries of
Hecate and the night, Apollo, Jupiter
o begs for help from the heavens: if you do love old men send down and take my
part
o acknowledges the authority of high-judging Jove
Regan appeals to the blessed gods when Lear turns his anger on her
The gods are sometimes seen as kind and mighty
o Albany- you are above/ you justicers
o Gloucester- you ever gentle gods
o Cordelia- o you kind gods
o With his brother dying and sightless father dead, Edgar acknowledges a divine
justice watches over and judges all human actions- The gods are just, and of our
pleasant vices/ make instruments to plague us.
Sometimes as arbitrary, indifferent or cruel
o Gloucester- as flies to wanton boys are we to thgods;/ they kill us for their sport
Human justice
There are 5 trials within the play in which one human being judges another:
o Lears love trial (1:1). Lear, as judge and jury, metes out the justice he thinks is
appropriate
o Cornwalls trial of Kent (2:2) , whose bluntness earns him instant punishment in the
stocks
o Cornwall and Regans trial of Gloucester (Act 3 Scene 7) at which the old man is not
allowed any representation or defence
o Lears mock trial of Gonerill and Regan (in the Quarto edition), showing how Lears
madness craves justice against his ungrateful daughters
o The trial by battle (Act 5 Scene 3). Edgar challenges Edmond to trial by combat on
the charge of treason
Throughout the play characters pass judgement on their fellows, always appealing to some
higher power or authority.
o Lear exiles Kent for daring to criticise him
o Gloucester impulsively condemns Edgar
o Gonerill and Regan, having assumed power, judge Lear and pronounce punishment
o Edmond sentences Lear and Cordelia to imprisonment and issues their death
warrant
The play shows that, when humans exercise justice, there is no guarantee that it will be fair,
proper or right. Possession of power is more important than fairness.
o Gonerill sees herself as the queen, unchallengeable, controlling the law and yet
beyond it: the laws are mine, not thine. / Who can arraign me fort?
o Lear displays insight into the way powerful, rich people can avoid punishment for
their crimes: Plate sin with gold, / And the strong lance of justice hurtles breaks.
And the fallibility of judges a dogs obeyed in office
There is some kind of natural justice at work- a loyal servant protests against Gloucesters
horrific treatment and mortally wounds Cornwall. Another helps his blinded master to Dover
and Oswald is killed by Edgar.
Morality
"The gods are just and of our pleasant vices / make instruments to plague us," Edgar tells
Edmund. "The dark and vicious place where thee he got / cost him his eyes" (5.3.169-171).
Edgar's argument is pretty extreme; he claims Gloucester's adultery, which produced
Edmund, is a sin for which his father deserves a terrible punishment.
Family
At the beginning of the play, Lear and Gloucester appear to believe that they head successful
and happy families. by the end of the first scene Lear has torn his family apart and in the
opening lines of the second scene Edmond reveals the plot against his brother that will
destroy Gloucesters family.
Sharp dramatic focus on fathers and their children.
o The fracturing bonds between fathers and children is mirrored in the play by the
terrible storm in nature, and by the breakdown of society itself.
o Gloucester, troubled by the discovery of Edgars supposed treachery, expresses this
mirror-image: Love cools, friendship falls off, brothers divide. In cities mutinies; in
countries, discord; in palaces, treason; and the bond cracked twixt son and father.
o A family problem is a sign of much wider national and cosmic discord.
Neither family has a mother
Family can be viewed as an economic unit which allows one generation to build on the
success of the previous one through the inheritance of property and power.
o The riches of the kingdom await the heirs of Lear and Gloucester
o The issue of inheritance generates great resentment in some children
o The letter which Edmond pretends has been written by Edgar makes this
resentment clear: this policy and reverence of age makes the world bitter to the
best of our times, keeps our fortunes from us till our oldness cannot relish them.
o Gonerill and Regan also detest this aged tyranny and want to take over power,
wealth and status
Families satisfy the human need for a sense of belonging and the security of love. Edgar and
Cordelia remain selflessly devoted to their fathers
At the beginning of the play Lear seems unable to understand or value family love- he
demands his daughters proclaim it publically.
A major function of the family is to provide security for its members as they pass through
childhood, sickness and old age. Lear had expected this from Cordelia- I loved her most, and
thought to set my rest on her kind nursery
Lear shows a calculating attitude to love when he rates Regans and Gonerills affection
according to the number of his servants they are willing to support- thy fifty yet doth double
five and twenty, and thou art twice her love.
Women in the family
The power of women outside the family in 16
th
-17
th
centuries was limited by the rules of
inheritance, ingrained traditions, and the prejudiced attitudes of the state, the law and the
Church. Powerful women were not unknown- James mother (Mary queen of Scots) and his
predecessor (Elizabeth I)
Women in positions of authority caused much consternation in the 16
th
century. By the time
King Lear was published this attitude had been changed by Elizabeths success but women
still had low status in society.
In the play, although Lears daughters are his heirs, the power and authority of the crown is
transferred to their husbands. The daughters are not made queens regnant (in their own
right) but wield their influence through their husbands.
o Gonerill has to goad Albany into action when he has doubts about how to act
Both Gonerill and Regan want Edmond not just as a lover but as a consort.
Lears wife is dead before the play begins. There is no reference to Edgars mother and
Edmonds is only mentioned lewdly in the beginning.
Sons and brothers
The good and evil qualities of the kings daughters are reflected in Edgars struggles to
protect his father, and Edmonds schemes to harm him.
Marriage
Gonerill detests Albany
Regan and Gonerill must exercise their power through their husbands
France favours Cordelia when she has been outcast
o thou art most rich being poor
o Can see the true worth of a person?
Blindness
When Lear banishes Kent with out of my sight!, Kents reply, beginning see better, Lear,
highlights Lears moral blindness, his lack of self-knowledge and understanding.
The king is clearly unable to see through the falseness of gonerills claim to love him dearer
than eyesight.
Terrible literalness in gonerills pluck out his eyes and Cornwalls brutal execution of that
order, upon these eyes of thine Ill set my foot.
The many images of sight and blindness which pervade the play sharply underscore and
emphasise the dramatic effect of Gonerill and Cornwalls words
Gloucester talks ironically of not needing spectacles to read Edgars traitorous letter.
The villainous Edmond can clearly see the business
Lear speaks of old fond eyes which threaten to shed tears
The physical pain and suffering of Gloucester as a result of his blinding bring him insight into
his past errors I stumbled when I saw. His new-found compassionate awareness of the
nature of the world is vividly expressed: I see it feelingly.

Context
Nature, the cosmos and humankind
Plotinus rejected the belief that the stars guide human fortune, arguing that such a belief
gave people a ready-made excuse for their own bad behaviour
The great chain of being was the theory (held by Elizabeths mathematics tutor Dr John Dee
among others) that that which is base within society could be refined to make it nobler.
Considered by some to be heretical as it showed dissatisfaction with gods natural order.
King Lear in performance
In 1681 the dramatist Nahum Tate rewrote the play with a happy ending, and produced a
version that lasted for 150 years. Tate cut the fool, invented a trusted woman friend for
Cordelia (whom he married off to Edgar), and ensured that Lear, Kent and gloucester
survived into the happy retirement of old age, leaving Cordelia and Edgar to rule.
During the mental derangement of king George III, performances of king Lear were
suspended as it was too close for comfort
19
th
century productions were increasingly concerned with spectacle. Large casts, lavish
costumes and monumental sets were used to give historical accuracy to the play.
20
th
century saw attempts to return to original Shakespeare and to face the bleakness of the
play. During the century of real mechanised warfare and human cruelty, King Lear became
one of the most popular Shakespeare plays. Peter Brooks version (1962) cut the servant
intervention in gloucesters blinding and edmonds line some good I mean to do (5:3:217).
The hostile universe seemed indifferent to suffering.
1997 the young vic theatre cast a female Lear as if the king was so old he virtually surpassed
gender. In a wheelchair, with a bald, shrunken head, he was presented as an inhabitant of a
nursing home in a set full of steel scaffolding and large wooden doors.
2012 Attenborough (Almeida)- emphasised sexual abuse (modern social/political issues
explored)
2008 Trevor Nunn (Ian Mckellen)
1983 Elliot (Laurence Olivier)
Christian or pre-Christian
Those who regard King Lear as a christian play see Lear redeemed by the crucifixion of his
suffering. They identify Cordelia as a symbol of Christian redemption, almost Christ-like. She
is a healer of suffering, a purger of ills and sins.
o Her reconciliation with her father helps to restore his wits. Her language affirms
such Christian qualities as tolerance and understanding: blest, virtues, aidant,
remediate, love, goodness, cure, restoration, repair, pity, benediction.
o When she returns at the head of an army to aid Lear, her words echo those of jesus,
o dear father / it is thy business that I go about (act 4 scene 3, lines 23-4)
Much evidence within the play of a pre-christian world.
o Characters dont appeal to a Christian god byt to the sun, Hecate, Jupiter and Apollo.
o Lear proclaims his faith in high-judging jove
o Gloucesters world is beset by superstitious beliefs in the late eclipses in the sun
and moon
o Edmond puts his faith in nature as a goddess
o Gloucester, Albany, Cordelia and Kent constantly appeal to the gods as they try to
make sense of the apparently arbitrary nature of fortune and justice which they
dispense.
Shakespeares influences
Gossip of the day
Real-life stories of greed and suffering among the moneyed classes were sensational and
popular sources of gossip in the early 17
th
century
Sir William Allen, a former lord mayor of the city, in old age split his estate between his three
daughters and arranging to live with them in turn. Once they had his money, the old man
was treated with cruelty and disrespect
The eldest daughter of Sir Brian Annesley tried to have him certified as infirm of mind in
1603 but his youngest daughter, Cordell, challenged her sister in court.
Hazards of transferring power
Inheritance in Elizabethan and Jacobean England was determined by male primogeniture.
Lack of sons was therefore dangerous
At the start of the seventeenth century, as the childless Queen Elizabeths life drew to a
close, many feared a disputed succession and possible civil war
The folly of deliberately dividing up a kingdom would have been obvious to a Shakespearean
audience. They would have understood Kents outrage.
English history had been traditionally seen as a steady movement towards the security,
strength and cohesion of a single realm.
The contrast between the recent peaceful succession of James in 1603, which united the
crowns of England and Scotland, and Lears unwise division would have been clear to
Shakespearean audiences.
A history play/legendary stories
Geoffrey of Monmouth wrote about King Lear in his history of England, over 400 years
before Shakespeare. A mixture of myth and legend but many people regarded it as historical
fact.
In 1577 Raphael Holinshed re-told the legend. Shakespeare added the characters of the fool,
Kent and Oswald, Lears madness and the storm, the subplot of Gloucester and his sons,
Cordelias death before Lears and the end of the play involving the deaths of Lears entire
family. In Holinsheds version, Lear returns to the throne following the defeat of Albany and
Cornwall. Cordelia succeeds him but her reign is cut short by a rebellion by her sisters sons.
They battle against each other and peace is only restored when one kills the other to rule
uncontested.
A literary play
Shakespeare may have seen or read The True Chronicle History of King Leir, a play first
performed in the 1590s and published in 1605. In this version no characters die and Leir is
restored to the throne. It contains stage directions for thunder and lightning which may
have inspired the storm in act 3
Shakespeare read Samuel Harsnetts A Declaration of Egregious Popish Impostures (1603).
Much of the strange language used by Poor Tom (Flibbertigibbet) is taken from this anti-
Catholic pamphlet. It claimed to expose the evils of false exorcism and quoted speeches
supposedly made by people who pretended to be possessed by demons. By giving such evil
language to Edgar, a good character, Shakespeare increases the dramatic intensity of the
play- appearance of evil and actual evil are explored etc.
The sub-plot of Gloucester and his sons is based on an episode in Arcadia (1590). The main
character in that version is a king and the illegitimate son is directly responsible for his
fathers blinding after seizing the throne. The virtuous son is betrayed by his brother, loses
his fathers favour and is driven into exile. The virtuous son returns to protect his father but
refuses to help him commit suicide. The blind king eventually crowns his son and dies happy




The play
1:1
LEAR Meantime we shall express our darker purpose
we- the royal we places Lear in a position of authority
darker purpose- sinister feel, ominous
LEAR tis our fast intent / To shake all cares and business from our age, / Conferring them on
younger strengths while we / Unburdened crawl toward death.
Antithesis of age and younger strengths
Ironic that he describes his life from this point (in essence his retirement) as unburdened
given what will follow
Demonstrates his purpose- to abdicate
LEAR Which of you shall we say doth love us most
Competition of flattery shows his vanity
CORDELIA I am sure my loves more ponderous than my tongue
Her asides show the genuine nature of her words
Authenticity
CORDELIA Why have my sisters husbands if they say they love you all?
Demonstrates the insincerity of the words of the sisters
CORDELIA time shall unfold what plighted cunning hides;
Recognises that the duplicity of her sisters will come to light
GONERILL we must look from his age to receive not alone the imperfections of long-engraffed
condition
Seek to exploit their fathers infirmities- true nature revealed
1:2
The opening soliloquy sets up the impending dramatic irony, allowing the audience to see
the true Edmond- his real thoughts and feelings- as well as to bear witness to his plan
EDMOND wherefore should I stand in the plague of custom..? why bastard? wherefore
base? Why brand they us with base? with baseness? bastardy? base, base?
Identifies his weak social status resulting from his birth
One of the new men of shakespeares times- seeks to elevate his position from this point
Anger and frustration conveyed through repetition
EDMOND legitimate Edgar, I must have your land.
legitimate- emphasises frustration at his position
Purpose conveyed
GLOUCESTER Kent banished thus? And France in choler parted? And the king gone tonight?...
Series of rhetorical questions- convey confusion.
At once shows the ridiculous nature of the events of the previous scene- shocking- as well as
his vulnerability as a character (impressionable?)
GLOUCESTER The quality of nothing hath not such need to hide itself
Theme of nothing- in Cordelias case it was not hidden and she ended up banished
GLOUCESTER These late eclipses in the sun and moon portend no good to us
Thinks that the world is influenced by the stars
Show his vulnerability to influence
Described as foppery by Edmond
Power of nature within the play
EDMOND when we are sick in fortune, often the surfeits of our own behaviour, we make
guilty of our disasters the sun, the moon, and stars;
EDMOND my father compounded with my mother under the dragons tail
Satanic image- Shakespeare begins to convey Edmonds true character
EDMOND I am rough and lecherous
Edmond acknowledges his character himself
EDMOND I should have been that I am had the maidenliest star in the firmament twinkled on
my bastardising
The stars have nothing to do with character- he is evil through and through and no planetary
influence affected it
Emphasis on bastardising- suggests this is the root of his cruel nature. Social
constraints/frustration lead to evil? Is Shakespeare criticising rigid social order?
EDMOND I am thinking of a prediction I read this other day, what should follow these
eclipses the effects he writes of succeed unhappily
Immediately demonstrates his duplicity- having previously ridiculed his fathers belief in it
1:3
GONERILL he wrongs me he flashes into one gross crime or other His knights grow riotous,
and himself upbraids us on every trifle.
Lear deserves his future treatment?
GONERILL come slack of former services and let his knights have colder looks among you:
what grows of it no matter.
Lear will no longer command the respect of the servants- his decline has begun at gonerills
order
1:4
OSWALD My ladys father (in response to Lear asking who he is)
Avoids Lears royal title
Puts his master (Gonerill) in a position higher than the king
Demonstrates Lears decline
LEAR Does anyone know me? This is not Lear Who is it that can tell me who I am?
FOOL Lears shadow
Emphasises Lears decline- he exclaims he is not himself as he does not command authority
any longer
LEAR O most small fault, How ugly didst thou in Cordelia show! O Lear, Lear, Lear! Beat at this
get that let thy folly in and thy dear judgement out.
Shows his regret already- only 3 scenes after her banishment
Anguish/awakening and greater self awareness already
thy folly- his age/vanity- the fatal flaw that led him to poor judgement
1:5
LEAR I did her wrong
Regret- Cordelia
Simple, short statement. Blunt
FOOL I can tell why a snail has a house to puts head in, not to give it away to his daughters, and
leave his horns without a case.
A snail has better judgement than Lear
References to home/shelter- the comfort of family, emphasises disfunctionality of Lears
family
LEAR O let me not be man, no mad, sweet heaven! Keep me in temper, I would not be mad.
Foreshadows what is to come
It has already started and he acknowledges it?
2:1
GLOUCESTER My old heart is cracked, its cracked
Like Lear- parallel narrative
CORNWALL you have shown your father a child-like office
Edmond has risen to legitimacy?
Advanced already
CORNWALL Natures of such deep trust we shall much need;
Ironic
2:2
KENT I serve the king, on whose employment I was sent to you. You shall do small respects, show
too bold malice against the grace and person of my master, stocking his messenger.
Kent emphasises the disrespect shown to the king
Represents feudal loyalty/respect
KENT Fortune, goodnight, smile once more, turn thy wheel.
Role of fortune in the play- all has been turned on its head
2:3
EDGAR take the basest and most poorest shape
Lowers himself below Edmond- what Edmond wants (dramatic irony?)
2:4
LEAR They durst not dot: They could not, would not dot
Disbelief that his daughter would disrespect him so- believes he is still all powerful
LEAR Tis not in thee to grudge my pleasures to oppose the bolt against my coming in. thou
better knowst the offices of nature, bond of childhood, effects of courtesy, dues of gratitude.
Lines emphasised in almeida version to suggest child abuse
LEAR O reason not the need! Our basest beggars are in the poorest thing superfluous. Allow not
nature more than nature needs, Mans life is cheap as beasts. thou art a lady; if only to go warm
were gorgeous, why nature needs not what thou gorgeous wearst, which scarcely keeps thee warm.
But for true need you heavens, give me that patience, patience I need. You see me here, you gods,
a poor old man, As full of grief as age, wretched in both; If it be you that stirs these daughters hearts
against their father, fool me not so much to bear it tamely. Touch me with noble anger, and let not
womens weapons, water drops, stain my mans cheeks. No, you unnatural hags, I will have such
revenges on you both that all the world shall I will do such things what they are, yet I know not,
but they shall be the terrors of the earth! You think Ill weep; No, Ill not weep, I have full cause of
weeping, but this heart shall break into a hundred thousand flaws or ere Ill weep. O fool, I shall go
mad.
O, !- opens with an exclamation- despair
superfluous- iambic pentameter breaks down- emphasis
reasonmad- begins with reason and ends with madness- indication of his journey
Repetition of nature and need- connection between the two, to need what is natural or to
need more than that
Talk of clothing (wearst)- nakedness is representative of vulnerability. Links to the literal
nakedness of tom and Lear later in the play
Asks if it is the gods who stirs these daughters hearts against their father- blame on divine
interference
womens weapons, water drops- circumlocution/periphrasis shows his move towards
madness? Dithering old man
womens weapons- emphasis on the power of women at this point
I will do such thing what they are, yet I know not,- empty threat, sad, broken speech
through caesura, decline of authority shown- presumes the language of power but has not
the content
GONERILL Tis his own blame; hath put himself from rest and must needs taste his folly
Seeks to justify their actions
Lear deserves his treatment
3:2
LEAR Blow, winds, crack your cheeks! Rage, blow Strike flat the thick rotundity othworld
Encourages the extinction of the human race- human nature is ingrateful and doesnt
deserve existence
Commanding- uses the language of authority and power, imperatives etc
LEAR Hide thee, thou bloody hand, thou perjured and thou similar of virtue That art incestuous
That which seems natural is incestuous/unnatural
LEAR I am a man more sinned against than sinning.
Tragedy- his mistake led to this but yet he is still a noble, good man, not perfect but not evil.
3:3
GLOUCESTER I like not this unnatural dealing.
Recognised as unnatural- the turning out of Lear
EDMOND Most savage and unnatural!
Sarcastic/duplicitous
Appears loyal and yet does not see anything unnatural about the actions of the daughter-
he hopes to do the same
EDMOND must draw me that which my father loses: no less than all. The younger rises when
the old doth fall.
old/younger- antithesis
Rhyming Couplet emphasises his final intent
Purpose of his actions made clear to the audience- emphasises his duplicity
3:4
LEAR But where the greater malady is fixed, the lesser is scarce felt. This tempest in my mind
doth from my senses take all feeling else.
Purgation
He cannot feel the storm because the torment in his mind is greater
The storm is a metaphor for his madness
His madness is all consuming
LEAR O Regan, Gonerill, your kind old father, whose frank heart gave all O that way madness
lies; let me shun that; No more of that.
Identifies his daughters as the cause of madness
Materially he gave them all- did he emotionally? He loved Cordelia most by his own
admission
Closes/insulates himself
LEAR Poor naked wretches, wheresoeer you are how shall your houseless heads and unfed
sides defend you from seasons such as these?
More humility- acknowledges the plight of the homeless
LEAR Didst thou give all to thy daughters? And art thou come to this? what, has his daughters
brought him to this pass? Couldst thou save nothing? Wouldst thou give em all? Nothing could
have subdued nature to such lowness but his unkind daughters.
Identifies his daughters again as the cause of insanity
LEAR First let me talk with this philosopher (in reference to Poor Tom) good Athenian
Lears madness is worsening- indicated by the fact he sees those who are also mad(although
in the case of Edgar it is pretence)
Philosopher/ Athenian- links to Plato/allegory of the cave. Is the philosopher the one who
can see the truth
3:5
CORNWALL I will have my revenge it was not altogether your brothers evil disposition made
him seek his death, but a provoking merit set a-work by a reprovable badness in himself
Cruelty is provoked?
Edgars evil (as constructed by Edmond) is not the fault of Edgar but a result of Gloucesters
fathering
EDMOND I will persever in my course of loyalty, though the conflict be sore between that and
my blood.
Loyalty is unnatural to him- conflicts with his character/innate evil
He is cruel by nature
3:6
LEAR Then let them anatomise Regan; see what breeds about her heart. Is there any cause in
nature that makes these hard hearts?
Where does cruelty come from? Is it innate or nurtured?
LEAR *To Edgar+ You, sir, I entertain for one of my hundred,
Still believes he has power
LEAR Make no noise, make no noise. Draw the curtains: so, so. Well go to supper Ithmorning.
Nonsensical
Prose- lowly status (mad)
KENT his wits are gone
Lears madness has completely descended
Absolute statement- not going but gone
3:7
REGAN The lunatic King
Acknowledges the madness of her father though she has not seen him since before the
storm- he was already mad?
GLOUCESTER Because I would not see thy cruel nails Pluck out his poor old eyes, nor thy fierce
sister in his anointed flesh stick boarish fangs.
Ironic given his fate
Antithesis of anointed and boarish- the king and the beast
GLOUCESTER Edmond, enkindle all the sparks of nature to quit this horrid act
Hopeless plea for help- Edmond hates thee
Shows how deeply he has been deceived
GLOUCESTER O, my follies! Then Edgar was abused.
Realisation of mistake- like Lear
No response from Regan after Cornwall is hurt at the end of the scene- could be portrayed as
cold/unloving
4:1
GLOUCESTER I stumbled when I saw/ As flies
2 key quotes
Themes of blindness and gods
4:3
Cordelia and Lear reunited
4:5
EDGAR Why I do trifle thus with his despair is done to cure it.
Emphasises the difference between his deceit and that of edmonds- his is for good
GLOUCESTER O you mighty gods! This world I do renounce, and in your sights shake patiently my
great affliction off.
Attempt to commit suicide
Almost comedic on stage- he falls flat on his face .
GLOUCESTER Henceforth Ill bear affliction till it do cry out itself Enough, enough, and die.
Anagnorisis- awakening/realisation
[Enter LEAR, mad]
Decisive change
LEAR To say ay and no to everything I said ay and no to was no good divinity
Realises the mistakes he made of absolute monarchy
LEAR They told me I was everything; tis a lie, I am not ague-proof
Admits his flaw
ague-proof- immune to fevers. Likened to a disease
LEAR But to the girdle do the gods inherit; beneath is all the fiends. sulphurous pit
Sexual power linked to evil
LEAR Thou rascal beadle, hold thy bloody hand. Why dost thou lash that whore? Strip thy own
back
All people are guilty, do not punish others, look to yourself
Highlights the hypocrisy of the world thou hotly lusts to use her in that kind for which thou
whipst her.
plate sin with gold- the rich are sinful, they cover it with wealth- like him? Now he has
nothing his sins are revealed to him
EDGAR reason in madness
LEAR I know thee well enough; thy name is gloucester
Is he really mad?
More insight when he is mad
LEAR When we are born, we cry that we are come to this great stage of fools
Pessimistic
4:6
In the Olivier version of the play, Cordelia kisses Kent
CORDELIA child-changed father!
Ideas of senility, regression to a child. The daughters become the mothers
GENTLEMAN fresh garments
Often white- symbol of cleansing/redemption
LEAR Pray you now, forget and forgive. I am old and foolish.
Asks for forgiveness
Acknowledges his faults
Old and foolish are linked
5:3
LEAR Howl, howl, howl, howl! No, no, no life? Never, never, never, never, never.
Despair
Repetition shows extent of emotion
LEAR Look on her! Look, her lips. Look there, look there.
Coming back to life? Does he therefore die of happiness? (AC Bradley proposes)-
resurrection, Christ-like
Or can he see something in the distance? The light?- dying?
Is he urging those around him to awake from their moral blindness?
He dies
In the Attenborough production this is violent- justice?
EDGAR the weight of this sad time we must obey, speak what we feel, not what we ought to say.
The oldest hath borne most; we that are young shall never see so much, nor live so long.
Age is a burden that the young fail to relieve them of

The end of king Lear
The last scene gathers all the main characters together- brings the stories to a conclusion
Continuation of established themes
o that eye that told you so, looked but asquint- distorted perception (jealous people
see things wrongly)
Final stage direction exeunt with a death march creates an ominous air, finishes on a
sombre note
Lears desperation at the end over Cordelias death- lend me a looking-glass; if that her
breath will mist or stain the stone, why then she lives. in contrast to his quickness to
disown her at the beginning
Albany- for us, we will resign during the life of this old majesty to him our absolute power;-
undoes the original sin of the abdication?

Critical perspectives
General critics
Harold C Goddard
the predestined end of unmastered passion is the suicide of the species. That is the gospel
according to King Lear only the characters who have mastered their passions can avert
doom
Gonerill and Regans murder/suicide is an example of how ruthless pursuit of passions leads
to extinction
Mark Van Doren
the initial act of the hero is his only act; the remainder is passion. An old and weary king,
hungry for rest, banishes the one daughter who would give it to him and plunges at once
into the long, loud night of his catastrophe. An early recognition of his error does not save
him. The poet does not wish to save him, for his instinct is to develop a catastrophe as none
has been developed before or since.
Harley Granville-Barker
Lears progress dramatic and spiritual lies through a dissipation of egoism; submission to
the cruelty of an indifferent Nature, less cruel to him than are his own kin; to ultimate loss of
himself in madness.
AC Bradley
The secondary plot fills out a story which would by itself have been somewhat thin, and it
provides a most effective contrast between its personages and those of the main plot, the
tragic strength and stature being heightened by comparison with the slighter build of the
former.
Bridget Gellert Lyons
the subplot simplifies the central action, translating its concerns into familiar (and therefore
easily apprehensible) verbal and visual patterns. The subplot is easier to grasp because its
characters tend to account for their sufferings in traditional moral language; it also
pictorialises the main action, supplying interpreted visual emblems for some of the plays
important themes (eg blindness- gloucesters blinding)
DA Traversi
the storm which has broken out in Lears mind, the result of his treatment at the hands of
his children, is admirably fused with the description of the warring elements mainly
entrusted to his lips; the external storm, while exercising upon his aged physique the
intolerable strain under which it finally breaks, is itself a projection of his inner state, being
fused with it as a single poetic reality.
Kenneth Muir
the play is not pessimistic and pagan: it is rather an attempt to provide an answer to the
undermining of traditional ideas by the new philosophy that called in doubt. Shakespeare
goes back to a pre-christian world and builds up from the nature of man himself, and not
from revealed religion, those same moral and religious ideals that were being undermined
man reduced to his essentials needs not wealth, nor power, nor even physical freedom, but
rather patience, stoical fortitude, and love
John Danby
it is not only our profoundest tragedy; it is also our profoundest expression of an essentially
Christian comment on mans world and his society,
Arthur Small
there is, indeed, in king Lear, a kind of irony which is not, to any important extent, to be
found in any other play: the irony which lies in the contradiction between the rightness of
what is said and the wrongness of its being said by that particular character, or in that
particular situation, or in that particular manner.
David Ball
Interprets the conversation of Kent and Gloucester at the beginning of the play to mean that
the court already knows the kings decision regarding the division of his kingdom.
The king knows Cordelia will act this way and so uses it as an excuse to complete his plan
The duke of Albany is the title given to Scottish heirs to the throne, and later occasionally to
British heirs. The duke of Cornwall is that given to British heirs- differ to France and
burgundy- foreign?
Roy battenhouse
Cordelia is initially selfish
William Elton
Gonerill and Regan are typical renaissance pagans, preoccupied with the natural and the self
Lawrence Rossinger
The play is about Gloucester and Lears self discovery as a result of treating others in a
selfish way
Rosalie L Cole
The play is a commentary of fathers losing their power
Marian Novy
Lear abuses Cordelia and then begs her forgiveness
Criticises the powerful rights father had over their daughters
Patriarchal structures are threatened in the play
Stephen Greenblatt
Lear wishes to be the object of his childrens love (possibly the sole recipient)
Peter Erickson
The play is about a failure of male bodning. Lear attempts to counter the loss of his
daughters with his knights, the fool and poor tom. They are finally a minor resource in
comparison to the equivocal centrality of Cordelia
Familial love is greater
Don Foran
The play points up Lears tragic mistake of investing rather than divesting and to mistake
affection for affectation
Terry Eagleton
Watching king Lears affliction makes the audience yearn for political liberation
Nicholas Marsh
King Lear carries Cordelias body on stage and dies looking at her, the other bodies could be
on stage
When Lear dies the final scene becomes much more static
Both language and poetry show a change- phrases are abstract and broken (lines 318
onwards) end-stopped lines, caesura on most lines
Painful/violent language before line 318 and the language that follows is softer, with long
vowel sounds (realm, warm)
Edgar says that during this sad time they must speak what they feel and not what they
ought to say. When political life restarts, after the period of mourning, does falsity resume?
Is there hope or not?
Freudian/psychoanalytical
Coppelia Kahn
Since there are no literal mothers within the play, kahn provides a psychoanalytic
interpretation of the maternal subtext of the play
Lear in his old age regresses to an infantile disposition, and now seeks the love that is
normally satisfied by a mothering woman. Her characterisation of Lear is that of a child
being mothered, but without real mothers, his children become the daughter-mother
figures.
Existentialism
Existentialism is the philosophical and cultural movement which holds that the starting point of
philosophical thinking must be the experiences of the individual. Sren Kierkegaard, generally
considered to be the first existentialist philosopher, posited that it is the individual who is solely
responsible for giving meaning to life and for living life passionately and sincerely ("authentically").
Concepts:
A central proposition of existentialism is that existence precedes essence, which means that
the most important consideration for the individual is the fact that he or she is an
individualan independently acting and responsible conscious being ("existence")rather
than what labels, roles, stereotypes, definitions, or other preconceived categories the
individual fits ("essence").
The notion of the Absurd contains the idea that there is no meaning to be found in the world
beyond what meaning we give to it.
Facticity is a concept defined by Sartre in Being and Nothingness as that "in-itself" of which
humans are in the mode of not being. Facticity is both a limitation and a condition of
freedom. It is a limitation in that a large part of one's facticity consists of things one couldn't
have chosen (birthplace, etc.), but a condition in the sense that one's values most likely will
depend on it. However, even though one's facticity is "set in stone" (as being past, for
instance), it cannot determine a person: The value ascribed to one's facticity is still ascribed
to it freely by that person.
The theme of authentic existence is common to many existentialist thinkers. It is often taken
to mean that one has to "find oneself" and then live in accordance with this self. What is
meant by authenticity is that in acting, one should act as oneself, not as One acts or as one's
genes or any other essence requires.
Feminist
Cordelia shows that women who refuse to be subservient to their male counterparts, or will
not abide by their whims, are subordinated. She is representative of the strong female voice
in society being oppressed
Feminist scholars, on the other hand, think that Cordelia is an unrealistic character. She's
little more than a male fantasy, they argue. At the beginning, Cordelia resists her father's
demands and asserts her own identity. She refuses to give all her love to her father and
withholds some of it to bestow on her future husband. But by the end of the play, however,
Cordelia's independence has disappeared. Lear's initial dream of having his daughter's love
all to himself is realized when Lear and Cordelia go to prison together. Lear's looking forward
to "sing[ing] alone like birds'i'the'cage" is, by feminist interpretation, less a symbol of Lear's
personal growth than proof that Lear hasn't changed at all (5.3). He wanted to monopolize
Cordelia's love, and in prison, he will get to. Feminist scholars point out that Cordelia barely
speaks at all during her last scene alive, and dies by strangulation a symbolic
representation of the fact that she no longer has a voice of her own.
Marilyn French
mens behaviour matters. But women;s behaviour is of the essence. Cordelia redeems
nature from the general curse/ which twain have brought her to. The twain are, ofcourse,
Gonerill and Regan. Cordelia redeems nature; Gonerill and Regan are responsible for its
curse. In the rhetoric of the play, no male is condemned as Gonerill is condemned. A woman
who refuses to uphold the inlaw feminine principle completely topples the natural order and
plunges the world into chaos.

Language/form/structure techniques
Language
Imagery
Vivid words and phrases conjure up emotionally charged pictures in the imagination and
create the atmosphere of the play
o I am bound / upon a wheel of fire, that mine own tears / Do scold like molten lead
Use of simile
o we two alone will sing like birds Ithcage
o my life I never held but as a pawn
Use of metaphor
o come not between the dragon and his wrath
o how sharper than a serpents tooth it is / To have a thankless child
Personification
o Thou, Nature, art my goddess
o ingratitude! Thou marble-hearted fiend
Antithesis
Opposition of words or phrases against each other
o so young, and so untender?
o so young, my lord, and true.
o Expresses conflict
Conflict occurs in many forms in the play- father against daughter, son against father,
brother against brother, sister against sister, wife against husband. The king itself is divided
and invaded by France.
Thematically, sight works against blindness, nature against the unnatural, ,am against
animal, rich against poor, truth against deception
When Kent is banished in the first scene he expresses moral and social confusion stemming
from Lears decisions in a series of antitheses.
o freedom against banishment
o hence and here
o And he will shape his old course in a country new
Lear and the language of power
Initially Lear has an imperative style of speaking, which matches the kings conviction
regarding his absolute power.
o His first words are an order to Gloucester- attend the lords of France and Burgundy
o what can you say to draw / a third more opulent than your sisters? Speak
o Even in madness, Lear strives to dictate to the elements, instructing the storm blow,
winds, and crack your cheeks!
By the end, even when he commands he is softer and more polite
o Pray do not mock me
o pray you, undo this button. Thank you, sir.
o His final words, Look there, look there, are an impassioned plea for confirmation
that Cordelia still lives.
He speaks in the language of power but there is variation in his speech.
Animal imagery
Lear likens his daughters cruelty to that of predatory birds and beasts
o Gonerill is a detested kite whose ingratitude is sharper than a serpents tooth. Her
face is wolvish, her tongue serpent-like
o He sees Gonerill and Regan as pelican daughters, cruelling feeding on his flesh and
blood
Edgar, disguised as poor tom, describes himself as hog in sloth, fox in stealth, wolf in
greediness, dog in madness, lion in prey
Gloucester likens humans to flies (as flies to wanton boys are we)
Disease and pain
The political and moral disruptions in the play are echoed by recurring images of pain and
disease, of bodies racked and tortured. Lears madness and gloucesters blinding illustrate
the theme of mental and physical suffering
o Kent identifies Cordelias banishment as a foul disease
o Lear views the fools criticisms as a pestilent gall (an infected irritant)
o On both his ungrateful daughters he wishes all the plagues that in the pendulous air
hang
o Gonerill is described by Lear as a disease thats in my flesh, a boil / A plague-sore,
or embossed carbuncle
The language of disease is partly counterbalanced by the language of healing. Cordelia,
grieving for her fathers madness, urges that all you unpublished virtues of the earth, /
Spring with my tears; be aidant and remediate / In the good mans distress. And seeks to
return him to health, restoration hang / thy medicine on my lips.
Nothing
The word nothing resounds throughout the play
Cordelia uses it first, saying nothing, my lord in answer to Lears love test. She has nothing
to say, no flattering words to accompany her dutiful love.
Lears response adds new meaning, nothing will come of nothing. If she doesnt declare her
love, she will inherit nothing
Gloucester rewards Edmond (it shall lose thee nothing) for his false loyalty.
Kent criticises the fools joking advice- this is nothing, fool
Lears criticism of the fool is returned with a sharp twist of meaning- thou has pared thy wit
oboth sides and left nothing Ithmiddle. Thus the fool gives the word another
interpretation- loss of identity. I am a fool, thou art nothing. This is echoed as Edgar
discards his true personality Edgar I nothing am
Gonerill and Regan remind Lear that his former power will be reduced to nothing- what
need you five and twenty? Ten? Or five? what need one?
Plain speaking
Explores the differences between speaking sincerely and insincerely. Some characters
private thoughts clearly do not match their public voices.
o Cordelia recognises that her sisters speak untruthfully in Lears love test, but she
refuses to speak dishonestly: I want that glib and oily art / to speak and purpose
not.
o Elsewhere, Gonerill and Regans language is plain and direct, even though the
duplicitous nature of their scheming pervades the play
o Kent is banished for his plain speaking, his offence, honesty and returns as a
character still committed to speaking candidly and bluntly
o Edmond uses lies to prey on a credulous father and uses his cunning to stuff his
*Cornwalls+ suspicions more fully.
o The virtuous Edgar, disguised as Poor Tom, lies to his blinded father, but his
motivation is benign and with almost the final words of the play he urges plain
speaking, speak what we feel, not what we ought to say.
Blank verse or prose?
Conventional for prose to be used for low-status characters for comedy, to express madness,
and in letters.
Pathetic fallacy
Personification of inanimate objects to show emotion
Act 3, Scenes 1-3
Instead of a stable, hierarchical kingdom with Lear in control, chaos has overtaken the realm,
and the country is at the mercy of the plays villains, who care for nothing but their own
power. This political chaos is mirrored in the natural world. We find Lear and his courtiers
plodding across a deserted heath with winds howling around them and rain drenching them.
The importance of the storm, and its symbolic connection to the state of mind of the people
caught in it, is first suggested by the knights words to Kent. Kent asks the knight, Whos
there, besides foul weather?; the knight answers, One minded like the weather, most
unquietly(3.1.12). Here the knights state of mind is shown to be as turbulent as the winds
and clouds surrounding him. This is true of Lear as well: when Kent asks the knight where
the king is, the knight replies, Contending with the fretful elements; / . . . / Strives in his
little world of man to out-scorn / The to-and-fro-conflicting wind and rain (3.1.411).
Shakespeares use of pathetic fallacya literary device in which inanimate objects such as
nature assume human reactionsamplifies the tension of the characters struggles by
elevating human forces to the level of natural forces.
The chaos reflects the disorder in Lears increasingly crazed mind, and the apocalyptic
language represents the projection of Lears rage and despair onto the outside world: if his
world has come to a symbolic end because his daughters have stripped away his power and
betrayed him, then, he seems to think, the real world ought to end, too. As we have seen,
the chaos in nature also reflects the very real political chaos that has engulfed Britain in the
absence of Lears authority.
Form
Tragedy
Tragedy depicts the downfall of a noble hero or heroine, usually through some combination
of hubris, fate, and the will of the gods.
The tragic heros powerful wish to achieve some goal inevitably encounters limits, usually
those of human frailty (flaws in reason, hubris, society), the gods, or nature.
3 parts to a tragic plot:
o Reversal (peripeteia)- when a situation appears to be developing in one direction
and then turns to another
When the division of the kingdom appears to be going well and suddenly all
changes- Cordelia who is loved most initially, is cast out along with Kent,
the faithful servant
o Recognition (anagnorisis)- a change from ignorance to awareness of a bond of love
or hate
Lears awareness of his faults, his mistreatment of Cordelia, his anguish
o Suffering (pathos)- a calamity, a destructive or painful act.
The deaths of Cordelia and Lear, the suggested death of Kent
The tragic hero
Aristotle says the tragic hero should have a flaw and/or make some mistake (hamartia)
The hero need not die at the end but must undergo a change in fortune
The tragic hero may achieve some revelation or recognition- anagnorisis- about human fate,
destiny and the will of the gods.
a man who is neither a paragon of virtue and justice nor undergoes the change to
misfortune through any real badness or wickedness but because of some mistake









Plot summary
Act I.
Shakespeare's dark tragedy, King Lear begins with the fictional King of England, King Lear, handing
over his kingdom to daughters Regan and Goneril whom he believes truly love him. King Lear intends
to stay with each daughter consecutively, accompanied by one hundred loyal knights.
Angry that Cordelia his youngest daughter does not appear to love him as do Goneril and Regan,
Lear banishes his youngest daughter Cordelia, and Kent, the servant who attempts to defend her.
Cordelia leaves and is taken by the King of France as his Queen...
Edmund, the loved but illegitimate son of the Earl of Gloucester plots to have his elder brother
Edgar's reputation ruined. Edmund tricks his father Gloucester into believing that Edgar wanted to
kill him...
The disrespectful Goneril conspires to have her guest and father, King Lear, driven out of her house.
Kent, who has now disguised his identity to serve King Lear, earns King Lear's respect by defending
his name. Goneril offends King Lear and dismisses fifty of his knights. Lear starts to realize Cordelia
was not so disrespecting. Lear decides to leave for Regan where he is sure to be treated properly...
Lear instructs Kent to deliver several letters to Gloucester. The Fool teaches Lear several riddles.
Act II.
We learn of possible conflict between evil sisters Regan and Goneril. Edmund further manipulates
Edgar. Gloucester learns from Edmund of Edgar's plan to kill him and believes it...
Kent and Oswald, Goneril's steward fight. Kent is placed in stocks emphasizing just how little Lear's
name is now respected by daughters Regan and Goneril...
Edgar, now alone and disguised, describes his fate of living in hiding.
Showing complete disregard for King Lear's authority, Kent remains in stocks. Lear tells Regan how
much Goneril has hurt him. Regan in consultation with Goneril, allows Lear to stay but without a
single follower. Lear decides not to stay with either daughter...
Act III.
The King of France may well invade England. Kent sends a messenger to Cordelia to keep her aware
of King Lear's plight... Lear braves the elements against a storm, no doubt symbolic of his tortured
soul...
Gloucester lets slip to his traitorous son Edmund that the army of France is poised to invade,
guaranteeing Gloucester's own future suffering. We learn more of a potential conflict between
Regan and Goneril, centering on their husbands...
Lear is brought out of the elements. Lear explains that nature's physical torment of him distracted
him from the pain his daughters have given him.
Edgar, Gloucester's legitimate son, makes his appearance, disguised as "poor Tom." Cornwall,
Regan's husband and Edmund speak. After implicating his father Gloucester as a traitor against
Cornwall, Edmund is rewarded for betraying his father Gloucester by receiving his father's title as the
new Earl of Gloucester.
Cornwall tells Edmund to seek out his father saying "he may be ready for our apprehension" or
punishment.
Lear and company find solace and safety in a farmhouse. Lear, showing signs of madness, holds a
mock trial to punish his daughters addressing two joint stools as if they were Regan and Goneril.
Kent leads Lear to Dover where he will be safe...
Gloucester is captured and tortured first having his beard ripped away and later being made blind.
Unable to bear Cornwall's brutality any longer, a servant wounds Cornwall...
Act IV.
Gloucester now blind, realizes in his suffering his mistakes, especially about his son Edgar.
Gloucester meets "poor Tom" not realizing it is Edgar in disguise. Edgar leads his father to the cliffs
of Dover where his father wishes to commit suicide.
The Duke of Albany renounces his wife Goneril, realizing that he has been on the wrong side... The
Duke of Cornwall (Regan's husband) is now dead. The rivalry for Edmund by Regan and Goneril
intensifies.
Kent wonders how Cordelia can be so good and her sisters so evil. The King of France will not
oversee the battle about to begin. Cordelia is saddened by what she learns of King Lear's plight...
Cordelia has her men search for her father... With the battle almost about to start, we learn Albany
has switched sides again, supporting Goneril and Regan's forces against the invading French.
Regan worries more about her sister's intentions for Edmund more than the battle that lies ahead...
Edgar continues to lead his father to the cliffs of Dover where he tricks him that he miraculously
survived his fall. Lear learns of Gloucester's blindness.
Edgar kills Oswald when he attempts to kill Gloucester. Oswald's letter, which comes from Goneril,
reveals instructions for Edmund to kill her husband, The Duke of Albany so she may marry him.
Cordelia finds her father Lear who deeply regrets how he treated her...
Act V.
Regan and Goneril put Edmund on the spot by demanding he choose for once and for all, which one
of them he loves. Albany decides to fight on Regan and Goneril's side but only to fight an invading
power (France).
Cordelia's forces lose to Goneril and Regan's and Cordelia and Lear are taken prisoner. Captured,
King Lear tries to comfort Cordelia. Albany congratulates his allies but now turns on them. Edgar
fights his brother Edmund, mortally wounding him. Goneril kills herself and poisons sister Regan.
Edgar reveals his true identity to Gloucester who dies from a heart unable to take both grief and joy.
Albany and the dying Edmund try to prevent Lear and Cordelia being hanged but are too late for
Cordelia.
Lear howls with pain his loss of Cordelia. Kent is finally recognized for his loyalty by Lear. Lear,
unable to take further pain, dies. Albany is left to restore order following this tragedy...