King Lear

Presented by: Dram Tree Shakespeare

March 8-11, 15-18, 22-25

Lesson Guide & Information Packet

by Dr. Charles Grimes and Jordan Wolfe

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 Table of Contents
1. Introduction 3

A. The Story of Lear 4

2. Character Breakdown 5

A. Character Relationships 5

B. Analysis 6

3. Important Speeches 8

4. Shakespeare’s Verse and Language 12

5. Questions for Discussion 20

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Introduction
King Lear is one of the most complex and all-encompassing plays Shakespeare ever
wrote. Among its themes are mortality (issues about life and death), the nature of kingship,
power, insanity, and the duty of daughters. Combined with a parade of betrayals and family
miscommunications and the concerns of old age and death, it’s probably not the usual fare
for many theatregoers and theatre folk. In fact, in our latest summer camp sessions at Coastal
Carolina Community College, in which an abridged version was performed in four separate
student productions, only one student out of the 64 students participating actually wanted
the part of Lear. We wondered about this: is Lear so far out of the students’ experience that
almost none of them could imagine themselves playing the part? The answer at first glance
seemed to be “yes.” Lear is “fourscore and upwards”– that is, 80 years old plus, an age much
more than what most of us now teaching and studying this guide have reached.
Laurence Olivier, in his book On Acting, says of playing the part of King Lear:
“When you’ve the strength for it, you’re too young; when you’ve the age, you’re too
old. It’s a bugger, isn’t it?”
And so Shakespeare in his inimitable way has given us the paradox as well in studying
the play. It may seem hard to have empathy for an experience that seems so far out of reach;
yet this play, long regarded as the apex of Shakespeare’s talent, offers us insights into the
human condition far beyond what we think we can know. We ultimately learn that we can
have empathy and understanding for someone who at first glance might seem so different
than each of us, and that we can learn from his and the play’s experience.

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What Happens in King Lear

Lear, King of Britain, decides to relinquish his duties and divide his kingdom among his three
daughters, making the size of his gifts dependent upon each daughter's declaration of love to him. The
two oldest, Goneril and Regan, gush sweet adjectives in their greed, but the young, more truthful
Cordelia answers only that she loves him as much as natural bond of daughter to father dictates.
Furious, Lear disinherits her, gives all his lands and powers to Goneril and Regan, and makes plans to
live alternately a month at a time with them. The earl of Kent tries to intercede and is banished.
Cordelia marries the king of France and flees to his country.

At the same time, the earl of Gloucester is deceived by his illegitimate son, Edmund, who has forged a
letter attempting to manipulate Gloucester into disinheriting his natural son Edgar. Kent, dangerously,
refuses exile and returns in disguise to become Lear’s servant; he arrives at Goneril's castle as she
intentionally insults and shames her father. Cursing his eldest daughter, King Lear departs immediately
for Regan's castle, sending Kent ahead.

Meanwhile, Regan and her husband, the duke of Cornwall, go to Gloucester's castle, where for a minor
offense and to humiliate Lear, they abuse Kent. Regan refuses to take in her father until he has
apologized to her sister. When Goneril arrives, Lear perceives that the daughters are conspiring against
him, and in a rage he sets out into a dark and stormy night.

On a barren heath, Lear, with his fool, hurls defiance at the elements and seeks refuge in a hovel. There
they meet Edgar, disguised as mad Tom O'Bedlam (a homeless wanderer). Just as Kent has calmed the
king (who is showing signs of going mad), Gloucester arrives with word that the daughters are plotting
against the king's life. Meanwhile, Edmund has spread the false rumor that Gloucester has been
assisting the French army’s invasion; as a result, Cornwall captures Gloucester tortures him.

In the open country Edgar finds his blind father and, without revealing himself, becomes his guide.
Cordelia, who has returned with the armies of France to fight her sisters, is able to reunite with her
father, now sunk into delusional insanity. Meanwhile, the duke of Albany denounces his wife, Goneril,
while Regan and Goneril both lust after Edmund, who becomes leader of the English army which
easily defeats Cordelia and the French army. Lear is once again at the mercy of his enemies;
confronted by devastating loss, Lear finally reckons with his own moral responsibility and with
ultimate questions of life and death.

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The Characters in King Lear
Relationships

Key
Blood

Marriage
Servants of
Banishment Lear family
Godparent/son

King Lear
Kent

Goneril Regan Cordelia Fool

Albany Cornwall King France Oswald

Gloucester

Edgar Edmund

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The Characters in King Lear
Analysis

King Lear
Childlike, passionate, cruel, kind, unlikable, and sympathetic – Lear is one of
Shakespeare's most complex characters and portraying him remains a tremendous challenge
to any actor. The noted Shakespearean critic William Hazlitt eloquently elaborated on Lear's
many dimensions:
The character of Lear itself is very finely conceived for the purpose. It is the only
ground on which such a story could be built with the greatest truth and effect. It is
his rash haste, his violent impetuosity, his blindness to every thing but the dictates of
his passions or affections, that produces all his misfortunes, that aggravates his
impatience of them, that enforces our pity for him...The greatness of Lear is not in
corporal dimension, but in intellectual; the explosions of his passions are terrible as a
volcano: they are storms turning up and disclosing to the bottom that rich sea, his
mind, with all its vast riches. It is his mind which is laid bare (Characters of
Shakespeare's Plays, 1817)

The aging king of Britain and the protagonist of the play, Lear is used to enjoying
absolute power and to being flattered, and he does not respond well to being contradicted or
challenged. At the beginning of the play, his values are notably hollow—he prioritizes the
appearance of love over actual devotion and wishes to maintain the power of a king while
unburdening himself of the responsibility. Nevertheless, he inspires loyalty in subjects such
as Gloucester, Kent, Cordelia, and Edgar, all of whom risk their lives for him.

Cordelia
Lear’s youngest daughter, disowned by her father for refusing to flatter him. Cordelia
is held in extremely high regard by all of the good characters in the play—the king of France
marries her for her virtue alone, overlooking her lack of dowry. She remains loyal to Lear
despite his cruelty toward her, forgives him, and displays a mild and forbearing
temperament even toward her evil sisters, Goneril and Regan. Despite her obvious virtues,
Cordelia’s reticence makes her motivations difficult to read, as in her refusal to declare her
love for her father at the beginning of the play.

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Goneril
Lear’s ruthless oldest daughter and the wife of the duke of Albany. Goneril is jealous,
treacherous, and amoral. Shakespeare’s audience would have been particularly shocked at
Goneril’s aggressiveness, a quality that it would not have expected in a female character. She
challenges Lear’s authority, boldly initiates an affair with Edmund, and wrests military
power away from her husband.

Regan
Lear’s middle daughter and the wife of the duke of Cornwall. Regan is as ruthless as
Goneril and as aggressive in all the same ways. In fact, it is difficult to think of any quality
that distinguishes her from her sister. When they are not egging each other on to further acts
of cruelty, they jealously compete for the same man, Edmund.

Gloucester
A nobleman loyal to King Lear whose rank, earl, is below that of duke. The first thing
we learn about Gloucester is that he is an adulterer, having fathered a bastard son, Edmund.
His fate is in many ways parallel to that of Lear: he misjudges which of his children to trust.
He appears weak and ineffectual in the early acts, when he is unable to prevent Lear from
being turned out of his own house, but he later demonstrates that he is also capable of great
bravery.

Edgar
Gloucester’s older, legitimate son. Edgar plays many different roles, starting out as a
gullible fool easily tricked by his brother, then assuming a disguise as a mad beggar to evade
his father’s men, then carrying his impersonation further to aid Lear and Gloucester, and
finally appearing as an armored champion to avenge his brother’s treason. Edgar’s
propensity for disguises and impersonations makes him an enigma, as well as an
unstoppable force within the play.

Edmund
Gloucester’s younger, illegitimate son. Edmund resents his status as a bastard and
schemes to usurp Gloucester’s title and possessions from Edgar. He is a formidable character,
succeeding in almost all of his schemes and wreaking destruction upon virtually all of the
other characters.

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Kent
A nobleman of the same rank as Gloucester who is loyal to King Lear. Kent spends
most of the play disguised as a peasant, calling himself “Caius,” so that he can continue to
serve Lear even after Lear banishes him. He is extremely loyal, but he gets himself into
trouble throughout the play by being extremely blunt and outspoken.

Albany
The husband of Lear’s daughter Goneril. Albany is good at heart, and he eventually
denounces and opposes the cruelty of Goneril, Regan, and Cornwall. Yet he is indecisive and
lacks foresight, realizing the evil of his allies quite late in the play.

Cornwall
The husband of Lear’s daughter Regan. Unlike Albany, Cornwall is domineering, cruel,
and violent, and he works with his wife and sister-in-law Goneril to persecute Lear and
Gloucester.

Fool
Lear’s jester, who uses double-talk and seemingly frivolous songs to give Lear
important advice. He is usually the voice of reason until he becomes superfluous to King
Lear with the introduction of Poor Tom.

Oswald
The steward, or chief servant, in Goneril’s house. Oswald obeys his mistress’s
commands and helps her in her conspiracies.

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Important Speeches
King Lear contains a number of extraordinary powerful speeches. Understanding
these big moments in the play can reveal a lot of its meaning. Here are a few important
speeches from the play.

In the first scene of the play, King Lear wants to divide his kingdom among his three
daughters. His plan is to ask them to publicly declare their love for him and then he will give
each a certain portion of the kingdom. The more they say they love their father, the richer
they will be. But one daughter, Cordelia, is uneasy about this:

Unhappy that I am, I cannot heave

My heart into my mouth: I love your majesty
According to my bond; nor more nor less….
Good my lord,
You have begot me, bred me, loved me: I
Return those duties back as are right fit,
Obey you, love you, and most honour you.
Why have my sisters husbands, if they say
They love you all? Haply, when I shall wed,
That lord whose hand must take my plight shall carry
Half my love with him, half my care and duty:
Sure, I shall never marry like my sisters,
To love my father all.

This is the speech that starts all the trouble, isn’t it? (It may seem that way, but of course
Lear’s entire idea here is rather foolish.) Cordelia cannot portray her love in fancy terms or
complicated images. She is simply unable to translate her deep feelings into words on the
spur of the moment in public. She says simply that she loves her father the way a daughter
should. She makes a comparison of herself (she’s single) to her married sisters – her sisters
are obligated to love their husbands, so aren’t they lying when they say they love him only?
Here she hints at how deceptive her sisters are – she is basically calling them liars. That
thought spurs another in her mind: when I get married, I will devote half my love to my

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husband and half to my father; I’m not going to forget who my father is, no matter how old I
am. That thought then extends itself: in fact, I won’t get married, in order that I can continue
to devote all my love to my father, as a good daughter should.

Later in the play, this speech occurs, when King Lear is out on a barren heath in the
middle of a huge thunderstorm.

Rumble thy bellyful! Spit, fire! spout, rain!

Nor rain, wind, thunder, fire, are my daughters:
I tax not you, you elements, with unkindness;
I never gave you kingdom, call'd you children,
You owe me no subscription: then let fall
Your horrible pleasure: here I stand, your slave,
A poor, infirm, weak, and despised old man:
But yet I call you servile ministers,
That have with two pernicious daughters join'd
Your high engender'd battles 'gainst a head
So old and white as this. O! O! 'tis foul!

The first thing an actor will do with a speech like this is to paraphrase it: to “translate” it into
comprehensible and current words. This procedure helps you understand what the speech is
about. A paraphrase of the above might be:

Hey wind and rain and fire: bring it on! I dare you to come at me with everything you
have. Throw your lightning and rain on me: I can handle it. You are no kin of mine; you
aren’t even as evil as my kids; you don’t owe me anything – so do your worst to me. I am
so powerless in comparison to you. But I can take it, even though I am now a man who is
weak, sick, and despised. But I can still call you inferiors and you are at my command.
You are conspiring against me to make me suffer, just as my evil daughters are. I am
old, my hair is grey, and this is a terrible and perverse situation.

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 Here, note that the first line is a command. Lear is out on his own in a storm and he is
still giving orders and expecting to be obeyed! Then, he goes on an extended comparison
between the forces of nature and his daughters (Goneril and Regan). He knows he is weak –
he is after all abandoned and on his own. And he is old and aware of it. Nevertheless he
dares the universe, in the form of weather, to make him suffer even more. Later on, he will
not be so eager for more suffering – it’s almost as if the world takes him up on his dare to do
its worst to him. Here, suffering seems only a way of proving how tough Lear is. Is it wise to
dare fate? What else does suffering do other than prove you can endure it?
Further in the play, still on the heath fighting the elements, Lear has this speech in
which he comes to a realization about how unfair the social world is:

Poor naked wretches, whereso'er you are,

That bide the pelting of this pitiless storm,
How shall your houseless heads and unfed sides,
Your loop'd and window'd raggedness, defend you
From seasons such as these? O, I have ta'en
Too little care of this! Take physic, pomp;
Expose thyself to feel what wretches feel,
That thou mayst shake the superflux to them,
And show the heavens more just.

He is talking about those who have nothing: those whose clothes are ripped and torn or non-
existent but who have to survive every day in the storm Lear is experiencing only for a short
time. He accuses himself of ignoring the poor: “I have taken too little care of this!,” meaning, I
haven’t thought about it enough. Then he goes on: I should suffer as these poor homeless
peole suffer. If everyone did that, all the people who have an overabundance of wealth would
then share their wealth with the less fortunate, and the world, and our gods, would be more
fair.
Is Shakespeare being a socialist here? It sure sounds like it!

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The Language of Shakespeare

IAMBIC PENTAMETER IN ONE PAGE

“Meter” refers to the pattern of syllables in poetry. An iamb is two syllables the first unstressed then
the second stressed. The word “ trapeze” forms a natural iamb. (So does the word iamb – say it out
loud – I AM!) Meters or feet are arrangements of stressed and unstressed syllables in groups of 2 or 3.
Put five of these IAMBS together into one line of poetry, and the line is written in iambic
pentameter. A poem or speech in iambic pentameter that isn’t rhymed is called blank verse.

Here are some lines in iambic pentameter:

In sooth I know not why I am so sad. (See how Shakespeare has loaded the words of import on
the accented syllables --- here I have underlined the accents: In sooth / I know / not why/ I am / so
sad.)
To swell the gourd and plump the hazel shells
If you would put the key inside the lock (Pronounce it out loud: If YOU would PUT the KEY
inside the LOCK
A mattress, bed ends, cups, carpets, chairs
Should oxygen be needed during flight
Decanting claret in convenient skulls
Things past redress are now with me past care.

Iambic pentameter just sounds good. Also, it approximates the natural rhythms of English speech.
Also, iambic pentameter has a propulsive rhythm which drives each line into the next and keeps a
sense of momentum in the hearer. The iamb is “optimistic and curious,” as voice expert Patsy
Rodenburg says: it is about momentum and assertion and mental rhythm. You can “feel the kick of
energy that starts the line and how it is harnessed on the last word.”

One difficult issue is how to pronounce words that end in –ed when we come across them in
Shakespeare. Sometimes the syllable is pronounced, sometime not. Recall that the –eth ending for
past tense verbs was still operative in Shakespeare’s time.

Disguise fair nature with hard-favoured rage. (Count it out; you don’t pronounce the –ed.)

As fearfully as doth a galled rock. (Galled is gall – ed, two syllables)

There are variations of course to the pattern – one common one is an inversion, in which we have a
unit that is stressed followed by unstressed. The beginning of a line is a frequent place for this.
Sometimes there’s a bit of a pause in the middle of the line – a caesura. A certain amount of
variations assures listener interest. As Shakespeare’s career moved on, his verse got more supple and
inventive – he found ways of establishing rhythm while also varying the basic iambic pentameter.

You are now ready to speak any speech written by Shakespeare!

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SHAKESPEARE’S LANGUAGE AND RHETORIC

In high school and college classrooms, students tend to perceive Shakespeare’s language as “Old English.”
Actually, however, Shakespeare’s language has a lot of similarity to our own right now, so scholars call it
“Modern English”– while Old English (449-1100 AD) really does sound like a foreign language. Middle English
(1100-1500)—think Chaucer who wrote in the late 1400’s -- can be understood now with just a little effort. It
is also good to be reminded that in the Elizabethan era, English was in an active period of change, one
Shakespeare himself famously contributed to by inventing new words.

Shakespeare was well-versed in the use of rhetorical figures. These are specific uses of language, dating to
Greek and Roman times, marshalled to make language interesting, powerful, and persuasive. Here are some
figures (or devices) he commonly used, with both Shakespearean and contemporary examples. Try to think
about language you hear in the real world to find even more examples of these figures.

Rhetorical figures from A to Z defined and exemplified

Antithesis – contrast of ideas or words in a parallel construction

• Not that I loved Caesar less, but that I loved Rome more – Julius Caesar
•
Asyndeton – lack of conjunctions (such as and, or as) between related clauses or words

o But, in a larger sense, we cannot dedicate, we cannot consecrate, we cannot hollow this ground.
Gettysburg Address
o Are all thy conquests, glories, triumphs, spoils
Shrunk to this little measure? – Julius Caesar

Anaphora – the repetition of a words at beginning of successive clauses, phrases, or sentences

▪ We shall not flag or fail. We shall go on to the end. We shall fight in France, we shall fight on
the seas and oceans, we shall fight with growing confidence and strength…Churchill
▪ You may find yourself at the wheel of a large automobile, you may find yourself in a shotgun
shack, you may say to yourself, This is not my beautiful wife, this is not my beautiful house –
David Byrne
▪ Have I not in my time heard lions roar?
Have I not heard the sea, puffed up with winds,
Rage like an angry boar chafed with sweat?
Have I not heard great ordnance in the field,
And heaven’s artillery thunder in the skies? -- Petruchio

Chiasmus – two corresponding pairs arranged in inverted order or mirror symmetry, that is, ab ba (from Greek letter chi,
shaped like an X)

• Sounds like you got a lot of stuff to do before you do any stuff. -- MAC commercial
• Ask not what your country can do for you, but what you can do for your country – John F. Kennedy
• Suit the action to the word, the word to the action -- Hamlet

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Metaphor – comparison achieved through figurative use of words

• Life’s but a walking shadow; a poor player

that struts and frets his hour upon the stage (Macbeth) – that is, Life is so meaningless it can only be compared to a
play or actor – things that are fake

• Let slip the dogs of war… dogs are like war, loud, destructive, scary

Paradox – a contradiction that evokes a truth

• “Thou madest they daughters thy mothers” – The Fool says this to Lear. It can’t be true of course as your mother
can’t also be your daughter. But the fool means that Lear has given his daughters power over his life, so that in a
sense, they are like his mothers now

Oxymoron – apparent paradox achieved by juxtaposition of words which seem to contradict one another

❑ I must be cruel only to be kind. Hamlet

❑ Cruel to be kind, and in the right measure…Nick Lowe (people do rip off Shakespeare, don’t they?)

Simile – this figure of speech relates two different things using introductory words such as like, as, or so

• She hath abated me of half my train,

Look’d black at me; struck me with her tongue,
Most serpent-like, upon the very heart. King Lear, 2.4.154-156
Lear compares his daughter and her words to a serpent, a symbol of evil

Zeugma – two different words linked to a verb which is strictly appropriate only to one of them

➢ Nor Mars his sword, nor war’s quick fire shall burn the living record of your memory. Virgil

WORDS THAT MEAN DIFFERENT THINGS THEN AND NOW

The meaning of words changes over time. Often, Shakespeare uses a word that we are familiar with but it
means something quite different now. If you memorize even a few of these meanings, you will begin to have
an easier time understanding Shakespeare.
He says Contemporary meaning He says Contemporary meaning

Tonight last night still always, ever

Let prevent presently instantly

Owe own atone agree, reconcile

An if banquet light meal

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Soft slowly, gently, “hold on” since when

Success outcome, issue desert wilderness

Closet private room but if it were not true that

For, for that because or…or either…or

Nor…nor neither … nor mischief evil deed

Fancy like, love, desire fond foolish/crazy

Kind true to one’s nature/proper naughty wicked

Blood passion folly sexual folly or license

Quick living, alive, with child approve put to the test

Happily by chance, perhaps accident incident

Thou you like please

Proper handsome, fine nice squeamish

Doubt fear Confusion destruction, ruin

a he his its

dear expensive, costs a lot an if

art are would wish/want to

The Language of King Lear

Glossary

1. Alteration: change (of mind).

2. Answer: any act in response or retaliation.
3. Apprehension: capture or arrest.
4. Arbitrement: an absolute and final decision.
5. Attaint: to prove guilty.
6. Avouched: asserted; affirmed.
7. Ballow: a short, thick stick or club.

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8. Bandy: to give and take; specifically, to exchange (words) in an angry or
argumentative manner.
9. Bans: curses.
10. Belike: quite likely; probably.
11. Bemadding: maddening.
12. Bend: 1) to turn or direct. 2) to cause to have a fixed purpose; determine; aim.
13. Bending: overhanging; prominent.
14. Bending: to turn or direct.
15. Benison: a blessing; benediction.
16. Besort: to be suitable to.
17. Blood: parental heritage; family line; lineage.
18. Bourn: a limit; boundary; a domain.
19. braz'd: 1) made of, or coated with, brass or a brasslike substance. 2) made hard
like brass.
20. Briefness: sudden action; a short duration or length.
21. Cadent: falling.
22. Carbonado: to cut gashes in; slash; hack.
23. Cataracts: floodgate (of heaven).
24. Century: a military unit, originally made up of 100 men.
25. Character: style of printing or handwriting.
26. clipp'd: inaccurate through omission.
27. Cock: a small boat propelled by oars, esp. one used as a ship's tender.
28. Conceit: a flight of imagination; fancy.
29. Convenient: appropriate; suitable.
30. Cope: to meet, encounter, or have to do (with).
31. Cowish: timid; cowardly.
32. Coxcomb: a cap topped with a notched strip of red cloth like a cock's comb,
formerly worn by jesters.
33. Cullionly: low, contemptible.
34. Curious: highly detailed, as in workmanship; elaborate.
35. daub it: further disguise it.

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36. Dearn: gloomy; bleak.
37. Defuse: 1) complicate. 2) to render harmless.
38. Descent: the lowest point; here, the sole of a shoe.
39. dog-hearted: ferocious; cruel; pitiless.
40. faith'd: approved; endorsed.
41. Felicitate: made happy.
42. Festinate: hurried.
43. Fetches: tricks; dodges.
44. Finical: finicky.
45. Fire: extreme suffering or distress that tries one's endurance; tribulation or ordeal.
46. first cock: midnight.
47. Fitchew: lewd woman; prostitute.
48. Flesh: to begin; activate.
49. Footed: secured.
50. Fordone: destroyed, killed, ruined, etc.
51. Forfended: prohibited; forbidden.
52. Gauntlet: 1) a medieval glove, usually of leather covered with metal plates, worn by
knights in armor to protect the hand in combat. 2) throw down the gauntlet to
challenge, as to combat.
53. Goatish: lustful; lecherous.
54. good host: shelterer, entertainer.
55. green mantle: a surface covered with scum or froth.
56. greet the time: hurry; meet the emergency.
57. horse-way: horse path.
58. Idle: frivolous; silly.
59. Idle: having no value, use, or significance; worthless.
60. ill affected: unfaithful.
61. Imports: to mean; signify.
62. Jakes: an outdoor toilet; privy.
63. joint-stool: a stool made with jointed parts.
64. Justicers: legal officials; judges.

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65. Kibes: a chapped or ulcerated chilblain especially on the heel.
66. Lendings: things that one has let another have use of temporarily and on condition
that they, or equivalents, be returned.
67. List: a wish; a craving, desire, or inclination.
68. long-engrafted: firmly established.
69. make from: to stay away from; avoid.
70. Maugre: in spite of.
71. Meiny: attendants, collectively; retinue or household.
72. Manikin: very small and delicate; diminutive.
73. more composition: the act of composing, or putting together a whole by combining
parts.
74. nether-stocks: tights or stockings.
75. Knighted: made dark; black.
76. of her bosom: have her trust or confidence.
77. Offices: the function or characteristic action of a particular thing.
78. Opposeless: irresistible.
79. out wall: outside; exterior.
80. out-paramour'd: having more lovers or mistresses.
81. Pawn: anything given as security, as for a debt, performance of an action, and so
on; pledge; guaranty.
82. Plackets: pockets, especially in a woman's skirt or a petticoat.
83. Plain: to complain.
84. Portable: bearable; endurable.
85. Pricks: any of various pointed objects, as a thorn, goad, and so on.
86. Proper: fine; good; handsome.
87. Propinquity: nearness of relationship; kinship.
88. Punder: confusion; excitement.
89. Quarrels: a cause for dispute.
90. question communication; an asking; inquiry.
91. Questrists: seekers; pursuers.
92. Rank: growing vigorously and coarsely; overly luxuriant.

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93. Recreant: failing to keep faith; disloyal; traitorous; apostate.
94. Remotion: 1 the act of removing. 2 inaccessibility.
95. Rings: the outer edge or border of something circular; rim, as of a wheel.
96. Roundest: outspoken; plain and blunt; straightforward.
97. Ruffle: to disturb, irritate, or annoy; to take away the smoothness of; wrinkle; ripple.
98. silly-ducking: submissive.
99. Simples: a medicinal herb; a medicine made from a plant.
100. Sliver: to cut or break into slivers.
101. Smilets: small smiles; half-smiles.
102. Snuffs: disputes; squabbles.
103. Sovereign: above or superior to all others; chief; greatest; supreme.
104. Speed: to have good fortune; prosper; succeed.
105. Squiny: to squint.
106. Straight: immediately.
107. Strain: ancestry; lineage; descent.
108. Superfluous: extravagant; prodigal.
109. take upon: be interested in.
110. taking: contagious; infectious.
111. tranc'd: a stunned condition; daze; stupor.
112. Trick: a personal habit or mannerism.
113. trundle-tail: a dog with a curled tail.
114. unpriz'd precious: to be unimportant to one person, but appreciated or valued
highly by another.
115. vaunt-couriers: a forerunner; precursor.
116. welk'd: ridged or twisted.
117. white flakes: white hair.
118. wide-skirted: vast; extensive.
119. Yokefellow: a companion, partner, or associate.

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 Questions for Discussion

Any good play makes you ask yourself sometimes uncomfortable questions. After reading King Lear
or seeing it, these are some topics you might want to ask yourself about, in discussion or in writing:

1. Family relationships. Shakespeare shows us two families in the play, with similarities and
major differences. How does each family member relate with the other members? What do
they see as the obligations of being in a family? How are these relationships different or
similar to those in your own family? Why do you think Shakespeare parallels one family story
(Lear’s) with another’s (Gloucester’s)?
2. Fate and free will. Are humans mere playthings of fate – in other words, do we have control
over what happens to us? Do the stars or some other impersonal force define our courses in
life? Are there gods above who are looking out for us? Or is the very idea of “the gods”
laughable in light of what happens in the play? To start to answer this, track all the times
someone in the play refers to a higher being or order. Remember the play is set in pagan
Britain – centuries before the Christian religion – so often the names of the gods uttered in the
play are unfamiliar.
3. Suffering. What good does suffering do? Can one learn from it? What can one learn from it?
Is it possible that we reach a moment at the end of the play where we feel a redemption after
all this suffering – a moment when it begins to mean something and help us with life?

KING LEAR 20