King Lear
Shakespeare
Tragic Play
Main Passages
1) Act I, Scene 1-Confrontations between Gloucester and his sons and King Lear and his daughters
portray loyalty and blindness. Reveals the blindness of Gloucester and King Lear and sets up the
parallel story lines.
2) Act I, Scene 2-Edmund’s soliloquy shows the theme of class due to legitimacy. This also
explicates his character’s approach and motive as well as setting up the conflict.
3) Act I, Scene 4-Kent’s return after being banished portrays loyalty while the fool’s display
towards the king portrays class and honesty, also introduces the theme of disguise. This
explicates Kent’s character and thickens the plot with the introduction of deception.
4) Act II, Scene 2-Confrontation between Oswald and Kent portrays loyalty towards the king. This
shows Kent’s character further and thickens the plot.
5) Act II, Scene 3-Edgar’s soliloquy mirrors disguise. This helps set up the plot even more and
expands on Edgar’s character.
6) Act II, Scene 4-Regan and Goneril’s behavior towards their father calling him old and stripping
him of his power reinforce the themes of betrayal, blindness, and disloyalty. This demonstrates
the daughters’ characters and moves along the plot of the play.
7) Act III, Scene 7-Cornwall kicks out Gloucester’s eyes again resembling blindness, betrayal, and
disloyalty. This further shows the loss of Gloucester’s power and the upheaval of everything.
8) Act IV, Scene 1-The scene between the old man, Gloucester, and Edgar shows loyalty, regret,
and blindness once again. This also portrays Gloucester’s final realization of his faults.
9) Act IV, Scene 6-The fake cliff scene between Gloucester and Edgar shows loyalty and helps
explicate the unveiling of deceit and the re-ordering of the world.
10)Act V, Scene 3-The final crashing down of all the lies, Goneril poisons her sister, face off
between brothers, order is finally restored. This portrays deceit, loyalty, restoration after chaos
and serves to wrap up the story completing the tragic genre and tying in a complete synopsis of
characters and themes.
Characters
King Lear - The aging king of Britain, and the protagonist of the play
Cordelia - Lear’s youngest daughter, disowned by her father for refusing to flatter him, then marries
the King of France
Goneril - Lear’s ruthless oldest daughter and the wife of the duke of Albany
Regan - Lear’s middle daughter and the wife of the duke of Cornwall.
Gloucester - A nobleman loyal to King Lear(earl), father to Edgar and Edmund
Edgar - Gloucester’s older, legitimate son, loyal to his father
Edmund - Gloucester’s younger, illegitimate son, tries to jilt his brother and father for personal gain
Kent - A nobleman of the same rank as Gloucester who is loyal to King Lear even after banishment. He
spends most of the play working to protect the king
Albany - The husband of Lear’s daughter Goneril. Albany is good at heart, but is unaware of much 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
Fool - Lear’s jester, who gets away with his blunt honesty because of his status
Oswald - The Faithful servant to Goneril
Memorable Quotes
"Sir, I am too old to learn. Call not your stocks for me. I serve the king, On whose employment I was
sent to you. You shall do small respect, show too bold malice Against the grace and person of my
master, Stocking his messenger."
-This quote brings in the themes of truth, honesty, and loyalty as well as displays the class system and
the jokers’ place within it. This shows that the king is senile and the joker bluntly tells him that he has
made a mistake.
“I have no way and therefore I want no eyes; / I stumbled when I saw…/ Oh, dear son Edgar, /The food
of thy abused father’s wrath! / Might I but live to see thee in my touch, / I’d say I had eyes again!”
-This quote displays the themes of blindness, guilt, and loyalty. Also reveals the entire point of
Gloucester’s blindness to the truth and guilt at having banished his truly honorable and loving son.
“Unhappy that I am, I cannot heave
My heart into my mouth. I love your majesty
According to my bond; no more nor less.”
-This quote is of importance because it reflects the theme of honesty and loyalty that Cordelia has
towards her father.
Setting
The setting in King Lear strongly sets the themes with the weather. For example, there is always a
storm when there is chaos in the kingdom. A more specific example is when Lear and a few others
were in the farmhouse near Glouster’s castle and it was raining. The rain seemed to reflect everyone’s
mood in the farm house and it reveals what Lear was soon to find out. He realizes that he split the land
between the wrong two daughters and that they did really care about him.