King Lear
By Shakespeare
When we are born, we cry that we are come to
this great stage of fools.
- Lear, Act IV Scene 4
What does that mean?
Dramatis Personae
Lear – king of Britain
► Goneril – his eldest daughter
► Regan – his second daughter
► Cordelia – his youngest and favorite daughter
► Albany – Goneril’s husband
► Cornwall – Regan’s husband
► Kent – a faithful nobleman
► Gloucester – another loyal nobleman
► Edgar – Gloucester’s rightful son
► Edmund – a bastard of Gloucester
► Fool – a loyal clown who entertains Lear
►
Our story begins a long, long time ago,
in a place far, far away…
► Setting:
► Time:
??
England
Lear and his three daughters
At Lear’s castle…
►
Lear decides to give up his throne and divide his kingdom
among his three daughters
► His daughter, Cordelia, has two suitors – the king of France
and duke of Burgundy
► Lear asks his daughters how much they love him
► Goneril and Regan flatter, but Cordelia says that she loves him
no more than a daughter loves her father
“Unhappy that I am, I cannot heave my heart into my mouth: I love your
majesty according to my bond; nor more nor less.”
► Angered,
Lear disowns Cordelia and divides his
kingdom between Goneril and Regan
► Kent tries to defend Cordelia, but Lear banishes him
from Britain
► Lear gives Cordelia to the king of France, and though
Cordelia is not happy about leaving her father with
her sisters, she leaves England with her husband
► Lear gives his power to Albany and Cornwall, the
husbands of Goneril and Regan
The treachery begins…
► Lear
settles down to live with Goneril with 100 of his
knights
► Goneril tells her steward, Oswald, to be disrespectful
towards Lear
► Kent returns, disguised as a man named Caius and
defends Lear
► Goneril offends Lear and dismisses 50 of his knights
► Lear is angered and storms out of Goneril’s palace with
his knights and Fool
► He sends Caius (Kent) with a letter to Gloucester
Meanwhile…
► Edmund shows
his father Gloucester a forged
letter that said that Edgar was planning to take
over his lands
► Edmund pretends to help Edgar, but is actually
plotting to have Edgar removed
► He persuades Edgar to flee and wounds himself
to make it seem that Edgar attacked him
► Gloucester is convinced and vows to capture
Edgar
Betrayed!
►
►
►
►
►
Kent (Caius) gets into a fight
with Oswald
Cornwall and Regan break up
the fight
The loyal Caius is placed in the
stocks for 24 hours
Lear arrives and demands that
Caius; Regan refuses, but
allows Lear to stay at her
palace
Regan dismisses all of Lear’s
knights, and Lear leaves in
anger
Lear goes insane
► Goneril,
Regan, and
Cornwall are glad that
Lear is gone, but
Gloucester is worried for
his king’s health
► A storm approaches and
Lear and his last servants
(Caius and the Fool)
walk into a health
► Lear stands in the rain
and curses his daughters
The storm builds up
Kent sends a man to Dover to tell Cordelia of her father’s
plight
► Kent brings Lear into a nearby cave, where they meet
Edgar, who disguises himself as a madman (“Poor Tom”)
► Gloucester then arrives and takes them to a farmhouse
► Edmund decides to betray his father
►
► He
tells Cornwall that Gloucester was helping Lear
► At the farmhouse, Gloucester tells Lear, the Fool, and
Caius to flee because Cornwall was planning to kill
them
► Cornwall arrives and captures Gloucester
► Gloucester is tortured, his eyes are ripped out
► A servant wounds Cornwall and helps Gloucester
escape
► They meet Edgar (in disguise still as a madman) and
Edgar leads his blind father the rest of the way to Dover,
where a French army under Cordelia is stationed
► Gloucester realizes that he had mistaken Edgar
Blind Gloucester
The plot tightens
►
►
►
►
On the way to Dover, Edgar
and Gloucester meet Oswald
Edgar fights Oswald and kills
him; he finds a letter from
Goneril to Edmund, telling
him to kill Albany so that she
could marry him
We learn that Cornwall had
died from the wound, and the
Regan is also in love with
Edmund…
There is conflict between
sisters now
The storm breaks…
► At
Dover, Cordelia sends
a sentry to find her father
► Father and daughter are
finally reunited
► Lear is unconscious
when they find him, but
when he wakes, he
recognizes Cordelia and
asks for her forgiveness
The final battle
► The
English and French are at war
► At the English camp, Goneril argues with
Albany and fights with Regan for Edmund
► Albany decides to cooperate with Goneril and
Regan only because of the French invasion
► The French army under Cordelia loses, and she
and her father are captured by the evil Edmund
► Edmund sends them to jail and orders the
captain to have both of them hanged
The ending…
►
►
►
►
Edgar brings Goneril’s letter
to Albany, and he decides to
fight against Goneril and
Regan
Another battle occurs, and in
the climactic scene, Edgar
fights Edmund and wounds
his evil half-brother
Edmund admits to all his
crimes and repents
Meanwhile Goneril poisons
her sister Regan and commits
suicide herself after learning
of Edmund’s defeat
► Edgar
and Caius sent people to save Lear and Cordelia
► The save Lear, but they are too late for Cordelia
► Lear enters, holding Cordelia’s body
►
Howl, howl, howl, howl! O! you are men of stones: had I your tongues and eyes, I'd use
them so that heaven's vaults should crack. She's gone for ever. I know when one is dead,
and when one lives; she's dead as earth. - Lear, Act V Scene 3
► Edgar
reveals himself to his dying father, Gloucester
► Caius reveals himself as Kent to Lear, who in grief over
Cordelia finally recognizes his most loyal servant
► Lear though is completely mad and dies of grief over
his daughter’s death
► Albany and Kent are left to restore order following the
tragedy
Lear carrying Cordelia
The End
Questions to talk about…
►
►
►
►
►
►
►
►
►
►
►
►
►
►
What is Lear’s weakness?
Was Cordelia’s answer to her father appropriate?
Why do you think Lear went insane?
Did Lear deserve what happened to him?
Who do you think displayed the greatest courage in the play?
Who do you feel the most sympathy for? Why?
Who do you think has the most admirable character?
Who is the true hero of the play?
What is the significance of insanity? What does it symbolize?
Do you see a parallel between different characters?
How many people died in this play?
Where is the climax of the story?
What is the theme of the play?
Would the play have the same effect on you if it ended as “they lived
happily ever after”? Do you think a tragic ending is better, or a happy one?
Why?