William Shakespeare: King Lear Will Neibergall Written 1603-1606 Takes place around 845 B.C. durin!

"ear#s rei!n$ %i&e-act tra!ic pla' Characters( )ame *escription Si!ni+icance to the stor' Lear The king of Britain, loved and respected by his His lapse in judg ent at the beginning of the play initiates all of the play!s ain subjects but known for anger and rash decisions plot events" #ordelia The youngest and sweetest daughter of Lear, Her banish ent hangs over the story as a driving force and characteri$es the who is banished for failing to offer a dyna ic between %ent, Lear, his daughters, &rance and the &ool" satisfactory account of her love for Lear 'oneril The elder daughter to who Lear gives a piece Her de ands of Lear after he co es to live with her initiates one of the central of his kingdo conflicts of the play, and her arriage to (lbany introduces hi to the plot" )egan The second daughter to who Lear gives a )egan!s decision to side with her sister after Lear arrives to 'loucester!s house piece of his kingdo sends Lear into adness and confir s the adversarial inclination dividing the fa ily" (lbany ( duke, and the husband of 'oneril He leads the fight against *d und and the two sisters in the last act, and ascends to the throne after Lear!s death" %ent ( loyal servant of Lear, banished due to his +n disguise, he returns to influence and observe the play!s events and establish a sy pathy for #ordelia foil for the ore dishonest characters" #loucester &ather of *d und and *dward, an earl He sets the stage for the conflict involving *d und and *dgar and later beco es an i portant character in the fight against *d und and the sisters" *d und The bastard son of 'loucester He drives one of the play!s central conflicts by plotting against his father and fra ing *dgar" *dgar The legiti ate son of 'loucester He is fra ed for *d und!s cri e, and conse,uently disguises hi self, saves his father!s life and influences a nu ber of the play!s events" &ool (n e ployee of Lear, who follows hi The fool represents Lear!s conscience, re inding hi constantly of his istakes speaking in odd riddles and disappearing after his revelation" ,lot Summar'( -in! "ear. percei&in! that he should no lon!er /e +it to rule his kin!dom. decides to di&ide the kin!dom /et0een his three dau!hters. !i&in! the lar!est to the most lo&in! dau!hter. 1oneril and 2e!an pro+ess their lo&e histrionicall'. /ut the 'oun!est dau!hter. Cordelia. /luntl' re+uses to make an' !randiose claims a/out her lo&e. "ear. in+uriated. diso0ns her. When a lo'al ser&ant. -ent. protests this

decision. he is /anished as 0ell. "ear speaks 0ith the *uke o+ Bur!und' and the -in! o+ %rance. /oth o+ 0hom had come to court Cordelia. and +inds that %rance 0as impressed enou!h /' Cordelia#s /ra&er' that he 0ould still marr' her. 1oneril marries the *uke o+ 3l/an' and 2e!an marries the *uke o+ Corn0all. "ear reser&es a hundred kni!hts +or himsel+. and resol&es to li&e /et0een the homes o+ his t0o dau!hters. 4ean0hile. 5dmund +or!es 5d!ar#s name on a note plottin! to usurp their +ather 1loucester and uses it to +rame 5d!ar. 0orr'in! 1loucester. -ent in dis!uise$ is re-hired /' "ear. 1oneril orders "ear to reser&e +e0er kni!hts. and. enra!ed. he lea&es +or 2e!an#s home. 3nticipatin! a 0ar /et0een 3l/an' and Corn0all. 2e!an and her hus/and !o to 1loucester#s house. 5dmund +akes /ein! attacked /' 5d!ar. pro&okin! his +ather#s ra!e. When "ear arri&es at 1loucester#s. he sees -ent in the stocks. and 2e!an dismisses him. 3+ter 1oneril arri&es and 2e!an concurs 0ith her protests a!ainst "ear. the kin! runs 0ith the %ool out into a storm. The' rant a/out &ice and encounter 5d!ar. in dis!uise as a naked madman. -ent sa&es all three /' leadin! them to shelter. 5dmund /etra's 1loucester /' sho0in! Corn0all. 2e!an and 1oneril a letter implicatin! him in a %rench in&asion. and 0hen 1loucester enters. Corn0all !ou!es his e'es out. 3 ser&ant kills Corn0all. 2e!an kills the ser&ant. 3l/an' turns a!ainst 1oneril. and she /e!ins to compete 0ith 2e!an +or 5dmund#s a++ection. 5d!ar pretends to lead /lind 1loucester to a cli++ to kill himsel+. /ut he 6miraculousl' sur&i&es.7 2e!an#s ser&ant 8s0ald appears and tries to murder 1loucester /ut is killed /' 5d!ar. 5d!ar +inds a letter +rom 1oneril compellin! 5dmund to kill 3l/an'. "ear is united 0ith -ent and Cordelia. +i!htin! 0ith the %rench. 5d!ar !i&es 3l/an' the letter he +ound. 9n /attle. the British 0in. and "ear is captured 0ith Cordelia. 5dmund orders their e:ecution. 3l/an' proclaims 5dmund a traitor. a+ter 0hich 2e!an +alls ill and dies. 1oneril +lees. 5d!ar appears. 0ounds 5dmund. and tells o+ 1loucester#s death. 1oneril kills hersel+. 5dmund has a chan!e o+ heart. /ut "ear returns holdin! Cordelia#s corpse. e:plainin! that he had killed the e:ecutioner. When 3l/an' asks -ent and 5d!ar to claim the kin!dom. -ent declines. lea&in! to kill himsel+. 3side +rom sta!e directions. the stor' is told solel' throu!h dialo!ue. *e&ice ;uote it<o0 does it enhance the 0ork= )hy e -The weight of this sad ti e we ust obey. /peak what we feel, not what we ought to say"0 -When a wise an gives thee better counsel, give e ine again" + would have none but knaves follow it, since a &ool gives it"0 (s in ost of /hakespeare!s plays, brief rhy ing verse adds dra a and an unreal character to tense or tragic scenes" Here, the fool brings co ic relief to an otherwise sad series of events by ironically retracting his own advice on the grounds that, as a general a4i , fools give bad advice" <o0 does it illuminate a theme or the meanin! o+ the 0ork as a 0hole= #onfusing verbage is a recurring the atic ele ent in King Lear 1see 2oor To and &ool3, and tragedy is pervasive" Te porary transitions into rhy ing verse a plify the unreal ,ualities of the play and e phasi$e tragic events" The &ool!s a biguous self5doubt ironically e phasi$es the secret wisdo to which he has access" #ontributing to the the e of adness, the &ool discreetly i plies that his foolish advice was perhaps the only key to Lear!s salvation"

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Theme( /ight and clarity 1Lear!s lack of foresight. %ent!s careful consideration. 'loucester!s eyes3 &ilial loyalty 1#ordelia!s love versus 'oneril and )egan. *d und the bastard versus *dgar3 6adness7nonsense 1The fool!s coded advice. Lear!s oscillating sanity. *dgar!s babbling3 ;uote -We are not the first who with best eaning have incurred the worst" &or thee, oppressed king, + a cast down"0 -8e4 not his ghost" 9, let hi pass: He hates hi that would upon the rack of this tough world stretch hi out any longer"0 -+ have no way and therefore want no eyes" + stu bled when + saw"0 -Let copulation thrive, for 'loucester!s bastard son was kinder to his father than y daughters got =tween the lawful sheets"0 -9, atter and i pertinency i4ed, reason in adness:0 Speaker #ordelia Situation *d und has just ordered guards to detain Lear and #ordelia ;rging *dgar to leave Lear!s corpse alone Si!ni+icance to This ,uote ade,uately e4plains #ordelia!s character" While Lear insists on opti is in the face of igno iny, #ordelia is able to see clearly, yet she doesn!t regret her sacrifice and honesty" This passage akes a case for #ordelia as the play!s true tragic heroine" The play, soberly titled King Lear, was originally na ed by /hakespeare The True Chronicle of the History of the Life and Death of King Lear and His Three Daughters < it akes sense to call it that, because, as %ent notes, the true tragedy at work in the play was e4perienced al ost e4clusively by Lear" This scene ensures sight7clarity as a the e of the work, reconciling literal references to sight throughout with the recurring idea of foresight or ental clarity" 'loucester reali$es that sight is only appreciated in its absence, as the visible world presents itself in a confusing and deceiving anner" The the e of filial loyalty, which had been such a powerful force in the beginning of the play, is here subtly criti,ued by /hakespeare in the for of Lear!s revelation" +t see s to be an insufficient judge of character, as Lear had been fooled into trusting his loyal, lawful daughters" 6adness, a the e e bodied in the play by Lear, *dgar 1as To 3 and the &ool, is posed by /hakespeare e4plicitly as a source of divine wisdo in violent and desperate circu stances" *dgar can!t help but note the truth spoken by the ad king"

%ent

'loucester

*yes were just gouged out

Lear

*dgar

Lear, escaping reconciliation with #ordelia, stu bles upon *dgar and his blind father *dgar steps aside while Lear is ranting about his daughters