Gloucester’s party that he is trying to stop him. He wounds his own arm and tells Gloucester that Edgar stabbed him when he refused to help Edgar. Gloucester tells “Loyal and natural” Edmund that he will make him his heir.
Lines 92–140: Gloucester confirms Cornwall and Regan’s queries about Edgar. Cornwall praises Edmund, takes him into his service,then begins to explain their arrival. Regan interrupts, showing her dominance, and claims that she wanted Gloucester’s advice on letters from Lear and Goneril.
ACT 2 SCENE 2
Lines 1–144: Outside Gloucester’s castle, Oswald claims not to know the disguised Kent, who insults and beats him. While Cornwall attempts to establish how the quarrel started, Kent continues to insult Oswald, who explains that Kent (who calls himself “Caius”) is in Lear’s service. Cornwall comments on Kent’s plain-spoken nature, but ironically assumes that his “plainness / Harbour[s] more craft and more corrupter ends” and places him in the stocks. In the Quarto text, Gloucester argues stocks are for “basest and “temnest wretches” and it is insulting to Lear to punish his messenger in them.
Lines 145–166: Gloucester apologizes and says that he will plead for Kent’s release, but Kent says not to. Kent’s soliloquy reveals that he has a letter from Cordelia.
Lines 167–187: Edgar intends to disguise himself as a mad beggar from Bedlam. Edgar’s soliloquy and the following sequence are sometimes edited and played as separate scenes, but the action continues uninterrupted in that Kent remains onstage asleep in the stocks.
Lines 188–271: Lear will not believe that Regan and Cornwall have put Kent in the stocks—it is an “outrage” “upon respect.” Fighting his rising anger, Lear goes to confront them. The Fool comments on Kent’s folly in continuing to serve Lear.
Lines 272–383: Enraged that Regan and Cornwall will not speak with him, Lear sends Gloucester to summon them. His language reflects his growing disturbance, which he fights to suppress—“my rising heart! But, down!” When they arrive, Lear pours out his grievances against Goneril. Regan responds in a reasoned but insulting manner, saying that Lear is old and needs to be “ruled and led,” and suggests that he ask Goneril’s forgiveness. Lear’s pride and angerrise, but he thinks Regan will acknowledge the “dues of gratitude” that he has bought with “half o’th’kingdom.”
Lines 384–515: Goneril and Regan unite against Lear, gradually reducing his number of knights—a symbol of his power—until he has nothing. He reminds them of what they owe him—“I gave you all.” When Regan asks whether Lear needs even one follower, he replies “O, reason not the need! Our basest beggars / Are in the poorest thing superfluous: / Allow not nature more than nature needs, / Man’s life is cheap as beast’s.” The encounter of king and beggar, the question of “superfluity,” and the stripping down from courtly accoutrements to raw nature are at the core of the play. Lear asks the heavens for patience, but the growing storm reflects his turbulent mind and he leaves in “high rage” to go out onto the heath. Goneril, Regan, and Cornwall tell Gloucester to shut his doors against Lear and the storm.
ACT 3 SCENE 1
In this act, the relatively brief and fast-paced scenes move between different locations and characters. This, combined with the evocation of the storm, creates a sense of chaos that mirrors the breakdown of Lear’s reason and kingdom.
Kent learns that Lear is on the heath in the storm with the Fool. He reveals that the French have spies in the courts of Cornwall and Albany, between whom dissension is growing. Kent gives the Gentleman a ring to show to Cordelia as confirmation of his true identity.
ACT 3 SCENE 2
Lear’s disordered speech reflects his mental state as he invokes nature to destroy mankind and “Strike flat the thick rotundity o’th’world.” In his
Lines 92–140: Gloucester confirms Cornwall and Regan’s queries about Edgar. Cornwall praises Edmund, takes him into his service,then begins to explain their arrival. Regan interrupts, showing her dominance, and claims that she wanted Gloucester’s advice on letters from Lear and Goneril.
ACT 2 SCENE 2
Lines 1–144: Outside Gloucester’s castle, Oswald claims not to know the disguised Kent, who insults and beats him. While Cornwall attempts to establish how the quarrel started, Kent continues to insult Oswald, who explains that Kent (who calls himself “Caius”) is in Lear’s service. Cornwall comments on Kent’s plain-spoken nature, but ironically assumes that his “plainness / Harbour[s] more craft and more corrupter ends” and places him in the stocks. In the Quarto text, Gloucester argues stocks are for “basest and “temnest wretches” and it is insulting to Lear to punish his messenger in them.
Lines 145–166: Gloucester apologizes and says that he will plead for Kent’s release, but Kent says not to. Kent’s soliloquy reveals that he has a letter from Cordelia.
Lines 167–187: Edgar intends to disguise himself as a mad beggar from Bedlam. Edgar’s soliloquy and the following sequence are sometimes edited and played as separate scenes, but the action continues uninterrupted in that Kent remains onstage asleep in the stocks.
Lines 188–271: Lear will not believe that Regan and Cornwall have put Kent in the stocks—it is an “outrage” “upon respect.” Fighting his rising anger, Lear goes to confront them. The Fool comments on Kent’s folly in continuing to serve Lear.
Lines 272–383: Enraged that Regan and Cornwall will not speak with him, Lear sends Gloucester to summon them. His language reflects his growing disturbance, which he fights to suppress—“my rising heart! But, down!” When they arrive, Lear pours out his grievances against Goneril. Regan responds in a reasoned but insulting manner, saying that Lear is old and needs to be “ruled and led,” and suggests that he ask Goneril’s forgiveness. Lear’s pride and angerrise, but he thinks Regan will acknowledge the “dues of gratitude” that he has bought with “half o’th’kingdom.”
Lines 384–515: Goneril and Regan unite against Lear, gradually reducing his number of knights—a symbol of his power—until he has nothing. He reminds them of what they owe him—“I gave you all.” When Regan asks whether Lear needs even one follower, he replies “O, reason not the need! Our basest beggars / Are in the poorest thing superfluous: / Allow not nature more than nature needs, / Man’s life is cheap as beast’s.” The encounter of king and beggar, the question of “superfluity,” and the stripping down from courtly accoutrements to raw nature are at the core of the play. Lear asks the heavens for patience, but the growing storm reflects his turbulent mind and he leaves in “high rage” to go out onto the heath. Goneril, Regan, and Cornwall tell Gloucester to shut his doors against Lear and the storm.
ACT 3 SCENE 1
In this act, the relatively brief and fast-paced scenes move between different locations and characters. This, combined with the evocation of the storm, creates a sense of chaos that mirrors the breakdown of Lear’s reason and kingdom.
Kent learns that Lear is on the heath in the storm with the Fool. He reveals that the French have spies in the courts of Cornwall and Albany, between whom dissension is growing. Kent gives the Gentleman a ring to show to Cordelia as confirmation of his true identity.
ACT 3 SCENE 2
Lear’s disordered speech reflects his mental state as he invokes nature to destroy mankind and “Strike flat the thick rotundity o’th’world.” In his
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