king lear summary + quotes

1.1

make blingees out of

lear’s castle, royal event to find cordelia’s suitor

• gloucester and kent talk of the division of the kingdom

• kent meets edmund

• lear announces division of kingdom, saying the daughter that loves him the most will get the biggest part

• lear is disappointed with cordelia’s answer and disowns her, taking away her dowry

• kent stand up for cordelia and is banished from the kingdom

• france takes cordelia as his wife after the other suiters refuse

• regan and goneril plot against lear (to discredit him). goneril is upset that lear will stay in her castle

1.1 quotes

context, themes, why it’s important, bla bla bla

1.2

gloucester’s castle

• edmund, in a soliloquy, pities himself and talks of how he hates edgar - hinting at a scheme to hurt him

• edmund lets gloucester see a letter (written by edmund) where it seems edgar is plotting against gloucester

• gloucester, distressed, trusts edmund to find the truth

• when edmund and edgar meet, edmund tells edgar that someone has set him up and advises him to avoid gloucester’s presence

1.3

some time has passed, goneril and albany’s castle

• lear staying in goneril’s castle, goneril unhappy

• goneril learns that lear struck oswald for making fun of the fool, and is enraged

• tells oswald to act cold to the king and, if lear doesn’t like that, to tell him to go stay with regan

1.4

goneril’s castle

• kent, disguised as a ‘Caius’ goes to lear to apply for a job

• oswald is disrespectful to lear, kent strikes him

• fool comments on lear’s mistake in giving away his crown

• goneril complains to lear about the behaviour of his knights and insists their number be reduced

• lear curses goneril with infertility, then leaves for regan’s house. goneril sends regan a letter, warning her of lear’s arrival

1.5

outside goneril’s castle

• lear gives kent a letter to take to regan

• the fool tries to make lear laugh, but the jokes are bitter to the king

• lear laments over how he treated cordelia. he expresses his first concerns for his sanity

2.1

gloucester’s castle. regan and her husband cornwall are coming to visit

• edmund learns of cornwall and regan’s visit and is excited, believing he can involve them in his plans to discredit edgar

• there are rumours of a fued between albany and cornwall

• gloucester has hired a spy to follow edgar. edmund tells edgar to escape gloucester’s wrath, also saying that cornwall suspects edgar of aiding albany (his enemy) then wounds himself and tells gloucester that it was edgar who hurt him. gloucester promises to bring edgar to justice and pronounces edmund his heir

• gloucester tells this to corwall and regan, who join forces with edmund in support

• cornwall and regan say they have come to ask gloucester for advice on lear

2.2

outside gloucester’s castle

• kent and oswald arrive separately to deliver letters to regan. kent starts berating and beating oswald, which confuses him as he doesn’t recognise the disguised kent

• oswald’s cries for help alert the castle’s occupants (cornwall, regan, edmund, gloucester). when asked why kent has done this, kent starts berating oswald again

• cornwall orders kent to be placed in the stocks, but gloucester intervenes, saying that lear would consider this action against his messenger an indignity

• regan refuses, saying that insulting goneril’s steward is more offensive. gloucester apologises to kent

• when alone, kent reads a letter from cordelia, in which she promises she will ‘intervene on her father’s behalf’

2.3

edgar, alone in the woods

• edgar’s soliloquy; he has escaped his search party by hiding in a tree. he realises his outlaw status, and takes on the disguise of a mad beggar, ‘poor tom’

2.4

gloucester’s castle

• lear, the fool, and lear’s men arrive at gloucester’s castle and see kent in the stocks. lear is outraged, and refuses to believe regan and cornwall would humiliate the king’s servant like this. lear demands to see regan while gloucester releases kent. cornwall later confesses to lear

• lear laments to regan about the pain goneril has given him. regan tells lear to behave as a man of his age and to seek goneril’s forgiveness, which angers lear

• regan refuses to host lear, which enrages him more. goneril arrives, and together the sisters convince him to bring his entourage from 100 to 1

• lear furiously ventures into the storm with his fool, saying he would rather stay in the storm than with his disrespectful followers

• the sisters, unconcerned, tell gloucester not to follow lear and to lock up the castle. kent leaves separately

3.1

heath in a storm

• kent learns from a gentleman that lear and the fool are out in the storm, albany and cornwall are only pretending to be friends, and that the king of france will invade to help lear

• kent tells the gentleman to go to dover and make known how lear has been treated. he gives the gentleman a ring to give to cordelia, that will prove his identity as earl of kent

3.2

heath in a storm

• lear rages against his daughter’s treatment of him. the fool tries to reason with lear, telling him that a warm and dry shelter (gloucester’s castle) even when losing dignity is better than staying in this storm, but lear remains unswayed

• kent arrives and tells them to shelter in a nearby hovel while he returns to gloucester’s castle to ask them to admit the king

• lear leaves first. the fool, alone on stage, prophecies a world where justice and goodness replaces evil

3.3

gloucester’s castle

• gloucster is talking to edmund. gloucester tells him that when he asked regan and cornwall to leave so he could offer aid to lear, they seized his house, and now gloucester is under house-arrest, forbidden from speaking to the king

• gloucester also tells edmund that he has heard of a plan to revenge lear (the one the gentleman told kent), unaware he is telling these plans to a traitor (edmund)

• when alone, edmund plans to gain cornwall’s favour by revealing gloucester’s plans to help lear

3.4

heath in the storm

• the king refuses to protect himself from the storm

• the fool runs from the hovel, claiming it is occupied by a ‘spirit’ (poor tom)

• lear tears off his own clothes to look more like edgar

• gloucester has found a warm shelter (farmhouse by the castle) and food, but lear refuses as he wants to stay with edgar, until edgar complains of the cold and they all move to the shelter

3.5

gloucester’s castle

• edmund betrays his father by telling cornwall france’s plan to aid lear

• cornwall orders gloucester’s arrest. as a reward, edmund gains gloucester’s title and lands, as well as cornwall’s favour

3.6

farmhouse by the castle

• gloucester sets out to find food, leaving lear, the fool, edgar, and kent in the farmhouse

• lear conducts a mock trial of his daughters, which edgar and the fool take part in, until he falls asleep

• gloucester comes back with news of a plot to kill the king. the group prepares to take lear to safety - to dover, where his friends can come to his aid

• alone for a moment, edgar drops his disguise

3.7

gloucester’s castle

• cornwall dispatches goneril with a letter to albany, telling him of the french invasion. he orders that gloucester be found and brought to him

• edmund is sent to accompany goneril so he’s not present at his father’s torture, but before they can go, oswald enters with news that gloucester has warned the king and aided his escape to dover

• when gloucester is brought to them, he is bound to a chair and called a traitor by regan whilst plucking out hairs from his beard

• cornwall gouges out gloucester’s eyes, during which gloucester calls out for edmund only for regan to tell him it was edmund who betrayed him. he gets his anagnorisis, realising edmund was the traitor all along

• one of cornwall’s soldiers, dismayed by the torture, attempts to stop cornwall by injuring him with a sword. regan takes a sword and kills the servant

• gloucester is thrown out to make his own way back to dover. regan helps the injured cornwall and both leave for dover

• the servants, taking pity on gloucester look for edgar, who would be able to lead gloucester to dover

4.1

heath

• the blinded gloucester is being led by an old man

• gloucester laments how he badly he treated edgar. edgar encounters gloucester, who recognises his voice as poor tom from the farmhouse

• after dismissing the old man, gloucester asks tom to guide him to the highest cliff in dover so he can commit suicide. tom agrees to guide him

4.2

outside albany’s castle. where goneril and edmund are present

• edmund and goneril have become very close

• oswald comes from the castle with news that albany has changed - happy about the french invasion and displeased that edmund (because he betrayed his father) has replaced gloucester

• goneril orders edmund to return to cornwall while she talks to albany, giving edmund a farewall kiss and, after edmund leaves, remarks on how better he is compared to her husband, albany

• goneril and albany argue, as albany is now horrified with the way lear’s been treated and blames goneril and her sister

• a messager enters with the news that cornwall has died of his wounds, and of gloucester’s blinding. albany, distressed, claims cornwall’s death was an act of justice. he vows revenge against edmund for leaving gloucester with cornwall

• goneril begins to become jealous of regan

4.3

french camp near dover

• kent hears that france has been forced to return back to his country due to a problem back home

• the gentleman who was sent to meet cordelia previously has returned, and tells kent about cordelia’s reaction upon reading his letter

• the gentleman acknowledges how cordelia is different to her sisters

• kent leads the gentleman to lear in dover. he promises to reveal his real identity to him at the right time

4.4

french camp near dover

• cordelia is now responsible for leading the french army

• cordelia sends an officer to find lear after learning about his deteriorating mental state. she asks a doctor if there’s any chance his sanity could be restored

• cordelia is told of the english army’s arrival, and prepares to defend her father

4.5

gloucester’s castle

• oswald tells regan that albany’s forces have been deployed (to fight france) with much reluctance

• oswald carries a letter from goneril to edmund. regan demands to read it, explaining how she is aware of goneril’s interest in edmund and that edmund should be reserved for regan as regan is now a widow

• regan tells oswlad to kill gloucester if he finds him

4.6

country near dover

• edgar leads gloucester to an open area, telling his father it is the edge of a cliff, and gloucester attempts suicide. edgar then pretends to find him at the bottom of a cliff, pretending to be someone else and telling him how the gods have saved him

• lear enters and gloucester recognises him. the king is completely mad

• men arrive, sent by cordelia, to rescue lear, but lear is frightened and runs away. the men tell edgar the battle is imminent

• oswald appears as edgar prepares to lead gloucester to safety. oswald tries to kill gloucester, but edgar intervenes and kills oswald. oswald, whilst dying asks edgar to take his letter (from goneril) to edmund

• edgar reads the letter. he learns that goneril wants edmund to kill albany so they can get married

• edgar takes gloucester to a safe place

4.7

french camp in england

• kent has now revealed himself to cordelia, who thanks him for all he’s done

• a sleeping lear is brought to the camp and they wait for him to wake. cordelia welcomes him kindly

• lear is confused at first, thinking he’s in france, until he recognises cordelia and expresses remorse over how he’s treated her

• lear, cordelia, and the doctor exit, leaving kent and the gentleman to discuss recent military advancements (the war is getting closer)

5.1

british camp near dover

• war is imminent, and edmund is leading the british army

• regan asks edmund about his feeling’s for goneril, making her own intentions clear. edmund promises her he will not be intimate with goneril, but there is still jealously (over edmund’s love) and tension between the sisters

• goneril and albany arrive. albany tells them he is fighting against a foreign threat and not lear. goneril backs this up, saying the fight is not a domestic one

• edgar, disguised as poor tom, arrives to give albany the letter he found on oswald (the letter from goneril to edmund, act 4 scene 5 + 6, asking edmund to kill her husband albany so they can be together)

• edmund enters with news that the french forces are near. all leave but him, and he gives a soliloquy about his latest schemes regarding the sisters

5.2

field between french and british camp

• the english and french are now marching to battle

• edgar shelters gloucester under a tree to protect him from the upcoming battle before leaving to fight

• edgar returns to take gloucester to a safer shelter as cordelia’s army has been defeated and lear + cordelia have been taken prisoner

5.3

british camp near dover

• lear and cordelia have been imprisoned. edmund gives instructions to an officer to kill them immediately

• edmund refuses to hand the 2 prisoners over to albany because he wants to keep them in safeguarding as to not divide the soldiers’ loyalty. albany accuses edmund and goneril of treason and orders for their arrest

• regan is taken ill and dies offstage, as goneril has poisoned her

• edgar, unidentified by his brother, comes out in support of albany’s charges against edmund

• edgar challenges his brother and they fight. edmund is wounded

• when goneril defends edmund in a fit of grief, albany reveals the letter. goneril does not deny it, and rushes out to kill herself

• edmund confesses to his treason and edgar reveals his identity. he tells of gloucester’s death and kent’s endeavours

• a gentlemen enters with news of regan and goneril’s death. edmund tries to rescue cordelia but it is too late, and lear enters with cordelia’s body

• lear grieves and dies. albany tells kent and edgar they must now rule the kingdom together, but kent tells them he will ‘leave the world soon to join his master’

• edgar is left to end the play