King Lear Quotes

“Conferring them on younger strengths while we unburdened crawl towards death.”

Imagery, emphasises Lear’s haramatia (selfishness and pride). Thinks he can defer duties of kingship for his own peace, without consequences.

“Nothing my Lord.” “Nothing will come of nothing, speak again.”

Nothing motif. Emphasises depth of Cordelia’s love and Lear’s excessive hubris (cannot accept nothing).

“Unhappy that I am, I cannot heave my heart into my mouth.”

Heart is a metonym for feelings, Cordelia cannot fake her feelings. Thus this is imagery of Cordelia’s integrity and honesty.

“Let pride, which she calls plainness, marry her.”

Irony, Lear has the excessive pride. Cordelia displays virtue in not valuing possessions. Her pride is in her plainness. Alliteration - emphasis.

“The bow is bent and drawn, make from the shaft.”

Imagery which emphasises Lear’s harmatia - stubborness. Assumes fate is already determined.

“Think’st thou that duty shall have dread to speak when power to flattery bows?”

Imagery of Lear’s mistake in bowing his power to his daughter’s flattery. Emphasies Kent’s loyalty.

“My life I never held but as a pawn, to wage against thine enemies.”

Metaphor for Kent’s loyalty. 

“Edmond the base shall top th’legitimate… now gods, stand up for bastards!”

Imagery of Edmonds’ machinations to disrupt the natural order, emphasises evil. Apostrophe to the gods for bastards - unnatural.

“I should have been that I am, had the maidenliest star in the firmament had twinkled on my bastardising.” 

Imagery, emphasis of the natural order - was always going to be evil because he is a bastard. Themes of fate.

“Idle old man… old fools are babes again.”

Metaphor that suggests with age and loss of wisdom/power one returns to a childlike state. Shows how Goneril views Lear. 

“Thou hast little wit in thy bald crown when thou gav’st thy golden one away.”

Crown is a metonym for power and wealth. Metaphor of an egg reflects the foolishness (no wit in bald crown) in Lear’s decision.

“The hedge-sparrow has fed the cuckoo so long, that its had it head bit off by it young.”

Metaphor for Lear and his children. He gave his daughters so much that they have turned on him. Goneril and Regan are portrayed as unnatural. Fool says in childish tone which emphasises Lear’s naivety. Fool is able to see Lear’s error of judgement.

“So out went the candle and we were left darkling.”

Emphasises the consequences of Lear’s decision. Symbolism of candle as power. The loss of it has left the world (and Lear) in a state of confusion and blindness.

“Does anyone here know me? This is not Lear: does Lear walk thus? Speak thus? Where are his eyes?”

Series of rhetorical questions emphasise Lear’s profound sense of loss and confusion. Refers to himself in third person which suggest disconnect. Madness as a consequence of his error of judgement. Motif of blindness.

“O let me not be mad, not mad, sweet heaven! Keep me in temper, I would not be mad.”

Repetition and apostrophe to the gods emphasises desperation. Foreshadowing. 

“Where is the villain Edmond?”

Irony that emphasis Gloucester's gullibility and blindness.

“Till noon? Till night, my lord, and all night too.”

Repetition of sharp ‘t’ sound and smooth mocking ‘n’ sound. Emphasises Regan’s cruelty.

“Edgar I nothing am.”

Paradox. Emphasises the profound loss Edgar experiences when taking on disguise as whilst still physically existing he has renounced his social and personal identity becoming a living “nothing”. However motif of nothing also suggests there is more to be gained from his loss.

“Fathers that wear rags, do make their children blind.”

Clothing motif. Rags as a symbol for possessions. Emphasises that Lear’s decision to give away his power made his children blind to him (cruel and uncaring). Later reflected on with “through tattered clothes small vices do appear.”

“The art of our necessities is strange, and can make vile things precious.”

Juxtaposition of vile and precious which emphasises the insight gained from poverty. Ironic as Lear is having to find value in things he previously despised (transformation).

“Oh reason not the need! Our basest beggars are in the poorest thing superfluous.”

Exclamation shows Lear’s desperation and frustration. Antithesis which emphasises what his daughter’s are taking from him. Even the poor have more than mere necessity so why can’t he have his dignity. 

“Sharp toothed unkindness, like a vulture here.”

Motif of animals. Regan represented as a vulture - her cruelty and its effects on Lear are emphasised. Defiance of the natural order.

“Why, nature needs not what thou gorgeous wear’st, which scarcely keeps thee warm.”

Imagery of clothes (symbolism for power/wealth) being unnecessary, “scarcely keeps thee warm” it does not conceal your evil.

“Let not women’s weapons, water drops, stain my man’s cheeks.”

Imagery, women presented as emotional (dangerous). "Stain” do not let women stain you. Shows Lear is attempting to hold on to his sanity.

“You sulphurous and thought-executing fires, vaunt-couriers of oak-cleaving thunderbolts… thou all-shaking thunder.”

Compound epithets makes an incantation like rhythm reminiscent of with craft and spells. Gives the storm negative connotations. Storm is representative of the chaos of the natural world as a consequence of Lear’s decision.

“For there was never yet fair woman but she made mouths in the glass.”

Imagery of the deceitful and manipulative nature of women. 

“Patience! Patience! Patience! I will say nothing.”

Repetition suggests Lear’s desperation and attempt to hold onto self-control. Irony as this is what Cordelia said at the start. It is too late and he has already said the wrong thing, now wishes to say nothing. 

“I am a man more sinned against than sinning.”

Sinned against antithesis of sinning. Irony as Lear is casting himself as the victim of others sins and not the culprit of his own, showing his incapability to realise his own errors (harmatia). His separation of himself from those who have treated him badly is the reason conflict cannot be resolved. 

“The younger rises when the old doth fall.”

Imagery which reveals Edmond’s cunning and manipulative nature - unnatural. He is taking advantage of his father’s weaknesses. 

“Wilt it break my heart?” “I had rather break mine own.”

Imagery which expresses Kent’s loyalty. As Lear’s statement was potentially a rhetorical question Kent’s persistence in answering shows the depth of his love. Irony/foreshadowing as eventually Lear dies from heartbreak and Kent after. 

“Judicious punishment! ‘Twas this flesh begot those pelican daughters.”

Metaphor of Goneril and Regan as pelicans which emphasises their evil and taking nature - belief that baby pelicans pierced their mother with their beaks and drank her blood. Lear recognises that power is in the hands of the wrong people but does not recognise himself as the cause.

“Is man no more than this? Consider him well. Thou ow’st the worm no silk, the beast no hide, the sheep no wool, the cat no perfume.”

Repetition of ‘no’. Asyndetic listing with negative connotations emphasis the profound sense of loss Lear feels following his daughter’s betrayal. What rights he has lost at their hands. Evokes sympathy but rhetorical questions positions the audience to see Lear undergoing anagnorisis and gaining insight in his loss. 

“O heavens, that this treason were not, or not I the detector!”

Apostrophe to the gods is ironic as Edmond’s actions defy the natural order. Highlights his manipulative nature (willing to lie to his father to present himself as good). 

“Hang him instantly.” “Pluck out his eyes.”

Imagery which suggest the innate evil nature of Goneril and Regan.

“I am tied to th’stake, and I must stand the course.”

Imagery of Gloucester’s loyalty to Lear. Tied to the stake has negative connotations suggesting he knows what might come but is willing to stand against it anyway. 

“Because I would not see thy cruel nails, pluck out his poor old eyes, nor thy fierce sister in his anointed flesh stick boarish fangs.”

Animal motif. Goneril and Regan presented as unnatural with warped un humanlike features (nails/fangs). Emphasies Gloucester’s loyalty, Goneril and Regan’s cruelty and Lear’s vulnerability. Shows the shift in power since Lear’s decision (Lear at the mercy of his children).

“As flies to wanton boys are we to th’gods; they kill us for their sport.”

Metaphor of humans as playthings to the Gods. Nihilistic, expresses the futility of life. Also suggest the depth of the devastation caused by Lear as unnecessary death and suffering is recognised. 

“Tis the time’s plague when madmen lead the blind.”

Plague - serious connotations for Jacobean audience. Metaphor of the state of the world being a plague (extremely devastating/the worst moment), referencing the consequences imposed on the characters (madness/blindness) but also presenting them as a consequence of their fatal flaws (madness/blindness).

“Howe’er thou art a fiend, a woman’s shape doth shield thee.”  

Imagery of Goneril as a devil hiding under womanhood which emphasises the extent to which she is subverting the natural order (too disruptive to be a real woman and instead a demon in disguise). Presents women as manipulative and inherently evil.  

“As mad as the vexed sea… crowned with rank fumitor and furrow-weeds.”

Imagery which emphasises Lear’s madness. Crown of gold replaced with weeds. Pathetic fallacy which suggests both Lear and the world are going mad. 

“She heaved the name of her father pantingly forth… cried ‘sisters, sisters! Shame of ladies!’”

Link to Cordelia’s “I cannot heave my heart into my mouth” showing her extreme goodness and filial piety heaving forward in the name of her father. Repetition and exclamation marks express Cordelia’s anguish at her father’s state and sister’s cruelty. 

“No blown ambition doth our arms incite, but love, dear love, and our aged father’s right.”

Iambic pentameter? Creates rhythm which mimics human heart presenting it as a confession of love and devotion. Cordelia’s goodness and rightfulness is clear ‘no blown ambition’ ‘love’ ‘right’ - reference to divine right of kings. Shaming her sister’s ambition which subverts natural order. 

"O 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.”

Gloucester’s anagnorisis, motif of blindness. Metaphor of Edgar as food (innocent who suffered). 

“The greatest image of authority. A dog’s obeyed in office.”

Lear to Gloucester after reuniting at the cliffs of Dover. Metaphor of wrong/bad people holding power they should not. Imagery which is a reflection of the state of the world. 

“Through tattered clothes small vices do appear; robes and furred gowns hide all.”

Metaphor that suggests wealth and power hide one’s bad characteristics whereas a state of poverty or having nothing reveals them (better - humanism). Allusion to fools earlier rags statement which reflects Lear’s insights gained in his peripeteia. 

“I am a very foolish fond old man.” “I’ll kneel down and ask of thee forgiveness.”

Soft alliteration = defeat. Lear’s anagnorisis following peripeteia. No more royal pronoun. Kneeling shows peripeteia, king is not supposed to kneel. Recognising his faults for Cordelia as he loves her and wants her forgiveness. Problematic as tragic hero as admits he is foolish in age instead of wise as supposed to be. 

“When we are born, we cry that we are come to this great stage of fools.”

Allusion to many other Shakespeare’s plays. Imagery of suffering as a spectacle and life as meaningless and negative. Lear is recognising his own foolishness but also the inevitably of foolisness.

“I am bound upon a wheel of fire, that mine own tears do scald like molten lead.”

Metaphor which emphasises Lear’s wavering fortune and the drastic changes in his fate across the course of the play. Metallic imagery emphasises Lear’s suffering. Possible reference to hell which suggests divine punishment for his error. Earlier did not want to cry = shows he is ashamed and broken.

“Men must endure their going hence, even as their coming hither. Ripeness is all.”

Edgar is a mouthpiece for the Christian notion of acceptance (accept and endure suffering instead of falling into despair). Fruit metaphor implies the rule of the gods and importance of following what divine calling you were given.

“The wheel is come full circle: I am here.”

Imagery of the wheel of fortune and divine justice. Edmond accepting his fate and recognising he was never going to remain on top.

“Howl, howl, howl, howl! O, you are men of stones.”

Repetition of onomatopoeia heightens emotion (reminiscent of the storm - now a storm in Lear’s mind) and shows Lear’s grief. Imagery of heartlessness. Ambiguous subject meaning Lear’s accusation can be extended to other characters/humans/gods.

“Why should a dog, a horse, a rat have life, and thou no breath at all?”

Asydentic listing emphasis the unjustness of Cordelia’s death and depth of Lear’s grief - questioning/begging. Continuation of animal motif. Says right after restoration of kingship. Sympathy evoked as he ignores return of long desired power to focus on his daughter’s death. Redemption. 

“The weight of this sad time we must obey; speak what we feel, not what we ought to say.”

Closing statement which expresses the importance of speaking the honest truth over hollow rhetoric. Reflects on themes of appearance vs reality in the play. Iambic pentameter = heartbeat, human emotion.

“The oldest hath borne most; we that are young shall never see so much, nor live so long.” 

Ironic as at the beginning of the play the oldest wanted to give away their duties to be at peace but ended up suffering. Restoration of the natural order in recognition of the burden of age that the young are grateful to escape from. Nihilistic somewhat. 

“To both these sisters have I sworn my love, each jealous of the other as the stung are of the adder.”

Comparison of Goneril and Regan to adders which emphasise their toxic rivalry. Foreshadowing to Regan being stung (poisoned). Also emphasis Edmond’s manipulative nature (using them).

“Neither can be enjoyed if both remain alive.”

Foreshadows that Goneril and Regan cannot survive together due to their competition for Edmond. Emphasises Edmond’s use of them for his personal gain (bastard using royal women - bad image). 

“Child-changed father.”

Two interpretations - Lear changed by his daughter’s cruelty or reduced to a childlike state through his madness.

“My poor fool is hanged.”

Imagery from Lear at the conclusion of the play can represent multiple things -Cordelia’s death, the Fool’s death (confusing both through his madness and grief expressing extreme suffering) and how his foolishness as been hanged as an example (like people were).

“If you will marry, make your love to me, my lady is bespoke.”

Quote from Albany which highlights Goneril and Regan’s unfaithfulness and sexual rivalry.

“This sword, this arm, and my best spirits are bent to prove… thou liest.”

Bent like a bow, determined to deliver divine justice and restore the order. Edmond facing consequences of deceit. Sword is imagery of trial by combat which means the victor is chosen by god. Noble confrontation (contrast to Goneril and Regan’s conflict).

“Oh you mighty Gods! This world I do renounce…”

Gloucester suicide. Suffering emphasised (suicide unnatural/a sin). Apostrophe to the gods.

“Thou hast pared thy wit o’both sides and left nothing i’th’middle.” “One o’the pairings.” “I am a fool, thou art nothing.”

Lear has made a foolish decision, dividing his kingdom between his daughters resulting in lost status and power.