King Lear quotes:

“nothing will come of nothing”

Lear to Cordelia

Act 1 scene 1

epanalepsis (repetition of word at start and end of sentence) ‘nothing’, Lear’s acceptance of empty gestures and inability to accept genuine love, ultimately leading to his downfall and the play’s tragedies

“I cannot heave my heart into my mouth: I love your majesty/According to my bond; no more nor less”

Cordelia’s response to Lear’s love test

Act 1 scene 1

metaphor/imagery, suggesting Cordelia’s rejection to the untruthfulness and ingenuous love declarations shown by her sisters

syntactic parallelism ‘no more nor less’

“Come not between a dragon and his wrath”

Lear after Kent tries to reason and intervene in love test

Act 1 scene 1

animalistic/beastial imagery suggesting Lear’s intense anger and his finality in his decision, warning other not to interfere, use of dragon foreshadows tragic consequences

“the bow is bent and drawn”

Lear making his decision final after hearing Cordelia’s words, Goneril and Regan get kingdom

Act 1 scene 1

placing the bow as the subject/metaphor, shows him prescribing the responsibility to other (won’t acknowledge his lack of judgement and foolish actions) - tragic heroes are seen for things to be all their fault but can’t control it

suggests that things are in motion (tragedy is set out)

“See better Lear”

Kent to Lear, questioning his decision

Act 1 scene 1

motif/recurring imagery of eyes ‘see’, suggesting a lack of insight and knowledge shown by Lear, his hamartia letting his vanity get the better of him

“He hath ever but slenderly known himself”

Regan referring to her Father, saying he has never really known what he is doing

Act 1 scene 1

Lear’s character flaw that he cannot see himself clearly, how old age has changed him but he has always been at fault, significant that Regan says this as throughout the play both her and Goneril do see Lear’s true behaviour

“thou, Nature, art my goddess”

Edmund referring to mother nature in his soliloquy

Act 1 scene 2

him rejecting societal norms and the discrimination he faces being a bastard, supports nature’s law and survival of the fittest, making your own destiny

“the sun, the moon, and stars”… “his goatish disposition to the charge of a star”

Edmund mimicking Gloucester

Act 1 scene 2

tricolon making fun of his father’s declaration to the heavens and acceptance of fate, Edmund doesn’t believe in destiny has a more refreshing modern take being a humanist self made man

“thou clovest thy crown i’th’ middle, and gav’st away both parts”

Fool to Lear

Act 1 scene 4

Fool shows great wisdom beneath his foolishness, functions as a moral compass and voice of truth

“thou art an O without a figure … thou art nothing”

Fool act 1 scene 4, to Lear

repetition of the adjective ‘nothing’ providing irony due to Lear’s unkind words (to Cordelia) coming back to haunt him and manifesting through him rather than her, he has lost more

metaphor, reduces Lear to the lowest degree, has no role, job, or importance, retirement causing him to not know his purpose

“ingratitude, thou marble-hearted fiend, more hideous, when thou show’st, thee in a child, than the sea-monster"

Lear to Goneril

Act 1 scene 4

beastial imagery, contrast of concrete nouns ‘child’ and ‘sea-monster’ in order to reduce her lower on the great chain of being and to mark the unnatural nature of her, removing her femininity

“how sharper than a serpent’s tooth it is/To have a thankless child!”

Lear referring to Goneril kicking him out

Act 1 scene 4

exclamative suggesting his intense rage and anger, but also the immense pain felt by having an ungrateful child

zoomorphic simile showing how little he thinks of them (great chain of being)

“thou should’st not have been old till thou hadst been wise”

Fool to Lear

Act 1 scene 5

high modality/ syntactic parallelism, Fool as the voice of reason, holding a mirror up to Lear in order to show him the mistakes he has made (his responsibility)

“O! let me not be mad, not mad, sweet heaven”

Lear

Act 1 scene 5

epizeuxsis/interjection Lear’s first acknowledgement of his mistakes, and fears of his sanity, Fool’s warnings about his shortsightedness sink in

“O strange and fast’ned villain!”

Gloucester referring to Edgar as Edmund as tricked them both

Act 2 scene 1

exclamative showing his anger, metaphorically blind to reality, the natural+truthful son Edgar is depicted as the villain

“Loyal and natural boy”

Gloucester to Edmund

Act 2 scene 1

syndetic pair, contrasts earlier depictions, flipped descriptions of his sons, Edmund’s plan of envoking nature as his protector is working

“threading dark-eyed night”

Regan asking Gloucester for advice

Act 2 scene 1

semantic field of eyes, foreshadowing plot with eyes, suggests something to hide (Regan’s duplicitousness) or the difficulty of a situation

“Fortune, good night; smile once more; turn thy wheel!”

Kent is put in the stocks and is about to go to sleep

Act 2 scene 2

exclamative, suggestions of wheel of fortune meaning that Kent’s situation will change due to the cyclical nature of fate and fortune

“To take the basest and most poorest shape”

Edgar talking about how he is a wanted man and how he hid from pursuers

Act 2 scene 3

double superlatives ‘most poorest’ needs to become a low status homeless person

imagery of base reflecting position of status, repetition from Edmund using the word ironic because his illegitimate brother is casting him to the bottom of the chain of being showing the wheel of fortune and challenging legitimacy.

“the fiery Duke!”

Lear talking about Cornwall

Act 2 scene 4

noun phrase ‘fiery duke’ suggests Cornwall’s aggression (foreshadow) and his volatility

“Like a vulture… most serpent-like”

Lear about Goneril

Act 2 scene 4

zoomorphic similes, suggesting how Goneril is unnatural and beastly (not feminine)

“you unnatural hags, I will have such revenge on you both”

Lear to Goneril and Regan

Act 2 scene 4

vocatives ‘unnatural hags’ what they have done has made them unnatural, connotations of witches

“into this scattered kingdom”

gentleman speaking to Kent

Act 3 scene 1

noun phrase premodifying adjective ‘scattered’, disordered nature of realm, chaos and havoc has ensued now that the natural order has been disrupted

storm

metaphor/pathetic fallacy for Lear’s mental turmoil and state of the kingdom now that natural order have been opposed, also symbolising re-birth and purification.

parallelism of storm and civilisation scenes in act 3 (storm = wilderness and threat) (civilisation = we expect order but get excessive violence)

“Blow, winds, and crack your cheeks! rage! blow!”

Lear act 3 scene 2, going mad on the heath

transitive verbs, believes Mother Nature will bring justice to the world by destroying his daughters (heavens are aligned with him) and mankind

“No, I will be the pattern of all patience; I will say nothing”

Lear in act 3 scene 2, speaking to the fool in the storm

repeating motif of ‘nothing’, irony due to him learning patience and behaving like Cordelia having scolded her earlier

“My wits begin to turn.”

Lear act 3 scene 2, bewildered to the point of exhaustion

verb phrase, self awareness and going to become more of a man of nature

wheel of fortune

“Conferring them on younger strengths, while we unburthened crawl toward death”

Lear act 1 scene 1, speaking about his old age and giving his duties to his daughters by dividing the kingdom

metaphor ‘crawl toward death’ has connotations of a vulnerable infant or frail adult suggesting that Lear is weak and lacking in knowledge

context: the notion of him dividing his kingdom will have worried a Jacobean audience as King James I was trying to unify the kingdoms and wrote a book for his son (Basilikon Doron) warning him of the consequences of dividing a kingdom

“So young, and so untended? - Lear

So young, my lord, and true.” - Cordelia

act 1 scene 1 in the love test

adjacency pair suggests the conflicting views and Lear’s annoyance and arrogance yet Cordelia’s calm and collected nature

vocative ‘my lord’ suggests her upholding respect for her Father despite his cruel treatment of her.

“I have no way, and therefore want no eyes; I stumbled when I saw”

Gloucester act 4 scene 1

irony as he didn’t believe or see the truth when he could physically see (believed Edmund over Edgar) and he is now beginning to his foolishness and gain a better insight despite being blind

“As flies to wanton boys, are we to th’ Gods; They kill us for their sport”

Gloucester act 4 scene 1

metaphor suggesting that higher powers are acting in a way that doesn’t show care and we are the toys of the Gods to play and manipulate. Ideas of those in power acting foolishly and immaturely (Gloucester and Lear)

“Most barbarous, most degenerate!”

Albany act 4 scene 2

anaphora and exclamative, insulting Goneril’s womanhood and removing her femininity suggesting she is cruel and heartless

“Milk-livered man!”

Goneril act 4 scene 2

compound adjective, insulting Albany’s masculinity suggesting that he is cowardly