Isherwood

King Lear Act I, s i Notes

Gloucester and Kent are both Earls and friends of Lear
Gloucester asks Kent if hed be upset if Gloucester was an adulterer before he
confesses Edmund is his son
Edmund is Gloucesters illegitimate son (wants power, is a parallel to Goneril)
Edgar is the legitimate son (parallel to Cordelia)
Lear announces he has divided his kingdom into three parts

old, wants to retire

leave the kingdom to younger, more energetic people
prevent a civil war (daughters fighting) over what they received as
inheritance

crawl towards death: animalistic

Irony: Lears authority as King and head of political order enables him to make the
decision that will produce grave disorder
Ceremony: devised by Lear to make himself feel good.
Each daughter must profess her love in order to get a piece of the kingdom.
Divides land according to the profession of love
Lear is literally dismembering the body of the country here. (Unnatural, wholeness
is needed, remember the Body Politic)
Goneril: loves him, dearer than eyesight, space, and liberty. This sounds good, but
Cordelia knows theres no truth. (Is given 1/3 of the kingdom)
Regan: says she loves him more than Goneril. Also speaks grandly, mimicking her
sister. (Is given 1/3 of the kingdom)
Cordelia: believes her actions speak for her love. A character of honor and truth
Like the saying, Actions speak louder then words.
says nothing when she speaks
Says nothing when she is silent
*Motif: nothing
Lear needs Cordelia to say how much she loves him
-material, public display is important to him
She fails to meet his expectation and embarrasses him Lear banishes her to save
face, but admits he loves her the most

Isherwood
Initial Incident: spltis remaining 1/3 of the kingdom in half, giving them to Albany
and Cornwall (son-in-laws)
(We will discuss Shakespearean plot diagrams later this week)
Kent his loyalty to the King is evident when he steps outside the political order to
try and prevent Lear from making a terrible mistake (of a lower social status)
Kent identifies Lears flaw rashness (acting too hastily)
Although he is banished he gets 4 tag lines (rhyming lines that show power or an
exit). His power is in his insight!
Natural law is bring broken: Lear hasnt waited until death to pass on the crown
Breaks natural law again by banishing Cordelia (renounces his paternal care. It is
natural for parents to care for their children)
Idea of karma going against nature/wholeness is bad, and this bad luck will be
returned.

Gloucester returns with France and Burgundy (Cordelias suitors)

Lear speaks to Burgundy first: Cordelia has been disowned
Burgundy wants to know if she will still get a dowry
Lear says: nothing *motif
Burgundy says he cant marry her

Lear speaks to France second.

France sees Cordelias beliefs as positive, and agrees to marry her. (like Cordelia,
seems to have purer, more private motivations)

Goneril even she can see that Lear has shown poor judgment
Goneril and Regan show their true colors for the first time: foreshadowing
They will not permit their father to exercise any real authority

Isherwood

King Lear Act I, sii

Edmunds Sololoquy: Questions why it makes a difference to be born in wed-lock or
out
-Criticizes the laws and customs that deprive hom of rights
-wants power to inherit the Earldom
-Holds up a letter he has forged: is plotting to steal the land from the legitimate
Edgar (evil scheme)
-The rivalry for paternal favour mirrors that between Lears daughters in Act I, si

King Lear Act I, siii

Lear causing problems for Goneril and her servants (drunken wildness, moments of
violence with his fool and knights)
As a King, Lear had the power to create order. Now, he is an agent of disorder.
Goneril orders servants (through Oswald) to ignore Lear-the goal is to treat him
poorly so he will get upset and leave
-Reversal of authority in the parent-child relationship
-Goneril thinks the old should be subservient to the young, like Edmund
discussed in the forged letter.
Goneril sends Regan a letter explaining the situation so she will support Goneril and
Lear will be without a home.

King Lear Act I, s iv Notes

Kent returns from banishment disguised as Caius (Ky-use), a commoner, and offers
his services to Lear.
Soliloquy: loves the King and wants to serve him
DISGUISE *motif

Kent declares his honor and loyalty and flatters Lear to get the job
Lears inability to recognize Kent in his disguise provides a dramatic
metaphor for his failure to see his daughters true colours
Lear is upset that the servants are ignoring him, finds out Goneril is ill
Dramatic Irony: we know she is pretending

Isherwood

Fool-points out Lears foolishness

the Fool has a unique privilege: can invert the order of the court by criticizing the
king. Safety in the riddles
Lear is unsure of the pointedness of the insults-takes them as foolishness as well
Kent recognizes the TRUTH in what the fool says (insight) (the Fool
*Motif: Nothing-Fool/Kent/Lear all use this expression-demonstrating that nothing is
something
Lear has destroyed himself (turned into nothing) in the process of
dividing his kingdom (Body Politic)

Goneril confronts Lear about his (and his knights) wrong-doings. Demands he get
rid of his knights.
Lear questions their loyalty-begs them to acknowledge him-As Lear-King (realizes
that in giving up power, he has given up his identity)
Curses Goneril using animal terms: serpents tooth, wolvish visage) she is an
animal because she lacks the familial bonds of love that make humans unique
Focus: Lear curses Goneril with sterility-breach of nature (*motif) no heirs

Epiphany: Lear recognizes that Cordelia really didnt do anything wrong-should not
have been banished
Expelling Cordelia removed the love from England

Lear and his knights prepare to go to Regans (Lear cant stop crying)

Goneril and Albany dont talk: Albany knows nothing of her plan.
Goneril tried to convince Albany that Lear is losing it. His view of her cruelty begins
to drive them apart (trouble in their marriage). He believes all they have is because
of Lear-they should honour him
Goneril sends Oswald to deliver a letter to Regan (Oswald wrote the letter trust)

Power Struggle:
Albany-tagline-power-doesnt insult Goneril, but tries to advise her

Isherwood
Goneril-tries to cut in-show her power, but Albany cuts her off-good reminder of who
ultimately has power (foreshadowing)

King Lear Act I, s v Notes

Lear explains what happened with Goneril to Kent (in disguise), and sends Kent to
deliver a letter to Regan explaining his side of the story
Fool-points out that Lear needs to see that both his daughters are the same-Regan
will treat him the same as Goneril
-

Reminds him that he was foolish

Fool continues with the animal metaphors from Act I, s iv

Lear-Madness (*motif) if you can identify you are going mad, its not really
madness
Understands the trouble he gets into due to madness
Calls out to heaven to help him, as he has lost his identity as King