The plot of

‘The Tragedy of King

Lear’

William Shakespeare

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Name: _________________________
The premise of the play

Main plot: Lear, the aging king of Britain, decides to step down from the throne
and divide his kingdom evenly among his three daughters. First, however, he puts
his daughters through a test, asking each to tell him how much she loves him.
Goneril and Regan, Lear’s older daughters, give their father flattering answers. But
Cordelia, Lear’s youngest and favourite daughter, remains silent, saying that she has
no words to describe how much she loves her father. Lear flies into a rage and
disowns Cordelia. The king of France, who has courted Cordelia, says that he still
wants to marry her even without her land, and she accompanies him to France
without her father’s blessing…
m. France

m. Albany m. Cornwall

Cordelia
Goneril Regan

Lear
Sub plot:

Meanwhile, an elderly nobleman named Gloucester also experiences family

problems. His illegitimate son, Edmund, tricks him into believing that his legitimate
son, Edgar, is trying to kill him…

Edgar Edmund

legitimate illegitimate
Gloucester

Let’s watch Act 1 of the play (45:41)

Act 1, Scene 1 (p.1-11)

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 1. What offensive phrase does Gloucester use at the beginning to the play to
describe his illegitimate son, Edmund? (line 22)
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2. What is Lear’s intention in dividing his kingdom in three? (lines 43-44)

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3. Why might we view Regan and Goneril’s answer to Lear’s ‘love test’ as
disingenuous? Consider: ‘a love that makes breath poor and speech unable’
(line 59)
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4. How does Cordelia answer to Lear’s ‘love test’? (line 91-92)

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5. What does Kent accuse Lear of after Lear disowns Cordelia (line 145)?
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6. Who agrees to marry Cordelia at the end of the scene, despite her father’s
foul words against her (line 256)?
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Act 1, Scene 2 (p.12-17)

1. What does Edmund, the bastard, want from ‘legitimate Edgar’? (line 16)
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2. According to Edmund, what does Edgar think should happen to the ‘revenue’ of
a father in their old age? (lines 67-70)
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3. What is significant about Edmund’s suggestion to his brother to go ‘arm’d’? (line

161)
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Act 1, Scene 3 (p.18)

1. What is Goneril so upset about in this very short scene?
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Act 1, Scene 4 (p.19-31)

1. What does Kent, who is in disguise, do to Oswald to win the favour of Lear?
(line 82)
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2. The Fool states: ‘All thy other titles thou hast given away, that thou wast born
with’ (lines 140-141). What does this tell us about the role of The Fool in the
play?
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3. What kind of ‘child’ is Goneril, according to Lear? (line 279)

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4. Where does Lear say he will now go instead to staying with Goneril? (line 295)
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Act 1, Scene 5 (p.31-33)

1. What does the ‘Fool’ mean in the line: ‘Thou should’st not have been old till
thou hadst been wise? (lines 39-40)
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Read this ‘Summary of Act 1’ to consolidate what we have watched so far.

The play opens with the Earl of Kent and Earl of Gloucester talking about King Lear’s

plans for ‘the division of the kingdom’. Kent meets Gloucester’s illegitimate
son Edmund and learns he is a year younger than Edgar, Gloucester’s ‘son by order
of law’. The King and all his court arrive and King Lear announces his plan to ‘shake
all cares and business from our state, / Conferring them on younger years’ and calls
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on his three daughters to express their love for him before he rewards them with a
share of his kingdom. His two older daughters, Goneril and Regan, offer poetic
speeches but his youngest and favourite daughter Cordelia refuses, declaring ‘I love
your majesty / According to my bond, no more nor less’. Lear is angry and disowns
Cordelia, giving her share of the kingdom to her sisters’ husbands to divide between
them. Kent, out of loyalty to both Lear and Cordelia, speaks up to tell Lear he is
wrong, but Lear does not listen and banishes Kent from the kingdom.
The King of France and the Duke of Burgundy, rivals to marry Cordelia, are brought
in and Lear tells them that she is ‘new adopted to our hate / covered with our curse
and strangered with our oath’. Hearing what has happened, Burgundy is no longer
interested in marrying her but France declares ‘Thy dowerless daughter, King,
thrown to my chance, / Is queen of us, of ours, and our fair France.’ After Lear and
his court have left, Cordelia says goodbye to her sisters and leaves for France. Left
alone, Goneril and Regan discuss their father’s ‘poor judgement’ and ‘unconstant
starts’.

Edmund speaks to the audience about his ‘bastardy’, asking ‘Wherefore should I /
Stand in the plague of custom’. He resents the fact that he is treated differently to
his brother and declares ‘Legitimate Edgar, I must have your land’. He has forged a
letter from Edgar that he hopes will make his ‘invention thrive’. Gloucester arrives
and believes that Edmund is trying to hide the letter from him. Gloucester insists on
reading the letter and finds a plot suggesting that Edmund work with Edgar to get
rid of their father and share his wealth. Edmund tells his father ‘It is his hand, my
lord, but I hope his heart is not in the contents.’ This helps to convince Gloucester
that Edgar is plotting against him and that ‘These late eclipses in the sun and moon
portend no good to us’. When Gloucester has gone, Edmund makes fun of his
father’s superstition, telling the audience ‘we make guilty of our disasters the sun,
the moon, and the stars, as if we were villains by necessity.’
Edgar then arrives and Edmund tells him that their father is very angry with him.
Edgar believes ‘Some villain hath done me wrong’. When he is gone, Edmund turns
once more to the audience to laugh at his ‘credulous father, and a brother noble, /
Whose nature is so far from doing harms / That he suspects none’.

King Lear, his hundred knights and their squires are all staying with Goneril. She
complains to her servant Oswald about her father and his ‘riotous’ companions,
saying ‘By day and night he wrongs me’. She tells Oswald to ‘Put on what weary
negligence you please’ when called on to serve Lear and says her sister is also not
prepared to tolerate them.
The Earl of Kent tells the audience that he has disguised himself in order to return
and serve King Lear. He introduces himself to Lear as ‘A very honest-hearted fellow.’
Lear is impressed and tells him ‘Follow me, thou shalt serve me: if I like thee no
worse after dinner.’ When Oswald does not behave as Lear expects him to, Kent
helps Lear to punish Oswald and Lear thanks him. Lear’s Fool then arrives and offers
Kent his coxcomb ‘for taking one’s part that’s out of favour’. Through his word play
and songs, the Fool suggests that Lear has been a fool to give his kingdom away,
saying ‘thou hast pared thy wit o’both sides and left nothing i’th’middle.’

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Goneril enters and complains to Lear about his ‘all licensed fool’ and his ‘insolent
retinue’ who do ‘hourly carp and quarrel, breaking forth / In rank and not-to-be
endured riots.’ She asks him ‘a little to disquantify your train’. He grows angry and
curses her, saying ‘Into her womb convey sterility’, and hopes that if she does have
a child it teaches her ‘How sharper than a serpent’s tooth it is / To have a thankless
child.’ He sets off to stay with Regan, believing she will be ‘kind and comfortable’.
When Lear has gone, Goneril calls Oswald and sends him with a letter to Regan.

Lear sends his new servant, the disguised Kent, on ahead to take letters to Regan
and let her know he is coming to stay. Kent promises ‘I will not sleep, my lord, till I
have delivered your letter.’ Lear is left with his Fool who tells him that a snail has a
shell ‘to put’s head in, not to give it away to his daughters and leave his horns
without a case.’ Lear confesses ‘I did her wrong’ and worries that he may be going
‘mad’.

Let’s watch Act 2 of the play (01:16:12)

Act 2, Scene 1 (p.36-39)

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1. Who is seemingly poised to go to war, according to Curan?

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2. Summarise how Edmund deceives his father in the scene (lines 45-74)
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Act 2, Scene 2 (p.40-45)
1. What does Kent do to Oswald at the beginning of this scene? (lines 38-39)
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2. How does Cornwall punish Kent for his actions towards Oswald? (lines
121-123)
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Act 2, Scene 3 (p.46)

1. Who does Edgar begin to disguise himself as? (lines 20-21)
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Act 2, Scene 4 (p.47-58)

1. What animal does Lear compare Goneril to when referring to her
‘unkindness’? (line 131)
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2. Why might Lear’s request to Goneril to ‘not make [Lear] mad be viewed as
an interesting line in the play at this point? (line 215)
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3. How many of Lear’s knights does Regan suggest Lear actually requires?
(line 261)

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4. Where does Lear rush into at the end of this Act? (line 281)
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Read this ‘Summary of Act 2’ to consolidate what we have watched so far.

Edmund learns from a servant that Regan and Cornwall are on their way to
Gloucester’s house and that there are rumours of ‘likely wars toward ’twixt the dukes
of Cornwall and Albany.’ Edmund hopes Cornwall’s arrival will help his plans. He calls
for his brother Edgar who has been in hiding and advises him to ‘fly this place’. He
sees their father Gloucester approaching and tells Edgar ‘pardon me / In cunning I
must draw my sword upon you’. As Edgar runs off, Edmund gives himself a wound
to make his story about Edgar’s treachery more convincing. He then tells his father
that Edgar tried to ‘Persuade me to the murder of your lordship’. Gloucester is
convinced that Edgar is a ‘murderous caitiff’.
Regan and her husband arrive and sympathise with Gloucester over Edgar’s
betrayal. Cornwall tells Edmund ‘For you, Edmund, / Whose virtue and obedience
doth this instant / So much commend itself, you shall be ours’. Regan tells
Gloucester they are visiting him for ‘needful counsel’ on dealing with the news
received from her father and her sister.
Oswald has arrived at Gloucester’s house and meets Kent, still disguised as ‘Caius’.
Oswald does not recognise him as a follower of Lear and the two men argue. Kent
hurls insults and draws his sword against Oswald for bringing ‘letters against the
king’ and taking ‘vanity the puppet’s part against the royalty of her father’.
Regan, Cornwall, Gloucester and Edmund arrive and stop the fight but Kent refuses
to back down saying ‘anger hath a privilege’. Cornwall calls for the stocks to punish
Kent who appeals to Regan saying ‘Why, madam, if I were your father’s dog / You
should not use me so’. Gloucester speaks up that ‘The king his master needs must
take it ill’ but Regan and Cornwall are unconcerned. Left alone, Kent shows the
audience a letter he has received from Cordelia ‘Who hath most fortunately been
informed / Of my obscured course’.
Edgar tells the audience that he plans to disguise himself as a ‘Bedlam beggar’ called
‘Poor Tom’ and run away.
Lear then arrives and wakes up Kent who is still sleeping in the stocks. Lear is
shocked at Kent’s treatment, complaining ’tis worse than murder / To do upon
respect such violent outrage’. He is further outraged when Gloucester tells him that
Regan and Cornwall will not see him. They finally appear and Lear complains to
Regan that Goneril ‘hath tied / Sharp-toothed unkindness, like a vulture, here’.
Regan tells her father to return to Goneril and ‘Say you have wronged her’. When
Goneril herself arrives, Regan takes her hand and together they tell Lear they will

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look after him in their homes, but not his knights. Goneril asks ‘What need you five-
and-twenty, ten, or five, / To follow in a house where twice so many / Have a
command to tend you?’ Lear calls his daughters ‘unnatural hags’ and walks away
from the castle as a storm is brewing.

Let’s watch Act 3 of the play (01:46:30)

Act 3, Scene 1 (p.59-61)

1. Which country is likely to invade Britain, according to Kent? (lines 30-31)
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2. Where does Kent send the Gentleman, and to see whom? (line36/46-47)
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Act 3, Scene 2 (p.61-64)

1. The Fool begs Lear to take shelter. Where does Kent eventually persuade
Lear to go and take shelter? (line 62)
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Act 3, Scene 3 (p.65)

Gloucester tells Edmund that there is a letter with news of the French army locked in
his room, and he asks his son to go and distract the duke of Cornwall while he,
Gloucester, goes onto the heath to search for Lear. He adds that it is imperative that
Cornwall not notice his absence; otherwise, Gloucester might die for his treachery.

1. What does Edmund tell the audience he will do with this sensitive
information? (lines 19-20)
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Act 3, Scene 4 (p.66-72)

1. What might the significance of Lear ‘tearing off his clothes’? (line 104)
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Act 3, Scene 5 (p.72-73)
1. What does Cornwall order in this short scene? (lines 15-17)
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Act 3, Scene 6 (p.73-77)
1. In Lear’s madness he holds a ‘mock trial’ for his daughters Goneril and
Regan. Why do you think he might do this?
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2. What fresh danger does Lear face now, according to Gloucester? (line
87)
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Note: Before we move on to Scene 7, the director has added a scene to this
production involving the Fool, which draws from a soliloquy in Act 3 Scene 2. Please
turn to page 64 for the reference to this speech during this additional scene.

Act 3, Scene 7 (p.78-83)

1. Why do you think Regan and Cornwall opt for plucking out Gloucester’s
eyes as punishment for being a traitor?
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2. What has happened to Cornwall? (lines 94-95)
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Read this ‘Summary of Act 3’ to consolidate what we have watched so far.

Kent is looking for the king and a gentleman tells him that Lear is ‘Contending with
the fretful elements’, accompanied by ‘None but the fool’. Kent tells the gentleman
of difficulty ‘’twixt Albany and Cornwall’ and that spies in their courts are reporting

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back to Cordelia’s husband the King of France. Kent sends the gentleman with a ring
to find Cordelia.
Lear shouts at the stormy skies ‘Blow winds and crack your cheeks!’ The Fool tries to
calm him down but Lear continues to complain to the elements that they are taking
his daughters’ side ‘gainst a head / So old and white as this’. Kent finds them and
persuades Lear to head towards the shelter of ‘a hovel’ and the king finally agrees,
showing sympathy for the Fool, ‘Poor fool and knave, I have one part in my heart /
That’s sorry yet for thee.’
Gloucester confides in Edmund his concerns about how Regan, Goneril and Cornwall
have forbidden him to help Lear. He tells Edmund of a letter locked in his closet that
is ‘dangerous to be spoken’ and that ‘there is part of a power already footed’ to
revenge ‘these injuries the king now bears’. As soon as Gloucester leaves, Edmund
tells the audience that he will immediately report all of this to Cornwall.
Kent has led Lear to the hovel and urges him to go in. Before he enters, Lear thinks
about the ‘Poor naked wretches’ in his kingdom who have no shelter and confesses
‘I have ta’en / Too little care of this’. Just then the Fool comes back out of the hovel,
scared of ‘a spirit’ inside it called ‘Poor Tom’. Edgar emerges disguised as Poor Tom,
behaving and speaking like a ‘Bedlam beggar’. Lear is intrigued by Poor Tom and
considers how ‘unaccommodated man is no more but such a poor bare, forked
animal’. He begins to take off his own clothes to be more like ‘Poor Tom’. At this
moment, Gloucester finds them. He tells Lear ‘my duty cannot suffer / T’obey in all
your daughters’ hard commands’ and says he will take them to where ‘both fire and
food is ready.’ Lear agrees to follow but not without his ‘Noble philosopher’ ‘Poor
Tom’.
Edmund tells Cornwall what his father told him and shows Cornwall Gloucester’s
letter which ‘approves him an intelligent party to the advantages of France’ and
therefore a traitor to his own country. Cornwall praises his action, telling him ‘it hath
made thee Earl of Gloucester.’
Gloucester brings Lear, Kent, ‘Poor Tom’ and the Fool to a place of shelter near his
house. Lear continues to complain about how his daughters have treated him, and
sets up a mock trial of Regan and Goneril. Kent eventually persuades him to rest but
then Gloucester returns and tells Kent they must leave immediately and ‘drive
toward Dover, friend, where thou shalt meet / Both welcome and protection.’ The
Fool speaks his last lines in the play.
Regan and Goneril are angry to hear of Gloucester’s betrayal, Regan says ‘Hang him
instantly’ and Goneril adds ‘Pluck out his eyes.’ Oswald arrives with news that Lear
and ‘Some five- or six-and-thirty of his knights’ have gone toward Dover, where they
boast / To have well-arme`d friends.’ Goneril sets off back to her house,
accompanied by Edmund, while Cornwall sends servants to bring in ‘the traitor
Gloucester’.

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Gloucester is brought in and protests ‘Good my friends, consider you are my guests /
Do me no foul play, friends’ but he is tied to a chair and interrogated. He tells Regan
he has sent Lear to Dover ‘because I would not see thy cruel nails / Pluck out his
poor old eyes’. In response, Cornwall gouges out one of Gloucester’s eyes but before
he can take out the other eye a servant calls ‘Hold your hand, my lord’. Cornwall
fights with the servant and kills him then returns to pluck out Gloucester’s remaining
eye, saying ‘Out vile jelly’. Gloucester calls out for Edmund but Regan tells him it
was Edmund ‘That made the overture of thy treasons to us’.
Gloucester finally realises he has trusted the wrong son. Cornwall has been hurt in
the fight with his servant. Regan orders the remaining servants to ‘Go thrust him out
at gates, and let him smell / His way to Dover’ and then helps her bleeding husband.

Let’s watch Act 4 of the play (02:22:43)

Act 4, Scene 1 (p.84-87)
1. How does Shakespeare use dramatic irony in this scene between
Gloucester and Poor Tom/Edgar?
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Act 4, Scene 2 (p.87-91)
1. How is Goneril and Albany’s marriage presented in this scene? Use
supporting textual evidence.
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Act 4, Scene 3 (p.91-93)
This scene is often cut from the play and is not even present in some versions of the
play (including the version we are watching), so we will ignore this.
Act 4, Scene 4 (p.93-94)
1. What is Cordelia’s attitude/feelings towards her father at this point of
the story? (lines 23-29)
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 Act 4, Scene 5 (p.95-96)
1. Who have we discovered who has died?
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2. Whom does Regan feel Edmund should marry?

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Act 4, Scene 6 (p.97-107)
1. Why has Gloucester made his way to the cliffs of Dover? What does he
intend to do?
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2. What does Lear finally recognise about Goneril and Regan’s actions
during the ‘love test’ in the play’s opening scene? (lines 96-98)
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3. Who dies, and how are they killed? (lines 231-246)

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4. What does Edgar discover in Goneril’s letter? (lines 257-265)

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Act 4, Scene 7 (p.108-111)
1. How does Cordelia display unwavering loyalty to Lear’s kingship? (line
59)
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2. What flaw does Lear finally admit to? (line 84)

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Read this ‘Summary of Act 4’ to consolidate what we have watched so far.

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Still disguised as ‘Poor Tom’, Edgar comes across his blinded father being led away
from his house by an old man who lived on Gloucester’s land and is horrified to see
his father in this state. He hears Gloucester tell the old man ‘I have no way and
therefore want no eyes / I stumbled when I saw’, and confessing that he was unfair
to his son Edgar. On hearing that ‘Poor Tom’ is there, Gloucester asks the ‘naked
fellow’ to lead him to the cliffs at Dover. The old man is not convinced this is a good
idea but Gloucester tells him ‘Tis the time’s plague, when madmen lead the blind.’
Goneril arrives home with Edmund and Oswald tells her that Albany is behaving
oddly and smiled at the news of the French invasion. Goneril sends Edmund back to
Cornwall but kisses him first and tells him ‘To thee a woman’s services are due’.
Albany says the sisters’ treatment of Lear makes them ‘Tigers, not daughters’.
Goneril calls her husband ‘Milk-livered man’ and ‘a moral fool’ and they continue to
argue until a messenger arrives with news that Cornwall has died from the wound
he got fighting his servant. Albany is shocked to hear what Cornwall did to
Gloucester and that it was Edmund who betrayed his father. Goneril is concerned
that Regan will make a move on Edmund now she is a widow. After Goneril has left,
Albany declares ‘Gloucester, I live / To thank thee for the love thou showed’st the
king / And to revenge thine eyes.’
Kent talks to a gentleman in Dover about the letters he sent to Cordelia about her
father. The gentleman tells him that Cordelia was very emotional reading the letters
so that her ‘tears and smiles’ were like ‘Sunshine and rain at once’. Kent tells the
gentleman that Lear is nearby but that ‘burning shame / Detains him from Cordelia’.
Cordelia is concerned about her father who has been seen ‘As mad as the vexed
sea, singing aloud’ and wearing a crown of ‘furrow weeds’. She sends people to
‘Search every acre in the high-grown field / And bring him to our eye’. A messenger
comes in to tell her ‘The British powers are marching hitherward’ and she gets ready
for battle saying ‘O dear father, / It is thy business that I go about’.
Regan talks about the impending battle with Oswald who has just brought messages
to her from Goneril. She tries to get him to reveal what is in the messages he carries
from Goneril to Edmund, saying ‘I know you are of her bosom’ but Oswald remains
loyal to Goneril and tells Regan ‘My lady charged my duty in this business.’ Regan
gives him her own message to take to Edmund and tells him that if he meets ‘that
blind traitor’ Gloucester, ‘Preferment falls on him that cuts him off.’
Edgar has led his blinded father to Dover, still pretending to be ‘Poor Tom’ although
Gloucester recognises that his guide’s ‘voice is altered’. Despite Gloucester also
recognising that ‘the ground is even’, Edgar convinces him that they are at the top
of a high cliff from which ‘The fishermen that walk upon the beach /Appear like
mice’. Gloucester sends his guide away with ‘another purse’.
When Gloucester falls forward, believing he is throwing himself from the cliff top,
Edgar confesses that his plan may ‘may rob / The treasury of life’ and rushes to his
father to check if he is still alive. He now pretends to be a passer by on the beach

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who saw the old man fall and declares ‘Thy life’s a miracle’. Gloucester agrees to
‘bear / Affliction till it do cry out itself /‘Enough, enough’ and die.’
At that moment King Lear joins them, behaving very oddly and ranting about his
daughters. Gloucester recognises the king’s voice. Lear comments on Gloucester’s
lack of eyes and tells him ‘A man may see how this world goes with no eyes. / Look
with thine ears’.
Lear finally admits, ‘I know thee well enough: thy name is Gloucester’ before running
off, chased by three gentlemen sent to calm him down and take him to Cordelia.
Edgar learns from one of the gentleman that the opposing army are ‘Near and on
speedy foot’.
Edgar tells Gloucester he is ‘A most poor man, made tame to fortune’s blows’ and
begins to lead him to shelter when Oswald appears, ready to kill Gloucester. Edgar
defends Gloucester and kills Oswald who dies believing Edgar is a ‘bold peasant’. He
gives Edgar his purse and tells him to ‘bury my body / And give the letters which
thou find’st about me / To Edmund, Earl of Gloucester’.
Edgar reads aloud the letter from Goneril to Edmund which asks Edmund to take
one of the ‘many opportunities’ he will have to kill Albany so that he can marry
Goneril. Edgar disposes of Oswald’s body and then leads his father away.
Cordelia asks Kent ‘how shall I live and work / To match thy goodness?’ and he asks
her not to reveal his identity until he is ready. A doctor tells Cordelia that the king
‘sleeps still’ and asks if they can wake him. Lear is brought in and Cordelia kisses
him, judging her sisters by saying ‘Had you not been their father, these white
flakes / Did challenge pity of them.’ Lear is confused when he wakes up but seems
more calm and rational. He calls himself ‘a very foolish fond old man.’ He recognises
Cordelia and tells her ‘your sisters / Have, as I do remember, done me wrong: / You
have some cause, they have not.’ The doctor reassures Cordelia saying, ‘Be
comforted, good madam: the great rage, / You see, is killed in him.’

Let’s watch Act 5 of the play (02:52:56)

Act 5, Scene 1 (p.112-115)

1. What would Goneril rather lose than Edmund’s love? (lines 18-19)
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2. What does Edgar give to Albany? (line 40)

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3. What duplicitous deed is Edmund guilty of regarding Goneril and

Regan? (lines 55-56)
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 Act 5, Scene 2 (p.115-116)
1. What is the fate of Lear and Cordelia regarding the battle between
Britain and France? (line 6)
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Act 5, Scene 3 (p.116-129)

1. Summarise the ending for each of the characters below:
a) Gloucester
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b) Regan
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c) Goneril
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d) Edmund
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e) Cordelia
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f) Lear
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g) Albany
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h) Kent
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i) Edgar
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Read this ‘Summary of Act 5’ to consolidate your understanding of the

ending.

Edmund has command of Regan’s troops now that Cornwall is dead. Regan
questions him about his relationship with her sister and Edmund insists his only love
for Goneril is ‘In honoured love.’ Goneril and Albany arrive and Goneril convinces
everyone to ‘Combine together gainst the enemy, / For these domestic and
particular broils / Are not the question here.’ As the others leave, Edgar stops Albany
and gives him a letter, saying ‘If you have victory, let the trumpet sound’ and ‘a
champion’ will step forward to prove the truth of the letter. In a soliloquy, Edmund
then tells the audience that he has sworn his love to both Goneril and Regan and
asks ‘Which of them shall I take?’ He also says that he intends to stop the pardon
which Albany intends to give to Lear and Cordelia for siding with the French.

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As the battle rages, Edgar lets Gloucester rest. He soon returns with the news that
‘King Lear hath lost, he and his daughter ta’en’. Gloucester wants to stay where he
is, saying ‘a man may rot even here’, but Edgar leads him away.
Edmund calls for his officers to lock up Lear and Cordelia. She tells her father ‘We
are not the first / Who with best meaning have incurred the worst’ and he tells her
they will live together in prison ‘As if we were God’s spies’ hearing ‘poor rogues /
Talk of court news’. Edmund secretly sends his captain after them with a note to
ensure that they are both put to death, telling the captain ‘to be tender-minded /
Does not become a sword.’
Albany enters followed by Regan and Goneril who argue over Edmund’s position.
Regan announces her intention to make Edmund her ‘lord and master’. Regan also
begins to feel very ill and Goneril admits to the audience she has poisoned her sister.
Albany has Edmund arrested for ‘capital treason’, and calls Goneril a ‘gilded serpent’
for her betrayal in promising to marry Edmund if he kills her husband. A trumpet
sounds and Edgar steps forward, in armour which hides his face. Edgar publicly
accuses Edmund of being a traitor. Edmund and Edgar fight and Edmund is
defeated. Edmund admits ‘What you have charged me with, that have I done, / And
more, much more’.
Edgar reveals who he is really is and how he disguised himself as 'Poor Tom' and
looked after his blinded father. Edgar describes how he finally told his father
everything and ‘asked his blessing’ to fight this duel with Edmund but that ‘’Twixt
two extremes of passion, joy and grief’ Gloucester’s heart ‘Burst smilingly’ and he
died. Listening to this as he dies, Edmund says ‘This speech of yours hath moved
me, / And shall perchance do good’ but they are interrupted by a gentleman who
runs on with a bloody knife taken from Goneril’s heart and tells Albany that Goneril
died after confessing that ‘her sister / By her is poisoned’.
Kent arrives dressed as himself again. Albany order the bodies to be brought in and
Edmund says ‘Yet Edmund was beloved: / The one the other poisoned for my sake /
And after slew herself.’ Edmund then confesses that the Captain ‘hath commission
from thy wife and me / To hang Cordelia in the prison’ and Albany quickly dispatches
men to try and save her.
Lear then enters carrying the dead body of Cordelia, crying ‘Howl, howl, howl’. Kent
tries to tell Lear who he is and that his older daughters ‘have fordone themselves, /
And desperately are dead’, but Albany tells him that Lear ‘knows not what he says,
and vain is it / That we present us to him.’ Lear dies and Kent wonders how ‘he hath
endured so long’.
Albany and Edgar are left with a kingdom to rule and to consider how they can
‘Speak what we feel, not what we ought to say’.

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Now you are ready to study Shakespeare’s
masterpiece.

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