King Lear

The Summary of the play:

This play tells about a tragedy of a king who divided his Kingdom among his
daughters according to their love to him.
First he called his three daughters to him to listen from their own lips how much they
loved him.
Gonreil, the eldest, said to him that she loved him more than light of her eyes.
Also she said that he was dearer to her than anything good in her life. So he gave her a
third of his wealth.
Regan, the second daughter, said to him that the words were too short to express
her love to him. And she couldn't express her feelings towards her father, the king. So
he gave her a third of his wealth as he did with her sister.
But Cordelia, the third and the last daughter and the king's favourite,
disappointed him because he expected her to say more sweet and loving words than
her sisters did but she said that she loved him as her duty and because he was only her
father no more or less,
He was shocked to hear such words and he wanted to give her another chance to speak
better but she insisted because that she might have a husband or children. So how she
could give her father all her love or she might be a liar. As a result of her response to
him he gave away her third of the wealth and gave equal part to each of them (Gonreil
and Regan)
He would keep for himself the name and 100 knights for his pleasure and agreed
to stay for a month at each daughter's house in turn.
 Questions with Model Answer
1- Who was King Lear?
 He was the king of Britain.
2- Who were Lear's daughters?
 They were Gonreil, wife of the duke of Albany, Regan, wife of the duke of
Cornwall and Cordelia the youngest.
3- Why did King Lear wish to take no further part in the government of Britain?
 Because he was more than eighty years of age and he wanted younger people to
manage it.
4- Why did he call his three daughters?
 He called them to know from their lips which of them loved him best so that he
might' divide his kingdom among them according to their love to him.
5- Which daughters gained a half of Lear's Kingdom?
 Gonreil and Regan because they told him sweet words and deceived him, he
gave each of them a half of his kingdom.

6- Why was Cordelia left with nothing?

 Because she felt ashamed to tell her father sweet words like her sisters. She told
him that she loved him according to her duty neither more nor less.
7- Why couldn't Cordelia make large speeches like her sisters?
 Because she told him that he was her father, he had brought her up and loved her
so she loved, obeyed, honoured and respected him also she might marry and love
her husband, she thought the best thing she could do was to love him in silence.
8- What was Lear's reaction to Cordelia's speech?
 The king was shocked to hear these words from his favourite daughter and he
was angry, so he gave the third part of his kingdom and divided it equally
between her two sisters and gave them the crown and the power of then
government.
9- What did Lear keep for himself?
 He kept only the name of king for himself ant it was agreed that he and a hundred
Knights ‫فرسان‬should live month by month in each of his daughters' palaces in
turn.
10- "Old age led Lear so unwise" Do you agree?
 Yes, I agree because he divided his kingdom among his daughters according to
their deceiving words and kept his faithful daughter with nothing, he dismissed
earl of Kent from his kingdom because he spoke for Cordelia.
11- How did earl of King try to interfere? What was Lear's reaction?
 He was beginning to speak a good word for Cordelia but Lear commanded him
to stop or he would have put him to death also he ordered this true servant to
leave the country and gave him 5 days to prepare for his departure.
12- Name the two men who wanted to marry Cordelia?
Which of them finally did so?
 The King of France and the duke of Burgundy, the duke of Burgundy refused
to marry her on such conditions, but the king of France understood why she had
lost the love of her father and said that her goodness was better than a kingdom.
13- What did Cordelia beg her sisters to do?
 She begged them to love their father and take care of him also to keep their promises.
14- What were the two daughters' last words for Cordelia?
 They told her that they knew their duty and advised her to try to make her
husband happy because he had taken her as a beggar.
15- How did Regan and Gonreil show their true characters?
 Gonreil showed him an angry face when he wanted to see her; she pretended
that she was sick. She didn't respect him and asked her servants to neglect him
and disobey also she asked him to lessen the number of his knights. She sent a
letter to her sister asked her not to accept her father because he is disobedient.
 As to Regan she put his servant in the stock. She didn't meet him at once saying
that she was tired because of a long journey she advised him to go back with her
sister and lessen the number of his knights.
16- What struck the king to the heart? ‫يحطم‬
 The ungratefulness of his daughters changed him from a king to a beggar to a
mad man.
17- When did Lear's daughters begin to show their true characters?
 Lear's daughters began to show their characters after they got their share in the
kingdom and after Cordelia's departure to France.
18- When did Lear find the differences between promises and actions?
 He found this difference between promises and actions when he stayed with his
daughters in the palaces and they started to treat him badly sick so as not to meet
him.
19- Why did Lear shut eves against his daughter's actions?
 To make himself believe that he wasn’t wrong and because people don't like to
believe their mistakes.
20- What did the Earl of Kent do in order to stay in Britain?
 He dressed-up as Cauis (disguised), and offered his services to the king.
21- Why did Lear accept Cauis as a servant?
 Lear accepted Cauis as a servant when Cauis showed his faithfulness to the
king when he knocked one of Gonreil's because he was disrespectful to Lear
and spoke to him very rudely.
22- Where did Lear go when he left Gonreil's palace?
What was the first thing he saw on his arrival?
 He went to Regan's palace; the first thing he saw was his servant in a shameful
situation, because he gave a good beating to Regan's servant for the second time
so they ordered Cauis to be put in the stocks.
23- What is a jester? What did Lear's fester mean when he said that a donkey
knows when the cart draws the horse?
 The jester is a fool in the king's place to help the king to laugh and be happy in
the time of troubles. He means that Lear's daughters who ought to be behind now
came before their father, and that Lear was no longer Lear the king, but only the
shadow of Lear.
24- What was Lear's wish during the storm?
 He wished the wind to blow the earth into sea or make the wave so big that it
could drown the earth and no sign might remain of such an ungrateful animal as
man.
25- "Creatures that love night, now they could not love their hiding places, man's
nature can't bear it?" Comment
 Cauis said these words to King Lear when Lear decided to stay out and face the
storm... He wants to tell him that even the animals who love nights can't bear a
storm this and so King Lear wouldn't bear it.
26- What did Cauis beg the king to do?
 He begged him to enter the hut.

27- Why did the fool run out the hut in terror?
 Because he found a beggar in the hut and thought that he was an evil spirit
28- What changed Lear from a King to a beggar or to a bad man?
 -The ill treatment and ungratefulness of his daughters changed him from a King
to a beggar and to a mad man.
29- How did Earl of Kent show his faithfulness to the
King again?
 He begged him to enter the hut to save him from the storm.
 With the help of some the king's Knights he had the king to come to the castle at
Dover.
 He sailed to France to ask Cordelia to come to help her father because her sisters
treated him in such a terrible way.
30- What did Cordelia beg her husband for?
 She begged him to send her with an army big enough to overthrow these cruel
sisters and their husbands.
31- How was the King when Cordelia's army fought her sisters' armies?
 He was wandering about the fields near Dover in a sad condition; he was quite
mad and singing aloud to himself he was wearing a crown made of straw and
some of wild plants.
32- Explain how Cordelia was Lear's faithful daughter in the end?
 She didn't deceive her father like her sisters.
 Before she went to France she begged her sisters to take care of her father.
 She begged her husband to send her with an army to fight her sisters.
 She promised to give doctors all her money and jewels to treat her father-when
her father asked her to forgive him she told him nice and sweet words.
 She was killed in prison because of her father.
33- What did both Gonreil and Regan fall in love with?
 It was Edmund, the son of the earl of Gloucester.
34- What did Edmund do with his brother?
 He was wicked, he had removed his brother Edgar the lawful heir from his
possession.
35- The justice of heaven at least claimed these wicked daughters " Comment.
 When Regan declared her intention of this earl of Glouester that aroused the
jealousy of her sister, Gonreil who killed her sister by giving her poison but her
husband the Duke of Albany discovered her deed and put her in prison where
she put an end to her life.
36- What was Cordelia's "sadness?
 The armies with Gonreil and Regan had sent out under the command of
Edmund were successful. Cordelia was taken to prison and killed there.
37- Who became the King of England?
 The duke of Albany who had never encouraged his lady in her wickedness.
1- What made the Earl of Kent interfere to help Cordelia?
 The foolish division made by King Lear between the two daughters only and
left Cordeila with nothing although she said the truth made the Earl of Kent
took an action against the king whatever happened to him. The king punished
him that he should leave the kingdom in five days otherwise the king would kill
him on the sixth day if he was found in the kingdom.
2-Like a mad man who kills his own doctor. Discuss.
 -This refers to King Lear who punished his servant instead of taking his advice
and rewarding him.
3- Wealth played an important role in the tragedy of Lear.. Explain.
 -When the duke of Burgundy refused to marry Cordelia because she was
deprived of her share of money like her sisters. Also King Lear punished
youngest daughter for not saying sweet and false words as her sister.
4. How could King of France value Cordelia's personality?
 -How understood why Cordelia had lost the love and the money of her father.
He took her by hand and said that her goodness was worth than a kingdom. He
says that she should go with him and be his queen and rule over a fairer kingdom
than her sister.
5. What were the differences between Gonreil and
Regan's promises and actions?
 Gonreil and Regan said something but they did something totally different. At
first they said that they would take care of him and his knights but when they
took all the wealth of their father they treated him badly. Gonreil said to him
that his knights were useless and an unnecessary load.
6- How did Caius show his faithful services?
 He had been faithful to Lear all his life. He spoke nicely for Cordelia when she
said her point of view was that she loved her father as a duty no more or less.
Caius also loved the king even though the punished him and asked him to leave
the kingdom in five days he agreed but disguised in a servant clothes and
returned to the king to help him and take care of him.
 Caius had honored Lear as a king, loved him as a father, and followed him as a
master. At last Cauis helped Lear when he was left in the forest ill and tired.
 He went to Cordelia in France to ask for help and to tell her that her father was
sick of old age and the server weather. She took some doctors to give him the
right treatment. He died shortly after his master's death as a result of grief.
7- What were the results of Lear's unjust decisions?
 First he deprived Cordelia from his wealth because she told him the truth that
she only loved him as a father no more or less.
 Second he gave Gonreil and Regan each half of his kingdom but they didn't
repay this good deed to him
 Third when he asked the Earl of Kent to leave the kingdom in five days
although he advised him and spoke on behalf of Cordelia's good speech.
 Fourth he knocked down the servant of Gonreil when he refused to help Lear
and treated him badly.
8- What was the fool's role in the plays of Shakespeare; especially in King Lear?
 He lived in the palace of the king and by his merry words made the king and his
friends happy and sometimes the fool laughed at Lear's foolish actions such as
giving all his money to his two ungrateful daughters without leaving anything to
himself.
9- What was the change in Gonreil's behaviour and personality?
 Gonreil spoke of her love to her father with sweet and loving words but in fact
she pretended to gain her father's wealth first then she treated him cruelly. She
refused to talk to him and told her servants to treat him and his knights badly.
10- A thankless child is worse than a bite of Snake. Discuss
 Truly that the child who refused to take care of her father or mother deserved
curse and punishment of God and the disrespect of all people. So Lear said that
Gonreil and Regan were worse than a bite of snake and worse than the severe
weather in the forest.
 They treated him badly when Gonreil said that 100 knights were too many to
live and make noise in her house and told him to make then only fifty. But Regan
went so far to leave him and his knights outside her house in the cold weather
and in the storm.
11- Why did King Lear promise that these unnatural creatures should be
punished?
 He promised that these daughters were strange and inhuman to speak good words
but in a false way. They showed their real characters after they got the money
and the power of their father.
 Also they didn't take care of their father as they said but leave him and his knights
in the storm, thunder, rain and lightning.
12 - King Lear is a tragic play, discuss!
 It's a tragic play because it ends with sad end that Lear and his three daughters
are dead, see how Cordelia was taken to prison and killed there and Lear didn't
live long after his Kind child's death. Before the king died the good earl of Kent
told him that the Kent and Cauis were the same the Kent then died after his
master. Also Gonreil killed her sister by giving her poison then the duke of
Albany put her in prison where she died.
13- Actions speak louder than words. Explain according to King Lear play.
 In this play Regan and Gonreil deceived their father by sweet words and they
declared that they loved him more than words could tell and he was dearer than
liberty and life, the king was delighted to hear that but as soon as they got their
part in the kingdom they began to show their cruel characters. And their bad
treatment changed him to a beggar and a mad man. See Cordelia didn't deceive
him and Said to him that she loved him according to her duty so he didn't give
her a part of his wealth. She married the King of France but when she knew that
her father was in trouble she begged her husband to send her with an army to
tight her wicked sisters.
14- If you love, love for the sake of love neither more than less" Discuss!
 This was Lear when Cordelia didn't deceive her father with sweet word like her
wicked sisters who deceived him just to take his kingdom not because they loved
him truly but Cordelia him according to her duty. Because he had brought her
up and loved her.
 The King of France married Cordelia although she had nothing because her
goodness was worth more than kingdom in the other land the duke of Burgundy
refused to marry her on such conditions because she had nothing.
15- A friend in need is a friend indeed " or: Friendship is essential in our life. Give
an example
a) King Lear dismissed the Earl of Kent because he said good words about
Cordelia but he didn't leave the king and dressed up as a Cauis in order to stay
in Britain.
b) Cauis showed his faithfulness to the king when he knocked one of Gonreil's
servants because he was disrespectful to Lear and spoke rudely to him.
c) He begged the king to enter the hut to save him from the storm and took him to
the castle of Dover.
d) He sailed to France to tell Cordelia about her sisters.
16- In this play we lack the sense of gratitude. Expalin.
 Gonreil and Regan deceived their father with sweet words, just to take his
kingdom not because they loved him and they were ungratefulness to him and
showed their true character after they had taken their parts and this wicked
treatment changed him from a king to a beggar to a madman.
17-God delay but never forget. Explain.
 After the two wicked daughters had taken their parts in the kingdom they treated
their father badly and they lived in their palaces and showed their true wicked
characters to their father, but the justice of heaven at last claimed these wicked
daughters. Gonreil killed her sister by giving her poison then Gonreil's husband
put her in prison where she died.
18- 'Man is good by nature' Discuss!
Or / In' King Lear we met many examples that showed this good nature.

a) Although King Lear dismissed Cordelia and didn't give her a part in the
kingdom but when she knew that her father was in trouble she tried to help
him.
b) She forgave her father when he asked her to forgive him.
c)The king of France helped King Lear with an army although he married
Cordelia when she had nothing as a beggar.