King Lear

King Lear is a tragedy in five acts written by William Shakespeare sometime between 1603 and 1606, widely considered one of his greatest works. It deals with the ancient Celtic myth of King Leir, who divided his kingdom between two of his three daughters, with disastrous results.

Synopsis

Act I

King Lear decides in his old age to divide his kingdom between his three daughters, Goneril, Regan, and Cordelia. Wishing to hear flattery, he gives them each the chance to compete for larger portions of the kingdom by outdoing one another in their professions of love for him. Cordelia, though she loves her father, can't bring herself to flatter him like the other two, and refuses to speak when asked. This sends Lear into a rage, after which he disowns her and gives her portion to Goneril and Reagan, despite the protests of his liege, the Earl of Kent. Lear banishes him as well. Cordelia, for whom Lear had also been seeking a husband at the same meeting, is quickly rejected by the Duke of Burgundy. The King of France, however, sees through Lear's sudden change of heart and takes Cordelia as his bride. They depart for France. Meanwhile, Goneril and Regan talk among themselves of how their father appears to be losing his mind, and begin to conspire against him.

The next scene takes place inside the Earl of Gloster's castle. Gloster's bastard son, Edmund, is in the process of forging a letter from Edward, his half-brother and the rightful heir, in which Edward supposedly expresses a wish to kill his father. When Gloster enters the room, Edmund pretends to hide the letter, prompting Gloster's curiosity. Upon reading it, Gloster asks Edmund to seek out Edward so that he can be punished. As he leaves, Edward enters, and Edmund warns him deceitfully that their father appears angry enough to kill him, advising him to flee and never return.

King Lear has since taken up residence in the castle which belongs to Goneril and her husband, the Duke of Albany. Goneril is angry with Lear for striking her servant, Oswald. She tells Oswald to give Lear and his 100-knight entourage a cold reception, in the hope that this will drive them away from the castle. The banished Earl of Kent enters the castle in disguise to offer his service to Lear, who accepts after a short interrogation. Oswald comes to Lear, and refuses to answer his inquiries, departing rudely, and refusing to recognize him as the king. Lear strikes him again, and Kent violently pushes him out of the room. Lear's fool comes in, and humorously ridicules Lear for abdicating his kingdom, reminding him that he'd given up all of the privileges that came with them. Goneril enters, and complains bitterly to Lear that his rowdy entourage has been wreaking havoc in the castle. Enraged at her impudence, Lear leaves for Reagan's castle, only to find out that Goneril had already dismissed 50 of his knights. He re-enters to threaten her with certain death once he reunites with Regan and leaves again. The fool and Kent leave shortly behind him. Goneril sends Oswald to Regan's castle with a letter, asking him to tell her a trumped-up story about Lear's reasons for leaving. Unaware of this, Lear sends Kent to the Earl of Gloster with letters of his own.

Act II

In Gloster's castle, Edmund attempts to start rumors of war between the dukes of Albany and Cornwall, the husbands of Goneril and Regan. Edward returns, and Edmund shoos him away with the warning that Gloster knows where he has been hiding. Edward flees to the countryside, later to disguise himself as a madman. Hearing Gloster coming, Edmund draws his sword and wounds himself in the arm, telling his father that he received the blow from Edward while trying to defend their father's honor. Gloster vies to catch Edward, and to make Edmund his heir. Regan and Cornwall enter, telling Gloster of Lear's madness, explaining that they left their castle to avoid being home when Lear visits. Gloster explains his predicament to them, and they declare Edmund the next Earl. Regan betrays some attraction to Edmund as she darkly welcomes him into her service.

Outside the castle, Oswald and Kent meet again, each bearing letters. Kent unleashes a tirade of insults against Oswald, and draws his sword. Oswald backs away, and Kent responds by beating him. Edmund enters along with Regan and Cornwall, breaking up the fight and putting Kent in the stocks overnight as punishment. Gloster attempts to dissuade them without success, and leaves disgruntled.

King Lear and his entourage arrive, having already been to Cornwall's castle and not finding them at home. He sees Kent in the stocks and finds out who put him there. He demands to see Cornwall and Regan for an explanation, and to his consternation, they refuse to see him. He entreats Gloster to bring them to him, and as they arrive, they remove the stocks. Regan tries to reason with Lear, saying that his knights placed too much of a burden on Goneril's castle, and suggesting that he return there to apologize. Believing this beneath his digity, Lear refuses. Goneril enters, and together she and Regan demand that Lear dismiss his army and stay with them peacefully -- their reasoning is that he is too old and no longer in need of an army, though they secretly are hoping to remove the threat that his men represent to their rule. Feeling betrayed, Lear exits in a rage with a vicious storm on the horizon.

Act III

Apparently having gone completely mad, Lear has gone into the open countryside to rage against the storm, accompanied only by his faithful Fool. The Earl of Kent has heard the rumors of division between Albany and Cornwall, and has also heard that the King of France is aware of the intrigues and is planning a massive invasion to capitalize on the disorder. Meanwhile, in Gloster's castle, the Earl tells Edmund of his displeasure at the intrigues against the king. Having also heard the false rumor of division between the dukes, Gloster tells his son about a letter locked in his closet which expresses his intention to side with Lear against his daughters.

Lear continues to shout down the elements, while the Fool tries to convince him to return to shelter. Kent arrives and leads them to a hovel, which turns out to be inhabited by the well-disguised Edgar.