1. BA Sem. Vth ELT
King Lear
By William Shakespeare
SUMMARY OF THE PLAY
King Lear, is the eighty-year-old king of Britain. He decides to divide his kingdom among his
three daughters, Goneril, Regan, and Cordelia and then retire from the throne. He somewhat
childishly decides to make his daughters compete with one another in a foolish display of their
affection for him. Goneril, wife of the Duke of Albany, and Regan wife of the Duke of Cornwall
are cunning and hypocritical and they flatter their father to the sky without actually having any
love for him. Cordelia, the youngest and still unmarried daughter loves her father dearly. But she is
honest and sincere and this brings in her an austerity of words and emotions. She professes her
love towards her father in the simplest of words which hurts her vain father tremendously for he
cannot distinguish between flattery and genuine affection. The King is so angered that he
disinherits her completely and gives away his kingdom in two equal shares to his other two
daughters, Goneril and Regan, He decides to live in turns with these two daughters. Meanwhile,
the King of France is wise enough to recognize Cordelia's honesty and sincerity and marries her
despite the fact that she has no inheritance. The Earl of Kent tries to come to Cordelia's rescue
against her foolish father, but he is banished from the court.
When Lear is indulging in his foolish act, the Earl of Gloucester too is deceived by the flattery of
his illegitimate, but wily son, Edmund, who through a forged letter, makes the Earl believe, that his
other son Edgar, is scheming to kill him. Gloucester thinks that Edgar wants to murder him in
order to usurp his property. Edmund, schemes further and tells Gloucester that he would arrange
for him to hear with his own ears Edgar wants to murder him.
In the meanwhile, the loyal Kent, though banished from the courts, continues to serve the King in
disguise. He finds Goneril treating her father with utter disdain and ordering him to reduce his
retinue. The old King flares up in anger. He curses the wrath of hell on her daughter and tells Kent
to precede him to his other daughter Regan's house so that his visit can be properly proclaimed.
In the parallel subplot of the play, the crafty Edmund convinces his father that Edgar is a devil. The
foolish Earl of Gloucester believes it and Edgar has to run away from home for safety. It is at this
juncture that Regan arrives at the castle of Gloucester for a visit along with Cornwall. Kent arrives
to announce his master's arrival but is imprisoned by Regan for fighting with Oswald. Kent is
recovered from the stocks by the King, who arrives accompanied by his fool. The fool loves his
master but is also bitter about his foolish act of giving away his kingdom and treating her
favorite mistress, Cordelia so badly. Regan to whom Oswald has brought a letter from Goneril
regarding her father, refuses to give shelter to her father until he has apologized to Goneril, who
herself arrives shortly afterwards. The two sisters insist that the old King does away with his
hundred servants, The King is heartbroken and in a fit of rage ventures out into the stormy night
followed by his fool. On the stormy heath, we find Lear totally mad. Soon Kent joins him and the
three take shelter in a hovel. Here they find Edgar disguised as mad Tom. Gloucester too escapes
the fury of Regan and Goneril and joins them in the hovel. In the hovel, Lear holds a mock trial
against his daughters and makes them poor. Tom and the fool as judges. This is a poignant
2. moment for the roles are reversed. The King becomes an ordinary subject and the two "Madcaps"
are elevated to the level of the judiciary. Kent learns from Gloucester, Regan's, and Goneril's plot
to murder the king. Gloucester requests Kent to take the king to Dover where he is likely to be
helped by some friends. Gloucester then returns to the castle where his son Edmund is plotting to
kill his father. He uses rumors of discard between Albany and Cornwall and the impending
invasion by the Army of France, to his advantage and tells Cornwall that Gloucester is helping
Cordelia to invade Britain, He again takes the help of a forged letter supposedly written by
Gloucester to him mentioning this. Cornwall prepares for war. Goneril returns to her husband and
also to get ready for war in order to assist her sister. Edmund goes with Goneril. In his absence,
Regan and her husband gorge the eyes of Gloucester. A loyal servant unable to see Gloucester's
plight stabs Cornwall fatally, which leaves no option for Regan but to take charge and throw
Gloucester out.
Edgar finds his blind father, who confesses his guilt and narrates the treachery of Edmund. Edgar
becomes his father's guide and takes him to Dover where the old man wants to end his life. Edgar
arranges the whole set so that the blind Gloucester is convinced that he jumped from a cliff but
destiny has life in store for him. Lear too is rescued by Cordelia's men when she learns of his
presence in Dover. He is brought to her dressed in flowers and completely out of his senses. She
tends him to sanity.
Albany leaves his wife once her cruelty towards her father becomes obnoxious to him. Regan and
Goneril, husbandless, vie for Edmund's attention and make him the head of the British forces. They
both lust for him and are jealous of one another due to this. Albany despite learning her wife's plot
to murder him, still joins hands with Edmund in order to protect Britain. In the battle that ensues,
Lear and Cordelia are taken prisoner by Edmund, as the French face defeat. Edmund orders that
Cordelia be murdered in such a way that it appears as if she has committed suicide.
Goneril poisons Regan to get rid of her so that she can have Edmund all to herself but has to kill
herself when her own adultery is found out. Meanwhile, Gloucester dies a broken man after
learning the true identity of Edgar. Albany arrests Edmund when Edgar charges him of treason. A
sword fight ensues between Edgar and Edmund in which STE the latter is killed by the former. Just
before dying Edmund tells Edgar that he had given secret instructions for Cordelia to be killed, but
it is too late, for Cordelia has already been dead. Lear, brokenhearted tries to revive her, and when
he can't, he dies too, unable to bear the agony.
Virtually everyone dies in the end, good as well as evil, leaving the reader
repulsed and sad. Kent and Albany are left to rule Britain and to build it once again from among
the fragments.
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