Because of King Lear’s complex
textual history, editions of the play often differ considerably in lineation, scene
division, and content. It is crucial therefore that all students use the same text
(the one indicated in the course syllabus) so as to avoid any confusion. This is not
optional.
Before proceeding, read the play and study my introductory lecture.
All references to the play indicate act, scene, and line numbers. For example, 1.1.1-31 means Act 1, Scene 1, lines 1-31. All students must follow the same convention when citing specific passages.
A complete audio performance of the play may be accessed here. Keep in mind, however, that the scenes and content may not correspond precisely to the class text.
The play begins, oddly enough, with the subplot (1.1.1-31: shorthand, to be used throughout, for Act 1, Scene 1, lines 1-31). We will return to this. The principal plot begins when Lear enters and expresses what he calls his “darker purpose” (34). Reading lines 34-52, identify that purpose (or purposes) and describe Lear’s rationale, his reasons.
As you read and/or listen to the remainder of the scene, consider and comment on the
difference between Goneril and Regan’s response on the one hand, and Cordelia’s
on the other. What in particular are Cordelia’s reasons for not playing along
with her father’s love test? Looking at this moment alone, and disregarding the
remainder of the play, try to defend both
responses, including Goneril and Regan’s, as reasonable and loving alternatives
to the challenge. Then do the reverse: criticize
both responses, Cordelia’s included, as motivated by something other than
love.
Examine the scene’s closing lines, when Goneril and Regan are alone. What think you of their concerns about their father?
Return to the opening lines, 1.1.1-31, and describe the Duke of Gloucester’s attitude towards his two sons. Do you detect any similarities between the two plots in terms of family dynamics?
The first soliloquy of the play is Edmund’s (1.2.1-22). Describe his character as revealed by these lines. What do we think of him? Consider his argument: what is his main point, and why does it matter? Now, identify lines you find particularly striking and try to explain why. Finally, ask the class to respond to any question (or questions) you have about this speech. Focus, if you can, on some aspect you find puzzling. For example, I’ve always been puzzled by Edmund’s use of the term “nature.” In what sense (or senses) is he using this word, and why?
The remainder of the scene unfolds Edmund’s purpose, his plot to deceive his father into thinking Edgar treacherous and thereby to steal his inheritance—that which is due the first-born and “legitimate” son, not the “bastard” Edmund. Examine Gloucester’s monologue (97-110) and Edmund’s response (111-24), the play’s second soliloquy (this one in prose as opposed to verse). To what in Gloucester’s speech is Edmund responding, and what is his argument? How is his soliloquy here related to his first at the beginning of the scene?
The consequences of Lear’s actions in scene 1 are immediate and swift. Yet it is not entirely clear why Goneril and Regan go from being concerned about their father’s cognitive limitations to stripping him of all those kingly privileges he retained for himself when decreeing the division of the kingdom (see 1.1.133-35). According to Goneril, the shift toward harsher treatment of Lear is triggered by him assaulting one of Goneril’s servants for mistreating his Fool (1.3.1-2).
This first mention of the Fool is followed in scene 4 by the disguised Kent’s first encounter with Lear since being banished for objecting to the king’s treatment of Cordelia. Going by the name of Caius, Kent becomes one of Lear’s retainers in order that he might serve and protect him from those who would harm him. Examine their encounter with Goneril’s steward, Oswald. At what is Lear so offended, and why is it appropriate that Kent is the one to ridicule and mistreat Oswald?
This is the Fool’s answer to Lear’s question, “Who is it that can tell me who I am?” (1.4.211-12). The answer, like most of the Fool’s lines, is cryptic and ironic. He means, of course, that Lear is much reduced, a mere shadow of his former self. But “Lear’s shadow” is also an appropriate description of the Fool himself, for he accompanies Lear constantly from 1.4 through 3.6, after which he suddenly and mysteriously disappears from the play, his final line being “And I’ll go to bed at noon” (3.6.84).
The Fool surely is a comic figure, but he also casts a dark “shadow” across the play, his cryptic utterances forming a disturbing commentary on Lear’s predicament. Examining the remainder of Act 1 (scenes 4-5), identify a moment or two in which the Fool’s words are both comical and disturbing, and explain why.
Shakespearean plays are typically tripartite in structure.
That portion of a play that introduces the main characters and establishes the
plot(s) is known as the protasis. The epitasis develops the action set in motion by the
protasis. And this development builds towards
its logical climax, the catastrophe (a Greek word
meaning literally “final turn”).
Acts 2-3 form the main portion of this play’s epitasis. Act 2 is constructed around the descent
into adversity of several major and minor characters. This set of parallel
descents might be described as follows:
Examining Act 2 in its entirety, choose two of these descents and
briefly discuss their similarities. Try to identify specific passages that
support your observations.
Choose one the following passages and comment on its
significance or why you find it particularly striking. (Some of these are linked
to audio recordings of the professor reading.)
Finally, and before joining Lear in the dreadful storm (Act 3), we must begin to address an issue central to the play and barely addressed in my introductory lecture—namely, the gender-obsessed fury that Lear unleashes on his daughters. The first of several disturbing attacks takes the form of a curse directed at Goneril back at 1.4.257-72. What is Lear saying here? How does his curse fit the occasion? And what might be going through Goneril’s mind as she hears it? (Note that she does not respond.)
Compare this moment to a passage cited above, 2.4.53-56. In
what sense are Lear’s remarks about hysterica
passio related to the curse on Goneril and to his unmistakable
misogyny?