king lear
This excerpt and format copyright
© 2016 Robin Williams and iReadShakespeare.
Act 1 • Scene 1: King Lear’s palace (342 lines)
[In this scene Shakespeare sets up parallel stories of fathers
and their children that will unfold throughout the play.]
[Enter the Earl of Kent, the Earl of Gloucester,
and Gloucester’s bastard son, Edmund.]
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So Gloucester knows this
division is imminent.
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kent
I thought the King had more affected˙ the Duke of Albany than Cornwall.
gloucester
It did always seem so to us.
But now, in the division of the kingdom,
it appears not which of the Dukes he values most,
for qualities are so weigh’d˙ that curiosity˙ in neither can make choice of either’s moiety.˙
favored
balanced
exactness
portion
[Kent notices Edmund, the young man.]
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12
gloucester
His breeding,˙ sir, hath been at my charge.
I have so often blush’d to acknowledge him,
that now I am braz’d˙ to it.
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kent
I cannot conceive˙ you.
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14
Note he mentions that she
had a son, not himself.
What are the realities of the
situation for the unwed mother?
kent
Is not this your son, my lord?
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gloucester
Sir, this young fellow’s mother could,˙
whereupon she grew round-womb’d
and had indeed, sir, a son for her cradle
ere˙ she had a husband for her bed.
Do you smell a fault?
care and education
hardened (as brass)
understand
could conceive
before
271
act 1.1 • 19–38
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20
Now he says “I” have a son.
Do the math—at what point
was Gloucester cheating
on his wife?
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edmund
No, my lord.
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gloucester [to Edmund]
My lord of Kent; remember him hereafter
as my honorable friend.
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edmund
My services to your lordship.
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kent
I must love you, and sue˙ to know you better.
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edmund
Sir, I shall study deserving.
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Shakespeare always sets up
sthe rest of the play in the first
scene. What is one thing we
now know we should watch for?
In this grand entrance,
picture the tableau of a
Royal Lear, dressed and
crowned, probably on a throne,
surrounded by his three
daughters. Later, compare
this with the final scene.
228
result, offspring
gloucester
But I have a son, sir, by order of law,˙
legitimacy
some˙ year elder than this, about a
who yet is no dearer in my account.
Though this knave came something saucily˙ lasciviously
into the world before he was sent for,
yet was his mother fair,
there was good sport at his making,
and the whoreson must be acknowledg’d.
[to Edmund] Do you know this noble gentleman, Edmund?
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25
Both knave and whoreson
could be used affectionately.
kent
I cannot wish the fault undone,
the issue˙ of it being so proper.
38
gloucester
He hath been out˙ nine years, and away he shall again.
The King is coming.
[Sennet, a horn announcement.
Enter King Lear, who is more than 80 years old,
his son-in-law the Duke of Cornwall,
his other son-in-law the Duke of Albany,
his daughter Goneril, the Duchess of Albany,
his daughter Regan, the Duchess of Cornwall,
Lear’s youngest daughter Cordelia,
and Attendants, one carrying a coronet or small crown
designed for someone below the rank of King.]
beg
absent
act 1.1 • 39–69
40
king lear
Attend the lords of France and Burgundy,
Gloucester.
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gloucester
I shall, my lord.
39
[Gloucester leaves the room to attend the lords.]
Lear speaks in the royal we.
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43
king lear
Meantime we shall express our darker˙ purpose.
Give me the map there.
concealed
[Someone provides a large map that all can see.]
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Clarify the reasons
why Lear wants to
relinquish his throne.
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Note that the prize is
the largest bounty.
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goneril
Sir, I love you more than word can wield the matter:
Dearer than eye-sight, space, and liberty;
Beyond what can be valued, rich or rare;
No less than life, with grace, health, beauty, honor:
As much as child e’er lov’d, or father found ˙;
A love that makes breath poor, and speech unable,
Beyond all manner of so much I love you.
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cordelia [aside, to the audience]
What shall Cordelia do? Love, and be silent.
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Eye-sight, eyes, seeing,
are a critical motif in this
play; watch for references to it.
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What do you think of her speech?
Know that we have divided
In three our kingdom, and ’tis our fast˙ intent
firmly fixed
To shake all cares and business from our age,
Conferring them on younger strengths, while we
Unburden’d crawl toward death. Our son of Cornwall,
And you, our no less loving son of Albany,
We have this hour a constant˙ will to publish˙
resolute; proclaim
Our daughters’ several˙ dowers, that˙ future strife
separate; so that
May be prevented now. The princes, France and Burgundy,
Great rivals in our youngest daughter’s love,
Long in our court have made their amorous sojourn,
And here are to be answer’d. Tell me, my daughters
(Since now we˙ will divest us˙ both of rule,
I; myself
Interest˙ of territory, cares of state)
possession
Which of you shall we say doth love us most,
That we our largest bounty may extend
Where nature˙ doth with merit challenge.˙ natural affection; lay claim
Goneril, our eldest born, speak first.
found love
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act 1.1 • 70–99
70
71
72
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74
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Watch Regan throughout
the play as she constantly
tries to out-do her sister.
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No one really knows what
the square of sense means.
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What do you think of her speech?
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cordelia
Nothing, my lord.
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king lear
Nothing?
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cordelia
Nothing.
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king lear
Nothing will come of nothing, speak again.
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Nothing becomes an
important word to watch for
throughout the play.
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cordelia [aside, to the audience]
Then poor Cordelia,
And yet not so, since I am sure my love˙ ’s
love for my father
More ponderous˙ than my tongue.slow-moving
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88
Note he addresses his
other daughters as thee,
but Cordelia as you.
regan
I am made of that self-mettle as my sister,
And prize me at˙ her worth. In my true heart
equal to
I find she names my very deed of love—
Only she comes too short, that˙ I profess
in that
My self an enemy to all other joys,
Which the most precious˙ square of sense professes,
complete(?)
And find I am alone˙ felicitate˙
only; made happy
In your dear Highness’ love.
king lear
To thee, and thine hereditary ever,
Remain this ample third of our fair kingdom,
No less in space, validity, and pleasure˙
pleasurable features
Than that conferr’d on Goneril.
[to Cordelia] Now, our joy,
Although the last and least,˙ to whose young love
youngest
The vines of France and milk of Burgundy
[metaphors for the wooers]
Strive to be intèress’d.˙ What can you say to draw
affiliated
A third, more opulent than your sisters’? Speak.
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So Regan’s portion
is equal to Goneril’s.
king lear [he points to the map]
Of all these bounds, even from this line, to this,
With shadowy forests and with champaigns˙ rich’d
open country
With plenteous rivers and wide-skirted meads,˙
meadows
We make thee Lady. To thine and Albany’s issues˙
children
Be this perpetual. [to Regan] What says our second daughter,
Our dearest Regan, wife to Cornwall? Speak.
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act 1.1 • 100–131
100
101
Consider the various
meanings of bond.
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115
king lear
But goes thy heart with this?
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cordelia
Ay, good my lord.
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king lear
So young, and so untender?
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cordelia
So young, my lord, and true.
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Cordelia speaks “truth to power,’”
as only an authorized Fool is
allowed to do in the royal court.
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Hecate is the glorious and
powerful triple goddess.
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displeasing; as
king lear
How, how, Cordelia? Mend your speech a little,
Lest you may mar your fortunes.
cordelia
Good my lord,
You have begot me, bred me, lov’d me.
I return those duties back as are right fit:
Obey you, love you, and most honor you.
Why have my sisters husbands, if they say
They love you all? Haply,˙ when I shall wed,
That lord, whose hand must take my plight, shall carry
Half my love with him, half my care and duty.
Sure, I shall never marry like my sisters,
To love my father all.
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Plight can mean
both engagement or
unfortunate situation.
cordelia
Unhappy˙ that˙ I am, I cannot heave
My heart into my mouth: I love your Majesty
According to my bond, no more nor less.
with luck
king lear
Let it be so: thy truth then be thy dower.˙
dowry
For—by the sacred radiance of the Sun,
The mysteries of Hecate and the night,
By all the operation˙ of the Orbs˙
influence; planets and stars
From whom we do exist and cease to be—
Here I disclaim all my paternal care,
Propinquity˙ and property˙ of blood,
kinship; rights
And as a stranger to my heart and me,
Hold thee from this for ever. The barbarous Scythian,
Or he that makes his generation˙ messes˙ children; meals (as cannibals)
To gorge his appetite, shall to my bosom
Be as well neighbor’d, pitied, and reliev’d,
As thou my sometime˙ daughter.
former
315
act 1.1 • 132–165
Kent addresses Lear using
the highest form of address,
My Liege.
Could this be a source
of problems?
Make sure you understand
what Lear demands.
132
king lear
133 Peace, Kent,
134 Come not between the dragon and his wrath.
135 I lov’d her most, and thought to ˙set my rest˙
wholly rely my future
136 On her kind nursery.
137 [to Cordelia] Hence, and avoid my sight.
138 [to all] So be my grave my peace, as here I give˙
give away
139 Her father’s heart from˙ her. Call France! Who stirs?
away from
140 Call Burgundy! Cornwall and Albany,
141 With my two daughters’ dowers, digest the third.
142 Let pride, which she calls plainness,˙ marry her.
plain-speaking
143 I do invest you jointly with my power,
144 Pre-eminence, and all the large effects˙
outward trappings
145 That troop with Majesty. Our self, by monthly course,
146 With reservation˙ of a hundred knights,
the right to retain
147 By you to be sustain’d,˙ shall our abode
supported
148 Make with you by due turn; only we still retain
149 The name and all th’ addition˙ to a King;
honor and distinction
150 The sway,˙ revènue, execution of the rest,
authority
151 Beloved sons, be yours, which to confirm,
152 This coronet part between you.
[Lear gives the one coronet to his sons-in-laws, not his daughters.
He does not give away his own crown.]
Envision how Lear might
give away this coronet.
Why is there only one?
Kent lowers his address
from Liege to Royal.
156
kent
Royal Lear,
Whom I have ever honor’d as my King,
Lov’d as my father, as my master follow’d,
As my great patron thought on in my prayers—
157
king lear
The bow is bent and drawn; make from˙ the shaft.
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Kent now calls Lear mad
and addresses him with
thee and as old man.
What does this indicate?
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plainness: see line 142.
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165
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6
kent
Good my Liege—
kent
Let it fall rather,˙ though the fork invade
The region of my heart—be Kent unmannerly,
When Lear is mad. What wouldst thou do, old man?
Think’st thou that duty shall have dread˙ to speak,
When power to flattery bows?
To plainness honor ’s bound,
When Majesty falls to folly. Reserve thy state,˙
And in thy best consideration, check˙
away from
all the sooner
extreme fear
royal state
repress
act 1.1 • 166–191
169
This hideous rashness. Answer my life, my˙ judgment:
Thy youngest daughter does not love thee least,
Nor are those˙ empty-hearted, whose low˙ sounds
Reverb no hollowness.˙
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king lear
Kent, on thy life, no more.
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kent
My life I never held but as a pawn
To wage˙ against thine enemies, nor fear to lose it,
Thy safety being motive.
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king lear
Out of my sight!
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See better.
Apollo, son of Zeus, is a
prophetic god of the sun,
of truth, and of healing, but
is also a bringer of diseases
and death with his arrows.
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kent
See better, Lear, and let me still˙ remain
The true blank˙ of thine eye.
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king lear
Now, by Apollo—
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kent
Now, by Apollo, King,
Thou swear’st thy Gods in vain.
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king lear
O, vassal!˙ Miscreant!˙
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to my
they; quiet
insincerity
risk
continue to
target
subordinate; scoundrel
[Lear draws his sword or moves to strike Kent.]
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182
The quarto, an earlier copy of
the play, has “Revoke thy doom”
instead of Revoke thy gift.
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Lear still assumes he is king.
191
albany and cornwall
Dear sir, forbear.
kent
Kill thy physician, and thy fee bestow
Upon the foul disease. Revoke thy gift,˙
Or whilst˙ I can vent clamor from my throat,
I’ll tell thee, thou dost evil.
division of the kingdom
as long as
king lear
Hear me, recreant,˙ on thine allegiance, hear me.
traitor
That˙ thou hast sought to make us break our vows,
seeing that
Which we durst˙ never yet, ventured to do
and with strain’d˙ pride
unreasonable
To come betwixt our sentence and our power,
Which nor our nature nor our place can bear,
Our potency˙ made good, take thy reward:authority
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act 1.1 • 192–206
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Jupiter (aka Zeus)
is the king of gods.
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This is one of the many
references to an inversion
of the natural order.
200
Five days we do allot thee for provision
To shield thee from disasters of the world,
And on the sixth to turn thy hated back
Upon our kingdom; if on the next day following,
Thy banish’d trunk˙ be found in our dominions,
The moment is thy death. Away! By Jupiter,
This shall not be revok’d.
kent
Fare thee well, King, sith˙ thus thou wilt appear,
Freedom lives hence,˙ and banishment is here.
body
since
away from this place
[to Cordelia]
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The Gods to their dear shelter take thee, maid,
That˙ justly think’st, and hast most rightly said.
who
[to Regan and Goneril]
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204
And your large˙ speeches may your deeds approve,˙
That good effects may spring from words of love.
generous
show to be true
[to all]
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206
Kent’s rhyming couplets
seem to calm things down—
for a moment.
Thus Kent, O princes, bids you all adieu;
He’ll shape his old course˙ in a country new.
[Kent exits.]
[Flourish of trumpets. Enter Gloucester, who has no idea
of what just transpired, with the King of France and the
Duke of Burgundy, both of whom have hopes to marry
the youngest heir, Cordelia, and Attendants.]
834
habits