King Lear by William Shakespeare/ Author Introduction / Historical Context / About the Work / Themes / Characters/ Summary & Analysis

 King Lear

by William Shakespeare

Brief Biography of William Shakespeare

Shakespeare's father was a glove-maker, and Shakespeare received no more than a grammar school education. He married Anne Hathaway in 1582, but left his family behind around 1590 and moved to London, where he became an actor and playwright. He was an immediate success: Shakespeare soon became the most popular playwright of the day as well as a part-owner of the Globe Theater. His theater troupe was adopted by King James as the King's Men in 1603. Shakespeare retired as a rich and prominent man to Stratford-upon-Avon in 1613, and died three years later.

Historical Context of King Lear

In the period in which King Lear was written—from 1604 to 1607—King James VI, King of Scotland and England, was trying to persuade English Parliament to approve the union of the two countries into one nation. (It was James who first used the term "Great Britain" to describe the unity of the Celtic and Saxon lands: England, Scotland, and Wales.) Such a combination of nations is called "accession." In his speeches to Parliament, he regularly referred to the misfortunes that had been brought about by the disunion of England under King Leir, the historical source of Shakespeare's play. The historical context of Shakespeare's King Lear is thus twofold. Reading it you should keep in mind both the history of King Leir and the discussions on union/disunion of Great Britain in Shakespeare's own time.

Other Books Related to King Lear

Shakespeare drew the main plot of King Lear—that is, the story of a ruler who divides his kingdom among his children and is consequently ruined—from several sources describing the legendary British king of that name. Scholars believe that the most important source was the second edition of Raphael Holinshed's Chronicles of England, Scotland, and Ireland (1587); Holinshed himself had taken the story of Lear from the History of the British Kingdom by Geoffrey of Monmouth, written in the twelfth century. (Critics have also pointed out that Lear's rejection of Cordelia resembles numerous classical British fairy tales, where a father rejects a daughter on the grounds that he does not believe she loves him enough.) Shakespeare drew further subplots from Edmund Spenser's The Faerie Queen (1590), which also features a character named Cordelia, who dies by hanging; and from Sir Philip Sidney's Arcadia (1580-90), which contains an outline of the Gloucester subplot.

Key Facts about King Lear

Full Title: The Tragedy of King Lear

When Written: c. 1605

Where Written: England

When Published: 1608; 1623

Literary Period: The Renaissance

Genre: Tragedy

Setting: England, in pre-Christian times

Climax: Lear raging in the thunderstorm

Antagonist: Regan, Goneril, Edmund

THEMES

1. Power and Corruption

- The corrupting influence of power: Lear's absolute power and authority lead to his downfall.

- The dangers of unchecked power: Lear's decision to divide his kingdom and the consequences that follow.

2. Family and Relationships

- Family dynamics: The complex relationships between Lear and his daughters, as well as between the sisters themselves.

- Love and loyalty: The true nature of love and loyalty, as demonstrated by Cordelia's actions.

3. Madness and Sanity

- The blurred lines between madness and sanity: Lear's descent into madness and the Fool's wisdom.

- The destructive nature of madness: Lear's actions and their consequences.

4. Aging and Mortality

- The challenges of aging: Lear's struggles with aging and the loss of power.

- The inevitability of mortality: Lear's confrontation with his own mortality.

5. Deception and Appearance vs. Reality

- Deception and manipulation: The ways in which characters deceive and manipulate others to achieve their goals.

- Appearance vs. reality: The tension between appearance and reality, as characters' true natures are revealed.

6. Justice and Morality

- The nature of justice: The play's exploration of justice and morality.

- The consequences of immoral actions: The consequences of characters' actions and the ultimate justice that is served.

7. Nature and the Environment

- The power of nature: The play's use of natural imagery and the power of nature.

- The relationship between humans and nature: The ways in which characters interact with and are affected by nature.

CHARACTERS

1. King Lear

- The aging King of Britain who decides to divide his kingdom among his three daughters.

- Complex, flawed, and ultimately tragic character.

2. Goneril

- Lear's eldest daughter, who marries the Duke of Albany.

- Ambitious, cunning, and ruthless in her pursuit of power.

3. Regan

- Lear's second daughter, who marries the Duke of Cornwall.

- Similar to Goneril in her ambition and ruthlessness.

4. Cordelia

- Lear's youngest and most loyal daughter, who marries the King of France.

- Honest, loving, and ultimately tragic character.

5. The Fool

- Lear's loyal and witty jester, who provides comedic relief and insightful commentary.

- Ultimately, a symbol of loyalty and truth.

6. Earl of Kent

- A loyal and honest nobleman, who is banished by Lear for speaking truth to power.

- Disguises himself as "Caius" to continue serving Lear.

7. Earl of Gloucester

- A nobleman and the father of Edgar and Edmund.

- Blind to the truth about his sons and ultimately betrayed.

8. Edgar

- Gloucester's legitimate son, who disguises himself as "Poor Tom" to survive.

- Ultimately, a symbol of redemption and justice.

9. Edmund

- Gloucester's illegitimate son, who manipulates and betrays his family to gain power.

- A symbol of deceit and ambition.

10. Duke of Albany

- Goneril's husband, who eventually turns against her and allies with Edgar.

- A symbol of justice and morality.

11. Duke of Cornwall

- Regan's husband, who is cruel and ruthless in his pursuit of power.

- Ultimately, a symbol of tyranny and oppression.

12. King of France

- Cordelia's husband, who supports her and ultimately leads the French army to Britain.

- A symbol of honor and loyalty.

SUMMARY AND ANALYSIS

King Lear intends to divide his kingdom among his three daughters, so that he can enjoy old age without the burdens of power. He has planned a ceremony in which each daughter will state how much she loves him, before an audience of nobles including Lear's long-trusted advisor, Kent, the Earl of Gloucester, and two suitors for his youngest daughter's hand, Burgundy and France. During the ceremony, his elder daughters, Goneril and Regan each profess to love Lear more than anything in the world. However, his youngest daughter, Cordelia, refuses to play along; when her turn comes, she says that she loves Lear "no more, no less" than she should as a daughter. Enraged, Lear strips her of her dowry, and banishes Kent when the latter attempts to intercede on Cordelia's behalf. France says he will marry Cordelia even without a dowry. Lear then tells the gathered nobles that he will keep one hundred knights and alternate months living with Goneril and her husband, Albany, and Regan and her husband, Cornwall.

Back at Gloucester's palace, Edmund, Gloucester's illegitimate son, plans to displace his legitimate brother, Edgar, as Gloucester's heir by turning Gloucester against Edgar. Edmund tricks Gloucester into thinking that Edgar is conspiring to kill him. Meanwhile, Goneril, with whom Lear has gone to live first, becomes angry with her father and his knights for causing chaos in her household. She orders her steward Oswald to treat Lear coldly. Meanwhile, the banished Kent returns to Lear in disguise, offers his services, and is accepted as part of Lear's company. Goneril criticizes Lear for his knights' rowdiness and demands that he dismiss half of them. Deeply insulted and angered, Lear curses Goneril and prepares to leave to go and stay with Regan along with his Fool and his other followers.

Back at Gloucester's castle, Edmund's conspiracy moves along. After Edmund tricks Edgar into fleeing, Gloucester, convinced of Edgar's evil intentions, condemns him to death, declaring Edmund his legitimate heir. Cornwall and Regan arrive at Gloucester's castle and welcome Edmund into their service. Outside, Kent and Oswald arrive with letters for Regan from Lear and Goneril. Kent insults Oswald and challenges him to fight. Roused by the disturbance, Cornwall puts Kent into the stocks—even though such an action is disrespectful to Lear. Elsewhere in the countryside, Edgar disguises himself as a mad beggar "Poor Tom" in order to escape the death sentence declared by his father. Lear himself arrives at Gloucester's castle. Upset to find his man Kent (still in disguise) in the stocks, he grows increasingly angry when Cornwall and Regan refuse to see him. Shortly after Regan finally comes out, Goneril arrives. Lear quarrels bitterly with both, as Regan joins Goneril in claiming that Lear does not need to maintain any attendants of his own. When each says that he may stay with them only if he dismisses all of his knights, Lear rushes, mad with rage, into a brewing storm. Cornwall, Regan, and Goneril lock up Gloucester's castle to keep Lear out.

Searching for Lear, Kent, who has been released from the stocks, meets a Gentleman who tells him that Lear and the Fool are alone in the storm. Kent tells the Gentleman that French forces are on their way to England. He gives the Gentleman his purse along with an identifying ring to bring to Cordelia, and asks the Gentleman to tell her about the injustice that Lear has suffered. Meanwhile, Lear has gone mad and is raging against the storm, while the Fool begs him to seek shelter. When Kent finds them, he leads them toward a hovel. Back inside the castle, Gloucester confides in Edmund that he has decided to try to help Lear; he also reports that he has received a letter about the French invasion. After Gloucester leaves to find Lear, Edmund tells the audience that he will betray his father to Cornwall.

Out on the heath, having reached the hovel, Lear, Kent, and the Fool find Edgar, disguised as Poor Tom, inside. Gloucester finds them soon after, and leads them to the shelter of a house. Inside Gloucester's castle, Edmund tells Cornwall about Gloucester's decision to help Lear and hands over the incriminating letter from France. In return, Cornwall makes Edmund Earl of Gloucester. Back in the house, hiding from the storm, Lear hallucinates that Goneril and Regan are on trial before himself, Edgar, and the Fool. Gloucester returns, tells Kent that Goneril, Regan, and their husbands are plotting Lear's death, and asks Kent to rush Lear to Cordelia, who has landed with France at Dover. Back inside the palace, Cornwall sends men to capture Gloucester and sends Edmund and Goneril to tell Albany that the French have landed. When Cornwall's forces bring in the captured Gloucester, Cornwall and Regan pull out Gloucester's eyes as punishment for his treachery. However, Cornwall's Servant attempts to stop him; they end up dueling. Although Regan stabs the servant in the back, Cornwall receives a wound that will eventually kill him. Regan throws the now blinded Gloucester out of his own castle. Two servants take pity on Gloucester, and decide to try to help him find Poor Tom, who they know is Edgar in disguise.

Outside Gloucester's palace, Edgar, still disguised as Poor Tom, meets his blinded father. Deeply moved, he agrees to show him the way to Dover. Meanwhile, Goneril and Edmund have traveled back to her palace to fetch Albany. However, Oswald meets them and reports that Albany has changed. Goneril quickly sends Edmund away. When Albany emerges, he berates her for her brutality to her father. In response, she criticizes him for becoming cowardly. A messenger arrives, interrupting their argument with news of both the death of Cornwall from the wound his servant gave him as well as the blinding of Gloucester.

In the French camp, Kent and a Gentleman discuss Cordelia's love of Lear, which has brought her back to Britain at the head of an invading French army. Kent reports that Lear himself is in Dover and, although he has spells of sanity, he is too ashamed to see Cordelia. In the camp, Cordelia herself sends a search party after her father. Back at Gloucester's palace, Regan questions Oswald about Goneril and Edmund. She states her feeling that, now that she is a widow, she should marry Edmund and asks Oswald to convince Goneril of the logic of this. As Oswald hurries off with a letter for Edmund from Goneril, Regan adds that she will show favor to anyone who kills the blinded Gloucester. Meanwhile, hoping to cure Gloucester of his despair, Edgar pretends to lead him to the cliffs of Dover (they are actually on flat ground). When Gloucester jumps, to commit suicide (in fact just fainting and falling), Edgar then hurries over to him while pretending to be someone who saw Gloucester jump, and telling Gloucester that the fact that he survived is a miracle. Lear shows up, raving mad; he jabbers at Gloucester about lechery, the abuse of power, and other human faults. When some of Cordelia's search party turn up, Lear runs off. Just then, Oswald happens upon Edgar and Gloucester. He attempts to kill Gloucester but Edgar kills him. In Oswald's purse, Edgar finds letters from Goneril to Edmund plotting Albany's death so that they can marry. In the French camp, Lear is awakened by the doctor treating him and is reunited with Cordelia.

At her camp, at the start of the battle, Goneril argues with Albany; she tells herself that she would rather lose the war against the French than let Regan marry Edmund. Edgar, still disguised as a peasant, brings Goneril's letter to Edmund, describing her plot against Albany, to Albany then quickly leaves, with instructions that Albany must summon him with three blows of a trumpet after the battle with the French, if the British have won. While Edgar places Gloucester beneath a tree to rest, the battle takes place off stage. In the battle, Britain defeats France and Lear and Cordelia are captured by Edmund. Edmund sends them to jail, then sends a Captain after them with secret instructions to kill them both. Summoned by Albany's Herald, Edgar arrives in disguise and fights and wounds Edmund, who, dying, admits to all his treacheries. Edgar identifies himself and explains that, right before coming, he revealed himself to Gloucester; Gloucester died in that moment of a mix of grief and joy. Goneril has poisoned Regan beforehand, in the hopes of securing Edmund for herself; however, when he dies, she also stabs herself. Before he dies, Edmund admits that he sent his Captain to hang Cordelia and kill Lear. Albany sends soldiers running off to try to save them. However, it is too late: Lear emerges from the prison with Cordelia's body in his arms, mad with grief. He explains that he killed the Captain who hung her but was too late to save her life. Lear dies of his sorrow on the spot. Only Albany and Edgar remain to pick up the pieces, as Kent concludes that he soon must follow his master (i.e., kill himself, too).

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