Analysis

  • Analyse King Lear

    King Lear can be seen as a play which explores the consequences of the ‘poor judgement’ Lear shows in the first scene and how he comes to ‘see better’ by the time he is reunited with Cordelia.

    One of the key questions for this character is:

    What does Lear learn?


    We’ve started to think below about some of the things that Lear learns as the play progresses. See if you can complete the grid to make four points that could answer this question. You may feel that Lear doesn’t learn very much and you can add points to this grid about what Lear could learn, for example: about how his past attitudes may have influenced his daughters, or about how others have suffered to help him. It doesn’t matter if you agree or not, as long as you can back it up! Looking at the following scenes might also help to collect evidence:

    • Act 2 Scene 2: Look at how Lear talks to each of his daughters and how he responds when they both unite against him. What do Lear’s responses suggest about what he has learned up to this point, and what he is still to learn?
    • Act 3 Scene 4: Look at how Lear describes the people throughout his kingdom who may be without shelter from the storm. Consider whether his thoughts and actions suggest any change in how he thinks about these people.
    • Act 4 Scene 6: Look at how Lear responds to seeing Cordelia for the first time since he disowned her. How do Lear’s experiences since then seem to have affected him? How does he describe himself?

    Point

    Lear learns to let go of the trappings of kingship and focus instead on those he loves.

    Evidence

    ‘so we’ll live, / And pray, and sing, and tell old tales, and laugh / At gilded butterflies, and hear poor rogues / Talk of court news’ (Lear, 5:3)

    Explanation

    When they are captured at the end of the battle, Lear seems content to spend time in prison as long as he is with Cordelia, rather than see his older daughters again. He looks forward to laughing with Cordelia at self-important courtiers who are like ‘gilded butterflies’ and hearing about ‘court news’ knowing it is no longer important in his life.

    Point

    Lear learns kindness and sympathy for the situations of others.

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    Point

    Lear learns that being king does not make him invulnerable.

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    As you explore King Lear’s language, you’ll find even more evidence to back up your case and more arguments for why he does what he does. We have pulled together some advice to help you explore Lear’s language in the Language Analysis section.

  • Analyse Goneril and Regan

    Goneril and Regan are often regarded as the bad sisters in comparison to the goodness of Cordelia, rather like the stepsisters in Cinderella. However, Shakespeare always offers reasons why his characters behave as they do, suggesting how they may have been affected by what has happened around them. The attitude of Lear towards his elder two daughters may have contributed to how they then behave towards him. Perhaps Goneril resents having had to take on the role of being the responsible and dutiful oldest daughter. Goneril’s relationship with her husband does not seem happy either and her attachment to Edmund may suggest a longing for love. As the middle child, Regan perhaps looks up to her older sister who may have looked out for her in the absence of a mother and with a father who very clearly prefers his youngest child.

    One of the key questions for these characters is:

    Why do Goneril and Regan act together against their father?


    We’ve started to think below about some of the reasons Goneril and Regan may act together against King Lear. See if you can complete the grid to make four points that could answer this question. It doesn’t matter if you agree or not, as long as you can back it up! Looking at the following scenes might also help to collect evidence:

    • Act 1 Scene 1: Look at the conversation between the three sisters when they are left alone at the end of the first scene. What does this suggest about their relationships with each other and with their father in the past? How do Goneril and Regan expect their father to behave in the future? How do you think each sister feels about her father at this moment? How do you think each sister feels about her other sisters at this moment?
    • Act 1 Scenes 3 and 4: Look at Goneril’s complaints, first to Oswald and then to her father himself about the behaviour of Lear and his knights. How justified do you think she is in her complaints? How do you think she feels when Lear’s response is to curse her? Why do you think she sends Oswald with letters to Regan?
    • Act 2 Scene 2: Look at how the sisters work together to try to convince Lear to give up his knights. Why do you think this is important to them? How do you think they each feel when Lear chooses to walk off into the storm?

    Point

    Because Cordelia and Lear have been so close, Goneril and Regan may have felt left out and so are more likely to see their father’s faults and to support each other.

    Evidence

    GONERIL: You see how full of changes his age is: the observation we have made of it hath not been little. He always loved our sister most, and with what poor judgement he hath now cast her off appears too grossly. / REGAN: ’Tis the infirmity of his age: yet he hath ever but slenderly known himself. (1:1)

    Explanation

    Goneril and Regan suggest that their father’s judgement about himself and others has never been good and seems to be getting worse as he grows older. They are concerned about how they will manage him in the future with Cordelia out of the picture. They are also fully aware that Cordelia was his favourite, and this may well have made them rely more on each other.

    Point

    Lear does not easily listen to what others have to say so Goneril and Regan know they have to work together to make him understand their points of view.

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    Point

    Goneril and Regan only act together when it suits them. They quickly turn against each other when they each see how useful Edmund could be for them.

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  • Analyse Edmund

    Edmund is ‘the villain’ in this play. He lies, deceives and betrays his father and brother for his own gain. However, in Shakespeare, villains are rarely just 'bad' people. Throughout his plays, Shakespeare seems interested in how people are affected by what happens around them and his writing allows an actor and reader to consider the factors that may have led to a character’s behaviour. In his first scene, Edmund presents himself as the contemporary stereotype of a villain, illegitimate and born under Ursa Major, but insists he would have been ‘rough and lecherous… had the maidenliest star in the firmament twinkled on my bastardizing’ (1:2).

    One of the key questions for this character is:

    Why does Edmund betray his father?


    We’ve started to think about some of the reasons why Edmund behaves as he does. See if you can complete the grid to make four points that could answer this question. It doesn’t matter if you agree or not, as long as you can back it up! Looking at the following scenes might also help to collect evidence:

    • Act 1 Scene 1: Look at the exchange between Gloucester, Kent and Edmund at the start of the scene. What do we learn about Edmund? How might Edmund feel hearing his father talk in this way?
    • Act 1 Scene 2: Edmund has three soliloquies in this scene. What do we learn from those soliloquies about how he feels towards his father and his brother? What do you think might be his reasons for feeling as he does?
    • Act 5 Scene 3: Look at Edmund’s lines after he has been fatally wounded by Edgar. How do you think Edmund is feeling as he hears first about his father’s death and then about the deaths of Goneril and Regan? Why do you think he tries to stop the order he gave for Cordelia to be hanged?

    Point

    Edmund seizes any opportunity to gain his father’s wealth and power.

    Evidence

    ‘This seems a fair deserving and must draw me / That which my father loses: no less than all. / The younger rises when the old doth fall’ (Edmund, 3:3)

    Explanation

    Edmund shows no hesitation in deciding to tell Cornwall of the letters his father has received from France. He immediately recognises his chance to make his father seem a traitor to his country and himself seem like a hero for reluctantly revealing the truth. He suggests this is the way of the world, that the young must take over when the old show weakness.

    Point

    Edmund wants others to value and respect him rather than being treated as the illegitimate second son.

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    Point

    Edmund wants to punish his father for treating him differently to Edgar.

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    As you explore Edmund’s language, you’ll find even more evidence to back up your case and more arguments for why he does what he does. We have pulled together some advice to help you explore Edmund’s language in the Language Analysis section.

  • Analyse the Fool

    The Fool only appears in six scenes and there would be no direct effect on the plot if he were removed from the play. He does, however, have a close relationship with the king that allows him to say things to Lear that others cannot. Some critics have commented on the links between the Fool and Cordelia and are told the Fool ‘hath much pined away’, missing Cordelia since she left for France. When Lear brings on Cordelia after she has been hanged, he tells us ‘And my poor fool is hanged’, suggesting they shared the same fate, or that he is calling Cordelia his fool, or talking affectionately of both.

    One of the key questions for this character is:

    Why is the Fool important in this play?


    We’ve started to think about some of the reasons why the Fool is important in this play. See if you can complete the grid to make four points that could answer this question. It doesn’t matter if you agree or not, as long as you can back it up! Looking at the following scenes might also help to collect evidence:

    • Act 1 Scene 4: Look at the Fool’s first appearance in the play. What imagery does he use in his language to suggest that Lear’s actions were wrong? How does Lear respond to what the Fool says and do these responses change as the scene goes on?
    • Act 2 Scene 2: Look at the Fool’s exchange with Kent. What does this tell us about how the Fool has observed Lear’s situation? What does it suggest about the Fool’s relationship with Lear as his other followers leave?
    • Act 3 Scene 4 and Act 3 Scene 6: Look at the Fool’s lines once ‘Poor Tom’ appears. How do you think the presence of a ‘madman’ affects the Fool? Does the presence of ‘Poor Tom’ change Lear’s relationship with the Fool? Why do you think we don’t hear from the Fool again after Act 3 Scene 6?

    Point

    The Fool’s loyalty and vulnerability gives Lear someone else to think about when he is raging against the storm.

    Evidence

    ‘In, boy, go first.— You houseless poverty— / Nay, get thee in.’ (Lear, 3:4)

    Explanation

    When Kent leads Lear to shelter in a hovel during the storm, Lear insists on the Fool taking shelter from the cold and rain, while he continues to think about all the other poor people, like the Fool, who are dependent on others to help them find food and shelter.

    Point

    Lear’s fondness for the Fool means the Fool can say things to Lear that he may not accept from others.

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    Point

    The Fool’s songs and jokes add some light relief in the play.

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Teacher Notes

For each of the characters on this page we’ve asked some central questions. These are great questions to explore with students in mind maps, or as class debates.