The Inciting Incident

• King Lear decides to “retire” from the throne and divide his kingdom into three equal parts for each of his loving daughters.

• “Know that we have divided In three our kingdom, and ’tis our fast intent To shake all cares and business from our age, conferring them on younger strengths while unburdened crawl toward death.”

• This action/decision is the ‘serious incident’, as it is a significant change that affects a large majority of characters in the play. Change always causes a reaction or opinion and therefore we are yet to see if the consequences of Lear’s decision have a negative or positive impact on the surrounding characters he’s involved with.

Lears Hubris

Hubris: excessive pride or self-confidence.

• “Which of you shall we say doth love us most that we our largest bounty may extend” — King Lear

How are we alerted to Lear’s hubris by this line?

• King Lear ignites competition between his three daughters by in this line rhetorically saying “which of you shall we say“. This comment implies that one of Lear’s daughters is better than the others because she must love him more and in order to decide who, they must beg and plead to their own father that they are worthy of a portion of the kingdom. This line sets the tone of the play and foreshadows future events. It also brings attention to Lear’s strong ego. His desire for a fulfilled ego led his daughters to become bitter and grow angry towards each other, which will most likely lead to Lear’s downfall.

• King Lear thinks very highly of himself as he is very wealthy and holds the high status of the king. He has a very big ego, meaning he assumes everyone also thinks highly of him. The play is set in the court of an ageing British monarch, these characteristics most likely were formed during Lear’s childhood, growing up in the kingdom.

• As well as a ‘natural’ bond to his daughters, Lear wants to reward ‘merit,’ revealed by the extent of his daughters’ love for their father. This is, apparently, their sole duty in life: to love him. It is as if he thinks he is God, who rewards us according to our merits.

• Lear publicly embarrasses his three daughters by forcing them to convince him of their undying love and beg for his affection back. This event at the beginning of the play leads Regan and Goneril to become bitter towards their father.

Hamartia

Impulsivity: “Here I disclaim all my paternal care, propinquity, and property of blood, and as a stranger to my heart and me Hold thee from this forever.” — Lear Act 1, Scene 1.

• By the end of Act 1 Scene 1, it is obvious that King Lear acts without thinking anything through, he makes incredibly impulsive decisions that to any sane person would seem ridiculous. He first disowns his youngest daughter Cordelia for her honesty and then banishes Kent his loyal servant (one of his most trusted friends) for trying to talk him down from his rage towards Cordelia.

Blindness: “As much as child e’er loved, or father found, a love that makes breath poor and speech unable, beyond all manner of so much I love you.” — Goneril Act 1, Scene 1.

• Lear has wrathfully divided his kingdom between his two eldest daughters Regan and Goneril and banished Cordelia. This takes place after his three daughters were each given an opportunity to please Lear through flattery in order to receive a portion of the kingdom. Goneril responded to her father by saying her love makes “speech unable”, yet she is in the middle of a speech about her so-called love for Lear. This line indicates that the tone Goneril is speaking in is insincere and “fake”. Lear is blinded by his growing ego and is unable to distinguish between Goneril’s insincerity and real honesty, such as Cordelia’s “nothing” response.

Arrogance: “For you, great King, I would not from your love make such a stray To match you where I hate. Therefore beseech youT’ avert your liking a more worthier way Than on a wretch whom Nature is ashamed Almost t’ acknowledge hers.” — Lear Act 1, Scene 1

• In act 1 scene 1 Lear has mistakingly interpreted Regan and Goneril’s lavish and bogus professions of love as sincere and meaningful speeches, boosting his ego tremendously and causing him to respond to Cordelia’s heartfelt honesty arrogantly. Lear’s pride and arrogance cause him to disown Cordelia.

• Lear shows a vindictive spirit in his disowning of Cordelia and his banishment of Kent. It is not enough for him to banish both from his sight; he also threatens Kent with death and tries to talk Cordelia’s suitors out of marrying her, claiming that she is not worth their attention. His arrogance in this scene is what will lead to be his tragic downfall.

Pride: “I’ll tell thee. Life and death! I am ashamed That thou hast power to shake my manhood thus, that these hot tears, which break from me perforce, Should make thee worth them. Blasts and fogs upon thee! Th’ untented woundings of a father’s curse Pierce every sense about thee!” Lear Act 1, Scene 4.

• When Goneril reduces Lear’s retinue of knights (so, reducing any power Lear had left after he divided his kingdom), Lear responds as though Goneril has emasculated him—he says his “manhood” has been shaken. For Lear, power and masculinity go hand and hand.

• After Lear foolishly disowns Cordelia, Kent (his loving and faithful servant) stands up and urges the king to “reverse” his decision to ban his only loving and loyal daughter. Even Kent can see that Goneril and Regan will betray their father—they’re “empty-hearted” and their flattering words mean nothing. “Reserve thy state, And in thy best consideration check This hideous rashness. Answer my life my judgment, thy youngest daughter does not love thee least, Nor are those empty-hearted whose low sound reverb no hollowness.” — Kent Act 1, Scene 1. To Lear, Kent in this moment is betraying him and so while he is still blinded by his rage he gives Kent 6 days to leave the kingdom and never return or else die. This is an example of Lear’s pride, he was offended and his ego was damaged which caused him to act harshly against those he loved.

Dramatic Irony

1. In Act 1 Scene 1 Goneril and Regan lie to their father about their love for him, while Cordelia refuses to shower Lear in compliments and is honest. This is an example of dramatic irony as Cordelia is the one who loves her father the most. This creates tension because the reader most likely can understand the insincerity of the eldest daughter’s speeches and so when Lear disowns Cordelia even though it is clear to the reader that she was the one who loved him the most, they become frustrated with Lear.
2. “I am no honest man if there be any good meaning toward you.” Edmund is basically saying: if what is happening will do anything good for you than I am not an honest man. Coming from one brother to another, you would think that these words would ring out with honesty and care, but they are in fact hollow. Edmund himself is the villain Edgar speaks of when he says, “some villain hath done me wrong.” Edmund is the evil mastermind in this plot of destroying his father, and yet he has portrayed himself as completely innocent on both sides of the story. This creates tension as the reader knows that Edmund is evil and wants innocent Edgar to figure it out.
3. Kent decides, disguised as Casius, to stay at the court to be Lear’s servant and thus to stay at his side. This is an example of dramatic irony and also shows Kent’s character: He has been banished by Lear and thus treated very badly, but nevertheless he wants to be there for Lear. Beneath his disguise, Kent stays the same and his intents and aims are true and from the heart. This creates tension as the reader becomes frustrated because Kent endures the treatment as a servant because he is so loyal to Lear, even though Lear disguarded their years of friendship because Kent asked him to reconsider something so dramatic like disowning his daughter.

Symbolic References: The Eyes

King Lear’s metaphorical blindness in Act 1.

“Sir, I love you more than words can wield the matter; Dearer than eye-sight, space, and liberty” — Goneril 1.1

• Goneril’s over the top speech is fake and unnatural. She compares her love for her father to eye-sight. She loves her father more than being able to see.

During Lear’s rage towards Cordelia and Kent, he commands Kent to “Out of my sight“, Kent replies “See better, Lear, and let me still remain the true blank of thine eye.”

• Kent senses the hypocrisy in both of Lear’s eldest daughters speeches while recognising the sincerity of Cordelia’s speech. Kent asks Lear to “see better”, meaning he pleads Lear to look beyond his vanity and pride to see Cordelias honesty.

“Doth any here know me? This is not Lear: Doth Lear walk thus? speak thus? Where are his eyes? Either his notion weakens, his discerning are lethargied–Ha! waking? ’tis not so. Who is it that can tell me who I am?” — Lear 1.4

• Lear is outside in the raging storm. He realizes that he is starting to go mad and does not even recognize himself. He asks where his eyes have gone, meaning that he can’t even see himself. He doesn’t recognize the man he has become.  

• There are several references of eyes in this act and they all support the statement that King Lear is destined to have a tragic fate, and his “blindness” will lead ultimately to his downfall. In Act, 1 Scene 1 Lear is taken aback by Cordelia’s refusal to confess her love for him. He banishes her from his sight and from the kingdom altogether. When Lear’s faithful servant Kent tries to reason with him Lear also banishes him. Kent tells him to ‘see better’ meaning that he needs to open his eyes to the mistake he is about to make. Cordelia is really the daughter that loved him the most and because he couldn’t see that. His lack of insight caused him to only see what the surface help instead of looking deeper into her heart. Lear later regrets this as his other two daughters betray him. We also see Lear’s blindness when he banishes his only faithful and trusting servant Kent. Kent’s loyalty caused him to dress up as Caius in order to still serve his King. Lear is unable to see through this disguise which just goes to show how blind he actually is. When everything starts going wrong and Lear is stuck outside in the storm he has hit his lowest point. “Doth any here know me? This is not Lear: Doth Lear walk thus? speak thus? Where are his eyes?” Here Lear does not even recognize himself anymore. This blindness has taken over his judgment. He knows he is not the powerful ruler of Britain that he once was. Lear’s blindness causes him to go mad.

Animal & Creature Imagery

• In Act 1 Goneril and Reagan are often compared to savage monsters. Gonerill is said to be ‘sharp-toothed, like a vulture’, with a ‘wolfish visage’ in scene 5. In scene 4 Lear curses her as a ‘detested kite’ and tells Regan she ‘looked black … most serpent-like’ upon him. The Fool uses telling imagery when he says to Lear ‘the hedge-sparrow fed the cuckoo so long / That it had it head bit off by it young’ in scene 4. The image of Lear as a hedge-sparrow emphasises his vulnerability.

The Great Chain of Being

(not my description)

• The concept of justice and revenge is based on the fact that decisions are always followed by consequences. It strictly adheres to the rewarding of good deeds and the punishment of bad deeds. Thus, some would argue that repercussions resulting from deeds whether good or bad are more a natural event than a man-made one. If one were to abide by the way nature intended things, resulting repercussions would always be good. Conversely, if one were to disrupt the way nature intended things, nature gets its revenge. The Great Chain of Being represents an Elizabethan belief in the order of the universe, its premise being that every existing thing in the universe has its place in a divinely planned hierarchical order. This is visualized as a chain vertically extended. An object’s place on the Chain depends on the relative proportion of spirit and matter it contains; the less spirit and the more matter, the lower down it stands. The Chain consists of six links God, Spiritual Beings, Man, Animals, Plants, and Inanimate Objects. Simply put, when one part of the Chain is disturbed, order turns into chaos. William Shakespeare’s King Lear is a grave tragedy that is a prime example of the Elizabethan concept of nature’s justice and revenge. Lear’s kingdom, in my opinion, turns to chaos and vengeance befalls many characters because of a break in the Great Chain of Being. http://researchpaper-examples.blogspot.com/2011/06/ignoring-great-chain-of-being-chaos-in.html

• I’m not sure if this correct but I am assuming that the beggining of the chain being broken is when Lear divides his kingdom and blindly puts the two negative/evil characters Regan and Goneril above the two positive/good characters Cordelia and Kent when he banishes them..?

The Divine Right of Kings

• The belief that the authority of a king/monarch comes directly from God, taken by some kings to mean that they were above the law of the land and to disobey them was to disobey God/sin.

• In his first scene, Lear initially comes across as a strong ruler, although his plan to divide his kingdom among his three daughters seems rather short-sighted and self-serving. This decision places his two strong sons-in-law, Albany and Cornwall, in charge of protecting the outlying areas of the kingdom. But the single benefit derived from this division creates many problems. Lear is abdicating his purpose and his responsibilities, and he is also creating chaos. To achieve his goal, Goneril, Regan, and Cordelia are forced into a love test to determine their inheritance. The division of any kingdom is not without risk, but even before his action has the opportunity to create adversity, Lear establishes a competition, which complicates an already dangerous decision.

The Subplot

• Regan and Goneril treat Lear as a powerless old man. Lear is deprived not only of the loving care he expected from his daughters, but also of his attendant knights, and finally even the shelter of their roofs. Meanwhile, the subplot reverses the structure of the main plot: while Lear mistakenly believes that power plays no role in his family, Edmund is all too aware of the role power plays in his. Angry that his illegitimate status makes him powerless, Edmund schemes to banish Edgar and take his place as Gloucester’s heir.

The Loyal Followers

• The fool is the king’s advocate, honest and loyal and through his use of irony sarcasm and humour he is able to point out Lear’s faults. The fool comments on events in the play, the king’s actions, and acts as Lear’s conscience.