num_pages: 125
description: Wanting retirement, Lear plans to divide his realm among his three daughters, offering the largest share to she who loves him best. Goneril &amp; Regan both proclaim in they love him more than anything. This pleases him. Cordelia speaks temperately &amp; honestly. This annoys him. He disinherits her, dividing the kingdom between the others. Kent objects. Lear, enraged by contradiction, banishes him. Cordelia's two suitors enter. Learning she's disinherited, the Duke of Burgundy withdraws, but the King of France, impressed by her honesty, marries her. Lear announces he'll live alternately with Goneril &amp; Regan &amp; their husbands, Dukes of Albany &amp; Cornwall. He reserves to himself a hundred knights, to be supported by his daughters. Goneril &amp; Regan speak privately, agreeing that Lear is foolish. Resenting his bastardy, Edmund plots supplanting his older brother Edgar. He tricks their father Gloucester with forgery, making him think Edgar plans usurpation. Kent returns from exile in disguise. Lear hires Caius as a servant. Goneril orders Lear to behave &amp; reduce his retinue. Enraged, he departs for Regan's home. The Fool mocks him. Edmund fakes an attack by Edgar. Taken in, Gloucester disinherits Edgar, proclaiming him outlaw. Kent meets Oswald at Gloucester's home, quarrels with him &amp; is put in the stocks by Regan &amp; Cornwall. Lear arrives. He objects, but Regan takes the same line as Goneril. Lear is enraged but impotent. Goneril arrives &amp; echoes Regan. Lear yields completely to his rage. He rushes into a storm accompanied by the mocking Fool, ranting against his ungrateful daughters. Kent later follows to protect him. Gloucester protests Lear's mistreatment. Wandering on the heath after the storm, Lear meets Edgar, in the guise of Tom o'Bedlam. Edgar babbles madly as Lear denounces his daughters. Gloucester leads them all to shelter. Edmund betrays Gloucester to Cornwall, Regan &amp; Goneril. He shows a letter from his father to the King of France asking for help against them. In fact a French army has landed. Gloucester is arrested &amp; Cornwall gouges out his eyes. But one of Cornwall's servants is so outraged by this that he attacks &amp; fatally wounds Cornwall. Regan kills the mutinous servant &amp; tells Gloucester that Edmund tricked him. Then she turns him out to wander the heath. Edgar in his madman's guise meets blinded Gloucester. Gloucester begs Tom to lead him to a cliff, so he may jump to his death. Edmund meets Goneril. She finds him more attractive than her honest husband Albany. Albany, disgusted by the sisters' treatment of Lear &amp; Gloucester's mutilation, denounces Goneril. Kent leads Lear to Cordelia &amp; the French army. But Lear is half-mad &amp; embarassed by his earlier follies. Albany leads the British army to meet the French. Regan too is attracted to Edmund. The two sisters become jealous. Goneril sends Oswald with letters to Edmund, telling Oswald to kill Gloucester if he sees him. Edgar pretends to lead Gloucester to a cliff, changes his voice &amp; tells Gloucester he's miraculously survived a great fall. They meet Lear, now completely mad. He rants that the whole world is corrupt &amp; runs off. Oswald tries to kill Gloucester, but is slain by Edgar. In Oswald's pocket, Edgar finds a letter from Goneril to Edmund suggesting the murder of Albany. Kent &amp; Cordelia take charge of Lear, whose madness largely passes. Regan, Goneril, Albany &amp; Edmund meet with their forces. Albany insists they fight the French invaders, but not harm Lear or Cordelia. The two sisters lust for Edmund, who's made promises to both. He considers the dilemma, plotting the deaths of Albany, Lear &amp; Cordelia. Edgar gives Goneril's letter to Albany. The armies meet, Britain defeating the French. Lear &amp; Cordelia are captured. Edmund sends them off with secret orders for execution. The victorious British leaders meet. Regan now declares she'll marry Edmund. But Albany exposes the intrigues of Edmund &amp; Goneril, proclaiming Edmund a traitor. Regan collapses, poisoned by Goneril. Edmund defies Albany, who calls for a trial by combat. Edgar appears to fight Edmund, fatally stabbing him. Albany shows Goneril's letter to her. She flees in shamed rage. Edgar reveals himself. Offstage, Goneril stabs herself &amp; confesses to poisoning Regan. Edmund, dying, reveals his order to kill Lear &amp; Cordelia. But it's too late. Cordelia is dead, tho Lear slew the killer. Lear recognizes Kent. Albany urges Lear to resume his throne, but Lear is too far gone in grief &amp; hardship. He collapses &amp; dies. Albany offers to share power between Kent &amp; Edgar but Kent, overwhelmed with sadness, refuses. Quarto &amp; Folio versions differ, so either Albany or Edgar is crowned at the end.
language: English
title: The Tragedy of King Lear
titlecomplete: The Tragedy of King Lear (Folger Library)
characters: Regan, Duke of Cornwall, Cordelia, Fool, Duke of Albany, Leir of Britain, Earl of Kent, Goneril, Edmund, Earl of Gloucester, Edgar
genres: Classics, Drama, Theatre, Plays, Read For School, Tragedy, School, Literature, Poetry, Fiction
ratings_count: 212601
publisher: Pocket Books