King Lear

Plot synopsis:
King Lear of Britain, elderly and wanting to retire from the duties of the monarchy, decides to divide his realm among his three daughters, and declares he will offer the largest share to the one who loves him most. The eldest, Goneril, speaks first, declaring her love for her father in fulsome terms. Moved by her flattery Lear proceeds to grant to Goneril her share as soon as she has finished her declaration, before Regan and Cordelia have a chance to speak. He then awards to Regan her share as soon as she has spoken. When it is finally the turn of his youngest and favorite daughter, Cordelia, at first she refuses to say anything ("Nothing, my Lord") and then declares there is nothing to compare her love to, nor words to properly express it; she speaks honestly but bluntly, which infuriates him. In his anger he disinherits Cordelia and divides her share between Regan and Goneril.
The Earl of Gloucester and the Earl of Kent observe that, by dividing his realm between Goneril and Regan, Lear has awarded his realm in equal shares to the peerages of the Duke of Albany (Goneril's husband) and the Duke of Cornwall (Regan's husband). Kent objects to Lear's unfair treatment of Cordelia; enraged by Kent's protests, Lear banishes him from the country. Lear then summons the Duke of Burgundy and the King of France, who have both proposed marriage to Cordelia. Learning that Cordelia has been disinherited, the Duke of Burgundy withdraws his suit, but the King of France is impressed by her honesty and marries her nonetheless. The King of France is shocked by Lear's decision because up until this time Lear has only praised and favored Cordelia ("That she, women even but now was your best object, the argument of your praise, balm of your age"). Meanwhile, Gloucester has introduced his illegitimate son Edmund to Kent.
Lear announces he will live alternately with Goneril and Regan, and their husbands. He reserves to himself a retinue of one hundred knights, to be supported by his daughters. Goneril and Regan speak privately, revealing that their declarations of love were fake, and that they view Lear as a foolish old man.
Edmund resents his illegitimate status, and plots to dispose of his legitimate older brother Edgar. He tricks their father Gloucester with a forged letter, making him think Edgar plans to usurp the estate. Kent returns from exile in disguise (calling himself Caius), and Lear hires him as a servant. At Albany and Goneril's house, Lear and Kent quarrel with Oswald, Goneril's steward. Lear discovers that now that Goneril has power, she no longer respects him. She orders him to reduce the number of his disorderly retinue. Enraged, Lear departs for Regan's home. The Fool mocks Lear's misfortune.
Edmund learns from Curan, a courtier, that there is likely to be war between Albany and Cornwall, and that Regan and Cornwall are to arrive at Gloucester's house that evening. Taking advantage of the arrival of the duke and Regan, Edmund fakes an attack by Edgar, and Gloucester is completely taken in. He disinherits Edgar and proclaims him an outlaw.
Bearing Lear's message to Regan, Kent meets Oswald again at Gloucester's home, quarrels with him again, and is put in the stocks by Regan and her husband Cornwall. When Lear arrives, he objects to the mistreatment of his messenger, but Regan is as dismissive of her father as Goneril was. Lear is enraged but impotent. Goneril arrives and supports Regan's argument against him. Lear yields completely to his rage. He rushes out into a storm to rant against his ungrateful daughters, accompanied by the mocking Fool. Kent later follows to protect him. Gloucester protests against Lear's mistreatment. With Lear's retinue of a hundred knights dissolved, the only companions he has left are his Fool and Kent. Wandering on the heath after the storm, Edgar, in the guise of a madman named Tom o' Bedlam, meets Lear. Edgar babbles madly while Lear denounces his daughters. Kent leads them all to shelter.
Edmund betrays Gloucester to Cornwall, Regan and Goneril. He reveals evidence that his father knows of an impending French invasion designed to reinstate Lear to the throne; and in fact a French army has landed in Britain. Once Edmund leaves with Goneril to warn Albany about the invasion, Gloucester is arrested, and Regan and Cornwall gouge out Gloucester's eyes. As he is doing so, a servant is overcome with rage by what he is witnessing and attacks Cornwall, mortally wounding him. Regan kills the servant, and tells Gloucester that Edmund betrayed him; then she turns him out to wander the heath too. Edgar, in his madman's guise, meets his blinded father on the heath. Gloucester, not recognising him, begs Tom to lead him to a cliff at Dover so that he may jump to his death.
Goneril discovers that she finds Edmund more attractive than her honest husband Albany, whom she regards as cowardly. Albany has developed a conscience—he is disgusted by the sisters' treatment of Lear, and the mutilation of Gloucester, and denounces his wife. Goneril sends Edmund back to Regan; receiving news of Cornwall's death, she fears her newly widowed sister may steal Edmund and sends him a letter through Oswald. Now alone with Lear, Kent leads him to the French army, which is commanded by Cordelia. But Lear is half-mad and terribly embarrassed by his earlier follies. At Regan's instigation, Albany joins his forces with hers against the French. Goneril's suspicions about Regan's motives are confirmed and returned, as Regan rightly guesses the meaning of her letter and declares to Oswald that she is a more appropriate match for Edmund. Edgar pretends to lead Gloucester to a cliff, then changes his voice and tells Gloucester he has miraculously survived a great fall. Lear appears, by now completely mad. He rants that the whole world is corrupt and runs off.
Oswald appears, still looking for Edmund. On Regan's orders, he tries to kill Gloucester but is killed by Edgar. In Oswald's pocket, Edgar finds Goneril's letter, in which she encourages Edmund to kill her husband and take her as his wife. Kent and Cordelia take charge of Lear, whose madness quickly passes. Regan, Goneril, Albany, and Edmund meet with their forces. Albany insists that they fight the French invaders but not harm Lear or Cordelia. The two sisters lust for Edmund, who has made promises to both. He considers the dilemma and plots the deaths of Albany, Lear, and Cordelia. Edgar gives Goneril's letter to Albany. The armies meet in battle, the British defeat the French, and Lear and Cordelia are captured. Edmund sends Lear and Cordelia off with secret-joint orders from him (representing Regan and her forces) and Goneril (representing Albany's) for the execution of Cordelia.
The victorious British leaders meet, and the recently widowed Regan now declares she will marry Edmund. But Albany exposes the intrigues of Edmund and Goneril and proclaims Edmund a traitor. Regan falls ill, having been poisoned by Goneril, and is escorted offstage, where she dies. Edmund defies Albany, who calls for a trial by combat. Edgar appears masked and in armour, and challenges Edmund to a duel. No one knows who he is. Edgar wounds Edmund fatally, though he does not die immediately. Albany confronts Goneril with the letter which was intended to be his death warrant; she flees in shame and rage. Edgar reveals himself, and reports that Gloucester died offstage from the shock and joy of learning that Edgar is alive, after Edgar revealed himself to his father.
Offstage, Goneril, with all her evil plans thwarted, commits suicide. The dying Edmund decides, though he admits it is against his own character, to try to save Lear and Cordelia; however, his confession comes too late. Soon after Albany sends men to countermand Edmund's orders, Lear enters bearing Cordelia's corpse in his arms, having survived by killing the executioner. Kent appears and Lear now recognises him. Albany urges Lear to resume his throne, but like Gloucester, the trials Lear has been through have finally overwhelmed him, and he dies. Albany then asks Kent and Edgar to take charge of the throne. Kent declines, explaining that his master is calling him on a journey. Finally, Albany (in the Quarto version) or Edgar (in the Folio version) implies that he will now become king.

Tags: tragedy

Review:
Very Prickly and Uncomfortable for BBC Shakespeare.
This is a caustic, disturbing production by Jonathan Miller that belies the usual condemnation of BBC blandness.
Colors are deliberately desaturated, costumes are all black, interior sets have a plank-and-drape design and a Velasquez-like austerity, exteriors have little or no detail, and scenes are played out in long, tight shots that emphasize the intimacy of television vs.
The taping was in a much smaller studio than usual, as the big room at the BBC was being used for "Richard III" at the time.
The overall impression is discomfort, deliberately.Robert Shaw was cast as Lear, but he suddenly dropped dead at the age of 51 just before taping.
It would have been something to see a certifiably mad actor play a mad king.
However....Michael Hordern has a film reputation as a doddering, comic blitherer, but in the classics he had far more range and authority, and we get to see much of it here.
He is always the king, and genuinely moving in his recognition scene with Cordelia.In addition to Hordern, many in the cast had worked with director Jonathan Miller on previous telecasts.
John Bird from "Shrew" and "Timon" is here largely free of his usual comic mannerisms.
Anton Lesser, good in "Troilus," is a little small as Edgar, but then so is Michael Kitchen as Edmund.
Norman Rodway, excellent in "Timon," is no less so here as Gloucester.
Penelope Wilton, an equivocal Desdemona, is much better here as Regan.
Gillian Barge's Goneril and John Shrapnel's Kent should also be complimented.
I must say Frank Middlemass's Fool eludes me.
I find him too old, too solid and not always intelligible - a spirit of earth, not of air.Jonathan Miller stated that a director's role was to react against a familiar play, not merely be a servant to it.
"Lear" is by far the most subversive in his Shakespeare collection.
Miller had directed the play on stage with Hordern and Middlemass in 1969 and for the BBC in 1975 (supposedly better, but we'll never see it).
So we can assume that this 1982 production is pretty much what he wanted.Much of the show winds up more a comment on "Lear" rather than a straightforward performance.
Miller's neurology background makes the mad scenes medically grounded and often nerve-wracking.
Edgar's Tom o' Bedlam scene approaches the unsettling chaos of "Marat/Sade," and crazy Lear's meeting with blind Gloucester turns into vaudeville according to Samuel Beckett.Such treatment doesn't betray the play, but if you're looking for comfortable, pipe-and-slippers Shakespeare, this isn't the one.
Surely Lear shouldn't have asked that stupid question, but why is there so much collateral damage?
This production is not just a drama, it's an invitation to thought, and that's always dangerous.The greatest personification of the title role on video remains Orson Welles, in a prized relic from the Stone Age of live television.
The Olivier version, with a starrier cast, a shooting schedule three times longer and a budget five times bigger than Hordern/Miller, will be the obvious choice for many.
one of the better BBC Shakespeares.
Let's get the niggles out of the way first - I didn't like the performances of either Julian Curry as Cornwall (too bored) or John Bird as Albany (ok but too John Bird).
I felt some of the poetry of the text was muffed and therefore lost power, and there was little sense of scale - where were Lear's rowdy knights?However, the good by far outweighs the bad.
As the three daughters of Lear, Gillian Barge (Goneril), Penelope Wilton (Regan), and Brenda Blethyn (Cordelia) are all excellent.
The eldest sisters are pure poison, plotting against their father and their land; while Blethyn gives the wronged youngest daughter quiet dignity.
John Shrapnel made an excellent Kent, at times quarrelsome, at others lordly as became his hidden persona.
Good stuff too from John Grillo as the sneaky servant Oswald, from Anton Lesser as Edgar (and Tom a Bedlam), and from Norman Rodway as the Earl of Gloucester - the scene where he has his eyes plucked out, seen only from behind, is played very well, as are subsequent scenes with the disguised Edgar and Lear.
Michael Kitchen is a fairly interesting Edmund, but looks a bit cartoonish in places, all that conspiratorial glancing at the camera.
I wasn't that keen on Frank Middlemass' take on the Fool but I have never had much patience with anyone in that part - perhaps he did what he could with some fairly poor bits of speech and action.I've left Lear himself till last.
I didn't think at first that Michael Hordern was quite right - but following the storm he comes into his own, and by the final act and scenes with Cordelia and following, he gives the character a human side that's lacking from many productions - even Olivier came short of the scene where Lear recognises he is in the presence of his youngest and much wronged daughter.
It is an interesting performance that repays re-watching and a fascinating contrast to other versions available to view..
Michael Hordern's masterful understanding of the part, his sandpaper voice, his shaggy but noble head made him the perfect Lear--"every *inch* a king".
I first saw this production as a college freshman in 1985, and I've seen none since that has equaled it.
It should be noted that Frank Middlemass who plays a more sympathetic and tender-hearted Fool is no less indispensable to the success of this production.
By the way, the BBC series of the complete Shakespeare plays (produced in the late 1970s to mid-80s), which is prohibitively expensive at ca.
Everyone who is able should make a point of availing themselves of the opportunity of seeing this wonderful series at least once before they die..
As a devotee of this play I was absolutely relieved to find this version is expertly done.
Jonathan Miller perfectly captures the dark and brooding nature of the play with an unfussy and shadowy set and costumes.
The acting is by and large excellent, especially that of Michael Hordern who is in my mind an unrivalled King Lear out of the 7 I've seen attempt the part.
He conveys the irascible, foolish and finally 'fond old man' with an absolute truthfulness, making the final scene in Act V utterly heartbreaking.
Frank Middlemass, reprising his earlier role as the Fool is perfectly cast as one who can chide his master with the right level of Shakespearean humour that never becomes too telegraphed or obvious.
The roles of Kent, Gloucester, Cornwall and Albany are played again very well.
John Shrapnel stands out amongst these with his level of tenderness, humour and heroic righteousness that such a part demands.
The 3 sisters are played excellently by Penelope Wilton, Gillian Barge and an early Brenda Blethyn.
I couldn't help thinking that there was some off-screen rivalry between Regan and Goneril, so convincing was their on-screen chemistry and sparky interaction.
I hope this was fanciful, and if anything serves to illustrate how well the two actresses delivered these plum roles.Another outstanding performance was given by Michael Kitchen as the villain Edmund.
Kitchen is an excellent character actor, nowhere better exemplified than in his delivery of Edmund's terrifically Machiavellian and cruel speeches, with a wry devilry and ignobly attractive flair.
Edgar's portrayal was sensitive in the main part and intelligent, but through no fault of the actor, the scenes in Act III on the heath became a little overplayed for my liking.
It is however a very difficult line to tread between the portrayal of 'madness' and provoking a reaction of laughter in an audience.
This would have been less of a concern in the early 17th century when the play was first performed however.
A wonderful King Lear.
It was very stirring, almost as interesting as Ian Holm's King Lear.
A very good King Lear with a very strong cast.
Brenda Blethyn was wonderful as was the amazing Micheal Horden.
Probably the most admired play by Shakespeare about what I will call insanity, male insanity, real or faked.
But to understand at least half of it you have to start from the beginning and the beginning is an absurd situation in which an old King decides to share his kingdom between his three daughters provided they describe their love for him.
Vain old man, tyrannical, and probably seriously mentally disturbed, probably because of his long reign since he is supposed to be over eighty.
I read that play when I was fourteen and must have traumatized by it since it is still just as disturbing as the first time.Three is the number of evil in Shakespeare, so three daughters is evil and evil it is since the third one, the youngest, Cordelia, refuses to declare her love for her father and to her father because love is fake when you cast it in words.
The King of France accepts her.
So King Lear's kingdom is cut in two only and the condition is that on an alternating basis the two sisters, Goneril and Regan, have to host the old king and the hundred knights that are entertaining him for a month.The old king is capricious, whimsical and tyrannical.
So it does not work and the two sisters have arranged it not to work anyway.
So one night he leaves alone, in fact only with his Fool, and on the heath in a storm they come across Kent and later Edgar playing a deranged character, called Tom, disguised as a mad man, and in this production half naked, though we will never see the clothed bottom half.
Shakespeare had indicated that King Lear tore his clothes off and ended naked, but it is rare this character does what the stage-directions say.
I have seen many solutions, once the King, other times the Fool generally played by a young actor, so why not Edgar-Tom?
Cordelia and the King of France arrive in Dover to rescue King Lear but the battle does not work and Cordelia, King Lear and others end up prisoners.Shakespeare had invested another situation in the play from the very start.
Gloster had two sons, a legitimate one and a half-blood illegitimate one.
The illegitimate Edmund maneuvers between the two sisters Goneril and Regan, seducing them both, and he manipulates his father who ends up banning his legitimate son Edgar.
This Edgar is the one playing the mad man on the heath.
His father had kept some connection with King Lear and he is accused by Goneril and her husband the Duke of Albany of treason and Albany rips off his eyes but after the first eye some servants intervene to stop Albany who will prevail but he is fatally wounded and he dies after taking the second eye off.
So Edgar reappeared on the heath as a mad man and then his blind father Gloster is led to the heath.
His legitimate son takes care of him, satisfies his desire to die by misleading him to what is described as a cliff, but is not, and he falls to the earth.
Then Edgar reclaims his identity and takes care of his father.
That's when a messenger comes along from one sister to the other.
He is killed and the letter he carries reveals that one sister was planning to have the other killed.
After the scene of the meeting of King Lear and Cordelia in her camp before the battle, we move to the victorious camp of the two sisters, with only one husband, the Duke of Cornwall who is a rather meek person, and Edmund.
Edgar, disguised as some king of pilgrim arrives and delivers the recuperated letter of his wife or her sister to Cornwall who discovers the duplicity of his wife with Edmund and her sister.
The confrontation of Cornwall and the sisters is in the process of becoming difficult when Edgar reappears with a mask and dressed like a knight.
He challenges his half brother Edmund and he wounds him mortally.
Before dying he speaks and Edgar reveals himself.
The two sisters disappear and we will soon learn Goneril has poisoned Regan and then has stabbed herself.
It is then Edmund dies.
But then King Lear who had regained some sanity before being taken prisoner arrives carrying Cordelia who had been hanged.
Edmund had instructed some servant to do it.
And King Lear dies of sorrow in front of us, cajoling his dead daughter.Only two survivors, the Duke of Cornwall and Edgar Earl of Gloster.
The study of the three sisters and their various degrees of ambition, love and perversity could be illuminating.
Cordelia would appear as probably the truest and the most generous but it is her stubbornness that caused the drama, though the great culprit is the old King Lear.
The second originality is of course the three deranged characters, three males this time, King Lear who is really deranged, his Fool who is a professional mad man and Edgar who plays the mad man to remain incognito.
But Shakespeare takes advantage of this situation to literally liberate his poetic style to produce a phenomenal language that is probably one of the best linguistic impersonation of insanity.
In this production these three characters are performed by three actors who really transcend this insanity to make it look and sound insane.
Some other actors are quite good too, like Gloster in his blindness.
Shakespeare in a Box (Spoilers maybe?).
I wouldn't know, because halfway through the film I closed my eyes, put my chin on my chest and just listened--I simply could not bear another second of watching King Lear filmed only in close-ups and medium shots.
This seems to be a symptom of Miller's productions, such as A Winter's Tale.
He adorns everyone in elaborate costumes, places them on a set made of plywood and bedsheets, then has them stand in one spot, ONE SPOT, to perform an entire scene as the camera holds them tightly framed and doesn't move.
In one scene between Lear, Edgar, and Gloucester, the three seemed like caged animals, clawing at the edges of the screen with their lines.
It's a play, for goodness' sake, and it should be filmed as one--from a distance, as someone in a theater might view it--or as an actual film- -look to Branagh or Nunn.At one point I joked to my friend beside me, "I wonder if the swordfight will be in close-up."  I glanced back up at one point and, sure enough, there were Edgar and Edmund duking it out with only their grimacing faces flashing across and the odd tinkling of swords occurring somewhere off-screen.After that I bet my friend that Miller would pile the actors into the frame until there wasn't enough room to breathe, and, sorry to say, I was right again.
In the final scene, Cordelia's body, Lear, Kent, Edgar, and Albany wedged themselves into a shot that would typically only be comfortable for one actor.
The finale of one of Shakespeare's great tragedies, a scene that should be wrought with emotion, had me instead laughing and shaking my head..
A BBC Masterpiece.
'King Lear'- BBC Version is quite faithful to the play but it lacks a little essence of the play, that could have been noted but the stars of this version foreshadowed it.
The play does have a slow start but it goes fast paced due to the acting.
The plot is about a king who divided the kingdom to his daughters.
When one of them truly expressed her true love towards the king, his fury forced him to banish her from the kingdom.
Due to his actions, the consequences came towards the king's life that leads him to a misguidance and a loss of sanity.
There are funny sequences when The King exposes his madness, the performance of Tom the Beggar (Edgar) and the fool's 'nuncle' word.
The royal status of the King is omitted to shorten the play.
Somehow it is not the fact but I may say that the film is the bet one to date as I cannot find any of the versions of the play to be better.
The acting is much more brilliant due to its star cast like Ralph Fiennes as Tom The Beggar and Michael Hordern as Lear.
The villains were also brilliant such as Edmund, Regan and Goneril.
I laughed and cried at the same time.
The most emotional scene is the moment when Lear recovered his mental illness, and the torturing scene of Glouster who was blinded and begged forgiveness from his legitimate son, Edgar (Tom The Beggar).
The acting is a little shallow but brilliant at the same time.
The camera angle was such that I was watching a stage play.
It is faithful and must watch it for the story and its performance only..
Over-rated Shakespeare.
I have never been a huge fan of "King Lear".
There is no effective humour to counterpoint the drama (as in the weakest of Shakespearean plays) and the Fool character is no substitute.The play is about a monarch who divides up his kingdom between his three daughters, one of whom rejects said inheritance, and the resulting scramble for his power results in the King's descent into madness.Micheal Hordern plays the title character of Lear, and he is actually pretty effective even when the plot loses it's focus now and then.
He is given good support by Brenda Blethyn as Cordelia, his most virtuous daughter, Norman Rodway as the doomed Earl of Gloucester and Anton Lesser as Edgar among others.The stagy direction and lack of pace are deadening, and muffle the effect of the performances.
Technically, it is fine for the time though (again) less dependence on straightforward black-and-white backgrounds would have greatly enhanced the look of the play.I still don't like "King Lear" but if you enjoy this play and you are a student of Shakespeare, this is still a competent enough production.