Background story of King lear
- Lear, King of Britain, had three daughters — Goneril, wife of the Duke of Albany, Regan, wife of the Duke of Cornwall, and Cordelia, the youngest
- The King of France and the Duke of Burgundy each wanted Cordelia for his wife, and at the time of this story they were staying at Lear’s court
How wanted King lear to divide his land
- The old king was over eighty years old and tired of government
- called his three daughters to him to find out from their own lips which of them loved him best, so that he could divide his lands and money among them according to their love for him
What did the oldest (Goneril) say?
- she declared: loved her father more than words could tell; that he was dearer to her than the light of her own eyes, dearer than life itself
- > father like it; give a her a third of his kingdom
What did the second oldest (Regan) say?
- declared that the love which she felt for her father was much greater than her sisters + She found all other joys dead compared with the pleasure which she took in the love of her dear king and father.
- > father like it; give a her a third of his kingdom
What did the youngest (Cordelia(his favourite)) say?
- -Cordelia was upset by the claims made by her sisters, which she knew were only intended to persuade the king to give them part of his country
- > she only answered that she loved her father according to her duty, neither more nor less. - -Cordelia then told the king that she loved, obeyed and honoured him because he was her father and he had brought her up and loved her; but she could not make such grand speeches as her sisters had done or promise to love nothing else in the world
- -> he shared the third part ofhis kingdom equally between Cordelia’s two sisters and their husbands, the Dukes of Albany and Cornwall.
What did Earl of Kent do?
- begged the king to follow his advice, as he had so often done in the past, and to undo what he had so unwisely done
- > made the king more angry; ordered this true servant to leave the country, and gave him only five days to prepare to do so
How was the first month spend with the oldest (Goneril)?
- Even before the end of the first month, the old king began to find out the difference between promises and actions
- began to dislike the few small signs that showed he was still king
- > She could not bear to see him and his hundred soldiers. When the old man wanted to speak to her, she pretended to be sick, so she did not have to see him; It was plain that she thought his old age a useless continuation of his life, and his soldiers an unnecessary cost; She stopped showing any respect to the king and, following her example and even her orders, her servants also began to ignore him; they refused to obey his orders or pretended not to hear him.
What happened with Earl of Kent?
- Dressed as a servant, he offered his services to the king
- The latter did not recognize him as Kent in his new dress, but was pleased with his direct speech and honesty; Lear took his favourite adviser back into his service under the name of Caius.
- Caius was not the only friend Lear had.
- > although the man (fool) often laughed at Lear for his foolishness in giving away everything to his daughters.
Why did Goneril tell her father that he can not stay?
-he could not continue to stay in her palace if he still wished to keep his hundred soldiers; such a number was both expensive and useless, and only filled her court with noise and feasting
->She asked him to reduce the number and to keep only the old men, men like himself and suitable for his age.
his reaction:
-angry and said she was lying. It is true that she was; the hundred soldiers were all men of polite behaviour and excellent manners who were not in the habit of making a noise
What was Regan`s reaction when she saw her father coming?
-ungrateful, said that he should stay with the older with 50 soldiers, >25, …
-storm comes
-
What happens with the father while Karl went to Cordelia?
-He was quite mad, and singing aloud to himself, with a crown on his head which he had made of grass and other wild plants that he had picked up in the corn fields
What happens with the love of the two older sisters?
- they soon grew tired of showing even the appearance of love and duty, and made it clear that they had given their love to another man
- And each of them fell in love with the same man
- > It was Edmund, a natural son of the dead Earl of Gloucester. By his evil actions, he had removed his brother Edgar, the lawful heir, from his possessions, and was now earl himself
What happens with the older sisters?
- At about this time the Duke of Cornwall, Regan’s husband, died
- Regan at once declared her intention of marrying this Earl of Gloucester
- This excited the jealousy of her sister, to whom the evil earl had spoken of his love, and Goneril killed Regan by giving her poison
- But Goneril’s husband discovered what she had done and put her in prison, where she soon put an end to her own life
What happen with Cordelia?
- But a sad end was waiting for Cordelia, whose kindness seemed to deserve better fortune. The armies which Goneril and Regan had sent out under the command of Edmund, the bad Earl of Gloucester, were successful
- > They caught Cordelia and she was taken to prison and killed there. Lear did not live long after his sweet child’s death.
What happens with England/ the Earl of Gloucester?
-There is no need here to tell how the bad Earl of Gloucester was killed in a fight with his brother, or how Goneril’s husband, the Duke of Albany, who had never encouraged his lady in her bad ways, became the K i n g of England. Lear and his three daughters are dead, and our story ends with them
