story of king lear by william shakespeare

Upset to find his man Kent (still in disguise) in the stocks, he grows increasingly angry when Cornwall and Regan refuse to see him. Lear himself arrives at Gloucester's castle. Elsewhere in the countryside, Edgar disguises himself as a mad beggar 'Poor Tom' in order to escape the death sentence declared by his father. Roused by the disturbance, Cornwall puts Kent into the stocks-even though such an action is disrespectful to Lear. Kent insults Oswald and challenges him to fight. Outside, Kent and Oswald arrive with letters for Regan from Lear and Goneril. Cornwall and Regan arrive at Gloucester's castle and welcome Edmund into their service. After Edmund tricks Edgar into fleeing, Gloucester, convinced of Edgar's evil intentions, condemns him to death, declaring Edmund his legitimate heir. Deeply insulted and angered, Lear curses Goneril and prepares to leave to go and stay with Regan along with his Fool and his other followers.īack at Gloucester's castle, Edmund's conspiracy moves along. Goneril criticizes Lear for his knights' rowdiness and demands that he dismiss half of them.

Meanwhile, the banished Kent returns to Lear in disguise, offers his services, and is accepted as part of Lear's company. She orders her steward Oswald to treat Lear coldly. Meanwhile, Goneril, with whom Lear has gone to live first, becomes angry with her father and his knights for causing chaos in her household. Edmund tricks Gloucester into thinking that Edgar is conspiring to kill him. Lear then tells the gathered nobles that he will keep one hundred knights and alternate months living with Goneril and her husband, Albany, and Regan and her husband, Cornwall.īack at Gloucester's palace, Edmund, Gloucester's illegitimate son, plans to displace his legitimate brother, Edgar, as Gloucester's heir by turning Gloucester against Edgar. France says he will marry Cordelia even without a dowry. Enraged, Lear strips her of her dowry, and banishes Kent when the latter attempts to intercede on Cordelia's behalf. However, his youngest daughter, Cordelia, refuses to play along when her turn comes, she says that she loves Lear 'no more, no less' than she should as a daughter.

During the ceremony, his elder daughters, Goneril and Regan each profess to love Lear more than anything in the world. He has planned a ceremony in which each daughter will state how much she loves him, before an audience of nobles including Lear's long-trusted advisor, Kent, the Earl of Gloucester, and two suitors for his youngest daughter's hand, Burgundy and France. King Lear intends to divide his kingdom among his three daughters, so that he can enjoy old age without the burdens of power.

Story of king lear by william shakespeare