King Lear

King Lear

1. Characters

   • King Lear
     • Very old
     • Divides his kingdom
   • Cordelia
     • Lear's good daughter
     • Loving, honest
     • Initially banished to France
   • Regan
     • One of Lear's evil daughters
     • Blinds Gloucester
   • Goneril
     • One of Lear's evil daughters
     • Sends Lear out in a storm
   • Kent
     • Lear's loyal follower
   • Gloucester
     • Very old
     • Somewhat foolish
   • Albany
     • Goneril's husband
     • Becomes good
   • Cornwall
     • Regan's husband
     • Blinds Gloucester
   • Edgar
     • Gloucester's legitimate son
     • Challenges Edmund
   • Edmund
     • Gloucester's illegitimate son
     • Evil
   • Fool
     • Lear's confidante
   • France
     • Cordelia's husband
     • Tries to help win back England

2. Themes

   • Justice
     • Is the world indifferent to humankind?
     • Are the gods just?
     • Both good and bad die
   • Authority vs. Chaos
     • Political authority and family dynamics
     • Lear destroys all authority
     • Chaos of natural world
   • Reconciliation
     • Lear and Cordelia reconcile
   • Greed vs. Love
     • Only France is willing to marry Cordelia once she loses her fortune
     • Goneril and Regan act out of greed
     • Cordelia acts out of love

3. Motifs

   • Madness
     • The fool initially seems mad
     • Lear goes mad
     • Edgar feigns madness
   • Disguise
     • Edgar disguises himself as "Poor Tom"
   • Betrayals
     • Goneril & Regan betray Lear
     • Edmund betrays Gloucester
     • Edmund betrays Goneril & Regan
     • Goneril & Regan betray one another
   • Filial piety
     • Only Cordelia respects Lear
     • Only Edgar respects Gloucester

4. Symbols

   • The storm
     • Lear's inner turmoil
     • Divine justice
   • Blindness
     • Gloucester's inability to see Edmund's intentions
     • Lear is blind to the truth about his daughters