KING LEAR

KING LEAR

1. Main Plot

   • King Lear
     • Daughters
       • Goneril
         • Albany
           • Realizes Goneril's harsh treatment of Lear
         • Cruelest of the sisters
           • Insults Lear
             • Removes his privilege of a hundred knights
         • Power hungry
           • Bickers with Regan over ruling of kingdom
       • Regan
         • Cornwall
           • Cruel
             • Plucks out Gloucester's eyes
         • Follows Goneril's decision to be harsh to Lear
           • At first she doesn't seem as bad as Goneril, but is in fact just as evil as her.
       • Cordelia
         • France
         • In exile
         • She refused to flatter Lear like her sisters did
     • Friends
       • Kent
         • Loyal
         • Disguises himself when banished
       • Fool
         • The fool acts as Lear's conscience by speaking sense to him throughout.

2. Sub Plot

   • Gloucester
     • Edgar
     • Edmund

3. Tragedy - why King Lear is a Shakespearean tragedy?

   • Impulsive King
     • Lear decided to go against his divine right as king by dividing up his kingdom, this was seen as going against the gods
   • Flaw = love tet
     • The love test was based on which daughter could flatter him the most, "which of you shall we say doth love us most". It wasn't based on the ability of who would make the best ruler.
   • Journey
     • Through insanity Lear begins to realise his mistakes
       • He was helped by the Fool, Edgar (Poor Tom) and Kent