Act 1 Scene 1

Act 1 Scene 1

1. Plot

   • Lear divests himself of the cares of state using a 'love test'
   • Cordelia and Kent are banished for displeasing him
   • The kingdom is divided between Gonerill and Regan

2. Context

   • Inheritance issues were a matter of national concern for Shakespeare's audience in the late sixteenth and early seventeenth centuries
     • Elizabeth I was unmarried and childless
   • In Shakespeare's day, 'thou' was the pronoun used to address close friends and children. 'You' was the polite, respectful form.
     • Kent is disrespectful when he addresses Lear as 'thou'.