Act One: Characters

Act One: Characters

1. King Lear

   • The king decided to divide his land between his daughters in act one, he unfairly gives it to Regan and Goneril. As they declare their love for him and Cordelia refuses.
   • The King banishes Kent in scene 1 as he disagrees with what the King has done. The King feels that Kent is being disloyal but he is in fact trying to help him
   • In scene 4, Lear meets Kent, disguised and Caius and takes him in as a servant. Lear meets with the fool at Albany's (Goneril's Husband) and they sing together. The fool speaks the truth but no one takes him seriously.

2. Gloucester

   • Gloucester is first presented talking to Kent about the King. Kent is presented to Gloucester's illegitimate son Edmund, who is very polite to Kent.
   • In scene 2, Gloucester is lead to believe by Edmund that Edgar has written a letter saying that he wishes to plot again his own father. G then becomes more loyal to Edmund and is sickened by Edgar's supposed behaviour.

3. Edmund

   • Edmund is briefly in scene 1, where he is introduced to Kent as a bastard child. He is polite and vows to serve Kent.
   • He deceives his father by suggesting that Edgar is plotting against him, so that he can gain more trust/power.

4. Goneril

   • Goneril, one of the eldest daughters, speaks empty words to her father in order to get him to give her land. She and Regan are hungry for power, so they wish to sweet talk their father to get what they want.
   • Goneril is threatened by King to have no fertility and not allowed any children because shes been disrepectful to her father.
   • Goneril bickers with her husband, Albany, who tells her she has treated her father poorly and send a letter to Regan to tell her this.

5. Regan

   • In scene 1, Regan declares her artificial love for Lear in order to obtain more land.
   • Regan and Goneril both treat Lear badly in order to obtain more land and do now allow him his 100 men.

6. Cordelia

   • In scene 1, Cordelia is banished by the King because she doesn't want to declare her love to him. She feels she shouldn't have to explain herself and that she loves him the correct amount. She is then paired with the duke of France and sent away.

7. Fool

   • The fool arrives and announces he has arrived using the 'coxcomb'. He speaks with Lear using verse and he speaks truth and reason without the audience necessarily realising

8. Edgar

   • Edgar is betrayed by Edmund in the first act when he is led to believe that Edgar is plotting against him.

9. Kent

   • Kent is introduced in the first scene talking to Gloucester about the king. As a loyal servant he is faithful to the king. Later, he disagrees with the King's decisions of how he splits the land and is banished.
   • Kent re-meets Lear in act one, disguised as Caius, and promises to serve him. Lear, not realising it is Kent, accepts and allows him to serve him. He adopts the west country accent to dump himself down.