STUDY GUIDE: KING LEAR
Hello All!
Are you excited for The Commonweal Theatre’s production of King Lear but nervous about understanding Shakespeare’s iambic pentameter? Well, this study guide is for you! We have a detailed synopsis of the story that inspired the novel A Thousand Acres and the hit shows Empire and Succession. Below we have defined the characters and the world to help you better understand this dangerous family drama.
FAMILY TREE
The Royal Family
King Lear – The head of the royal family, has three daughters
Goneril – The eldest daughter, married to the Duke of Albany
Regan – The middle daughter, married to the Duke of Cornwall
Cordelia – The youngest daughter, married off to the King of France
Loyal to the King
Earl of Gloucester – Advisor to the king, and father of Edgar and Edmund
Earl of Kent – Advisor to the king banished for his honesty
The Fool – Serves as the King’s fool, funny source of wisdom
Earl of Gloucester’s Son’s
Edgar – The legitimate eldest son of Gloucester, next in line for Earl
Edmund – The younger bastard son of Gloucester, military man
Other Nobles and Servants
Duke of Albany – Married to Goneril
Duke of Cornwall – Married to Regan
King of France – Marries Cordelia after she is spurned by the crown
Oswald – Aide that is loyal to Goneril, acts as a messenger between Goneril and Regan
PLOTS
LEAR AND HIS DAUGHTERS
King Lear is in the twilight years of life, in his contemplation of the continuation of his kingdom, he devises a plan to divvy up the kingdom of England to his three daughters based on how they postrate themselves to his enormous ego. He seeks to hear them proclaim how deeply and endlessly his children cherish, adore, and love him. The eldest two daughters bend the knee to his commands while the youngest and honest daughter, Cordelia, expresses her love for Lear but also that of which she needs to give a husband. Angering Lear, she is bestowed nothing for the perceived transgression, resulting in her assigned land being split between the eldest two daughters and their husbands. Lear in his retirement runs amok at his eldest daughter’s homes, forcing them to trade him back and forth and eventually sending him out into the world in recognition that his daughters did not love him as they said they did. He deteriorates to a fraction of the man he once was. The daughters then go to war with one another in love and sabotage in an attempt to wear the crown.
EARL OF KENT AND THE FOOL
The Earl of Kent is loyal to the King wholeheartedly. He tries to make Lear see the error of banishing his youngest daughter but in doing so is banished from the kingdom by the King. In loyalty to the crown, he disguises himself as Caius in order to continue serving Lear. He acts as the crown’s loyal servant doing his best to care and tend to Lear as his mind continues to devolve into madness. The fool endless accompanies the King act as his entertainment, a source of wisdom, and friendship. The two tend to Lear as they support Lear on his trajectory.
THE FAMILY GLOUCESTER
The Earl of Gloucester, is caught in his bastard son Edmund’s web of lies. Edmund, in an attempt to seize power from his brother Edgar in the line of lineage devises a plan to show his father a letter forged to look like his brother is plotting against the Earl’s life. Edmund hides Edgar and sends him off into the wilderness in disgrace under the guise of trying to help him. Edgar falling for this treachery disguises himself as Poor Tom and in serendipitously running into the king reunites with the Earl after his fall from grace, again set in motion by Edmund. Edmund in attempting to destroy his father and brother isolates them both from standing and in turn begins to scheme with Lear’s eldest daughters. He seduces them both separately, striving for the control of the entire kingdom. Edgar in retaliation seeks to reclaim his standing.
SUMMARY
The story of King Lear is a web of lies, with characters pretending to be other people to fool those they are closest to, plotting against one another as each struggles over ascension to the throne after Lear hands it to those who would best deceive him by feeding his ego as opposed to she who cherishes him in honest familial love.
