English Literature books summary

no reason to strike him in Lear's company or to draw on him at

Gloucester's. Kent refers to Cornwall and Regan as cowards and they call

for the stocks. Regan comments that they should leave him not only until

noon, as Cornwall had suggested, but for over a day. Gloucester protests

but is overruled. After the others have exited, Gloucester apologizes to

Kent and admits that the Duke is to blame. Alone, Kent muses over a letter

he has received from Cordelia, implying that she knows he has taken

disguise and promises to try to save her father from the evil of her

sisters. Kent recognizes he is at the bottom of luck. He falls asleep.

scene iii:

Scene iii is solely a soliloquy by Edgar discussing his transformation

into poor Tom, the beggar. He tells us that he has just missed being hunted

as he heard them coming for him and hid in a hollow tree. In order to

remain safe, he proposes to take on "the basest and most poorest shape",

that of a beggar. He covers himself with dirt and filth, ties his hair in

knots, strips off much of his clothing, and pricks his skin with pins and

nails and so on. He no longer resembles Edgar.

scene iv:

Lear enters the scene with his fool and a gentleman, who tells him that

he was not advised of Regan and Cornwall's removal to Gloucester's castle.

They come upon Kent, still in the stocks. Lear does not believe that Regan

and Cornwall would commit such an offense to Lear has to place his servant

in the stocks but Kent reassures him that they have. He stresses that their

punishment came only because he was angered enough by Oswald's presence and

his letter to Regan to draw his sword upon Oswald. Fool comments on human

nature, retorting that children are only kind to their parents when they

are rich and that the poor are never given the chance for money. Lear feels

ill and goes to look for Regan. Kent asks why Lear's train has shrunk to

which Fool replies that many have lost interest in Lear as he has lost his

riches and power. He advises all that are not fools to do the same.

Lear returns, amazed that Regan and Cornwall refuse to speak with him

over weariness from travel. Gloucester attempts to excuse them by

mentioning Gloucester's "fiery quality". Lear is enraged by this excuse.

Although he momentarily considers that Gloucester may truly be ill, he is

overwhelmed by anger and threatens to beat a drum by their door until they

speak to him. Gloucester leaves to get them and shortly returns with them.

They appear to act cordial at first to Lear and set Kent free. Lear is

cautious toward Regan and tells her that if she is not truly glad to see

him he would disown her and her dead mother. He expresses his grief to her

over his stay with Goneril and Goneril's demands on him. Regan replies that

he is very old and should trust their counsel. She advises him to return to

Goneril and ask for her forgiveness as she is not yet prepared to care for

him. Lear admits that he is old but pleads with Regan to care for him. She

again refuses even with his arguments that Goneril has cut his train and

his subsequent curses of Goneril. Regan is horrified. Lear pleads with her

to act better than her sister. He finally asks who put Kent in the stocks.

Goneril arrives, as forecast in a letter to her sister. Lear calls on

the gods to help him and is upset that Regan takes Goneril by the hand. He

asks again how Kent was put in the stocks and Cornwall replies that that it

was his order and Lear is appalled. Regan pleads again for him to return to

Goneril's but he still holds hope that Regan will allow him all hundred of

his train. However, Regan assures him that she has no room for the knights

either and alerts him that he should only bring twenty-five with him after

his month stay with Goneril. Lear replies that he has been betrayed after

giving his daughter's his all, his land, authority and his care. He decides

to go then with Goneril as she must love him more if she will agree to

fifty knights. At this point, Goneril diminishes her claim, asking him if

needs twenty-five, ten, or five? Regan adds that he does not even need one.

Lear cries that need is not the issue. He compares his argument to Regan's

clothes which are too scant for warmth. She wears them not for need but for

vanity just as a King keeps many things he does not need for other reasons.

He hopes that he will not cry and fears that he will go mad. He leaves with

Fool, Kent, and Gloucester. A storm is heard approaching and Cornwall calls

them to withdraw. Regan and Goneril discuss how it is Lear's own fault if

they leave him out in the storm. Gloucester asks them to reconsider but is

again overruled. Regan has the house boarded up.

Act III Summary: scene i:

As it continues to storm, Kent enters the stage asking who else is

there and where is the King. A gentleman, one of Lear's knights, answers,

describing the King as struggling and becoming one with the raging elements

of nature. The King has been left alone except for his fool. Kent

recognizes the gentleman and fills him in on the events he has learned

concerning the Dukes and the news from France. He explains that a conflict

has grown between Albany and Cornwall which is momentarily forgotten

because they are united against Lear. He then mentions that French spies

and soldiers have moved onto the island, nearly ready to admit openly to

their invasion. He urges the gentleman to hurry to Dover where he will find

allies to whom he can give an honest report of the treatment to the King

and his declining health. Kent gives him his purse and a ring to confirm

his honor and to show to Cordelia if he sees her. They move out to look for

Lear before the gentleman leaves on his mission.

scene ii:

We meet Lear, raging against the storm, daring the storm to break up

the Earth. Fool pleads with him to dodge his pride and ask for his

daughters' forgiveness so that he can take shelter in the castle. Lear

notes that the storm, unlike his daughters, owes him nothing and has no

obligation to treat him any better. Still, the storm is joining to help his

ungrateful daughters in their unnecessary punishing of him. The fool says

he is foolish, nevertheless, to reside in the house of of the storm but

Lear responds that he will say nothing to his daughters.

Kent enters, pleased to have found the King, and remarks that he has

never witnessed a more violent storm. Lear cries that the gods will now

show who has committed any wrongs by their treatment in the storm and Kent

pushes him toward a cave where they can find a little shelter. Lear agrees

to go, recognizing the cold which must be ravaging he and his fool. Before

entering the hovel, Fool prophecies that when the abuses of England are

reformed, the country will come into great confusion.

scene iii:

Gloucester and Edmund speak in confidence. Gloucester complains of the

unnatural dealings of Cornwall and Regan, taking over his home and

forbidding him to help or appeal for Lear. Edmund feigns agreement. Taking

him further in confidence, Gloucester alerts him to the division between

Albany and Cornwall. He then tells him that he has received a letter, which

he has locked in the closet because of it dangerous contents, divulging

that a movement has started to avenge Lear at home. Gloucester plans to go

find him and aid him until the forces arrive to help. He tells Edmund to

accompany the Duke so that his absence is not felt and if they ask for him

to report that he went to bed ill. Gloucester notes that he is risking his

life but if he can save the King, his death would not be in vain. After he

departs, Edmund tells the audience that he will alert Cornwall immediately

of Gloucester's plans and the treasonous letter. The young will gain, he

comments, where the old have faltered.

scene iv:

Kent and Lear find their way to the cave, where Lear asks to be left

alone. He notes that the storm rages harsher in his own mind and body due

to the "filial ingratitude" he has been forced to endure. Thinking it may

lead to madness, Lear tries not to think of his daughters' betrayal.

Feeling the cruelty of the elements, Lear remarks that he has taken too

little care of the poor who often do not have shelter from such storms in

life. The fool enters the cave first and is frightened by the presence of

Edgar disguised as poor Tom. Edgar enters, speaking in confused jargon and

pointing to the foul fiend who bothers him greatly. Lear decides that Tom

must have been betrayed by daughters in order to have fallen to such a

state of despair and madness. Kent attempts to tell Lear that Tom has no

daughters, but Lear can comprehend no other reason. Fool notes that the

cold night would turn them all into madmen. Lear finds Tom intriguing and

asks him about his life, to which Edgar replies that Tom was a serving man

who was ruined by a woman he had loved. Lear realizes that man is no more

than what they have been stripped to and begins to take off his clothes

before Fool stops him.

Gloucester finds his way to the cave. He questions the King's company

before remarking that he and Lear must both hate what their bodies have

given birth to, namely Edgar, Regan, and Goneril. Although he has been

barred from securing shelter in his own castle for Lear, Gloucester

entreats the King to come with him to a better shelter. Lear wishes to stay

and talk with Tom, terming him a philosopher. Kent urges Gloucester to

plead with Lear to go, but Gloucester notes it is no surprise that Lear's

wits are not about him when his own daughters seek his death. Lear is

persuaded to follow Gloucester when they agree to allow Tom to accompany

him.

scene v:

Cornwall and Edmund converse over the information Edmund has shared

with him. Edmund plays the part of a tortured son doing his duty for the

kingdom. Cornwall muses that Edgar's disloyalty is better understood in

terms of his own father's betrayal. Handing over the letter Gloucester had

received, Edmund cries out wishing that he were not the filial traitor.

Cornwall makes Edmund the new Earl of Gloucester and demands he find where

his father is hiding. In an aside, Edmund hopes he will find Gloucester

aiding the King to further incriminate him although it would be greater

filial ingratitude on his part. Cornwall offers himself as a new and more

loving father to Edmund.

scene vi:

Gloucester finds the group slightly better shelter and then heads off

to get assistance. Edgar speaks of the foul fiend and Fool tells the King a

rhyme, concluding that the madman is the man who has too greatly indulged

his own children. Lear pretends to hold a trial for his evil daughters,

placing Edgar, the fool, and Kent on the bench to try them. Lear tries

Goneril first and then Regan before crying that someone had accepted a

bribe and allowed one to escape. Kent calls for him to remain patient as he

had often been in the past and Edgar notes in an aside that he has nearly

threatened his disguise with tears. He tells Lear that he will punish the

daughters himself. Lear appreciates the gesture and claims that he will

take Tom as one of the hundred in his train if he will agree to change his

seemingly Persian garments. As Gloucester returns, he urges Kent to keep

the King in his arms due to the death threats circulating. There is a

caravan waiting which will take Lear to Dover and safety if they hurry.

Edgar is left on stage and soliloquizes that the King's pains are so much

greater than his own and he will pledge himself to helping him escape

safely.

scene vii:

Cornwall calls for Goneril to bring the letter concerning France's

invasion to her husband and calls to his servants to seek out the traitor,

Gloucester. Regan and Goneril call for tortuous punishment. Edmund is asked

to accompany Goneril so as not to be present when his father is brought in.

Oswald enters and alerts the court to the news of Gloucester's successful

move of the King to Dover. As Goneril and Edmund depart, Cornwall sends

servants in search of Gloucester. Gloucester enters with servants and

Cornwall commands that he be bound to a chair. Regan plucks his beard as he

protests that they are his guests and friends.They interrogate him on the

letter he received from France and his part helping King Lear. Gloucester

responds that he received the letter from an objective third-party but he

is not believed. He admits that he sent the King to Dover, explaining that

he was not safe out in the terrible storm nor in the company of those who

would leave him in such conditions. He hopes that Lear's horrific children

will have revenge light upon them. Cornwall answers that he will see no

such thing, blinding one of his eyes.

A servant speaks up in Gloucester's defense and is quickly stabbed by

Regan using the sword Cornwall had drawn. Before the servant dies, he cries

that Gloucester has one eye remaining to see harm come to the Duke and

Duchess. Cornwall immediately blinds the other eye. Gloucester calls out

for Edmund to help him in the time of peril to which Regan replies that it

was Edmund who had alerted them to Gloucester's treachery. At this low

point, Gloucester realizes the wrong he has shown Edgar if Edmund has done

such evil. Regan has Gloucester thrown out of the castle and then helps

Cornwall, who has received an injury, out of the room. Two servants discuss

the incomprehensible evil of Cornwall and Regan, proposing to aid

Gloucester in his blind stumbles. One of the servants leaves to find him

while the other searches for ointments to sooth Gloucester's wounds.

Act IV Summary: scene i:

Edgar is alone on stage soliloquizing about his fate. He seems more

optimistic than earlier, hoping that he has seen the worst. This changes

when Gloucester and an old man enters, displaying to Edgar the cruelty of

Regan and Cornwall's punishment. Gloucester urges the old man aiding him to

leave him, noting that his blindness should not affect him as "I have no

way, and therefore want no eyes;/ I stumbled when I saw" (IV.1.18-19). He

then laments the fool he has been toward his loyal son, Edgar. The old man

tells him a mad beggarman is present to which Gloucester replies that he

cannot be too mad if he knows to beg. Ironically, he notes that his

introduction to a madman the night before (who was poor Tom) had made him

think of Edgar. This causes Edgar further pain. Gloucester again urges the

old man to leave, commenting that poor Tom can lead him. He reasons that

the time is such that madmen will lead the blind and tells the old man to

meet them in a mile with new clothes for the beggar. The old man agrees to

and leaves.

Edgar wishes he did not have to deceive his father but reasons that he

must. He speaks in his poor Tom manner of all of the fiends whom have

plagued him. Gloucester gives him his purse, hoping to even out some of the

inequality which exists between them, and asks him to lead him to the

summit of the high cliff in Dover and leave him there.

scene ii:

Goneril and Edmund are en route to Goneril's home when Goneril asks

Oswald why her husband has not met them. Oswald answers that Albany is a

changed man. To all events Oswald expects he would be pleased by, he is

upset and vice versa. The examples Oswald gives are the landing of the

French army at which Albany smiled and Edmund's betrayal of Gloucester to

which Albany was very displeased. Goneril is disgusted and sends Edmund

back to Cornwall's with a kiss, telling him that she will have to become

master of her household until she can become Edmund's mistress.

After Edmund's departure, Albany enters and greets Goneril with disgust

toward her character and the events with which she and Regan have been

involved. He notes that humanity is in danger because of people like her.

Goneril responds that he is weak, idly sitting by and allowing the French

to invade their land without putting up protest or guarding against

traitors. He lacks ambition and wisdom. The woman form she takes, Albany

proclaims, disguises the fiend which exists beneath and if it were not for

this cover, he would wish to destroy her.

A messenger enters, conveying the news that Cornwall has died from the

wound given him during the conflict with the servant who had stood up for

Gloucester after one of his eye's had been blinded. In this manner, Albany

learns of the treatment and subsequent blindness imparted to Gloucester by

the hands of Regan and Cornwall. Though horrified, Albany remarks that the

gods are at least conscious of justice and have already worked toward

avenging the death of Gloucester by killing Cornwall. The messenger then

delivers a letter to Goneril from Regan. In an aside, Goneril comments that

the news of Cornwall's death is bad for her in that it leaves Regan a widow

so she could easily marry Edmund. However, it may be a positive event since

it takes Cornwall's threat to her reign out of the picture. She leaves to

read and answer the letter. Albany asks the messenger of Edmund's location

when Gloucester was blinded. The messenger informs him that Edmund was with

Goneril at the time but that Edmund knew of the events which were to take

place because it was he who had informed on Gloucester's treason. Albany

swears to fight for Gloucester who has loved the good king and received

such horrible treatment.

scene iii:

We learn from Kent's conversation with a gentleman that the King of

France has had to return to France for important business and has left the

Marshal of France in charge. The gentleman informs him also of Cordelia's

response to Kent's letter. She was very moved, lamenting against her

sisters and their treatment of her father. Kent comments that the stars

must control people's characters if one man and one woman could have

children of such different qualities, like Cordelia and her sisters. Kent

notifies the gentleman that Lear refuses to see Cordelia as he is ashamed

of his behavior toward her. The gentleman confirms that Albany and

Cornwall's powers are advancing. Deciding to leave Lear with him, Kent goes

off to handle confidential business.

scene iv:

Pained, Cordelia laments the mad state of Lear and asks the doctor if

there is a way to cure him. Rest might be the simple answer, the doctor

replies, since Lear has been deprived of it. Cordelia prays for him and

hopes that he will be revived. She must leave briefly on business for

France.

scene v:

Regan and Oswald discuss how Albany's powers are afoot. Oswald points

out that Goneril is the better soldier and informs Regan that Edmund did

not have a chance to speak with Albany. Regan asks what the letter which

Oswald brought from Goneril for Edmund says but Oswald knows only that it

must be of great importance. Regan regrets blinding Gloucester because

allowing him to live arouses sympathy which results in more parties turned

against Regan and her company. Stating that Edmund has gone in search of

Gloucester to put him out of his misery, she then claims that he is

checking out the strength of the enemy forces. She urges Oswald to remain

with her because the roads are dangerous. She is jealous of what she fears

the contents of the letter may be, namely entreaties to Edmund for his

love. Advising him to remind Edmund of the matters he had discussed with

her considering their marriage, Regan allows Oswald to continue. Oswald

agrees to halt Gloucester if he comes upon him and thus show to whom his

loyalty lies.

scene vi:

Edgar leads Gloucester to Dover and pretends they are walking up the

steep hill Gloucester wished to be taken to. Edgar says that it is steep

and he can hear the ocean, noting that Gloucester's other senses must have

grown dim as well if he cannot feel these things. Gloucester comments that

poor Tom's speech seems much more elevated than before so Edgar attempts to

drop back into his beggarman dialect. Edgar says they have reached the

highest spot and Gloucester asks to be placed where he is standing. He then

takes out another purse for Tom and requests to be left. Thinking Tom has

gone, Gloucester prays to the gods to bless Edgar and then wishes the world

farewell and falls forward of the cliff, he believes. Edgar approaches

again as another man entirely, playing along with the idea that Gloucester

has fallen off the high cliff and survived, calling it a miracle.

Gloucester believes what the man says, though he cannot look up to verify.

Edgar helps him up and questions the thing which left him at the top of the

cliff, making it sound like it was not an actual man but a spirit.

Gloucester is skeptical at first but realizes that would make sense for why

he lived.

Stumbling onto the scene is Lear, still mad and wearing weeds. He

rambles on about being king and then bitterly speaks of Goneril and Regan

agreeing to all he said and then stabbing him in the back. Gloucester

recognizes the voice and Lear confirms he is the King. He lectures about

Gloucester's adultery being no cause to fear because his bastard son

treated him better than Lear's own daughters. He then rages on the evil

nature of women in his daughter's shapes, similar to Centaurs but fiends

from the waist down instead of horses. Gloucester is saddened by this

diatribe and wonders if Lear knows him. He does, but refuses to be saddened

by Gloucester's blindness since one sees the world better through other

venues than the eyes. In his ranting, Lear touches on such issues as the

artifice of politicians and others in positions of authority who cover up

their evil-doing and self-centered ambition with wealth and fashion. Edgar

notices the sanity in his madness. Lear then identifies Gloucester and

rages bitterly against the state of the world which has made them as they

are.

A gentleman enters and, glad to find Lear, calls for them to put a hand

upon him. Lear is afraid he is being taken prisoner but they are the

attendants of Cordelia and happy to follow Lear as King. Still confused and

mad, Lear runs out so they will not catch him. The gentleman informs Edgar

that the army is approaching speedily, except for Cordelia's men who are on

a special purpose and have moved on. When he leaves, Edgar assures

Gloucester that he will lead him to a biding place. Oswald enters, pleased

to have found Gloucester, and draws his sword upon him. Edgar interposes,

using a rustic accent to play the part of a peasant. They fight and Oswald

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