King Lear

Act I

READING CHECK

1. Which of Lear’s three daughters refuses to flatter him when he demands to know who loves him most?

Answer: Cordelia

2. Who is banished by Lear for defending Cordelia’s behavior and objecting to her banishment?

Answer: Kent

3. Who offers to marry Cordelia after she is banished from her father’s kingdom?

Answer: the King of France

4. How are Edgar and Edmund related?

Answer: Edmund is Edgar’s illegitimate half-brother.

Discussion Suggestion: Use the above question to introduce discussion on how Edmund’s ambitions, despite his illegitimate status, cast him as the “New Man” emerging in Shakespeare’s time, who rejects the Medieval Era’s emphasis on noble birth as the signifier of one’s worthiness to rule.

5. According to the forged letter, Edgar asks Edmund to assassinate whom?

Answer: their father, Gloucester

6. What is the source of the argument between Goneril and Lear that causes Lear to leave?

Answer: Lear’s retinue of 100 rowdy knights

7. To whose home does Lear go after his argument with Goneril?

Answer: Regan’s

QUIZ

1. Weary of his kingship, what does Lear decide to do at the beginning of the play?

A) remain king but entrust Gloucester with running his kingdom

B) divide his realm amongst his three daughters

C) retire and cede his territory to the King of France

D) wait for Regan and Goneril to take action

2. What explanation does Cordelia give for why she loves Lear less completely than Regan and Goneril say they do?

A) She recalls ways in which Lear mistreated her as a child.

B) She has no interest in inheriting part of Lear’s kingdom.

C) She reserves one-half of her love for her future husband.

D) She is too melancholy to profess love for anybody.

3. Why does the King of France say he still wants to marry Cordelia, even after she’s been disinherited?

A) He is impressed by the virtuous nature Cordelia showed in answering Lear honestly.

B) He says he would rather inherit nothing than inherit a mere third of Lear’s kingdom.

C) He says Cordelia’s physical beauty makes her an attractive wife regardless of her wealth.

D) He is desperate for a wife and is willing to marry a woman with no inheritance.

4. What is the source of Edmund’s resentment?

A) Gloucester disinherited him because Edmund is a lazy drunk.

B) Cordelia rejected his marriage proposal without providing a reason.

C) Edgar will receive all Gloucester’s lands and titles because Edmund is an illegitimate son.

D) Gloucester refuses to pay Edmund’s gambling debts to teach him a lesson.

5. What is Edmund’s attitude toward his father’s beliefs regarding astrology?

A) He does not understand astrology, but he supports his father in his beliefs.

B) He wholeheartedly shares those beliefs after a lengthy study of astrology.

C) He has no opinion of astrology and does not care what his father believes.

D) He thinks his father’s beliefs are superstitious, as he would be an illegitimate son no matter his astrological sign.

6. After being banished, why does Kent disguise himself as a servant named Caius?

A) to watch over Lear and remain loyal to him

B) to observe Lear and report on his activities to Goneril

C) to spy on Edmund and expose his treachery to Lear

D) to hide from Albany and Cornwall who want him dead

7. Who is most forceful in reproaching Lear to his face about giving his land and fortune to Regan and Goneril? (short answer)

QUIZ ANSWERS

1. B. Lear plans to bequeath everything to his three daughters, though not before demanding to see an exaggerated display of flattery.

2. C. Cordelia loves and obeys Lear as she believes a dutiful daughter should—no more, no less. To claim all her love is reserved for Lear would be a lie and an insult to her future husband.

3. A. The King of France is deeply impressed that Cordelia would risk losing everything in an effort to remain honest and upright.

4. C. The fact that Edmund will never inherit his father’s land and titles simply because he is illegitimate causes him to reject the Medieval social order that dictates this.

5. D. Just as Edmund rejects the old social structures, so too does he reject the superstitions undergirding them.

6. A. Kent’s banishment does not alter his sense of duty with respect to his sovereign, Lear.

7. The Fool. This is consistent with Shakespearean conventions and the social conventions of Medieval courts, in that the fool or jester often provided the king with the wisest—and harshest—counsel.

Act II

READING CHECK

1. Who are Regan and Goneril’s husbands, respectively?

Answer: the Duke of Cornwall and the Duke of Albany

2. Which two characters do Regan and Cornwall enlist in service of their schemes in Act II, Scene 1?

Answer: Edmund and Gloucester

3. What do Regan and Cornwall do to Kent after his altercation with Oswald?

Answer: imprison him

4. What is the weather like outside when Regan turns Lear away?

Answer: It is storming.

5. Which characters follow Lear outside after his fight with Regan in Act II, Scene 4?

Answer: the Fool and Kent

QUIZ

1. How does Edmund suffer a sword wound in Act II, Scene 1?

A) Edgar stabs him in an argument.

B) He stabs himself intentionally.

C) He cuts himself accidentally.

D) Highwaymen attack and rob him.

2. Why does Kent hate Oswald so much, going so far as to draw his sword on him?

A) Oswald had an affair with Kent’s wife.

B) Oswald owes Kent money.

C) Oswald is jealous of Kent.

D) Oswald insulted Lear.

3. What does Edgar disguise himself as in Act II, Scene 3?

A) a madman

B) a knight

C) a steward

D) a prince

Discussion Suggestion: Use the above question to jumpstart a discussion on how Edmund’s and Edgar’s predicaments are mirror images of one another; consider the ways in which Edmund uses deception to rise to a noble status, while Edgar uses deception to lower himself in status in pursuit of larger truths.

4. How would you describe Lear’s attitude at Regan and Cornwall’s home?

A) full of vigor and charm

B) calm and collected

C) bored and lethargic

D) full of rage but impotent

5. How does Regan respond to Lear’s request that she let him inside?

A) She enthusiastically welcomes him with open arms.

B) She cautiously lets him in under certain conditions.

C) She refuses and tells him to go back to Goneril’s.

D) She imprisons him with Kent.

QUIZ ANSWERS

1. B. Edmund does this to frame Edgar, in an effort to convince Gloucester to have his legitimate son killed.

2. D. The ever-loyal Kent is aghast at the disrespect Oswald shows Lear.

3. A. As a madman, Edgar hopes to find truth in deception.

4. D. This is indicative of Lear’s rapidly deteriorating mental state.

5. C. Now that Regan has her inheritance, she has little patience for her father.

Act III

READING CHECK

1. Who plans to invade Britain to wrest power from Albany and Cornwall?

Answer: the King of France

2. Who remains at Lear’s side while Kent searches for him?

Answer: the Fool

3. To what type of shelter does Kent lead Lear and the Fool to avoid the storm?

Answer: a hovel

4. Edmund plans to betray his father to whom?

Answer: Cornwall

Discussion Suggestion: Use the above question to discuss the parallels between Edmund’s betrayal of his father and Regan and Goneril’s betrayal of theirs; explore these generational conflicts with special attention to Edmund’s line, “That which my father loses—no less than all. The younger rises when the old doth fall.”

5. Which character do Lear, Kent, and the Fool find inside their shelter with them?

Answer: Edgar

6. By what nickname does Edgar refer to himself while disguised?

Answer: Poor Tom

7. In Lear’s hallucination, which characters are put on trial?

Answer: Regan and Goneril

8. Who wounds Cornwall in an attempt to stop him from harming Gloucester?

Answer: a servant

QUIZ

1. According to Kent, what is the nature of the relationship between Albany and Cornwall in Act III?

A) strong, inseparable allies

B) open enemies vying for control of Britain

C) apparent allies who are secretly plotting against one another

D) disinterested parties barely aware of one another’s actions

2. What does the Fool do to close out Act III, Scene 2?

A) deliver a prophecy

B) run back out into the storm

C) give a soliloquy mocking Lear

D) stab and murder Kent

3. Why do Regan and Cornwall drive Gloucester out of his home?

A) for secretly plotting against them with Lear

B) for refusing to house their knights on his estate

C) for merely expressing pity for Lear

D) for the misdeeds of his son, Edmund

4. What best describes Lear’s reason for tearing off his clothes in the shelter?

A) He is unbearably feverish, suffering physical illness.           

B) He feels he has been reduced to a mere animal, like Poor Tom.

C) He wants to give his clothes to Kent, who is cold.

D) He is delusional and believes it is bedtime.

Discussion Suggestion: Use the above question to discuss how, through Lear’s real madness and Edgar’s feigned madness, important truths are revealed to each man about the human condition.

5. Why does Gloucester speak openly of his son’s supposed betrayal in Edgar’s presence?

A) He does not recognize Edgar.

B) He is referring to Edmund, not Edgar.

C) He is attempting to provoke Edgar.

D) He has already forgiven Edgar.

6. How does Edmund become the new Earl of Gloucester?

A) His father, the current Earl of Gloucester, gives up this title to him.

B) He murders the current Earl of Gloucester.

C) Albany gives him this title in return for betraying Cornwall.

D) Cornwall gives him this title in return for betraying his father.

7. What major development is revealed by the letter that Gloucester shows Edmund and Edmund later shows Cornwall? (short answer)

8. In what way do Regan and Cornwall physically harm Gloucester before throwing him out into the storm? (short answer)

QUIZ ANSWERS

1. C. Although Albany and Cornwall appear to be working together, each wishes to rule Britain alone.

2. A. His prophecy predicts that Britain will descend into chaos.

3. C. Regan and Cornwall are so full of contempt for Lear that the mere suggestion of pitying him is enough to draw their ire.

4. B. Lear feels that he, like Poor Tom, is “no more but such a poor, bare, forked animal.”

5. A. Edgar’s disguise and actions are so convincing that his own father does not recognize him.

6. D. The title is a reward for Edmund’s loyalty and the culmination of his attempts to force his way into the nobility through Machiavellian manipulation and ingenuity.

7. The French army has landed in England.

8. They gouge out his eyes.

Act IV

READING CHECK

1. Who agrees to lead Gloucester to the cliffs of Dover?

Answer: Edgar

2. Whom does Goneril want to marry after growing disillusioned about Albany?

Answer: Edmund

3. At the end of Act IV, Scene 2, whose death is reported to Albany by a messenger?

Answer: Cornwall’s

4. Who wrote the letter addressed to Edmund that fixates Regan in Act IV, Scene 5?

Answer: Goneril

5. In Act IV, Scene 5, who is Edmund going to kill “in pity of his misery,” according to Regan?

Answer: Gloucester

6. How does Gloucester survive what he believes is a jump from the cliffs of Dover?

Answer: Edgar led him to a patch of flat ground, not the cliff’s edge.

7. How does Oswald die?

Answer: Edgar kills him in a fight after Oswald attempts to murder Gloucester.

8. Where are Cordelia and Lear finally reunited?

Answer: a French military camp

QUIZ

1. Why does Gloucester want to go to Dover?

A) to rendezvous with the King of France and the French Army

B) to catch up with Lear, whom he still pities

C) to find Edgar, who he believes currently resides there

D) to throw himself off the cliffs to his death

2. Why does Goneril grow disillusioned with Albany?

A) She suspects Albany has aligned with Regan against her.

B) Albany no longer approves of her increasingly immoral behavior.

C) Albany has grown too bloodthirsty and violent for her.

D) She now doubts Albany possesses the intelligence to carry out her plans.

3. To what is Kent referring when he says, “It is the stars. The stars above us govern our conditions”?

A) how different Edmund is from Edgar

B) how different Cordelia is from her sisters

C) the causes of Lear’s mental deterioration

D) his own continued loyalty to Lear

Discussion Suggestion: Use the above question to discuss the extent to which outcomes and actions in King Lear are determined by uncontrollable fate versus divine intervention or human agency. Which characters believe that destiny is controlled by the stars? Which do not? What themes does Shakespeare convey through these competing philosophies?

4. According to Kent, why will Lear resist seeing Cordelia?

A) He is ashamed of disinheriting her.

B) He is still angry that she wouldn’t devote all her love to him.

C) He is infuriated that her husband invaded Britain.

D) In his madness, he forgets who she is.

5. What most motivates Cordelia as she prepares for battle in Act IV, Scene 4?

A) ambition to amass power

B) hatred of her sisters

C) love for her father

D) allegiance to France

6. What is a reason that explains why Regan believes she is more suitable than Goneril to be Edmund’s wife?

A) Regan is more beautiful.

B) Regan’s claim to the realm is stronger than Goneril’s.

C) Regan believes Goneril will die in the battle.

D) Regan is a widow.

7. Why does Regan regret letting Gloucester live after blinding him?

A) As long as Gloucester lives, Edmund cannot inherit his title.

B) Gloucester possesses a legitimate claim to her realm.

C) Gloucester will inspire pity from the masses, driving them against Regan.

D) Gloucester has allied with Goneril against her.

8. Why is it ironic when Lear finally acknowledges the falseness of his daughters’ flattery in Act 4, Scene 6?

A) because Lear makes more sense in madness than he did when sane

B) because Lear himself is a notorious giver of false flattery

C) because Lear is wearing a crown of weeds, which symbolize flattery

D) because his daughters never offered their flattery

QUIZ ANSWERS

1. D. Blinded, betrayed, and miserable, Gloucester sees no reason to go on living.

2. B. Both Goneril and Oswald are deeply dismayed by Albany’s dramatic change in attitude toward their schemes.

3. B. Kent believes that Cordelia’s loving spirit must be the result of preordained forces, given her sisters’ cruelty.

4. A. Lear deeply regrets the unkindness and narcissistic need for flattery he displayed at the beginning of the play.

5. C. On the eve of battle, Cordelia says, “No blown ambition doth our arms incite, But love, dear love, and our aged father’s right.”

6. D. Regan tells Oswald, “My lord is dead. Edmund and I have talked, And more convenient is he for my hand.”

7. C. Of Gloucester, Regan says, “Where he arrives, he moves All hearts against us.”

8. A. One of the play’s major themes is the extent to which sensible truths are revealed through bouts of so-called madness.

Act V

READING CHECK

1. What does Edmund plan to do with Lear if his army is victorious?

Answer: kill him

2. Which of the two factions wins the battle in Act V, Scene 2?

Answer: the British (Regan, Edmund, etc.)

3. What happens to Cordelia and Lear in the immediate wake of the battle?

Answer: They are imprisoned.

4. Who is the “champion” that Albany heralds after the battle, according to Edgar’s instructions?

Answer: Edgar himself

5. Who poisons Regan?

Answer: Goneril

6. How does Cordelia die?

Answer: Her jailer kills her, at Edmund’s instruction.

7. After Lear dies, which two characters does Albany want to rule the kingdom?

Answer: Kent and Edgar

QUIZ

1. What is Albany’s primary motivation for joining forces with Regan’s army?

A) to enact revenge on Lear

B) to please his wife Goneril

C) to oppose the French invasion

D) to get closer to Edmund

2. How does Albany learn that Goneril plans to have him killed?

A) He overhears her talking about it with Edmund.

B) He discovers it in the letter Edgar gives him.

C) Edmund brags to Albany about it.

D) Regan reveals it while sharing Goneril’s plan to marry Edmund.

3. What does Edgar say to convince Gloucester to save himself after the battle?

A) “The gods are just.”

B) “Thy life’s a miracle.”

C) “Speak what we feel, not what we ought to say.”

D) “Men must endure.”

Discussion Suggestion: Use the above question to discuss Shakespeare’s theme that the will to keep on living, even—and perhaps especially—amid abject suffering, is a virtue in and of itself, with an emphasis on how this reflects 16th and 17th century Christian values.

4. What is Edmund’s excuse for wanting to keep Lear and Cordelia detained?

A) They may try to kill themselves to avoid the shame of defeat.

B) He wants them to suffer so they will be more forthcoming in interrogations.

C) Their presence may divide the troops’ loyalties.

D) Albany will be lenient towards them because he is married to Cordelia’s sister.

5. For what crime does Albany try to arrest Edmund?

A) murder

B) treason

C) impersonating a noble

D) theft

6. How does Goneril die? (short answer)

7. What happens to Gloucester after Edgar reveals his identity?

A) Infuriated, he attempts to kill Edgar.

B) He wanders off without a word.

C) His heart bursts, and he dies.

D) He joins Edgar’s side, and they confront Edmund.

8. How does Albany learn of Edmund’s plans to have Lear and Cordelia killed in custody?

A) from Edmund himself

B) from Lear and Cordelia after they escape

C) from a letter intercepted by Edgar

D) from Goneril who brags about it

QUIZ ANSWERS

1. A. Unlike other characters with whom he is aligned, Albany is driven not by ambitions for power or personal grievance; he wants to protect British sovereignty against an invading force.

2. B. Edgar retrieved the letter after killing Oswald and, disguised, delivers it to Albany.

3. D. This sentiment is one of the play’s most important themes.

4. C. Edmond’s true agenda, however, is to have them murdered.

5. B. The rationale is that Edmund refused Albany’s orders to turn Lear and Cordelia over to him.

6. She commits suicide.

7. C. Edgar explains this to Edmund after mortally wounding him.

8. A. Edmund reveals this in his dying breath, to do “some good.”