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- Act 1 Scene 1
-
- Gloucester and Kent speak of the division of the
- kingdom, and Kent meets Edmond, the bastard son
- of the Earl of Gloucester. King Lear announces his
- intention of dividing the kingdom into three parts,
- and giving one part to each of his daughters. The
- largest share will be given to the daughter who can
- say that she loves him the most. Goneril is the first
- to speak, and she is duly rewarded. Regan speaks
- next, and is given her share of the kingdom. But
- when Lear turns to his favourite daughter,
- Cordelia, who is the youngest of the three, he is
- very disappointed. Cordelia refuses to flatter Lear
- as her sisters have done. In a rage, Lear disowns
- Cordelia, and distributes her land between Goneril
- and Regan. Kent remonstrates with the king; and
- Lear banishes him from the kingdom. CordeliaÆs
- two suitors are called in, and Lear offers his
- daughter in marriage to the Duke of Burgundy. But
- Cordelia now has no dowry, and Burgundy rejects
- King LearÆs offer. The King of France, however,
- asks to know the reason for LearÆs displeasure.
- When he learns the truth, he takes Cordelia as his
- wife, and they leave for France. Goneril and Regan
- exchange a few words together.
- 1 - 32 Kent and Gloucester chat in an easy,
- colloquial prose, which gives way to a formal
- blank verse when the king begins to speak.
- 1 more affected: rather preferred.
- 2 Albany: Brute, the first king of Britain,
- gave to his younger son Albanus the territory north
- of the river Humber, which was thereafter called
- Albanius or Albany.
- 5 values: esteems.
- 5, 6 qualities . . . moiety: their shares (which
- are meant to be equal) are in fact so evenly
- balanced that no amount of careful scrutiny
- (ôcuriosityö) in comparing them could make either
- duke prefer the otherÆs part (ômoietyö).
- 8 breeding . . . charge: they said I was his
- father; or, IÆve paid for his upbringing.
- 10 brazed to Æt: brazen (= no longer
- embarrassed) about it.
- 11 conceive you: understand your meaning;
- Gloucester makes a pun with ôconceiveö (=
- become pregnant) in the next line.
- 15 smell a fault: find anything wrong in this.
- 16 issue . . . proper: since it has had such a
- fine result.
- 18 by order of law: legitimately.
- some year: about a year.
- 19 no dearer in my account: worth no more
- in my estimation.
- 20 knave: lad.
- something: somewhat.
- 23 whoreson: little bastard ù GloucesterÆs
- tone is rough but affectionate.
- 28 services: respectful duty.
- 29 sue: do what I can.
- 30 study deserving: make every effort to earn
- your good opinion.
- 31 out: out of the country.
- 32s.d. Sennet: A trumpet fanfare heralds the
- kingÆs entrance.
- 34 Attend: escort into the royal presence.
- 36 we: Lear speaks with the ôroyal pluralö.
- express our darker purpose: explain my secret
- intention (i.e. to reward his daughters for their
- declarations of love ù and give the best portion to
- Cordelia): the division of the kingdom will not be
- straightforward.
- 38 fast: fixed, unalterable.
- 41 son: i.e. son-in-law.
- 43 constant will: firm purpose.
- to publish: to make known.
- 44 daughtersÆ several dowers: the different
- dowries of each daughter.
- 45 prevented: forestalled.
- 46 Great: noble.
- 47 Long . . . sojourn: have stayed here a long
- time in their courtship of Cordelia.
- 50 Interest: possession.
- 52 Lear will give most generously to the
- daughter who can claim (ôchallengeö) it by what
- she deserves (her ômeritö) as well as by her natural
- right.
- 55 more . . . matter: more than words can
- say.
- 56 space and liberty: freedom, and the ability
- to enjoy it.
- 58 grace: favour, happiness.
- 60 unable: inadequate.
- 64 shadowy: shady.
- champains: open plains.
- riched: enriched.
- 65 wide-skirted meads: extensive meadows.
- 66 lady: queen, ruler.
- 67 Be this perpetual: in perpetuity; Lear
- intends to divide the kingdom for ever.
- 69 self mettle: exactly the same nature;
- Regan makes a pun with ômetalö.
- 70 prize me at her worth: put exactly the
- same value on myself.
- 71 she names . . . love: she tells you just
- what my love is (as though she produced the same
- ôdeedö = legal document).
- 72 comes too short: does not go far enough.
- that: in that.
- 74 the most . . . sense: the most perfect
- human being (to be ôsquareö is to be perfectly
- fitting, harmonious in every way).
- 75 alone felicitate: only really made joyful.
- 78 more . . . tongue: more weighty than my
- tongue can express.
- 79 hereditary ever: see line 66.
- 81 validity: value.
- 83 last, and least: youngest child, who
- would legally be entitled to only the smallest
- portion.
- 84 vines: vineyards.
- milk: pasture-land (for grazing dairy herds).
- 85 interessed: concerned with.
- 90 Nothing will come of nothing: Lear
- quotes a common Latin proverb, ex nihilo nihil fit.
- 93 bond: bounden duty.
- 96 bred me: fathered me; see line 8.
- 97 right fit: in the proper proportions.
- 100 Happily: when it happens that.
- 101 plight: troth-plight, pledge of marriage.
- 104 all: with all their hearts.
- 105 goes . . . this?: do you really mean all
- this?
- 108 thy . . . dower: you can take this honesty
- for your (only) dowry.
- 110 mysteries: secret rites.
- Hecate: In classical mythology, Hecate was
- goddess of the underworld and of witchcraft.
- 111 operation . . . be: influences of the
- planets which affect our lives and deaths.
- 114 Propinquity . . . blood: blood relationship
- and the obligations of kinship.
- 116 from this: from this time.
- barbarous Scythian: The inhabitants of Scythia (=
- modern Russia) were traditionally thought to be
- savage.
- 117 makes . . . messes: chops up into food the
- parents ù or children ù of his own breeding.
- 118 To . . . appetite: in mere gluttony.
- 120 sometime: former; Lear renounces
- Cordelia.
- 122 dragon: Lear personifies himself as the
- heraldic beast of Wales, a red lion rampant, which
- is borne on the arms of all British monarchs.
- wrath: i.e. the object of his wrath.
- 123 set my rest: settle everything I had (Lear
- uses a gamblerÆs phrase).
- 124 kind nursery: tender loving care.
- 125 So . . . peace: may I find peace only in my
- grave.
- 126 Who stirs?: Lear calls for some action
- from the courtiers.
- 129 Let pride . . . marry her: let her pride
- (which she calls plain-speaking ù see line 107)
- be her dowry and find a husband for her.
- 130 jointly: both together.
- 131 Pre-eminence: first position.
- all . . . effects: all the magnificent
- accompaniments.
- 132 troop with majesty: are associated with
- kingship.
- monthly course: month by month.
- 133 With reservation: Lear uses a legal term
- to make an exception; he will give up everything
- except the hundred knights.
- 134 sustained: supported.
- 134 our abode . . . due turn: stay with each of
- you in turn.
- 136 name and all thÆaddition to: title and
- proper ceremonious treatment due to.
- sway: government.
- 137 Revenue: The word is stressed on the
- second syllable ù ôRevΦnueö.
- 139 Royal Lear: Kent addresses King Lear
- with proper formality.
- 143 make . . . shaft: get away from the arrow,
- or, let go of the arrow.
- 144 fork: two-pointed arrowhead.
- 145 unmannerly . . . mad: Kent is prepared to
- speak bluntly when he sees the king acting so
- rashly.
- 146 thou: This form of the second person
- (ôyouö) is an intimate address, which was used
- only with equals or inferiors.
- dread: fear.
- 148 plainness: plain speaking.
- 149 Reserve thy state: keep hold of everything
- you have.
- 150 in thy best consideration: when you have
- thought things over carefully.
- 151 answer . . . judgment: IÆll stake my life on
- this opinion.
- 153 Kent seems to be offering an opposite
- sentence for the proverbial saying, ôempty vessels
- make most soundö.
- 154 Reverb: re-echo; the word is
- ShakespeareÆs own coinage from ôreverberateö.
- 155 held: valued.
- pawn: the stake in a wager.
- 156 wage: gamble, risk.
- 157 thy . . . motive: for your sake.
- 158 still: always.
- 159 true blank: the white spot in the centre of
- a target; if Lear would fix his sights on Kent, his
- intentions would not misfire.
- 160 Apollo: Lear swears by the Roman sun-
- god ù an indication that the play is set in a pre-
- Christian world.
- 161 miscreant: misbeliever; Kent has denied
- LearÆs god.
- 165 vent: utter.
- 166 recreant: traitor, one who is false to his
- allegiance.
- 167 That: seeing that.
- 168 durst never yet: have never yet dared to
- do.
- strained: unnatural.
- 169 ôTo intervene between the sentence and
- its execution.ö
- 171 Our . . . good: since my power is
- confirmed.
- 172 for provision: to get all that you need.
- 176 trunk: body.
- 177 moment is thy death: you will die
- immediately.
- Jupiter: The king of the Roman gods was also, in
- ancient times, worshipped in Britain; LearÆs oaths
- help to establish the pre-Christian setting of the
- play.
- 179 sith: since.
- 180 KentÆs rhyming couplets bring the
- episode to a close, summing up the situation and
- pointing the moral.
- 183 approve: confirm.
- 184 effects: deeds.
- 186 shape his old course: carry on in his usual
- manner ù i.e. of speaking plainly.
- 187s.d. Flourish: A trumpet-call heralds the
- approach of the King of France and the Duke of
- Burgundy.
- 189 address toward: address our remarks to.
- 190 rivalled: competed.
- 191 present dower with her: for her
- immediate dowry.
- 194 tender: offer.
- 195 so: i.e. dearly, highly valued.
- 197 little-seeming substance: The phrase is
- difficult to explain. Lear is offering Cordelia to
- Burgundy just as she is, without any addition to her
- person, and she does not appear to be very
- valuable; but ôlittle-seemingö could also mean
- ôunpretentiousö.
- 198 pieced: joined.
- 199 fitly like: be pleasing and seem suitable.
- 201 infirmities: disadvantages.
- owes: owns.
- 202 new-adopted . . . hate: whom I have just
- begun to hate.
- 203 Dowered with our curse: given my curse
- for her only dowry.
- strangered: made a stranger.
- 205 Election . . . conditions: I cannot reach a
- decision on such terms.
- 207 tell: describe, count up.
- For: as for.
- 208 make . . . stray: stray so far.
- 209 To match: as to expect you to marry.
- 210 ôTo look in some different direction for a
- wife who is more deserving of you.ö
- 213 best object: main object of your love,
- favourite.
- 214 argument: subject.
- balm: comfort.
- 215 trice: instant.
- 216 dismantle: strip off.
- 217 folds of favour: layers of your affection.
- 218 such . . . monsters it: so unnatural as to
- be monstrous.
- 219 your . . . taint: your former love must be
- discredited.
- 221 a faith . . . miracle: it would take a
- miracle to make me believe this.
- 224 If for: even though.
- want: lack.
- 225 purpose not: without meaning to do.
- 227 vicious blot: vice, moral stain.
- 228 dishonoured: dishonourable.
- 230 for which: for want of which.
- 231 still-soliciting: always looking out for
- something.
- 233 lost: ruined.
- 235 but: no more than.
- tardiness in nature: natural reticence.
- 236 leaves the history unspoke: does not talk
- about.
- 238 What . . . to: i.e. will you have?
- 239 regards: considerations.
- 239 stand . . . point: have nothing to do with
- the real issue.
- 248 respect . . . his love: what he really cares
- about is status and money.
- 254 from . . . neglect: because Cordelia has
- been cruelly neglected by the gods.
- 256 chance: lot.
- 258 watÆrish: Burgundy is a land with many
- streams and rivers ù but FranceÆs adjective also
- serves to accuse the duke of weakness.
- 259 unprized: unappreciated (by her father).
- 260 though unkind: although they have
- behaved unnaturally.
- 261 ôYou are losing this place in order to find
- a better one somewhere else.ö
- 265 benison: blessing.
- 267 The jewels: you, who are the jewels.
- washed eyes: tears in my eyes (and perhaps also
- ôclearer sightö).
- 270 as they are named: for what they are.
- 271 professed bosoms: the love which you
- claim to have.
- 272 within his grace: in favour with him.
- 273 prefer: recommend.
- 278 At FortuneÆs alms: as a charitable
- handout.
- obedience scanted: failed in your obedience (as a
- daughter).
- 278, 279, 280, 281
- Here again ù as in lines 180û86 ù the
- rhymed couplets serve to close the episode and to
- point a moral.
- 279 ôAnd deserve to be shown the same lack
- of affection (by your husband) that you have shown
- (to your father).ö
- 280 pleated: folded up, concealed.
- 281 Who: i.e. Time.
- 283 - 306 A complete change of pace and mood
- is marked by the use of cold, unemotional prose.
- 284, 285 will hence: will go hence.
- 291 grossly: obviously.
- 295 rash: impetuous, hot-headed.
- 295 look: expect.
- long-engraffed condition: deeply-rooted nature.
- 299 unconstant starts: sudden impulses.
- 301 compliment: formality.
- 303 carry . . . bears: continues to act with
- such authority.
- 304 this last surrender: this power he has just
- given up to us.
- offend us: become a problem for us.
- 306 do: i.e. not just think about it.
- iÆthÆheat: right now, strike while the iron is hot.
-
-