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Gloucester asks the old man to bring some cloth- ing to cover Tom, and he asks Tom to lead him to Dover. Edgar agrees. Specifically, Gloucester asks to be led to the top of the highest cliff.

Act IV, scene ii Goneril and Edmund arrive outside of her palace, and Goneril ex- presses surprise that Albany did not meet them on the way. She informs him that she will likewise take over power from her husband.

She promises to send Oswald with messages. She bids Edmund goodbye with a kiss, strongly hinting that she wants to become his mistress. As Edmund leaves, Albany enters. He harshly criticizes Goneril.

Goneril angrily insults Albany, accusing him of being a coward. Albany retorts by calling her monstrous and condemns the evil that she has done to Lear. Albany demands to know where Edmund was when his father was being blinded. When he hears that it was Edmund who betrayed Gloucester and that Edmund left the house specifically so that Cornwall could punish Gloucester, Albany resolves to take revenge upon Edmund and help Gloucester. Analysis In these scenes, the play moves further and further toward hopeless- ness.

We watch characters who think that matters are improving real- ize that they are only getting worse. Edgar, wandering the plains half naked, friendless, and hunted, thinks the worst has passed, until the world sinks to another level of darkness, when he glimpses his beloved father blinded, crippled, and bleeding from the eye sockets.

Here we have nihilism in its starkest form: the idea that there is no order, no goodness in the universe, only caprice and cruelty. It is unclear why Edgar keeps up his disguise as Poor Tom.

It also makes him unlikely to ask Gloucester his reasons for wanting to go to Dover. Meanwhile, the characters in power, having blinded Gloucester and driven off Lear, are swiftly becoming divided. The motif of betrayal recurs, but this time it is the wicked betraying the wicked. Cornwall has died, and Albany has turned against his wife, Goneril, and her remaining allies, Regan and Edmund. Like Lear, Albany uses animal imagery to describe the faithless daughters.

His words imply that perhaps it will be possible to restore order after all, perhaps the wicked characters will yet suffer for their sins—or so the audience and characters alike can hope. Kent tells the gentleman that Lear, who now wavers unpredictably between sanity and madness, has also arrived safely in Dover.

Lear, how- ever, refuses to see Cordelia because he is ashamed of the way he treated her. The gentleman informs Kent that the armies of both Albany and the late Cornwall are on the march, presumably to fight against the French troops. Act IV, scene iv Cordelia enters, leading her soldiers.

Lear has hidden from her in the cornfields, draping himself in weeds and flowers and singing madly to himself. Cordelia sends one hundred of her soldiers to find Lear and bring him back. The doctor tells her that what Lear most needs is sleep and that there are medicines that can make him sleep. A messenger brings Cordelia the news that the British armies of Cornwall and Albany are marching toward them. Cordelia expected this news, and her army stands ready to fight.

Regan is extremely curious about the letter that Oswald carries from Goneril to Edmund, but Oswald refuses to show it to her. Regan reveals that she has already spoken with Edmund about this possibility; it would be more appropriate for Edmund to get involved with her, now a widow, than with Goneril, with whom such involvement would constitute adultery.

Finally, she promises Oswald a reward if he can find and kill Gloucester. Analysis In these scenes, we see Cordelia for the first time since Lear banished her in Act I, scene i.

The words the gentleman uses to describe Cordelia to Kent seem to present her as a combination idealized female beauty and quasi-religious savior figure. The king of France, her husband, took pity on her grief and allowed the invasion in an effort to help restore Lear to the throne. Her virtue and devotion is manifest in her will- ingness to forgive her father for his awful behavior.

While Lear hides from Cordelia out of shame, she seeks him out of love, crystallizing the contrast between her forgive- ness and his repentance. Meanwhile, Regan and Goneril have begun to become rivals for the affection of Edmund, as their twin ambitions inevitably bring them into conflict.

Edgar pretends to take Gloucester to the cliff, telling him that they are going up steep ground and that they can hear the sea. Finally, he tells Gloucester that they are at the top of the cliff and that looking down from the great height gives him vertigo. He waits quietly nearby as Gloucester prays to the gods to forgive him. Gloucester can no longer bear his suffering and intends to commit suicide.

He falls to the ground, fainting. Edgar wakes Gloucester up. Edgar says that he saw him fall all the way from the cliffs of Dover and that it is a miracle that he is still alive. Clearly, Edgar states, the gods do not want Gloucester to die just yet. Edgar also informs Gloucester that he saw the creature who had been with him at the top of the cliff and that this creature was not a human being but a devil. Lear, wandering across the plain, stumbles upon Edgar and Glouces- ter. Crowned with wild flowers, he is clearly mad.

He babbles to Edgar and Gloucester, speaking both irrationally and with a strange perceptive- ness. Lear pardons Gloucester for this crime, but his thoughts then follow a chain of associations from adultery to copulation to womankind, culminating in a tirade against women and sexuality in general.

Relieved to find him at last, they try to take him into custody to bring him to Cordelia. Oswald comes across Edgar and Gloucester on the plain.

He does not recognize Edgar, but he plans to kill Gloucester and collect the reward from Regan. Edgar adopts yet another persona, imitating the dialect of a peasant from the west of England. He defends Gloucester and kills Os- wald with a cudgel. As he dies, Oswald entrusts Edgar with his letters. Gloucester is disappointed not to have been killed. Edgar reads with interest the letter that Oswald carries to Edmund.

In the letter, Goneril urges Edmund to kill Albany if he gets the opportunity, so that Edmund and Goneril can be together. Edgar is outraged; he decides to keep the letter and show it to Albany when the time is right. Meanwhile, he buries Oswald nearby and leads Gloucester off to temporary safety. She knows his real iden- tity, but he wishes it to remain a secret to everyone else.

Lear, who has been sleeping, is brought in to Cordelia. He only partially recognizes her. Cordelia tells him that she forgives him for banishing her. The battle between France and England rapidly approaches. Shakespeare gets around much of the problem by setting King Lear in a pagan past; despite the fact that the play is full of Christian symbols and allusions, its characters pray only to the gods and never to the Christian God.

Clearly, Edgar wants his father to live. But Lear swiftly moves on to talk of more relevant things. Lear has realized, despite what flatterers have told him and what he himself has been all too willing to believe, that he is as vulnerable to the forces of nature as any human being. Armed with this knowledge, Lear can finally reunite with Corde- lia and express his newfound humility and beg repentance.

Regan expresses jealousy of her sister and beseeches Edmund not to be familiar with her. Abruptly, Goneril and Albany enter with their troops. Albany states that he has heard that the invading French army has been joined by Lear and unnamed others who may have legitimate grievances against the present government.

Despite his sympathy toward Lear and these other dissidents, Albany declares that he intends to fight alongside Edmund, Regan, and Goneril to repel the foreign invasion. Goneril and Regan jealously spar over Edmund, neither willing to leave the other alone with him. The three exit together. Just as Albany begins to leave, Edgar, now disguised as an ordinary peasant, catches up to him.

Edgar tells Albany to read the letter and says that if Albany wins the upcoming battle, he can sound a trumpet and Edgar will provide a champion to defend the claims made in the letter. Edgar vanishes and Edmund returns. Edmund tells Albany that the battle is almost upon them, and Albany leaves.

Alone, Edmund addresses the audience, stating that he has sworn his love to both Regan and Goneril. He debates what he should do, reflecting that choosing either one would anger the other. He decides to put off the decision until after the battle, observing that if Albany survives it, Goneril can take care of killing him herself.

He asserts menacingly that if the British win the battle and he captures Lear and Cordelia, he will show them no mercy. Act V, scene ii The battle begins. Persuaded, Gloucester goes with Edgar. Analysis In these scenes, the battle is quickly commenced and just as quickly concluded. Meanwhile, the tangled web of affection, romance, manipula- tion, power, and betrayal among Goneril, Regan, Albany, and Edmund has finally taken on a clear shape. We learn from Edmund that he has promised himself to both sisters; we do not know whether he is lying to Regan when he states that he has not slept with Goneril.

It is clear now which characters support Lear and Cordelia and which characters are against them. Since all of these characters are, theoretically, fighting on the same side—the Brit- ish—it is unclear what the fate of the captured Lear and Cordelia will be.

Ultimately, the sense that one has in these scenes is of evil turn- ing inward and devouring itself. As long as Lear and Gloucester served as victims, Goneril and Regan were united. Edmund himself has come into his own, taking command of an army and playing the two queens off against each other. O, you are men of stones. Edmund leads in Lear and Cordelia as his prisoners. Cordelia expects to confront Regan and Goneril, but Lear vehemently refuses to do so.

He describes a vividly imagined fantasy, in which he and Cordelia live alone together like birds in a cage, hearing about the outside world but observed by no one. Edmund sends them away, giving the captain who guards them a note with instructions as to what to do with them.

Albany enters accompanied by Goneril and Regan. He praises Edmund for his brave fighting on the British side and orders that he produce Lear and Cordelia. Edmund lies to Albany, claiming that he sent Lear and Cordelia far away because he feared that they would excite the sympathy of the British forces and create a mutiny.

Albany rebukes him for putting himself above his place, but Regan breaks in to declare that she plans to make Edmund her husband. Goneril tells Regan that Edmund will not marry her, but Regan, who is unexpectedly beginning to feel sick, claims Edmund as her husband and lord. Albany intervenes, arresting Edmund on a charge of treason.

Al- bany challenges Edmund to defend himself against the charge in a trial by combat, and he sounds the trumpet to summon his champion. Edgar defeats Edmund, and Albany cries out to Edgar to leave Edmund alive for questioning.

Goneril tries to help the wounded Edmund, but Albany brings out the treacherous letter to show that he knows of her conspiracy against him. Goneril rushes off in desperation. Edgar takes off his helmet and reveals his identity. He reconciles with Albany and tells the company how he disguised himself as a mad beggar and led Gloucester through the countryside. He adds that he revealed himself to his father only as he was preparing to fight Edmund and that Gloucester, torn between joy and grief, died.

A gentleman rushes in carrying a bloody knife. He announces that Goneril has committed suicide. Moreover, she fatally poisoned Regan before she died. The two bodies are carried in and laid out. Kent enters and asks where Lear is. Albany recalls with horror that Lear and Cordelia are still imprisoned and demands from Edmund their whereabouts.

Edmund repents his crimes and determines to do good before his death. He tells the others that he had ordered that Cordelia be hanged and sends a messenger to try to intervene. Lear enters, carrying the dead Cordelia in his arms: the messenger arrived too late. Kent speaks to Lear, but Lear barely recognizes him. A messenger enters and reveals that Edmund has also died.

Albany gives Edgar and Kent their power and titles back, inviting them to rule with him. Kent, feeling himself near death, refuses, but Edgar seems to accept. The few remaining survivors exit sadly as a fu- neral march plays. Analysis This long scene brings the play to its resolution, ending it on a note of relentless depression and gloom. Almost all of the main characters wind up dead; only Albany, Edgar, and Kent walk off the stage at the end, and the aging, unhappy Kent predicts his imminent demise.

Goneril, Regan, Cordelia, and Lear lie dead onstage, and Edmund and Gloucester have passed away offstage. One can argue that these words suggest that, in some sense, order and justice have triumphed over villainy and cruelty, and that the world is a just place after all. Indeed, death seems to be a defin- ing motif for the play, embracing characters indiscriminately. We may feel that the disloyal Goneril and Regan, the treacherous Edmund, the odious Oswald, and the brutal Cornwall richly deserve their deaths.

But, in the last scene, when the audience expects some kind of justice to be doled out, the good characters—Gloucester, Cordelia, Lear—die as well, and their bodies litter the stage alongside the corpses of the wicked. This final, harrowing wave of death raises, yet again, a question that has burned throughout the play: is there any justice in the world?

The world of King Lear is not a Christian cosmos: there is no messiah to give meaning to suffering and no promise of an afterlife. All that King Lear offers is despair. Yet, despite his grief, Lear expires in a flash of utterly misguided hope, thinking that Cordelia is coming back to life.

In a sense, this final, false hope is the most depressing moment of all. Even the cruel Edmund thinks of love in his last moments, a reminder of the warmth of which his bastard birth deprived him. But for him and the two sister queens, as for everyone else in King Lear, love seems to lead only to death.

For Lear, at least, death is a mercy. Where is my lord of Gloucester? Shut up your doors: He is attended with a desperate train; And what they may incense him to, being apt To have his ear abused, wisdom bids fear.

Storm still. Gentleman One minded like the weather, most unquietly. KENT I know you. This night, wherein the cub-drawn bear would couch, The lion and the belly-pinched wolf Keep their fur dry, unbonneted he runs, And bids what will take all. KENT But who is with him? Gentleman None but the fool; who labours to out-jest His heart-struck injuries. Now to you: If on my credit you dare build so far To make your speed to Dover, you shall find Some that will thank you, making just report Of how unnatural and bemadding sorrow The king hath cause to plain.

I am a gentleman of blood and breeding; And, from some knowledge and assurance, offer This office to you. Gentleman I will talk further with you. KENT No, do not. For confirmation that I am much more Than my out-wall, open this purse, and take What it contains. If you shall see Cordelia,— As fear not but you shall,—show her this ring; And she will tell you who your fellow is That yet you do not know. Fie on this storm! I will go seek the king. Gentleman Give me your hand: have you no more to say?

Exeunt severally. You sulphurous and thought-executing fires, Vaunt-couriers to oak-cleaving thunderbolts, Singe my white head! Spit, fire! The cod-piece that will house Before the head has any, The head and he shall louse; So beggars marry many. The man that makes his toe What he his heart should make Shall of a corn cry woe, And turn his sleep to wake. For there was never yet fair woman but she made mouths in a glass. KENT Alas, sir, are you here?

KENT Alack, bare-headed! Come on, my boy: how dost, my boy? I am cold myself. Where is this straw, my fellow? The art of our necessities is strange, That can make vile things precious. Come, your hovel. Fool [Singing] He that has and a little tiny wit— With hey, ho, the wind and the rain,— Must make content with his fortunes fit, For the rain it raineth every day.

Come, bring us to this hovel. This prophecy Merlin shall make; for I live before his time. When I desire their leave that I might pity him, they took from me the use of mine own house; charged me, on pain of their perpetual displeasure, neither to speak of him, entreat for him, nor any way sustain him.

I will seek him, and privily relieve him: go you and maintain talk with the duke, that my charity be not of him perceived: if he ask for me. I am ill, and gone to bed. Though I die for it, as no less is threatened me, the king my old master must be relieved.

There is some strange thing toward, Edmund; pray you, be careful. Exit EDMUND This courtesy, forbid thee, shall the duke Instantly know; and of that letter too: This seems a fair deserving, and must draw me That which my father loses; no less than all: The younger rises when the old doth fall.

KENT Good my lord, enter here. KENT I had rather break mine own. Good my lord, enter. Filial ingratitude! But I will punish home: No, I will weep no more. In such a night To shut me out! Pour on; I will endure. In such a night as this! O Regan, Goneril! Your old kind father, whose frank heart gave all,— O, that way madness lies; let me shun that; No more of that. To the Fool In, boy; go first. You houseless poverty,— Nay, get thee in.

Take physic, pomp; Expose thyself to feel what wretches feel, That thou mayst shake the superflux to them, And show the heavens more just. Poor Tom! KENT Give me thy hand. Come forth. Through the sharp hawthorn blows the cold wind. And art thou come to this? Bless thy five wits! Bless thee from whirlwinds, star-blasting, and taking!

Do poor Tom some charity, whom the foul fiend vexes: there could I have him now,—and there,—and there again, and there. Couldst thou save nothing? Didst thou give them all? Fool Nay, he reserved a blanket, else we had been all shamed.

KENT He hath no daughters, sir. Is it the fashion, that discarded fathers Should have thus little mercy on their flesh? Judicious punishment! Fool This cold night will turn us all to fools and madmen. Still through the hawthorn blows the cold wind: Says suum, mun, ha, no, nonny. Dolphin my boy, my boy, sessa!

Is man no more than this? Consider him well. Thou owest the worm no silk, the beast no hide, the sheep no wool, the cat no perfume. Thou art the thing itself: unaccommodated man is no more but such a poor bare, forked animal as thou art.

Off, off, you lendings! Look, here comes a walking fire. Withold footed thrice the old; He met the night-mare, and her nine-fold; Bid her alight, And her troth plight, And, aroint thee, witch, aroint thee! KENT How fares your grace? Your names? Beware my follower. Peace, Smulkin; peace, thou fiend!

What is the cause of thunder? KENT Good my lord, take his offer; go into the house. What is your study? Storm still His daughters seek his death: ah, that good Kent! Noble philosopher, your company. KENT This way, my lord. KENT Good my lord, soothe him; let him take the fellow. KENT Sirrah, come on; go along with us. This is the letter he spoke of, which approves him an intelligent party to the advantages of France: O heavens!

Seek out where thy father is, that he may be ready for our apprehension. I will piece out the comfort with what addition I can: I will not be long from you. KENT All the power of his wits have given way to his impatience: the gods reward your kindness! Pray, innocent, and beware the foul fiend. Fool Prithee, nuncle, tell me whether a madman be a gentleman or a yeoman? Now, you she foxes! Wantest thou eyes at trial, madam?

Croak not, black angel; I have no food for thee. KENT How do you, sir? Stand you not so amazed: Will you lie down and rest upon the cushions? Bring in the evidence. Sleepest or wakest thou, jolly shepherd? Thy sheep be in the corn; And for one blast of thy minikin mouth, Thy sheep shall take no harm. I here take my oath before this honourable assembly, she kicked the poor king her father.

Fool Come hither, mistress. Is your name Goneril? Fool Cry you mercy, I took you for a joint-stool. Stop her there! Arms, arms, sword, fire! Corruption in the place! KENT O pity! Sir, where is the patience now, That thou so oft have boasted to retain? Avaunt, you curs! Be thy mouth or black or white, Tooth that poisons if it bite; Mastiff, grey-hound, mongrel grim, Hound or spaniel, brach or lym, Or bobtail tike or trundle-tail, Tom will make them weep and wail: For, with throwing thus my head, Dogs leap the hatch, and all are fled.

Do de, de, de. Come, march to wakes and fairs and market-towns. Poor Tom, thy horn is dry. Is there any cause in nature that makes these hard hearts? KENT Now, good my lord, lie here and rest awhile. So, so, so. KENT Here, sir; but trouble him not, his wits are gone. Take up thy master: If thou shouldst dally half an hour, his life, With thine, and all that offer to defend him, Stand in assured loss: take up, take up; And follow me, that will to some provision Give thee quick conduct.

To the Fool Come, help to bear thy master; Thou must not stay behind. Tom, away! Mark the high noises; and thyself bewray, When false opinion, whose wrong thought defiles thee, In thy just proof, repeals and reconciles thee.

Lurk, lurk. Seek out the villain Gloucester. Edmund, keep you our sister company: the revenges we are bound to take upon your traitorous father are not fit for your beholding. Advise the duke, where you are going, to a most festinate preparation: we are bound to the like. Our posts shall be swift and intelligent betwixt us. Farewell, dear sister: farewell, my lord of Gloucester. Exeunt other Servants Though well we may not pass upon his life Without the form of justice, yet our power Shall do a courtesy to our wrath, which men May blame, but not control.

Good my friends, consider You are my guests: do me no foul play, friends. O filthy traitor! What will you do? Let him first answer that. Fellows, hold the chair. O cruel! O you gods! What do you mean? They draw and fight First Servant Nay, then, come on, and take the chance of anger. A peasant stand up thus! Takes a sword, and runs at him behind First Servant O, I am slain! My lord, you have one eye left To see some mischief on him.

Out, vile jelly! Where is thy lustre now? Edmund, enkindle all the sparks of nature, To quit this horrid act. Kind gods, forgive me that, and prosper him! Turn out that eyeless villain; throw this slave Upon the dunghill.

Regan, I bleed apace: Untimely comes this hurt: give me your arm. Third Servant If she live long, And in the end meet the old course of death, Women will all turn monsters. Now, heaven help him! To be worst, The lowest and most dejected thing of fortune, Stands still in esperance, lives not in fear: The lamentable change is from the best; The worst returns to laughter.

Welcome, then, Thou unsubstantial air that I embrace! The wretch that thou hast blown unto the worst Owes nothing to thy blasts.

But who comes here? World, world, O world! But that thy strange mutations make us hate thee, Lie would not yield to age. Old Man Alack, sir, you cannot see your way. Old Man How now! Old Man Tis poor mad Tom. Old Man Madman and beggar too. As flies to wanton boys, are we to the gods. They kill us for their sport. Bad is the trade that must play fool to sorrow, Angering itself and others. Old Man Ay, my lord. Old Man Alack, sir, he is mad. Do as I bid thee, or rather do thy pleasure; Above the rest, be gone.

Aside I cannot daub it further. So, bless thee, master! Let the superfluous and lust-dieted man, That slaves your ordinance, that will not see Because he doth not feel, feel your power quickly; So distribution should undo excess, And each man have enough. Who rules Britain at the end of the play? Quotes Find the quotes you need to support your essay, or refresh your memory of the book by reading these key quotes.

Important Quotes Explained. Quick Quizzes Test your knowledge of King Lear with quizzes about every section, major characters, themes, symbols, and more. Further Study Go further in your study of King Lear with background information, movie adaptations, and links to the best resources around the web. Meanwhile, an elderly nobleman named Gloucester also experiences family problems.

His illegitimate son, Edmund , tricks him into believing that his legitimate son, Edgar, is trying to kill him. Regan and her husband, Cornwall, discover him helping Lear, accuse him of treason, blind him, and turn him out to wander the countryside.

He ends up being led by his disguised son, Edgar, toward the city of Dover, where Lear has also been brought. In Dover, a French army lands as part of an invasion led by Cordelia in an effort to save her father.

Goneril and Edmund conspire to kill Albany.