Senior English 243: Shakespeare Name:

William Shakespeare’s King Lear Reading #3: 2.1-2.3

[Note that all questions use The Folger Shakespeare Library’s edition of the play for line citations.]

2.1

·  What is the “news abroad…the whispered ones” (2.1.6-7) that Curan, Gloucester’s gentleman, reports to Edmund?

·  How does Edmund get Edgar to flee? What does Edmund do to make the "escape" look and sound real?

·  What does Gloucester mean when he tells Edmund, “I’ll work the means to make thee capable” (98-99)?

·  How does Regan confirm Edgar’s villainy by linking him to her own interests, in “’Tis they have put him on the old man’s death” (115). What is she talking about?

·  Why have Regan and Cornwall come to Gloucester’s home in the dark of night?

1.  Edmund’s Plot against Edgar.

·  Summarize the argument and fight that Edmund reports to his father of having had with Edgar—which caused Edgar to flee.

·  Cornwall: “Natures of such deep trust we shall much need” (134). Describe the extent to which Edmund’s plan is working?

2.2

·  How does Kent respond to Oswald’s reply, “I have nothing to do with thee” (2.2.35)? For a clue to why Kent is so angry at Oswald, look ahead to 2.4, lines 32-43 (from “My lord, when at their home / I did commend your Highness’ letters to them” to “…gave me cold looks.”), where he tells the story of how he came to Gloucester’s home. What happened?

·  Note Kent’s great insult to Oswald: “Thou whoreson zed (the letter z), thou unnecessary letter” (65)

·  What are the contents of the letter Kent has from Cordelia? (“I know ‘tis from Cordelia” (181).)

2.  Plainness. (Natural Inclination vs. Cultured Restraint). How does Cornwall respond to Kent’s boast that “’tis my occupation to be plain” (96)? (You might also relate this to Edmund’s nature; or the reason that Cordelia “cannot flatter.”)

3.  Kent in the Stocks.

·  How does Kent reason to Cornwall the he should not put him in the stocks, in “Call not your stocks for me” (139)? OR how does Gloucester reason to Cornwall, “Let me beseech your Grace not to do so” (153)?

·  And how does Regan defend the decision, in “My sister may receive it much more worse” (162)?

2.3

·  Edgar is “proclaimed” (2.3.1) an outlaw and, in order “preserve” (6) himself, will “grime with filth” (9) his face. What else will do to resemble “Bedlam beggars” (14)?

4.  Edgar à Poor Tom o’Bedlam. As Edgar says that becoming Poor Tom is “something yet” (at least something) (21), what does he say will become of “Edgar” (21) at the end of the scene? Comment on the overall significance of this final sentence.

Passages of Interest

Choose ONE line or passage from the reading that interests you for ANY reason and that you want to discuss with a classmate, the teacher, or the entire class. Maybe it’s a passage that you don’t understand. Write it down, along with the page number and the explanation for your choosing it. FILL THE GIVEN LINES BELOW.

PASSAGE:

RESPONSE: