King Lear King Lear Quotes

Here, King Lear demands to know which one of his daughters loves him "most" before he announces the division of his kingdom. When Lear asks "which of you shall we say doth love us the most?" he's operating under the assumption that 1) love is quantifiable and 2) that language is capable of expressing his daughters' love. Yeah, both of these assumptions are dead wrong. Check out "Language and Communication" for more on this.

When King Lear disowns Cordelia, who refuses to say she loves her father the most, he "disclaim[s] all [his] paternal care" and insists that Cordelia is no more to Lear than a "barbarous Scythian" or a man that eats his parents and/or his children ("makes his generation messes to gorge his appetite"). In other words, Lear equates Cordelia's so-called betrayal of her father with a kind of barbarous cannibalism.

According to literary critic Stephen Greenblatt, this is Lear's biggest "folly." Cordelia is the one daughter that actually does love King Lear. Lear's banishment of Cordelia, as we see, sets the play's tragic events in motion.

Now this is interesting. Lear admits that he's angry with Cordelia because he "loved her the most" and was hoping to "set [his] rest on her kind nursery." In other words, Lear was hoping that Cordelia would play mother or nursemaid to him when he retired, which makes Lear more of a child or a baby than a father, don't you think? This is especially apparent when Lear says he's going to spend his retirement "crawl[ing] toward death" (1.1.43). Compare this passage to 1.4. below.

After Goneril and Regan betray Lear (who has given them all his land and power), he's quick to condemn all women as he attempts to blame the troubles of the world on "unkind daughters." What's particularly interesting about this passage is the way Lear compares his daughters to "pelicans." In Shakespeare's day, mother pelicans were thought to have wounded their breasts so their young could feed off their blood. (Ew.)

King Lear's being a bit of a martyr here, as he suggests that he is like a mother pelican who has been sacrificed so his greedy daughters can thrive. Lear is pretty fond of using this kind of imagery—earlier in the play, he compared Cordelia to a man who eats his parents (or children).

History Snack: In the late sixteenth century (just a short time before Shakespeare wrote King Lear), Queen Elizabeth I (who never had any kids) used the image of the pelican in order to portray herself as a kind of loving and self-sacrificing "mother" to her "children" (the subjects of England).

When Goneril boots her father out of her house, Lear complains about the sting of Goneril's rejection. We don't doubt that Lear's emotional pain is real but we do wonder if Goneril isn't right to order her father out of her home. Lear, after all, is a pretty lousy houseguest. He shows up on his daughter's doorstep with a hundred "rowdy knights" who act as though Goneril's pad is bar or a brothel and he, Lear, expects a warm welcome. So, who's right? Goneril or Lear?

Here, King Lear says he wants to divide his kingdom into three parts. But, anyone who's seen the play Henry IV Part 1 and remembers the rebels' plans to divide Britain into three territories knows that this is a big no-no.

History Snack: Although the play is set in ancient Britain, Lear's division of the kingdom would have had some contemporary resonance. Around the time the play was written, King James I of England (a.k.a. King James VI of Scotland) attempted to unite England and Scotland under his rule when he was crowned King of England in 1603 so, the very idea of the division of Britain would have been troubling to Shakespeare's contemporaries.

When Lear announces his decision to divvy up his kingdom among his daughters, he says he's transferring the burdens of kingship and responsibility to "younger strengths" (his daughters and sons-in-law) while Lear, an aging king, "crawl[s] toward death." In this passage, Lear conjures an image of a feeble old man who cannot walk upright and must "crawl" like an infant, which suggests that King Lear's retirement (and old age in general) are infantilizing—leaving one as weak and vulnerable as an infant. Lear's decision to give up his crown to "younger strengths" seems like a pretty poor choice, don't you think?

Because Lear has no sons to inherit his crown after he dies, Lear believes that dividing up his kingdom now (among his daughters and sons-in-law), he will prevent any "future strife" that might result if he dies without an heir. Although Lear says he's going to divide the kingdom into three equal parts, here, he stages a kind of love test (based on who says they love Lear the most) to determine who will get the largest portion of his kingdom. (Check out "Language and Communication" if you want to know more about the nature of this "love test.")

Hmm. If King Lear is so intent on retirement, why in the world does he need one "hundred knights" to follow him around? It seems that Lear wants to retain a lot of power and authority but doesn't want all the hassles and responsibility of being an active ruler.

King Lear can hardly believe his daughter's insolence after she insults him by complaining about his posse of a hundred rowdy knights. (Having enjoyed the power and authority of kingship for so long, Lear isn't used to being treated shabbily by his subjects or his children.) Here, an incredulous Lear asks, "Who is it that can tell me who I am?" This question suggests that Lear doesn't quite know how to define himself now that he's lost all the power that comes with active kingship. In other words, Lear's retirement results in a kind of identity crisis.

The Fool's response is equally interesting. We can read the Fool's answer ("Lear's shadow") in a couple of ways. On the one hand, it could mean that the Fool, who is thought of as Lear's shadow (he follows or shadows Lear around the countryside) is the person who can tell Lear who he is. The Fool, after all, is the only person who ever tells it like it is and he knows Lear pretty well. Alternatively, we can read the line thus: Lear is nothing but a shadow, which suggests that Lear is merely a shadow of his former self. In other words, the Fool is saying that Lear (whose status has changed since retirement) is nothing without his former power and title.

When Goneril reduces Lear's retinue of knights (so, reducing any power Lear had left after he divided his kingdom), Lear responds as though Goneril has emasculated him—he says his "manhood" has been shaken. For Lear, power and masculinity go hand and hand.

After Goneril and Regan betray him, King Lear calls upon the heavens to take his side and send down a punishing storm. As if in answer to his prayer, Lear, and not his daughters, suffers in the ensuing storm when Lear becomes homeless and wanders the heath. Does Lear deserve this?

Lear sees himself as a victim of injustice – his daughters have betrayed him and now he's caught out on the heath during a terrible storm. What's interesting about this passage is the way Lear literally accuses the storm of being his daughters' agent ("servile minister"). For Lear, it seems the whole world is against him.

This is an important moment for King Lear, who has never before contemplated the plight of homelessness. Here, he realizes that he hasn't done enough to solve the homeless problem in his kingdom as he acknowledges that, as king, he had the power and authority to do something about it. This is pretty extraordinary because it suggests that the acts of human beings are the things that prove "the heavens [to be] more just." In other words, there can only be justice in the world when human beings behave justly toward each other.

When King Lear, mourning the death of his beloved daughter, Cordelia, asks "Why should a dog, a horse, a rat, have life?" when Cordelia is dead, he gives voice the question we all ask when a loved one dies: Why?

In the play, Shakespeare refuses to console us with his answer because there simply is no good explanation for why Cordelia is dead while creatures with less to offer the world get to live. In other words, Cordelia's death, like so many others, simply isn't fair and there's absolutely nothing that can be done about it. Lear will "never, never, never, never" see his daughter alive again.

Now this is weird. According to an earlier conversation between Gloucester and Kent, King Lear has already decided how he'll divide his kingdom among his daughters. So, what's the point of Lear staging a love test to determine which woman will get the "largest bounty" (piece of land)? 

We might say there is no point—King Lear just wants his daughters to flatter him. Here, we see Lear isn't really interested in knowing who truly loves him most, he wants his daughters to express their feelings for him in a very public way.

Although Cordelia is clearly Lear's most loving daughter, she refuses to participate in Lear's love test. Instead of professing her love and obedience like her two-faced sisters, Cordelia insists that she "cannot heave [her] heart into [her] mouth." In other words, Cordelia insists that her love for Lear is literally unspeakable. Brain Snack: Shakespeare seems to make a similar point in Sonnet 18, which is all about whether or not the poet can find words to convey how he truly feels about his beloved.

When Lear asks "who is it can tell me who I am?" it is his Fool who responds in an interesting and provocative way. The Fool's answer ("Lear's shadow") can be read in a couple of ways. On the one hand, it could mean the person who can tell Lear who he "is" is Lear's Fool (who is thought of as Lear's "shadow" because he follows or shadows Lear around the countryside).

Alternatively, we can read the line thus: Lear is nothing but a shadow, which suggests that Lear is merely a shadow of his former self now that he's given away all his land. In other words, the Fool is saying that Lear, (whose status has changed since retirement) is nothing without his former power and title. This is pretty ballsy, don't you think?

However we decide to read this passage, one thing is certain—Lear's Fool is one of the few people who ever tell it like it is.

This has got to be one of the most bizarre speeches in the play. Here, King Lear is enraged by his daughter's betrayal of him that he curses her with "sterility" (the inability to produce children). If, however, the gods decide she will have children, Lear says he hopes she experiences a painful labor and has a "thankless child" to make her miserable for the rest of her life. Okay, Lear is clearly upset. But why does he lash out at his daughter's fertility like this?

When Goneril reduces Lear's posse of knights (reducing any power Lear had left after he divided his kingdom), Lear accuses Goneril of "shaking [his] manhood." Without the kind of power and authority Lear once enjoyed as active king and family patriarch, he feels as though he's been stripped of his masculinity. Yowch.