king lear scene 1 analysis

• Lear's plan

  1. Lear announces he will step down as king

  2. Divide his kingdom between his 3 daughters

  3. Ask each daughter to publicly declare their love for him
• Gloucester's sons, Edmund and Edgar, are introduced
• Court gossip

  • The scene opens in the royal palace
  • Two of Lear's closest advisers, the Earls of Gloucester and Kent, discuss the king's decision to divide his kingdom between his three daughters
  • Gloucester has 2 sons, with Edgar the older son as the legitimate heir
  • Gloucester makes a joke about his younger son Edmund
• The lover's test


  • Lear is scanning the map of Britain before handing over his kingdom
  • Lear says he wishes to prevent "future strife" between his son-in-law, and he thinks that "younger strengths" will govern better than he can, now that he has grown old
  • Lear persists in the 'love test' as a way of rewarding the daughter who says she loves him best
  • Goneril tells Lear exactly what he wants to hear
  • Cordelia decides not to participate in this false show, saying she will "love, and be silent"
  • Regan rivals Goneril in exaggerating her feelings for Lear
  • Cordelia says her genuine feelings are of more worth than her sisters' public displays
  • Lear finds Cordelia's honesty "untender" and becomes enraged, depriving her of her inheritance
• Honest Kent

  • Kent courageously challenges the king's "hideous rashness" and speaks up for Cordelia
  • Kent is concerned for Lear because he knows Goneril and Regan are self-interested opportunists
  • Kent is completely honest, telling Lear "Thou dost evil"
  • Kent is banished from the royal court on pain of death
• A rejected daughter

  • The prince of France and Burgundy, two suitors interested in marrying Cordelia, arrive to hear Lear's decision
  • Lear publicly humiliates Cordelia, saying her "price has fallen" as she has no land and no money
  • Burgundy cancels his offer of marriage, but France believes Cordelia "is herself a dowry"
• Plain speaking versus hypocrisy

  • Cordelia makes it clear to her sisters that she is aware of their real nature
  • Cordelia warns her sisters to look after Lear, but also wishes he was well away from them
  • Goneril and Regan tell Cordelia she got what she deserved - nothing
  • Cordelia warns her sisters that their hypocrisy will eventually be revealed
  • Goneril and Regan discuss Lear's true personality, describing his many failings and unpredictable behaviour
  • Goneril and Regan agree to "Hit together" because they fear Lear's reckless judgement
• Gloucester to Kent: '"This knave came something saucily into the world before he was sent for."'
• Lear to his daughters and court: '"To shake all cares and business from our age".'
• Cordelia to Lear: '"I cannot heave/my heart into my mouth".'
• Kent to Lear: '"Let me still remain/The true blank of thine eye".'
• France to Lear: '"A tardiness in nature/which often leaves the history unspoke/that it intends to do".'
• Goneril to Regan: '"The best and soundest of his time hath been but rash".'