GONERIL AND REGAN

• There is no disputing that Goneril and Regan operate with co-ordinated cruelty as they abuse and abase their father. In 1.1, they abuse the notion of Lear's old age as a means of justifying their usurpation of his land 'You see how full of changes his age is/tis the infirmity of his age'. Furthermore, when lear sees them holding hands ('will you take her by the hands?) this image on stage represents a co-ordinated assualt on their father.