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Scenes
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Scenes
Scenes at a glance
King Lear has 26 scenes.
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Act I5 items
Act I, Scene 1
Lear announces he is dividing his kingdom among his three daughters based on how much each says she loves him. Goneril and Regan give flattering speeches and get their shares.
Act I, Scene 2
Edmund, the illegitimate son of Gloucester, resents that inheritance laws favor his legitimate brother Edgar. He forges a letter to make Gloucester believe Edgar is plotting again…
Act I, Scene 3
Goneril is already fed up with Lear and his hundred knights, who she says are causing disorder in her house. She instructs her steward Oswald to treat Lear coldly and let the tens…
Act I, Scene 4
Kent, disguised, enters Goneril's household and gets himself hired by Lear as a servant. Lear's Fool appears and begins making pointed jokes about Lear's decision to give away his…
Act I, Scene 5
Lear sends Kent ahead to Regan's with a letter. The Fool continues to needle Lear about his choices, pointing out that Regan will treat him no differently than Goneril has.
Act II4 items
Act II, Scene 1
Edmund tricks Edgar into fleeing Gloucester's castle by pretending Edgar plotted against their father. Edmund then wounds himself to make the story convincing.
Act II, Scene 2
Kent, now disguised as Caius and serving Lear, runs into Oswald outside Gloucester's castle and picks a fight with him.
Act II, Scene 3
Edgar, now a fugitive with a death sentence on his head, decides to disguise himself as Poor Tom, a wandering madman and beggar.
Act II, Scene 4
Lear arrives at Gloucester's castle and finds Kent in the stocks. He refuses to believe Regan and Cornwall put him there, because accepting that would mean accepting how little he…
Act III7 items
Act III, Scene 1
A knight loyal to Lear finds Kent on the stormy heath and they exchange information. Kent learns that Lear is out in the storm with only the Fool, and the knight reports that Lear…
Act III, Scene 2
Lear rages on the open heath as a violent storm mirrors his mental state. He calls on the storm to destroy the world, while the Fool tries to keep him grounded with jokes and warn…
Act III, Scene 3
Back at Gloucester's castle, Gloucester confides in Edmund that he has received a secret letter about a French invasion in support of Lear.
Act III, Scene 4
Lear, Kent, and the Fool reach the hovel on the heath, where they find Edgar disguised as Poor Tom, a mad beggar. Lear is fascinated by Tom and begins to identify with him, seeing…
Act III, Scene 5
Edmund has gone through with his betrayal. He shows Cornwall the letter Gloucester received about the French invasion.
Act III, Scene 6
Lear, Edgar, Kent, and the Fool shelter in a farmhouse near Gloucester's castle. Lear's madness is now full-blown.
Act III, Scene 7
Cornwall orders Gloucester brought to him as a traitor. With Regan and Goneril watching, Cornwall ties Gloucester to a chair and interrogates him about his contact with Lear and t…
Act IV7 items
Act IV, Scene 1
Edgar, still disguised as Poor Tom, encounters his blinded father Gloucester being led by an old tenant. Gloucester does not recognize Edgar.
Act IV, Scene 2
Goneril and Edmund arrive at Albany's castle. Goneril sends Edmund back to Cornwall to help organize the military response to the French invasion.
Act IV, Scene 3
Kent, still in disguise, speaks with a Gentleman near the French camp at Dover. The Gentleman describes Cordelia's reaction when she received Kent's letters about Lear's suffering.
Act IV, Scene 4
Cordelia sends soldiers to find Lear, who has been seen wandering and singing, wearing a crown of weeds and flowers. She calls for doctors to help restore his mind.
Act IV, Scene 5
Regan questions Oswald about the letter Goneril has sent to Edmund. She is clearly jealous and worried that Goneril is pursuing Edmund romantically.
Act IV, Scene 6
Edgar leads his blind father Gloucester to what Gloucester believes is the cliff at Dover. Edgar tricks him into thinking he has survived a fall from a great height, hoping the ex…
Act IV, Scene 7
Cordelia and Kent are reunited, and Lear is brought in after being given medicine and allowed to sleep. When he wakes, he slowly recognizes Cordelia.
Act V3 items
Act V, Scene 1
Edmund and Regan are together before the battle. Albany arrives with Goneril.
Act V, Scene 2
The battle happens offstage. Edgar leaves Gloucester under a tree and goes to fight.
Act V, Scene 3
Edmund brings Lear and Cordelia in as prisoners and secretly orders their execution. Albany confronts Edmund, who is then challenged and fatally wounded by Edgar in disguise.
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