King Lear
The aging king of Britain and the
protagonist of the play, Lear is used to enjoying absolute power and to being
flattered, and he does not respond well to being contradicted or challenged. At
the beginning of the play, his values are notably hollow—he prioritizes the
appearance of love over actual devotion and wishes to maintain the power of a
king while unburdening himself of the responsibility. Nevertheless, he inspires
loyalty in subjects such as Gloucester, Kent, Cordelia, and Edgar, all of whom
risk their lives for him.
.
Lear’s youngest daughter, disowned
by her father for refusing to flatter him. Cordelia is held in extremely high
regard by all of the good characters in the play—the king of France marries her
for her virtue alone, overlooking her lack of dowry. She remains loyal to Lear
despite his cruelty toward her, forgives him, and displays a mild and
forbearing temperament even toward her evil sisters, Goneril and Regan. Despite
her obvious virtues, Cordelia’s reticence makes her motivations difficult to
read, as in her refusal to declare her love for her father at the beginning of
the play.
Lear’s ruthless oldest daughter
and the wife of the duke of Albany. Goneril is jealous, treacherous, and
amoral. Shakespeare’s audience would have been particularly shocked at
Goneril’s aggressiveness, a quality that it would not have expected in a female
character. She challenges Lear’s authority, boldly initiates an affair with
Edmund, and wrests military power away from her husband.
Lear’s middle daughter and the
wife of the duke of Cornwall. Regan is as ruthless as Goneril and as aggressive
in all the same ways. In fact, it is difficult to think of any quality that
distinguishes her from her sister. When they are not egging each other on to
further acts of cruelty, they jealously compete for the same man, Edmund.
A
nobleman loyal to King Lear whose rank, earl, is below that of duke. The first
thing we learn about Gloucester is that he is an adulterer, having fathered a
bastard son, Edmund. His fate is in many ways parallel to that of Lear: he
misjudges which of his children to trust. He appears weak and ineffectual in
the early acts, when he is unable to prevent Lear from being turned out of his
own house, but he later demonstrates that he is also capable of great bravery.
Gloucester’s
older, legitimate son. Edgar plays many different roles, starting out as a
gullible fool easily tricked by his brother, then assuming a disguise as a mad
beggar to evade his father’s men, then carrying his impersonation further to
aid Lear and Gloucester, and finally appearing as an armored champion to avenge
his brother’s treason. Edgar’s propensity for disguises and impersonations
makes it difficult to characterize him effectively.
Edmund
Gloucester’s younger,
illegitimate son. Edmund resents his status as a bastard and schemes to usurp
Gloucester’s title and possessions from Edgar. He is a formidable character,
succeeding in almost all of his schemes and wreaking destruction upon virtually
all of the other characters.
Kent
A
nobleman of the same rank as Gloucester who is loyal to King Lear. Kent spends
most of the play disguised as a peasant, calling himself “Caius,” so that he
can continue to serve Lear even after Lear banishes him. He is extremely loyal,
but he gets himself into trouble throughout the play by being extremely blunt
and outspoken.
The
husband of Lear’s daughter Goneril. Albany is good at heart, and he eventually
denounces and opposes the cruelty of Goneril, Regan, and Cornwall. Yet he is
indecisive and lacks foresight, realizing the evil of his allies quite late in
the play.
The
husband of Lear’s daughter Regan. Unlike Albany, Cornwall is domineering,
cruel, and violent, and he works with his wife and sister-in-law Goneril to
persecute Lear and Gloucester.
Lear’s
jester, who uses double-talk and seemingly frivolous songs to give Lear
important advice.
The
steward, or chief servant, in Goneril’s house. Oswald obeys his mistress’s
commands and helps her in her conspiracies.
No comments:
Post a Comment