If you are looking for the beginning of the study for Shakespeare’s “King Lear” then you can go HERE for a brief introduction. At the bottom of the introduction you will find the links to each section of the study guide as it becomes available. If you would like to see the growing list of book studies available for free on this site you can go HERE. Enjoy!
Virtues/Vices/Great Ideas: (Find them in the Text)
Despotism, Confession, Truth, Despair, Justice
Grammar Questions: (The Information of the Text)
What fear did Goneril express concerning Edmund at the beginning of Act V, Scene I?
What did Edgar, in disguise, deliver to the Duke of Albany?
What did Edmund say he had sworn to both Goneril and Regan?
Who won the battle between the French and English forces?
What was King Lear’s attitude and demeanor as he and Cordelia were being led to imprisonment?
What task did Edmund charge the Captain with?
Whom did the Duke of Albany seek to arrest for treason?
Who appeared to confirm the Duke’s charges of treason?
What was the result of the duel between Edmund and Edgar?
How did Edmund behave after the duel?
What became of the Earl of Gloucester?
What became of Goneril and Regan?
What became of Cordelia?
What became of Edmund?
What became of King Lear?
Logic Questions: (Interpreting, Comparing/Contrasting, Reasoning)
Why might Edgar have desired the Duke of Albany to read the letter before he fought the battle instead of after?
Why did Edmund swear his love to both sisters? What was the purpose of so doing?
What did Edmund mean by saying “for my state stands on me to defend, not debate?”
What did Cordelia mean when she told her father, “For thee, oppressed king, am I cast down; myself could else out-frown false fortune’s frown?”
What might account for King Lear’s seemingly positive attitude once he and Cordelia have been captured?
What did Edmund mean when he told the Captain, “Know thou this, that men are as the time is?”
What did Edmund mean when he said to the Duke of Albany, “the best quarrels, in the heat, are cursed by those that feel their sharpness?”
What did Regan mean when she said to Edmund, “Witness the world, that I create thee here, my lord and master?”
What did the Duke of Albany mean when he said his wife, Goneril, was “sub-contracted to this lord?”
What did Edmund mean when he said, “I might well delay by rule of knighthood?” What about the rule knighthood (chivalry) does Edmund think would allow him to delay Edgar’s challenge?
What did Edgar mean when he said, “O, our lives’ sweetness! That we the pain of death would hourly die rather than die at once?”
What caused the Earl of Gloucester’s death?
What did Edmund mean when he said, “I was contracted to them both: all three now marry in an instant?”
Why might Edmund have become more amiable (friendly and full of good will) after the duel with his brother?
What did the Duke of Albany mean when he said, “the weight of this sad time we must obey, speak what we feel, not what we ought to say?”
Rhetoric Questions: (The Analysis of Ideas in the Text)
Regan said “Jesters do oft prove prophets.” How was this true in the story of King Lear? How might this be true even in our own day? What is it about comedy which allows the truth to sometimes be spoken more honestly than in other contexts? How can comedy be used well as a vehicle for telling people the truth? Can you give an example?
Justice is sometimes defined as “giving to each according to what they deserve.” In light of such a definition, do you think justice was ultimately served or denied in Shakespeare’s King Lear? Justify your answer with reference to the text and defend your answer with reason.
This story is a tragedy, which means that the story ends poorly for the protagonist (i.e. King Lear). Enumerate (list) what parts of this story really justify calling it a “tragedy.” In the introduction of this study guide it was said that Greek tragedies often emphasize fate and the impossibility of things turning out differently, but that this story emphasizes the choices of King Lear which could have led to a different ending if he had exercised more prudence. What choices, specifically, did he make which led him to this end? What about the other characters in the story, where did they set themselves on the path to destruction in the story?
Continuing on the theme of tragedy and choice from the previous question, do you think that we can always turn things around by making a better choice in the present (after having made poor choices in the past) or do you think that sometimes our choices in the past irreversibly set us on a course from which there is no turning back? Explain your answer carefully.
Theological Analysis: (Sola Scriptura)
If we think of the whole Bible in terms of classical drama we might ask two questions. Here they are: Who is the main protagonist in the Bible? Is the Bible a Comedy (everything ends well for the protagonist) or a Tragedy (everything ends poorly for the protagonist)? Explain your answer to both questions with reference to the Scriptures.
Read Luke 19:1-10. How might we relate this passage of Scripture to Rhetoric Question 4?