King Lear 4
Study Guide Questions for Act II, Scenes I-II
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)
Appearance vs. Reality, Fortune
Grammar Questions: (The Information of the Text)
What news did Curan refer to as “ear-kissing arguments?”
What did Edmund do in order to further make Edgar look guilty to his father?
What did the Earl of Gloucester, Edmund and Edgar’s father, order should be done concerning Edgar?
What benefit did Edmund receive as a reward for deceiving his own father?
Whom did Regan say must have encouraged Edgar to try to murder his father?
How did Kent behave towards Oswald upon meeting him a second time?
What did the Duke of Cornwall do to Kent because of the way he was behaving?
What was the Earl of Gloucester’s disposition (attitude) towards Kent?
Logic Questions: (Interpreting, Comparing/Contrasting, Reasoning)
Assuming there is any truth in the news that Curan passed on to Edmund, what might be the cause of such a conflict?
Given Edmund’s prior speech about the foolishness of blaming the heavenly bodies for our actions (c.f. Act I, Scene II) why might he tell his father that he came upon Edgar “in the dark…conjuring the moon?”
Why might the Earl of Gloucester have waited for “the noble duke [his] master” to come to him before he would publicly issue the death warrant against Edgar?
Why did Kent abuse Oswald both verbally and with physical threats?
Kent said about Oswald that “a tailor made thee.” What did he mean by that?
Kent said to Oswald, “I’ld drive ye cackling home to Camelot.” Why might Camelot be a fitting reference for the place where Oswald comes from?
What might be inferred from the fact that Gloucester attempts to intercede on Kent’s behalf to the duke of Cornwall?
When Kent says “Nothing almost sees miracles but misery” what does he mean by that?
In the last line of the reading Kent says, “Fortune, good night: smile once more; turn thy wheel!” What is meant by calling fortune a wheel?
Rhetoric Questions: (The Analysis of Ideas in the Text)
Kent verbally abused Oswald (to say the least). Is it ever appropriate to insult another person intentionally? If so, under what conditions or in what situation would it be appropriate to do so? If not, why not?
Theological Analysis: (Sola Scriptura)
Read Psalm 37. What are at least three things this psalm tells us about the wicked? Based on what this Psalm says, which characters in King Lear are behaving like the wicked so far? If Shakespeare’s story follows the pattern of this psalm, what will become of the wicked by the end of this story?
Read Matthew 23. In what manner does Jesus address the Pharisees in this passage? How does his way of speaking to the Pharisees impact your thinking about the Rhetoric question?