King Lear 7
Study Guide Questions for Act III, Scenes V-VII
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)
Revenge, Adoption, Suffering, Hospitality, Fortitude, Compassion
Grammar Questions: (The Information of the Text)
What did Edmund do with the letter his father gave him?
What is King Lear’s mental state like in Act III, Scene VI?
What is King Lear directing Poor Tom/Edgar and the Fool to take part in in the little hovel?
What arrangements did the Earl of Gloucester make on behalf of King Lear?
How did Poor Tom’s/Edgar’s demeanor (outward behavior) change once he was left alone again?
What report did Oswald make to the Duke of Cornwall, Regan, and Goneril?
What did Regan do to the Earl of Gloucester once he was restrained?
What did the Duke of Cornwall do to the Earl of Gloucester?
Who attempted to restrain the Duke’s wickedness and what was the result?
What truth did the Earl of Gloucester learn about his two sons?
What did the servants decide to do as a way of providing some help to the Earl of Gloucester?
Logic Questions: (Interpreting, Comparing/Contrasting, Reasoning)
What did the Duke of Cornwall mean when he said, “I now perceive, it was not altogether your brother’s evil disposition made him seek his death, but a provoking merit, set a-work by a reprovable badness in himself?”
The Duke of Cornwall said to Edmund, “True or false, it hath made thee earl of Gloucester.” What did he mean by this?
Why is King Lear holding a mock-trial in the hovel?
When Edgar said “My tears begin to take his part so much, they’ll mar my counterfeiting” what did he mean?
Why might the Earl of Gloucester have decided to risk his own wellbeing for the sake of King Lear?
Analyze Edgar’s speech at the end of Act III, Scene VI. What do you understand to be the main point of his speech?
What made the Earl of Gloucester so vulnerable to abuse even though he was in his own castle?
Why are Regan and the Duke of Cornall so violently angry with Gloucester?
What irony might we identify in regard to the Earl of Gloucester’s loss of his eyes?
Rhetoric Questions: (The Analysis of Ideas in the Text)
Define the concept of compassion. What are some examples of compassion we see in this reading? What motivates someone to have or feel compassion? Do you think some people can become truly devoid of compassion? What kinds of things tend to foster our ability to have compassion towards other people? What kinds of things tend to harden us against having compassion? When is it right or wrong to show compassion towards someone? Explain your answer thoughtfully.
What does it mean to exercise genuine courage/fortitude? What kinds of behaviors are often mistaken for fortitude? What are two examples of genuine fortitude in this current reading? Why do you think they are good examples? Do you think Edmund has exercised fortitude in this story? Why or why not?
Theological Analysis: (Sola Scriptura)
Read Daniel 3. What are at least three principles related to fortitude/courage that we can learn from this passage of Scripture?
Read Matthew 9:35-38. What does this passage teach us about who, or what kind of people, should be the object of our compassion?