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    King Lear decides to divide his kingdom between his three daughters, but is betrayed by two of them. He descends into madness on the heath during a storm as his family tears itself apart through deception, jealousy, and murder. In the end, all of Lear's children die tragic deaths along with the Earl of Gloucester and his sons due to the chaos unleashed by Lear's initial poor judgment in dividing his kingdom.

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    Synopsis

    Uploaded by

    api-281313587
    389 views1 page
    King Lear decides to divide his kingdom between his three daughters, but is betrayed by two of them. He descends into madness on the heath during a storm as his family tears itself apart through deception, jealousy, and murder. In the end, all of Lear's children die tragic deaths along with the Earl of Gloucester and his sons due to the chaos unleashed by Lear's initial poor judgment in dividing his kingdom.

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    King Lear decides to divide his kingdom between his three daughters, but is betrayed by two of them. He descends into madness on the heath during a storm as his family tears itself apart through deception, jealousy, and murder. In the end, all of Lear's children die tragic deaths along with the Earl of Gloucester and his sons due to the chaos unleashed by Lear's initial poor judgment in dividing his kingdom.

    Copyright:

    © All Rights Reserved
    Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online from Scribd
    Download as docx, pdf, or txt
    389 views1 page

    Synopsis

    Uploaded by

    api-281313587
    King Lear decides to divide his kingdom between his three daughters, but is betrayed by two of them. He descends into madness on the heath during a storm as his family tears itself apart through deception, jealousy, and murder. In the end, all of Lear's children die tragic deaths along with the Earl of Gloucester and his sons due to the chaos unleashed by Lear's initial poor judgment in dividing his kingdom.

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    © All Rights Reserved
    Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online from Scribd
    Download as docx, pdf, or txt
    of 1

    Shakespeares King Lear: Synopsis

    KING LEAR by William Shakespeare


    Lear, King of Britain decides to give up his throne and divide his Kingdom between his three daughters
    Goneril, Regan and Cordelia. Lear tests his daughters by asking them how much they love him.
    Cordelia refuses to answer him and so she is given nothing and is married to the King of France without
    a dowry. The Earl of Kent is banished by Lear for daring to defend Cordelia. The two elder daughters,
    Goneril and Regan, and their husbands inherit the Kingdom.
    The Earl of Gloucester, who is Lears friend, is deceived by his illegitimate son Edmund who convinces
    him that his legitimate son Edgar is plotting against him (because Edmund wants to get his hands on
    Edgars land). Gloucester believes this and Edgar is forced to go into hiding to save his life.
    Lear goes to live with his oldest daughter Goneril, now that he is no longer King. She is furious with the
    riotous behaviour of Lear and his retinue. Outraged by this treatment, Lear angrily leaves and goes to
    stay with his other daughter Regan. Regan and her husband treat Lear in the same way and, backed
    up by Goneril, they try to get Lear to give up his kingly retinue.
    In a rage he goes out into the stormy night, accompanied by his Fool and by Kent, who has made it
    back to Lear in disguise as a servant. On the heath, they meet Edgar, who is also disguised, as a
    beggar called Poor Tom.
    Meanwhile, Gloucester has found out how Lear has been treated and he is very upset about it. He tells
    Edmund that he is going to help Lear, but Edmund then tells this to Regan and her husband.
    Gloucester is captured, and Regan and her husband punish him as a traitor by making him blind.
    Regans husband is killed by a servant because of what he has done to Gloucester.
    Lear is taken secretly to Dover by Kent, where Cordelia has landed with the French Army. The blind
    Gloucester meets, but does not recognise Edgar, who leads him to Dover. In despair, Gloucester wants
    to end his life and asks Edgar to take him to a cliff so he can jump off to his death. Edgar saves his
    fathers life by only pretending they are on a cliff. Gloucester later dies of grief when Edgar reveals his
    true identity. Lear and Cordelia meet and Lear comes to realise he was wrong to treat Cordelia the way
    he did. He also begins to understand the suffering of the poor in his land, after suffering in the storm.
    There is a battle between Cordelias army and the army of Goneril and Regan. During the battle Lear
    and Cordelia are captured by enemy forces. Meanwhile, both Goneril and Regan have fallen in love
    with Edmund and in jealousy Goneril poisons Regan and then commits suicide. Edmund is revealed as
    a traitor and wounded by Edgar in a swordfight. Before dying, Edmund reveals that he has ordered the
    deaths of Lear and Cordelia. Lear appears with the body of his dead daughter Cordelia who has been
    hanged. He is overcome by grief and dies of a broken heart.

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