King Lear: Summary and Main Character Analysis

King Lear: Summary and Main Character Analysis | Shakespeare’s Tragic Play

King Lear: Summary and Main Character Analysis | Shakespeare’s Tragic Play

William Shakespeare's King Lear is a famous Shakespearean Tragedy. Often students read for the preparation of their English Literature Exams. This drama is not only important from the literary point of view, but its character analysis, study notes, and important questions and answers are also extremely useful for many competitive exams such as UGC NET and BA English. If you want to understand the characteristics of King Lear Summary and main characters in a simple language, then this article will prove to be a useful English Literature Guide for you.

"King Lear" is a famous tragedy written by William Shakespeare. It was first written around 1606 AD and the play is based on human nature, ego, family relations, power and madness.

This drama is the story of a king who wants to divide the kingdom among his three daughters. But he is unable to differentiate between true and false love. Due to this mistake, his life is filled with sorrow, deception and madness. The play shows the relationship between father-daughter, hunger, betrayal and repentance of power.

King Lear: Main Characters

1. King Lear

An old king who wants to divide his kingdom among his three daughters. He does not understand the true love with his youngest daughter and abandons her.

2. Cordelia

Lear's youngest daughter who is full of truthful and true love. She does not praise falsely and hence the king abandons her.

3. Goneril

Lear's eldest daughter. She is very clever and power greedy. She gets a part of the kingdom from her father by making false things.

4. Regan (Regan)

Lear's second daughter, who is insidious and ruthless like her sister Goneril.

5. Earl of Gloucester

King Lear's loyal courtiers. His story goes on parallel like the story of King Lear.

6. Edgar

True son of Gloucester. He is trapped by his half -brother.

7. Edmund

Gloucester 's illegitimate son. He is very clever and trusted. He needs power, so he conspires against his father and brother.

8. Kent

The loyal servant of King Lear, who serves him in a pseudo -form even after being removed by the king.

9. The Fool

King Lear's familiar who says deep truth through satire and laughter. He is the true companion of the king.

10. Goneril’s Husband: Duke of Albany

Albany initially does not interfere with the decisions of his wife Goneril. He was very calm and humble. But as the drama moves forward, he is distracted by the cruelty and deception of Goneril. Albany gradually shows the qualities of heroism. To the end of the play, he stands against Goneril and favor justice. He is a supporter of truth and sympathizes with Lear and Cordelia.

11. Regan’s Husband: Duke of Cornwall

Cornwall is a cruel, tyrannical and power greedy person. He is ruthless like Regan. He is involved in atrocities like getting Gloucester’s' eyes. Together with Regan, he conspires against his father -in -law King Lear and others. He dies in a fight when his cruelty increases greatly.

12. Cordelia’s Husband: King of France

The king of France is a noble, honest and gentle man. When Cordelia is abandoned by her father, she still supports her. France marries Cordelia because of her true nature and character, not to dowry or state. He takes her to France and later when King Lear is in crisis, she comes to England with the army.

King Lear: Main Story

The play begins with the old King Lear of England. He is now tired of governance and wants his daughters to handle the state. Lear has three daughters - Goneril, Regan and Cordelia.

King Lear decides that the daughter who loves him the most will get the largest part. Goneril and Regan falsely praise. She says that she loves her father very much, but in reality she is selfish. Cordelia is true. She says that she loves her father the same as a daughter should do. Hearing this, Lear gets angry and he removes Cordelia from the kingdom. He divides the whole kingdom into Gonerile and Regan.

A mistake of King Lear begins from here. Cornwal and Albany are the husbands of Lear's elder daughters. Lear now decides that he will live in turn in the palaces of Gonerile and Regan.

Deepening conflict:

In a short time, Lear realizes that Goneril and Regan lied to him. She now considers him a burden in her house. She insults him and removes him from the house with her servants. Lear goes alone, helpless and unhappy, goes into the forest. He becomes crazy and starts wandering in the storm. During this time he regrets his sins committed and the truth of Cordelia is understood.

Another story is going on here. Lear has a loyal courtier named, Gloucester. He has two sons - Edgar (true son) and Edmand (illegitimate son). Edmund cheats his father and declares Edgar as a fugitive. He then cheats the Gloucester and wants to gain power with Regan and Gonerile.

Gloucester helps King Lear. When Regan and Cornwal know this, they remove both his eyes. Gloucester wanders into the forest blindly. At the same time, his son Edgar, who is hidden as a beggar, takes care of his blind father. But he keeps his identity hidden.

Cordelia’s return:

When Cordelia comes to know about her father's condition, she comes to England with an army from France. Her purpose is to save her father and provide justice. King Lear and Cordelia have an emotional union. Lear now realizes his mistake. He apologizes to Cordelia.

There is a war in which the French army loses. Cordelia is taken captive. Edmund, who has now become very powerful, ordered to kill Cordelia secretly.

Tragic end

Edgar now comes out and defeats Edmund in a duality war. Edmund admits before dying that he has murdered Cordelia. But by then it is too late.

Meanwhile, King Lear finds his daughter (Cordelia) dead, his heart breaks. He dies in pain and sorrow with her dead body in his lap. As Goneril and Regan love Edmund also die due to jealousy from each other - one from poison (Regan) and the other from suicide (Goneril). The end of Edmund is also sad.

Finally, good characters like Edgar and Albany survive. They take responsibility for the state immersed in mourning.

Conclusion:

"King Lear" is a deep and heartbreaking tragedy. This drama teaches us that it is very important to identify truth and love. It may look beautiful to appear flattering and lies, but its end is always sad.

King Lear's biggest mistake was that he understood the truth as the truth and turned down the true love. This became the reason for his destruction.

This drama is not only the story of a father and daughters, but it is a portrayal of human weakness, selfishness, remorse and ultimately self -realization.

"King Lear": Important questions and answers

Q 1: What did King Lear ask to his daughters before distributing the kingdom and why?

Answer: King Lear told to his three daughters to tell how much they love him. He wanted to decide to hear who loved him very much and who should be given how much state. It was a kind of examination, but he could not make a difference between true and false love.

Question 2: Why did King Lear punish Cordelia?

Answer: Cordelia expressed his love with truth and did not flatter. Lear felt that she loves him less, so he got angry and punished her and drove her out of the kingdom.

Question 3: How did Goneril and Regan treat King Lear?

Answer: Goneril and Regan first took the kingdom from King Lear by talking falsely, but later insulted him, expelled him from the house and did not give any respect.

Question 4: How was Edmund's character?

Answer: Edmund was clever, ambitious and fraud. He conspired against his father Gloucester and brother Edgar and went to any extent to gain power.

Question 5: What was the tragedy of Gloucester?

Answer: Gloucester came to the talk of his illegitimate son Edmund and expelled the true son Edgar from the house. Later, when he helped Lear, his eyes were removed and he became blind.

Question 6: What was the biggest mistake of King Lear?

Answer: Lear's biggest mistake was that he considered external words and flattery as love, while he turned down true love. That is why he had a sad situation.

Question 7: How was the character of Cordelia?

Answer: Cordelia was a true, honest daughter of King Lear. She never flattered like her two sisters. She served and protected her father at his helplessness till the end.

Question 8: What education does the drama "King Lear" teach us?

Answer: This drama teaches that true love should be recognized. We should be beware of flattery, and should be appreciated on time to our loved ones. The hunger of power and the end of ego will be destroyed.

Question 9: How did Edgar help his father Gloucester?

Answer: Edgar took the form of a beggar and served his blind father Gloucester. He kept his identity hidden and took care of him till the end.

Question 10: What happened to the end between Regan and Goneril?

Answer: Both Regan and Goneril started in love with Edmund and jealous of each other. For this reason, Goneril poisoned Regan and later committed suicide herself.

Question 11: What is the importance of King Lear's madness in the play?

Answer: The madness of King Lear reflects his mental pain and regrets. This shows how his mistake and betrayal of daughters break him from inside.

Question 12: How did Cordelia die?

Answer: Edmund secretly ordered Cordelia to be killed in jail. Later this truth came to light, but by then she had been killed.

Question 13: Who live at the end of the play?

Answer: Finally Edgar and Albany survive. They try to handle the state again.

Question 14: What is the importance of 'Fool' in the drama?

Answer: King Lear has a clown in his court and he is often called ‘fool’. He makes Lear realize his mistakes with satire and logic. He is a symbol of truth. He says the real truth but says it jokingly.

Question 15: What kind of drama is "King Lear"?

Answer: "King Lear" is a tragedy drama. It depicts tragic events through Lear's mistakes, deception, insanity and eventually death.

Finally, "King Lear" drama is not only a powerful Shakespearean tragedy, but it also reflects the complexity of human emotions, power, and family relationships. With the help of "King Lear" Summary, Character Analysis, and Study Notes given in this article, students can make the preparation of their English literature exams more effective. If you want other plays like "Macbeth", "Hamlet", or even similar English Literature Guide, then definitely read our other articles.

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