Sean Moran Ms. Junjulas AP Literature and Composition November 13, 2013

 Cornwall tells Goneril to show her husband, Albany, the letter stating that France’s army has set up camp.  Cornwall then orders servants to go find Gloucester who they intend on punishing.  Edmund (Lord of Gloucester) is sent with Goneril so he does not have to see the punishment his father is about to undergo.

 Oswald tells them that Lear has escaped to Dover with the help of Gloucester.  Gloucester enters and Cornwall orders his servants to tie him up.  Cornwall and Regan begin to question and abuse Gloucester, first by pulling his beard, then by blinding one eye.  Cornwall then goes to blind his other eye, but his 1 st Servant stops him.

 Cornwall and 1 st Servant begin to fight.  Cornwall gets wounded, but Regan takes a sword from one of the other servants and kill 1 st Servant.  Cornwall gouges out Gloucester’s other eye.  Regan tells him that Edmund is the one who told them about the letter.  Gloucester curses Edmund and blesses Edgar.

 1 st Servant  2 nd Servant  3 rd Servant

 This quote speaks to the play as a whole and shows how disrespectful Regan and Goneril have been to elders.  In this instance, Regan and Cornwall were disrespecting Gloucester, but it speaks to all the times they have disrespected Lear and how ungrateful they have been towards him.

 This is the first line of the 1 st Servant and it allows the reader to have a full understanding of who he is and what type of person he is.  We see that the servants are brave enough to stand up against their masters and show compassion

 This quote shows the complete disobedience for the law that Cornwall and Regan have.  They are both going to do anything they want no matter what the consequences.  I don’t think they see that actions have consequences.

 Scene 7 is full of betrayal and death.  The1 st servant suffers a painful death, Gloucester is severely and Cornwall is hurt in the process.  Scene 7 is where we see the true personalities of Regan and Cornwall and what they will do to maintain power.

 Shakespeare uses this instance to implement the literary element of irony.  Gloucester is cannot see what is going on around him.  It is not until Cornwall blinds him that he can finally see that Edmund is behind all this and that Edgar is innocent.

 Gloucester discovers the Edmund hates him and that he is evil.  His eyes are finally opened to the truth of what is going on.  Regan reveals that it is Edmund who betrayed Gloucester and told Regan and Cornwall about the letter.

 This part of scene 7 completely plays into the reoccurring idea that the people who are not valued know more than those who are in positions of power.  The servants know that killing Gloucester and going after Lear is the wrong thing to do and they are the only ones who are able to show compassion.  The servants know more than Regan and Cornwall know.

 Gloucester was blind to what was going on before the beating.  After this punishment his eyes were opened and he could finally see who has truly been loyal to him.

 Scene 7 finally tied together the novel and revealed many secrets.  Gloucester was finally made aware of Edmund’s plot and realized that Edgar was truly loyal to him.  Regan, Goneril, and their husbands find out that France has brought an army into their land and they find out Lear is in Dover.