Happy Tuesday! Please take a book and handout from the cart. Fill out yellow card when I give it to you; I will collect all these at one time. Vocab list: these are words you should know for the selections you will be quizzed on. The words above the line are mentioned in the selected passage and the words below the line are used in the multiple choice questions. Friday’s quiz is passage 2. Please add tautology below the line for passage 2. You will always get the passage at least a day in advance to study. Your first multiple choice quiz is on Friday. You will have 4-5 formative quizzes before you summative final.

King Lear By William Shakespeare

Written in Set in England, references France and Burgundy (a region of France). France Burgundy

Key Information Issues of loyalty and betrayal, ageism, madness and truth. Based on a mythological King Leir of Briton, a pre-Christian Celtic king.

Lear Lear is the protagonist. He is an aging king in his mid- eighties. As the play opens, he has made a decision to let his daughters and their husbands take over so he can retire. He is proud, a controlling father, and has a hot temper. He demands his daughters express their love for him yet does not see how their actions don’t show their love.

Lear’s Daughters Regan: middle child, married to Duke of Cornwall. Takes sadistic pleasure in her father’s misery. Goneril: oldest and most devious of sisters, plots various murders. Unhappily married to Duke of Albany Cordelia: Youngest, Loyal to the end, cannot speak falsely and is disinherited at the beginning of the play.

Goneril Aggressive, amoral, jealous Shocked Elizabethan audiences due to her aggressiveness – a manly trait. She challenges Lear’s authority She cuckolds her husband by having an affair with Edmund She acts without her husband’s authority Married to Albany

Regan Just as cruel and aggressive as Goneril Married to Cornwall, who is equally cruel Jealously plots to be with Edmund

Cordelia Youngest child, revered by the “good” characters for her virtues Remains loyal to her father even after being disowned Marries the Prince of France, returns with his armies to help her father. She remains mild and guarded throughout the play, making her motives hard to follow.

Kent / Caius A nobleman (similar in rank to Gloucester) who remains loyal to Lear. Spends most of the play disguised as Caius, a peasant who serves Lear. Extremely blunt and outspoken, which gets him in trouble. Aids Cordelia.

Gloucester An earl (nobleman but lower than a duke) who follows orders. Had a dalliance with a mistress which produced a bastard son. Similarly to Lear, he misjudges his children, favoring the worse of the two. Seems weak and ineffectual early in the play.

Cornwall Cruel, domineering, and violent. Actively plots with Regan and Goneril to persecute Lear and Gloucester. Albany Goneril’s husband Relatively mild mannered and confused by his wife’s behavior. Doesn’t see the evil they do until late into the play. Ultimately stands up to his wife and sister-in-law.

Edmund Bastard son. Soliloquizes a lot about how unfair he thinks life has been to him and how he will change it through betrayal. Plots to usurp the land and title from Edgar. His malice extends to nearly all characters. M = malice, bad

Edgar Gloucester’s legitimate son. Starts gullible, trusting his brother. After Edmund’s betrayal, he disguises himself as “Poor Tom” – a mad beggar living in a hovel. He maintains the charade with his father, Lear, and others before avenging his brother’s treason. G = Good

Fool Lear’s fool. Uses puns and doublespeak to speak truth. Offers wry, insightful criticisms of Lear’s foibles and the events of the play. Lear allows him to criticize because his role as the fool means he’s not taken seriously even when he speaks truth.

Oswald Goneril’s servant/steward Obeys all her commands, even taking them further. Often comes into conflict with Lear’s supporters. Usually portrayed as a mincing fop. Other Characters Knights Servants Gentlemen

The Plan The film version follows the book pretty closely, but deletes some lines here and there. I would follow along the best that you can if you are good at multi-tasking. I did this as I watched and found it helpful. I also took notes as I viewed so I could see that I knew what was happening on my own. It also helped me with any questions I needed answered. After each ACT, I will give a summary of events. I would take good notes. These notes along with your book’s glosses (the sides notes on each page) will help you better understand the text. After each summary, you will have an AP style M/C quiz the next day. You will receive the passage ahead of time to study and annotate. You will have 4-5 FORMATIVE quizzes. Before break, you will have 3 passages to study and annotate for a SUMMATIVE final on the play. If you are ever gone, check the WEBSITE for summaries and study passage.