1. King Lear
Act Five

2. Act Five Scene I: Key Points
The British forces under Albany and Edmund are preparing for battle against Cordelia and French invaders.
Regan expresses her concern that Edmund might be having a relationship with Goneril. The two begin to argue over Edmund’s love.
Before they leave for a council of war, ‘poor Tom’ gives Albany the letter detailing Goneril and Edmund’s plot to kill him.
Edmund declares that if Lear and Cordelia fall into his power, he will have them executed.

3. Edmund CLOSE TO VICTORY: DEVIOUS:
This scene shows Edmund at the high point of his success. As far as he is aware, Gloucester and Edgar are no longer threats to his success and he has Goneril and Regan competing for his love.
All that stands between him and total victory is the French army. If they are defeated he plans to take total control.
DEVIOUS:
Edmund clearly enjoys being the focus of the two sisters’ attention.
His speech at the end of the scene reveals the depths of his selfishness. He takes pleasure in playing the two sisters off against each other.
He also plans to show no mercy to Lear or Cordelia if he captures them. Edmund does not think twice about using murder as a tool to guarantee his success.

4. Regan
SUSPICIOUS:
Regan betrays her total insecurity about Edmund’s feelings for her in this scene.
She is paranoid that Edmund has slept with Goneril and is desperate to prevent Goneril from having any time alone with Edmund.
She is desperate to believe that he belongs to her and her jealousy only feeds her anger toward her sister.

5. Albany A CRISIS OF CONSCIENCE:
Albany’s horror at the treatment of Gloucester and Lear has clearly had a major impact on him. We learn from Edmund that he is unsure whether he should fight the French.
Albany knows Lear and Cordelia are not to blame and so cannot fight specifically against them. Instead he convinces himself he is fighting against the foreign invader.

6. Goneril
OBSESSIVE:
Goneril’s desire for Edmund has completely overtaken her. She states that she would rather lose the battle to the French than see Regan with Edmund.
While Albany worries about whether their cause is just, Goneril and Regan are only interested in their own power. All that matters to them is that their enemies are crushed and their power secured.
DISTRUSTFUL:
The news of Cornwall’s death shows once again Goneril’s lack of trust in her sister.
She fears that, now a widow, Regan may make a move on Edmund.
The seeds of the sisters’ downfall are being planted.

7. Act Five Scene II: Key Points
The French and British armies march into battle.
Gloucester shelters under a tree near the battlefield while Edgar goes to check on the progress of the battle.
He returns with terrible news: Cordelia and Lear have been defeated and taken prisoner.
Gloucester is filled with despair and longs for death.

8. A KEY MOMENT!
The defeat of Cordelia’s army would appear to indicate the complete victory of the forces of evil and selfishness in the play.
Lear and Cordelia have been captured, and given what we know of Edmund’s intentions, there seems to be little chance for them.
Only Albany’s decency and Edgar’s determination to punish his brother leave any grounds for hope.

9. EDGAR
DETERMINATION:
In spite of everything he has seen and suffered personally, Edgar shows amazing strength, even though Cordelia’s army has been defeated and she and her father taken prisoner.
He refuses to accept his father’s wish to die, and leads him to safety.
Clearly, Edgar intends to take his revenge upon Edmund. The trials he has been put through in the course of the drama have filled him with a stoical determination to accept everything that life brings.

10. Act Five Scene III: Key Points
Lear and Cordelia are brought in as Edmund’s prisoners. Lear declares that he will be happy to spend the rest of his life in prison as long as Cordelia is by his side.
Edmund instructs one of his officers to take them away and hang them.
Albany wants Cordelia and Lear treated well, and is angry because Edmund had them taken away without consulting him.
Regan declares that Edmund is now her husband, the new Duke of Cornwall, and so is Albany’s equal.

11. Act Five Scene III: Key Points
Regan complains of feeling sick and is taken away. We learn later that Goneril has poisoned her so she can have Edmund to herself.
Albany accuses Goneril and Edmund of conspiring to kill him and take over the kingdom. He challenges Edmund to prove his innocence in single combat.
A trumpet will be sounded to call for challengers, and if no one comes forward, Albany will fight Edmund himself.
Edgar, with his face hidden, arrives to answer the challenge. He fights Edmund, mortally wounds him and reveals his true identity.

12. Act Five Scene III: Key Points
Albany produces the treasonous letter and the dying Edmund confesses his guilt.
Goneril, with her dreams of power broken, leaves in despair and stabs herself to death.
Edgar tells his story, revealing that Gloucester died of a broken heart after learning of Lear’s defeat in battle.
Edmund, in what seems a last-minute bid to redeem himself, reveals that he has arranged for Lear and Cordelia to be hanged. Albany sends men to stop the execution but they are too late.

13. Act Five Scene III: Key Points
A devastated Lear enters with the dead Cordelia. He reveals that he killed the hangman but was too late to save her.
He rants and raves before dying of a broken heart, desperately trying to convince himself that his beloved daughter is still alive.
Albany promises to restore order and justice to the kingdom. He declares that Edgar and Kent will serve with him as joint rulers.
Kent, however, refuses this honour. He says that he is not long for this world but will soon follow his master into death.

14. A KEY MOMENT!
The ending of the play leaves most readers filled with a sense of tragedy and loss.
In spite of Albany’s noble intentions to establish just rule, the merciless fate that befalls Lear and Cordelia leaves any thoughts for a bright future feeling hollow.

15. Lear
DEVASTATION:
Edmund’s evil ambitions destroy Lear’s dreams of a blissful end to his life.
The stage direction ‘Enter Lear, with Cordelia dead in his arms’ is considered possibly the most tragic in all drama. The grief that engulfs Lear is overwhelming.
The shock to the king of seeing his daughter hanged is indicated by his desperate wish that she may still live. We can only feel sympathy for the old man as he struggles to accept his daughter’s death.
This final trauma brings a return of Lear’s fierce temper and surprisingly, given everything he has gone through, he summons the energy to kill Cordelia’s murderer.
HAPPY:
At the beginning of this scene, Lear is in a blissful state of happiness. He regards being imprisoned with his daughter as a wonderful prospect.
The only person who exists for him now is Cordelia and to spend the remainder of his life with her is his deepest wish.
DEATH:
Ultimately, the experience of his daughter’s death is too much for Lear.
The king dies having been savagely punished for his foolishness and vanity.
After a journey of extreme suffering, we are left with the sense that the king has been punished far more than he deserved.

16. Edmund CRUEL AND CONFIDENT: REPENTANT?:
Edmund’s cruelty is clear in the way he has Cordelia executed.
In this scene, Edmund is overcome with self-confidence and a sense of victory. He treats Albany as an equal even though he is a Duke and Edmund is technically nothing.
He betrays no fear at fighting a duel to defend his honour, he is confident he can overcome any challenger.
He will pay for this overconfidence with his life.
REPENTANT?:
Once Edmund has been defeated by Edgar, he appears to undergo a change of heart. He confesses to the charges of treachery, he says he is prepared to forgive his killer of that man is of good breeding, he is moved by the news of Gloucester’s death.
Most importantly, he confesses that he ordered the execution of Lear and Cordelia and urges Albany to stop this taking place. Perhaps the thought of meeting his maker forces Edmund to attempt to undo some of the harm he has caused.

17. Albany RESTORER OF LAW AND ORDER: ASSERTIVE:
Albany’s ultimate role is to restore law and order following the chaos that has taken over the kingdom.
Initially he promises to hand back power to King Lear but when Lear dies he decides to rule jointly with Edgar and Kent, promoting a new regime of justice.
His last words include a pledge to begin a rule that will be characterised by honesty and openness.
His promise allows us to see a glimmer of hope, in spite of the awful tragedy we have just witnessed.
ASSERTIVE:
Albany makes a very commanding and powerful impression in this scene. He takes no nonsense from Edmund and immediately asserts his authority when Edmund tries to deceive him.
He puts Goneril in her place when she protests at the idea of Regan marrying Edmund. He knows his wife would gladly see him dead and has no hesitation in arresting her. When his wife attempts to destroy the incriminating letter, Albany threatens to ram it down her throat.