Analysis

To help you look at any scene in King Lear and begin to analyse it, it’s important to ask questions about how it's written and why.

Shakespeare’s plays are driven by their characters and every choice that’s made about words, structure and rhythm tells you something about the person, their relationships or their mood in that moment. You should always try and ask yourself, like actors do, why is the character saying what they are saying or doing what they are doing? What is their motive?

Just like Detectives, we need to look for clues to help us answer those questions each time and below you can find some interrogation techniques we use to analyse text, introduced by the actors that use them. 

  • Analysing Edmund’s Language

    The story of Edmund’s plot against his father and his half-brother Edgar reflects many of the themes and ideas that are found in Lear’s story. Edmund and Edgar both have a number of soliloquies in which they speak directly to the audience about their feelings and actions and these soliloquies help us to gain a more rounded picture of them. In this video, RSC actor Paapa Essiedu shares what he looks for in a soliloquy that helps him understand how a character is feeling. The example he is using is from Hamlet, but you can look for the same clues in the soliloquies in King Lear.

    What can you find by looking at the same things in King Lear? Shakespeare gives characters soliloquies for lots of different reasons, but characters are usually open with the audience in these speeches. Have a look at Edmund's Act 1 Scene 2 soliloquy, see if you can notice the things he tells us to look out for:

    • Punctuation
    • Line endings
    • Sounds
    Edmund
    Thou, nature, art my goddess: to thy law
    My services are bound. Wherefore should I
    Stand in the plague of custom and permit
    The curiosity of nations to deprive me
    For that I am some twelve or fourteen moonshines
     Lag of a brother? Why bastard? Wherefore base?
     When my dimensions are as well compact,
     My mind as generous, and my shape as true,
     As honest madam’s issue? Why brand they us
    With base? With baseness? Bastardy? Base, base?
    Who in the lusty stealth of nature take
     More composition and fierce quality
    Than doth within a dull, stale, tire`d bed,
    Go to th’creating a whole tribe of fops
     Got ’tween a sleep and wake? Well then,
    Legitimate Edgar, I must have your land:
    Our father’s love is to the bastard Edmund
    As to th’legitimate — fine word, ‘legitimate’ —
    Well, my legitimate, if this letter speed
     And my invention thrive, Edmund the base
    Shall to th’legitimate. I grow, I prosper:
    Now, gods, stand up for bastards!
    Endure, stand still under.
    Scruples, fussiness.
    Society.
    Months.
    Later than, younger than.
    Illegitimate , low, unworthy, dishonourable.
    Physical proportions.
    Composed.
    Noble.
    Well-proportioned, true to his father's likeness
    A child born to a woman married to the father.
    Needs, require.
    Weak fools.
    Conceived.
    Succeed.
    Take the place of the legitimate son.

    Questions to consider

    What can we learn about Edmund from this soliloquy? Ask yourself:

    • Do the sounds give you a sense of his emotion or lack of it?
    • Which ones stand out?
    • Are there lines or parts of the speech that stand out because of how they sound?

    If you are able to read along, you will also notice the punctuation and where each line ends. This soliloquy is written in verse, like a poem. Ask yourself:

    • Does the punctuation in the text match with Paapa’s choices? Think about where the character is breathing and pausing; how does this make him come across?
    • Does Paapa emphasise the last word of each line in his performance?
    • If you wrote down all those line-ending words, what would you think the soliloquy was about? Does that feel right?

    Using Paapa’s strategies, we’ve started to look at what Edmund's language tells us about him in this Act 1 Scene 2 soliloquy. See if you can complete the grid and finish four points which explain what this speech reveals about the character at this point in the play.

    Point

    Edmund’s use of repetitive sounds suggests he is bitter and angry about the way others see him.

    Evidence

    ‘Why brand they us / With base? With baseness? Bastardy? Base, base?’

    Explanation

    The alliteration of the repeated plosive ‘b’ sound gives a sense of Edmund spitting out these words. The repetition of the word ‘base’ gives emphasis to this word and how important it is to Edmund and how much it has affected him. The rhythm of the lines with the repeated questions also adds to the effect of Edmund questioning why he should be defined by such words.

    Point

    Edmund questions the reasons why he is considered less important than his brother and comes across as frustrated.

    Evidence Select an option

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    Point

    Edmund does not have much respect for his older half-brother, Edgar.

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    What else can I do to explore Edmund’s language?

    • Try applying these same approaches to all of Edmund’s soliloquies to reveal any changes in his language and behaviour. A soliloquy can reveal a character’s inner thoughts and a lot can be learnt about Edmund from looking at these moments of self-reflection. How much of his plot against his father and brother is in place from the start and how much does he make up as he goes along? What does this show you?
    • Take a look at the things he says immediately before and after his soliloquies and compare his soliloquies with those of his brother Edgar. How does Shakespeare suggest differences between them through the language he gives them?
    • Keep a record of the images Edmund uses in his language. Edmund uses nature imagery a lot. Why might this be? Find out more by looking at the Analysing the Imagery section.

  • Analysing King Lear’s Language

    The play is about King Lear’s journey from being a powerful king who inspires loyalty and respect in those around him to a man driven into ‘madness’ through his belief in his daughters’ ingratitude towards him. King Lear has several monologues in the play that help us to understand more about his emotional journey.

    In the next video, Mark Quartley shares some of the things he looks for to help him understand how a character is feeling in a monologue. The example he is using is from The Tempest but you can look for the same clues in King Lear.

    What can you find by looking at the same things in what King Lear says?

    When a character is talking to the audience in a soliloquy, they are usually open and honest in what they say. When a character has a monologue, where other characters are on stage, they may have reasons not to be completely open in what they say.

    Below you can explore King Lear’s speech at the end of Act 2 Scene 2. In this monologue, King Lear is talking to his daughters who have asked him why he needs his followers with him. Lear ends this speech by walking out into the storm in protest, feeling betrayed by both daughters. See if you can notice the things Mark tells us to look out for:

    • Imagery
    • Metre
    • Word choice
    Lear
    O, reason not the need! Our basest beggars
    Are in the poorest thing superfluous:
     Allow not nature more than nature needs,
    Man’s life is cheap as beast’s. Thou art a lady;
    If only to go warm were gorgeous,
     Why, nature needs not what thou gorgeous wear’st,
    Which scarcely keeps thee warm. But for true need —
    You heavens, give me that patience, patience I need!
    You see me here, you gods, a poor old man,
    As full of grief as age, wretched in both.
    If it be you that stirs these daughters’ hearts
    Against their father, fool me not so much
     To bear it tamely: touch me with noble anger,
    And let not women’s weapons, water drops,
    Stain my man’s cheeks! No, you unnatural hags,
    I will have such revenges on you both,
    That all the world shall — I will do such things —
    What they are yet I know not, but they shall be
    The terrors of the earth! You think I’ll weep:
    No, I’ll not weep: I have full cause of weeping,
    (Storm and tempest)
    But this heart shall break into a hundred thousand flaws,
    Or ere I’ll weep. O fool, I shall go mad!
    Poorest, lowest.
    Have more than they absolutely need by having even the most valueless possession.
    If you do not allow.
    If only being beautifully dressed simply meant being warm.
    Don't make me such a fool as.
    Fragments.

    Questions to consider

    • What are the key images that stand out for you in this speech? What visual pictures do they suggest in your mind and how does that help you imagine the mood of this moment in the play?
    • How regular is the rhythm in this speech? Can you find lines in the speech where the normal rhythm is disturbed? What might those disturbances suggest about how King Lear feels?
    • What do you notice about the verbs that King Lear uses in this speech?
    • Can you find examples of alliteration and how do you think that alliteration affects the mood of the speech?

    Using Mark’s strategies we’ve started to look at what the language King Lear uses in this monologue tells us about him at this moment in Act 2 Scene 2. See if you can complete the grid here and come up with four points which explain what this speech reveals about the character at this point in the play.

    Point

    King Lear comes across as overcome with emotion in this speech.

    Evidence

    ‘But for true need — / You heavens, give me that patience, patience I need!’

    Explanation

    The disturbances to the rhythm in how Lear speaks suggest how upset he is. He may be so angry that he cannot put his feelings into words, or he may be starting to lose his language as his emotions take over his reason and he begins to become ‘mad’, or he may be forgetting things as he is made to remember that he is an old man.

    Point

    King Lear uses imagery throughout this speech which compares the natural, unnatural and supernatural, making him seem contemplative.

    Evidence Select an option

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    Point

    The natural imagery, and the storm itself, seems to reflect Lear’s own mind.

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    What else can I do to explore King Lear’s language?

    • Try applying these same strategies to the other monologues King Lear has in the play. Consider how King Lear’s language changes in different moments in the play and what this might reflect about how he feels at those moments, particularly tracking any changes in his rhythm and choice of words and imagery.
    • Take a look at the scene that leads up to this monologue. How do the exchanges between Lear and his daughters lead into this monologue? What difference does it make to consider whether this is a private or public scene – is Lear talking to Goneril and Regan apart from everyone else on stage or are they an audience to the exchange?
    • Investigate different interpretations of King Lear. How and why do the interpretations differ? How would it feel to be cast out by your only remaining children and to be left powerless after a lifetime of kingship and authority? What is Lear dealing with in these moments and is he emotionally and mentally stable?

  • Analysing the Imagery

    As with all Shakespeare’s plays there are lots of types of imagery used in King Lear. It’s a great idea to keep a list of key quotes and imagery used in each act.

    Here are three types of imagery that come up a lot in King Lear:

    EYES AND SEEING IMAGERY

    • Goneril introduces the value of eyesight in her first speech where she flatters her father by telling him he is ‘Dearer than eyesight’. Both the literal and metaphorical value of sight are explored in this play. Later in the first scene, Kent tells Lear to ‘See better’ and Gloucester feels he does, metaphorically, see better once he has literally lost his eyesight, confessing ‘I stumbled when I saw’ (4:1).
    • How many examples of imagery around eyesight and seeing can you find in the play and what do they reveal about the characters who use them?

    NATURAL IMAGERY

    • The word ‘nature’ is a significant word in King Lear and is used 36 times, sometimes with a sense of natural human feelings, sometimes with a sense of the natural world. There is also a lot of natural imagery used, drawing on the weather or animals or human nature. For example, in Act 1 Scene 4, Lear curses Goneril with ‘Blasts and fogs’ and compares her to a wolf for her ‘unnatural’ feelings, which have brought him to ‘hot tears’.
    • Perhaps the most significant use of nature imagery comes with Lear’s experiences in the storm. There is pathetic fallacy in how Shakespeare uses the literal storm to reflect the turmoil in Lear’s mind, and also imagery that connects to the theme of justice and duty and to the imagery of fate and the gods when Lear considers the status of human beings in comparison to each other and the natural world in Act 3 Scene 2.
    • Look at when and how the word ‘nature’ is used and consider what the use of this word tells us about the character who uses it. How many examples of natural imagery can you find in the play and what do they reveal about the character who uses them?

    FATE AND THE GODS IMAGERY

    • King Lear is set in Ancient Britain in a pagan time but many Christian concepts are explored such as love, forgiveness, freedom of will and duty, reflecting the time in which Shakespeare wrote the play and the audiences who would have seen it in performance. There are also a number of references to Roman gods, despite the fact that the historical figure of Lear lived long before the Roman empire.
    • Some characters in the play accept that their lives are ruled by external powers like the gods and the stars while others question such beliefs. Gloucester believes in the gods and comments darkly, ‘As flies to wanton boys are we to th’gods: / They kill us for their sport’ (4:1). Edmund, however, makes fun of people like his father who ‘make guilty of our disasters the sun, the moon and stars, as if we were villains on necessity, fools by heavenly compulsion’. Lear invokes ‘all the operation of the orbs’ when he publicly disowns Cordelia, the ‘dear goddess’ when he curses Goneril, and ‘the great gods’ when he feels betrayed by both his older daughters.
    • Of course, all the characters are being controlled by a power beyond themselves because they are written by an author, but a good writer suggests that his characters could make other choices. Follow a character who shows a belief in fate and the gods such as Lear, Gloucester or Kent. Look at when they mention the gods or the stars and consider how this affects the choices they make at those moments.

  • Analysing the Themes

    As with all Shakespeare’s plays there are lots of themes that appear in King Lear. It’s a great idea to keep a list of key quotes and themes in each act.

    Here are three themes that can be seen in King Lear and are useful to look out for:

    Theme of Age and Youth

    • The play begins with Lear giving age and youth as his reason for the division of the kingdom: ‘’tis our fast intent / To shake all cares and business from our age, / Conferring them on younger strengths while we / Unburdened crawl toward death’ (1:1). Goneril and Regan comment on Lear’s age and how it affects his judgement to be able to rule. Others, including Cordelia and Lear himself, comment on how age should inspire respect. The Fool reminds Lear that age should come with wisdom. In defence of his own actions, Edmund tells the audience ‘The younger rises when the old doth fall’ (3:3). What ideas about age and youth do you think are most interesting in this play?
    • See how many references you can find in the play to age and youth. How do you think these references might be summarised in the last speech of the play: ‘The weight of this sad time we must obey: / Speak what we feel, not what we ought to say. / The oldest hath borne most: we that are young / Shall never see so much nor live so long’ (5:3).

    Theme of Justice and Duty

    • There are many different ideas in this play, expressed through different characters, about what both justice and duty mean. Cordelia sees it as her duty to tell her father the truth about how she feels, while her sisters feel differently with Regan telling her ‘Prescribe not us our duty’ and Goneril saying ‘You have obedience scanted’ (1:1). Kent thinks it is his duty to speak up when he feels Lear is making a mistake whereas Lear feels his subjects’ duty to him as King is never to question him and fails to see any sense of injustice in how his knights behave in Goneril’s house. Edmund feels his duty to his father is superseded by his sense of injustice at how his father treats him compared to his brother. Edgar as ‘Poor Tom’, Gloucester and Lear all comment on the injustices suffered by the poor and the duty of those who are more fortunate to help them. Gloucester summarises this in his line, ‘So distribution should undo excess, / And each man have enough’ (4:2).
    • The words ‘duty’ or ‘duties’ are used 12 times in the play. Why do you think this word is so significant?
    • How does the play make you think about what justice and duty mean and what the differences are between justice and duty? At the end of the play, Edgar or Albany (Edgar in the Folio and Albany in the Quarto) says they should ‘Speak what we feel, not what we ought to say’. What does this line mean for you and how does it reflect the themes of justice and duty in the play?

    Theme of Disguise and Deception

    • Edgar and Kent both take on literal disguises because their intentions have been misunderstood and their lives threatened. Kent is banished on pain of death by King Lear but returns to serve Lear as ‘Caius’. Edgar is hunted as a traitor, after his father believes his brother’s lies, and disguises himself as the ‘Bedlam beggar’ Poor Tom. Edgar too ends up serving the man who threatened his life, in this case his father. Why do you think Kent and Edgar choose to help the men who threatened them – what does this suggest about them? What are the similarities and differences between their stories?
    • There are many examples of deception in the play. Across Act 1 Scene 2 and Act 2 Scene 1, Edmund succeeds in the major deception of convincing his father, the Earl of Gloucester, that his brother Edgar is plotting against Gloucester’s life. Edmund continues to deceive his father and others. Follow Edmund’s story and note who else he deceives. How do you think Edmund achieves success in his deceptions and what advantages do you think he gains from them? Compare Edmund’s deceptions with those carried out by his brother Edgar. Edgar deceives his father into believing he is Poor Tom and that he has fallen from the top of a cliff. How does he achieve this and why does he do it?
    • There are also lots of examples of self-deception in the play. The two old men, Gloucester and King Lear particularly, deceive themselves in misunderstanding their children. What are the similarities and differences between their stories? Why do you think Shakespeare structures this play to include the two stories of the Lear family and the Gloucester family?

Teacher Notes

The following activity will help you explore Lear’s language in more detail, looking at his speeches throughout the play.

Control and Fear (2016)

The activity can be found on page 6 and takes approximately 40 minutes.

You can also print the PEE grids from each of the sections on this page to help students explore the language of central characters and some of the imagery used in more detail.