| Kent 1.1.1-2: ‘I thought the…’ | I thought the King had more affected the Duke of Albany than Cornwall. |
| Gloucester 1.1.3-4: ‘…in the division…’ | …in the division of the kingdom… |
| Gloucester 1.1.8-10: ‘His breeding hath…’ | His breeding hath been at my charge. I have so often blushed to acknowledge him that now I am brazed to it. |
| Kent and Gloucester 1.1.11-12: ‘I cannot conceive…’ | KENT: I cannot conceive you.GLOUCESTER: Sir, this young fellow’s mother could; |
| Gloucester 1.1.21-22: ‘…there was good…’ | …there was good sport at his making, and the whoreson must be acknowledged. |
| Lear 1.1.36-41: ‘Meantime we shall…’ | Meantime we shall express our darker purpose. Give me the map there. Know that we have divided In three our kingdom; and ’tis our fast intent To shake all cares and business from our age, Conferring them on younger strengths, while we Unburdened crawl toward death. |
| Lear 1.1.44-45: ‘…that future strife…’ | …that future strife May be prevented now. |
| Lear 1.1.51-53: ‘Which of you…’ | Which of you shall we say doth love us most, That we our largest bounty may extend Where nature doth with merit challenge. |
| Gonerill 1.1.55-56: ‘Sir, I love…’ | Sir, I love you more than word can wield the matter, Dearer than eyesight, space, and liberty, |
| Cordelia (aside) 1.1.62: ‘What shall Cordelia…’ | What shall Cordelia speak? Love, and be silent. |
| Regan 1.1.71-72: ‘I find she…’ | I find she names my very deed of love; Only she comes too short, |
| Cordelia (aside) 1.1.77-78: ‘I am sure…’ | I am sure my love’s More ponderous than my tongue. |
| Lear and Cordelia 1.1.85-87: ‘…what can you…’ | LEAR: …what can you say to draw A third more opulent than your sisters’? Speak!CORDELIA: Nothing, my lord. |
| Lear and Cordelia 1.1.90-93: ‘Nothing will come…’ | LEAR: Nothing will come of nothing. Speak again.CORDELIA: Unhappy that I am, I cannot heave My heart into my mouth. I love your majesty According to my bond, no more nor less. |
| Cordelia 1.1.99-100: ‘Why have my…’ | Why have my sisters husbands, if they say They love you all? |
| Lear and Cordelia 1.1.106-107: ‘So young, and…’ | LEAR: So young, and so untender?CORDELIA: So young, my lord, and true. |
| Lear 1.1.109-110: ‘For by the…’ | For by the sacred radiance of the sun, The mysteries of Hecat and the night… |
| Lear 1.1.119: ‘…thou my sometime…’ | …thou my sometime daughter. |
| Lear 1.1.122-124: ‘Come not between…’ | Come not between the dragon and his wrath. I loved her most, and thought to set my rest On her kind nursery. |
| Lear 1.1.135-136: ‘Only we shall…’ | Only we shall retain The name and all th’addition to a king; |
| Lear 1.1.139: ‘This coronet part…’ | This coronet part between you. |
| Kent 1.1.145-146: ‘Be Kent unmannerly…’ | Be Kent unmannerly When Lear is mad. |
| Kent 1.1.151: ‘This hideous rashness…’ | This hideous rashness: |
| Kent 1.1.158: ‘See better, Lear…’ | See better, Lear… |
| Kent 1.1.168: ‘I’ll tell thee…’ | I’ll tell thee thou dost evil. |
| Kent 1.1.181: ‘Freedom lives hence…’ | Freedom lives hence and banishment is here. |
| Lear 1.1.197: ‘But now her…’ | But now her price is fallen. |
| Lear 1.1.212: ‘…a wretch whom…’ | …a wretch whom Nature is ashamed Almost t’acknowledge hers. |
| Cordelia 1.1.225-226: ‘If for I…’ | If for I want that glib and oily art To speak and purpose not… |
| Lear 1.1.234-235: ‘Better thou Hadst…’ | Better thou Hadst not been born than not t’have pleased me better. |
| France 1.1.236: ‘Is it but…’ | Is it but this, a tardiness in nature… |
| France 1.1.250-251: ‘Fairest Cordelia, that…’ | Fairest Cordelia, that art most rich, being poor, Most choice, forsaken, and most loved, despised… |
| Gonerill 1.1.288: ‘You see how…’ | You see how full of changes his age is. |
| Regan 1.1.292-293: ”Tis the infirmity…’ | ‘Tis the infirmity of his age. Yet he hath ever but slenderly known himself. |
| Gonerill 1.1.294-295: ‘The best and…’ | The best and soundest of his time hath been but rash. |
| Gonerill 1.1.306: ‘We must do…’ | We must do something, and i’th’heat. |
| Edmund 1.2.1: ‘Thou, Nature, art…’ | Thou, Nature, art my goddess… |
| Edmund 1.2.6: ‘Why bastard? Wherefore…’ | Why bastard? Wherefore base? |
| Edmund 1.2.11: ‘…the lusty stealth…’ | …the lusty stealth of nature… |
| Edmund 1.2.16: ‘Legitimate Edgar, I…’ | Legitimate Edgar, I must have your land. |
| Edmund 1.2.20-21: ‘…Edmund the base…’ | …Edmund the base Shall top the legitimate. |
| Edmund 1.2.22: ‘Now gods stand…’ | Now gods stand up for bastards! |
| Gloucester and Edmund 1.2.31-32: ‘What paper were…’ | GLOUCESTER: What paper were you reading?EDMUND: Nothing, my lord. |
| ‘Edgar’ (written by Edmund) (read by Gloucester) 1.2.49-50: ‘I begin to…’ | I begin to find an idle and fond bondage in the oppression of aged tyranny… |
| Gloucester 1.2.103-104: ‘These late eclipses…’ | These late eclipses in the sun and moon portend no good to us. |
| Gloucester 1.2.106-109: ‘…love cools, friendship…’ | …love cools, friendship falls off, brothers divide. In cities, mutinies; in countries, discord; in palaces, treason; and the bond cracked ‘twixt son and father. |
| Edmund 1.2.121-122: ‘…as if we…’ | …as if we were villains on necessity, fools by heavenly compulsion… |
| Gonerill 1.3.4: ‘By day and…’ | By day and night he wrongs me… |
| Gonerill 1.3.7: ‘His knights grow…’ | His knights grow riotous… |
| Gonerill 1.3.13: ‘Put on what…’ | Put on what weary negligence you please… |
| Gonerill 1.3.20: ‘Old fools are…’ | Old fools are babes again… |
| Kent and Lear 1.4.27-30: ‘…you have that…’ | KENT: …you have that in your countenance which I would fain call master.LEAR: What’s that?KENT: Authority. |
| Third Knight 1.4.72-73: ‘Since my young…’ | Since my young lady’s going into France, sir, the Fool hath much pined away. |
| Lear and Oswald 1.4.77-78: ‘Who am I…’ | LEAR: Who am I, sir?OSWALD: My lady’s father. |
| Fool 1.4.95: ‘Let me hire…’ | (Let me hire him too.) Here’s my coxcomb. |
| Fool and Lear 1.4.129-131: ‘Can you make…’ | FOOL: Can you make no use of nothing, nuncle?LEAR: Why, no, boy. Nothing can be made out of nothing. |
| Lear and Fool 1.4.146-148: ‘Dost thou call…’ | LEAR: Dost thou call me fool, boy?FOOL: All thy other titles thou hast given away; that thou wast born with. |
| Fool 1.4.168-169: ‘…thou madest thy…’ | …thou madest thy daughters thy mothers… |
| Fool 1.4.172-174: ‘…I for sorrow…’ | …I for sorrow sung, That such a king should play bo-peep And go the fools among. |
| Fool 1.4.189: ‘I am better…’ | I am better than thou art now; I am a fool; thou art nothing. |
| Lear 1.4.222-223: ‘Does any here…’ | Does any here know me? This is not Lear. Does Lear walk thus, speak thus? Where are his eyes? |
| Lear and Fool 1.4.226-227: ‘Who can tell…’ | LEAR: Who can tell me who I am?FOOL: Lear’s shadow. |
| Gonerill 1.4.241: ‘…more like a…’ | …more like a tavern or a brothel Than a graced palace. |
| Gonerill 1.4.245: ‘A little to…’ | A little to disquantity your train… |
| Lear 1.4.255-257: ‘Ingratitude, thou marble-hearted…’ | Ingratitude, thou marble-hearted fiend, More hideous when thou showest thee in a child Than the sea-monster! |
| Lear (to Gonerill) 1.4.259: ‘Detested kite, thou…’ | Detested kite, thou liest! |
| Lear 1.4.267: ‘O Lear, Lear…’ | O Lear, Lear, Lear! Beat at this gate that let thy folly in (he strikes his head) And thy dear judgment out! Go, go, my people. |
| Lear 1.4.276-277: ‘Into her womb…’ | Into her womb convey sterility, Dry up in her the organs of increase… |
| Lear 1.4.279-280: ‘If she must…’ | If she must teem, Create her child of spleen… |
| Lear 1.4.285-286: ‘How sharper than…’ | How sharper than a serpent’s tooth it is To have a thankless child! Away, away! |
| Albany and Gonerill 1.4.287: ‘Now gods that…’ | ALBANY: Now gods that we adore, whereof comes this?GONERILL: Never afflict yourself to know more of it… |
| Lear (to Gonerill) 1.4.294: ‘I am ashamed…’ | I am ashamed That thou hast power to shake my manhood thus; |
| Lear 1.4.304-307: ‘…with her nails…’ | …with her nails She’ll flay thy wolfish visage. Thou shalt find That I’ll resume the shape thou dost think I have cast off for ever. |
| Gonerill 1.4.338: ‘This milky gentleness…’ | This milky gentleness and course of yours… |
| Fool and Lear 1.5.41-43: ‘Thou shouldst not…’ | FOOL: Thou shouldst not have been old till thou hadst been wise.LEAR: O let me not be mad, not mad, sweet heaven! |
| Curan and Edmund 2.1.6-11: ‘…You have heard…’ | CURAN: …You have heard of the news abroad – I mean the whispered ones, for they are yet but ear-kissing arguments?EDMUND: Not I. Pray you what are they?CURAN: Have you heard of no likely wars toward ‘twixt the Dukes of Cornwall and Albany? |
| Edmund 2.1.28-29: ‘I hear my…’ | I hear my father coming. Pardon me; In cunning I must draw my sword upon you. |
| Stage directions 2.1: ‘He [Edmund] wounds…’ | He [Edmund] wounds himself in the arm |
| Edmund 2.1.35-37: ‘Here stood he…’ | Here stood he in the dark, his sharp sword out, Mumbling of wicked charms, conjuring the moon To stand auspicious mistress. |
| Edmund 2.1.44-45: ‘But that I…’ | But that I told him the revenging gods ‘Gainst parricides did all the thunder bend, |
| Gloucester 2.1.60-62: ‘That he which…’ | That he which finds him shall deserve our thanks, Bringing the murderous coward to the stake; He that conceals him, death. |
| Gloucester 2.1.79: ‘All ports I’ll…’ | All ports I’ll bar; the villain shall not ‘scape. |
| Regan 2.1.90-91: ‘What, did my…’ | What, did my father’s godson seek your life? He whom my father named? Your Edgar? |
| Regan 2.1.93-94: ‘Was he not…’ | Was he not companion with the riotous knights That tended upon my father? |
| Edmund 2.1.96: ‘Yes, madam, he…’ | Yes, madam, he was of that consort. |
| Regan 2.1.118: ‘Thus out of…’ | Thus out of season, threading dark-eyed night – |
| Oswald and Kent 2.2.5-6: ‘Prithee, if thou…’ | OSWALD: Prithee, if thou lovest me, tell me.KENT: I love thee not. |
| Kent 2.2.13-15: ‘A knave, a…’ | A knave, a rascal, an eater of broken meats, a base, proud, shallow, beggarly, three-suited, hundred-pound, filthy-worsted-stocking knave… |
| Kent 2.2.32-34: ‘Draw, you rascal! …’ | Draw, you rascal! You come with letters against the King, and take Vanity the puppet’s part against the royalty of her father. |
| Kent 2.2.50-52: ‘You cowardly rascal…’ | You cowardly rascal, nature disclaims in thee; a tailor made thee. |
| Kent 2.2.71-73: ‘Such smiling rogues…’ | Such smiling rogues as these, Like rats, oft bite the holy cords atwain, Which are t’ intrinse t’unloose… |
| Cornwall and Kent 2.2.87-88: ‘Why dost thou…’ | CORNWALL: Why dost thou call him knave? What is his fault?KENT: His countenance likes me not. |
| Regan and Kent 2.2.133-136: ‘Till noon? Till…’ | REGAN: Till noon? Till night, my lord, and all night too.KENT: Why, madam, if I were your father’s dog You should not use me so.REGAN: Sir, being his knave, I will. |
| Gloucester 2.2.157-158: ‘The Duke’s to…’ | The Duke’s to blame in this. ‘Twill is ill taken. |
| Kent 2.2.164-166: ‘…I know ’tis…’ | …I know ’tis from Cordelia, Who hath most fortunately been informed Of my obscurèd course… |
| Kent 2.2.171: ‘Fortune, good night; …’ | Fortune, good night; smile once more; turn thy wheel. |
| Edgar 2.3.1: ‘I heard myself…’ | I heard myself proclaimed, |
| Edgar 2.3.7-9: ‘To take the…’ | To take the basest and most poorest shape That ever penury, in contempt of man, Brought near to beast… |
| Edgar 2.3.14: ‘Of Bedlam beggars…’ | Of Bedlam beggars… |
| Edgar 2.3.21: ‘That’s something yet; …’ | That’s something yet; Edgar I nothing am. |
| Lear 2.4.1-2: ”Tis strange that…’ | ‘Tis strange that they should so depart from home And not send back my messengers. |
| Lear and Kent 2.4.20-21: ‘By Jupiter, I…’ | LEAR: By Jupiter, I swear no!KENT: By Juno, I swear ay! |
| Lear 2.4.23-24: ‘They could not…’ | They could not, would not do’t; ’tis worse than murder To do upon respect such violent outrage. |
| Fool 2.4.45: ‘Winter’s not gone…’ | Winter’s not gone yet if the wild geese fly that way. Fathers that wear rags Do make their children blind, But fathers that bear bags Shall see their children kind. |
| Lear 2.4.54-56: ‘O, how this…’ | O, how this mother swells up toward my heart! Hysterica passio, down, thou climbing sorrow! Thy element’s below. Where is this daughter? |
| Lear 2.4.84: ‘Deny to speak…’ | Deny to speak with me? They are sick; they are weary? |
| Lear 2.4.87: ‘Fetch me a…’ | Fetch me a better answer. |
| Lear 2.4.96-97: ‘The King would…’ | The King would speak with Cornwall, the dear father Would with his daughter speak, commands, tends, service. |
| Lear 2.4.99-100: ”Fiery’? The ‘fiery’…’ | ‘Fiery’? The ‘fiery’ Duke? Tell the hot Duke that – No, but not yet! Maybe he is not well. |
| Lear 2.4.113: ‘Or at their…’ | Or at their chamber door I’ll beat the drum Till it cry sleep to death. |
| Regan and Lear 2.4.124-128: ‘I am glad…’ | REGAN: I am glad to see your highness.LEAR: Regan, I think you are. I know what reason I have to think so. If thou shouldst not be glad, I would divorce me from thy mother’s tomb, Sepulchring an adult’ress… |
| Regan 2.4.142-146: ‘O sir, you…’ | O sir, you are old. Nature in you stands on the very verge Of his confine. You should be ruled and led By some discretion that discerns your state Better than you yourself… |
| Lear 2.4.149-151: ‘(he kneels) ‘Dear…’ | (he kneels) ‘Dear daughter, I confess that I am old; Age is unnecessary; on my knees I beg That you’ll vouchsafe me raiment, bed, and food.’ |
| Regan and Lear 2.4.165-6: ‘So you will…’ | REGAN: So you will wish on me when the rash mood is on.LEAR: No, Regan, thou shalt never have my curse. |
| Lear 2.4.171-172: ‘And, in conclusion…’ | And, in conclusion, to oppose the bolt Against my coming in… |
| Lear 2.4.180-181: ‘This is a…’ | This is a slave whose easy-borrowed pride Dwells in the fickle grace of her he follows. |
| Gonerill 2.4.191: ‘All’s not offence…’ | All’s not offence that indiscretion finds… |
| Regan 2.4.196: ‘I pray you…’ | I pray you father, being weak, seem so. |
| Lear 2.4.218: ‘…Thou art a…’ | …Thou art a boil, A plague-sore or embossed carbuncle, In my corrupted blood… |
| Regan 2.4.242: ‘…I entreat you…’ | …I entreat you To bring but five-and-twenty… |
| Lear and Regan 2.4.245-246: ‘I gave you…’ | LEAR: I gave you all – REGAN: And in good time you gave it. |
| Lear 2.4.254-255: ‘Thy fifty yet…’ | Thy fifty yet doth double five-and-twenty, And thou art twice her love. |
| Gonerill and Regan 2.4.257-258: ‘What need you…’ | GONERILL: What need you five-and-twenty, ten or five To follow, in a house where twice so many Have a command to tend you? REGAN: What need one? |
| Lear 2.4.259-262: ‘O, reason not…’ | 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… |
| Lear 2.4.272-273: ‘And let not…’ | 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! |
| Cornwall and Regan 2.4.282-284: ‘Let us withdraw…’ | CORNWALL: Let us withdraw; ’twill be a storm.REGAN: This house is little; the old man and’s people Cannot be well bestowed. |
| Regan 2.4.297-299: ‘O sir, to…’ | O sir, to wilful men The injuries that they themselves procure Must be their schoolmasters. Shut up your doors. |
| Cornwall 2.4.303-304: ‘Shut up your…’ | Shut up your doors, my lord; ’tis a wild night. My Regan counsels well. Come out o’the storm. |
| Gentleman 3.1.15-16: ‘None but the…’ | None but the Fool, who labours to out-jest His heart-struck injuries. |
| Kent 3.1.19-21: ‘…There is division…’ | …There is division…’ |
| Kent 3.1.30-31: ‘But true it…’ | But true it is, from France there comes a power Into this scattered kingdom… |
| Lear 3.2.1-3: ‘Blow, winds, and…’ | Blow, winds, and crack your cheeks! Rage! Blow! You cataracts and hurricanoes, spout Till you have drenched our steeples, drowned the cocks! |
| Lear 3.2.8-9: ‘Crack Nature’s moulds…’ | Crack Nature’s moulds, all germens spill at once That makes ingrateful man! |
| Fool 3.2.12-13: ‘…Here’s a night…’ | …Here’s a night pities neither wise men nor fools. |
| Lear 3.2.19-22: ‘…Here I stand…’ | …Here I stand, your slave, A poor, infirm, weak, and despised old man. But yet I call you servile ministers, That have with two pernicious daughters join’d… |
| Kent 3.2.42-43: ‘…Things that love…’ | …Things that love night Love not such nights as these. |
| Lear 3.2.49-51: ‘Let the great…’ | Let the great gods That keep this dreadful pudder o’er our heads Find out their enemies now… |
| Lear 3.2.58-59: ‘…I am a…’ | …I am a man More sinned against than sinning. |
| Fool 3.2.95-96: ‘This prophecy Merlin…’ | This prophecy Merlin shall make; for I live before his time. |
| Gloucester 3.3.7-8: ‘…There is division…’ | …There is division between the Dukes… |
| Gloucester 3.3.17-18: ‘…There is strange…’ | …There is strange things toward, Edmund. Pray you, be careful. |
| Edmund 3.3.23: ‘The younger rises…’ | The younger rises when the old doth fall. |
| Lear 3.4.12-14: ‘The body’s delicate…’ | The body’s delicate; this tempest in my mind Doth from my senses take all feeling else Save what beats there. – Filial ingratitude! |
| Lear 3.4.17-18: ‘No, I will…’ | No, I will weep no more! In such a night To shut me out! |
| Lear 3.4.21-22: ‘O, that way…’ | O, that way madness lies; let me shun that; No more of that! |
| Lear 3.4.32-36: ‘…O, I have…’ | …O, I have ta’en Too little care of this! Take physic, pomp; Expose thyself to feel what wretches feel, That thou mayst shake the superflux to them And show the heavens more just. |
| Lear 3.4.47-48: ‘Didst thou give…’ | Didst thou give all to thy daughters? And art thou come to this? |
| Kent and Lear 3.4.66-67: ‘He hath no…’ | KENT: He hath no daughters, sir.LEAR: Death, traitor! Nothing could have subdued nature To such a lowness but his unkind daughters. |
| Lear 3.4.71-72: ‘…’Twas this flesh…’ | …’Twas this flesh begot Those pelican daughters. |
| Fool 3.4.75: ‘This cold night…’ | This cold night will turn us all to fools and mad-men. |
| Lear 3.4.99-100: ‘…Is man no…’ | …Is man no more than this? … |
| Lear 3.4.103-105: ‘Thou art the…’ | Thou art the thing itself! Unaccommodated man is no more but such a poor, bare, forked animal as thou art. Off, off, you lendings! Come, unbutton here. (He tears off his clothes) |
| Gloucester 3.4.138-139: ‘Our flesh and…’ | Our flesh and blood, my lord, is grown so vile That it doth hate what gets it. |
| Lear 3.4.146: ‘First let me…’ | First let me talk with this philosopher. (To Edgar) What is the cause of thunder? |
| Cornwall 3.5.16-17: ‘True or false…’ | True or false, it hath made thee Earl of Gloucester… |
| Cornwall 3.5.23-24: ‘I will lay…’ | I will lay trust upon thee, and thou shalt find a dearer father in my love. |
| Fool and Lear 3.6.9-11: ‘Prithee, nuncle, tell…’ | FOOL: Prithee, nuncle, tell me whether a madman be a gentleman or a yeoman.LEAR: A king, a king! |
| Lear 3.6.35-36: ‘I’ll see their…’ | I’ll see their trial first; bring in their evidence. (To Edgar) Thou robed man of justice, take thy place. |
| Fool and Lear 3.6.49-50: ‘Come hither, mistress…’ | FOOL: Come hither, mistress. Is your name Gonerill? LEAR: She cannot deny it. |
| Lear 3.6.75-77: ‘Then let them…’ | Then let them anatomize Regan, see what breeds about her heart. Is there any cause in nature that makes these hard hearts? … |
| Fool 3.6.83: ‘And I’ll go…’ | And I’ll go to bed at noon. |
| Regan and Gonerill 3.7.4-5: ‘Hang him instantly! …’ | REGAN: Hang him instantly!GONERILL: Pluck out his eyes! |
| Regan 3.7.33: ‘Hard, hard! O…’ | Hard, hard! O filthy traitor! |
| Stage directions 3.7: ‘Regan plucks his…’ | Regan plucks his beard |
| Regan 3.7.36: ‘So white, and…’ | So white, and such a traitor! |
| Regan 3.7.70: ‘One side will…’ | One side will mock another. Th’other too! |
| Cornwall 3.7.82-83: ‘…Out, vile jelly! …’ | …Out, vile jelly! Where is thy lustre now? |
| Regan 3.7.87: ‘Thou call’st on…’ | Thou call’st on him that hates thee… |
| Third Servant 3.7.99-101: ‘If she live…’ | If she live long, And in the end meet the old course of death, Women will all turn monsters. |
| Third Servant 3.7.105-106: ‘Go thou. I’ll…’ | Go thou. I’ll fetch some flax and whites of eggs To apply to his bleeding face. Now heaven help him! |
| Edgar 4.1.6: ‘The worst returns…’ | The worst returns to laughter… |
| Stage directions 4.1: ‘Enter Gloucester, led…’ | Enter Gloucester, led by an Old Man |
| Gloucester 4.1.18-19: ‘I have no…’ | I have no way and therefore want no eyes; I stumbled when I saw… |
| Edgar (aside) 4.1.26-27: ‘O gods! Who…’ | O gods! Who is’t can say ‘I am at the worst’? I am worse than e’er I was. |
| Edgar (aside) 4.1.29-30: ‘And worse I…’ | And worse I may be yet. The worst is not, So long as we can say ‘This is the worst’. |
| Gloucester 4.1.32-37: ‘I’the last night’s…’ | I’the last night’s storm I such a fellow saw Which made me think a man a worm. My son Came then into my mind; and yet my mind Was scarce then friends with him. I have heard more since. As flies to wanton boys are we to the gods; They kill us for their sport. |
| Gloucester 4.1.46: ”Tis the time’s…’ | ‘Tis the time’s plague when madmen lead the blind. |
| Gloucester 4.1.66-68: ‘Let the superfluous…’ | Let the superfluous and lust-dieted man That slaves your ordinance, that will not see Because he does not feel, feel your power quickly! |
| Gloucester 4.1.76-78: ‘…From that place…’ | …From that place I shall no leading need. |
| Gonerill 4.2.1-2: ‘Welcome, my lord…’ | Welcome, my lord. I marvel our mild husband Not met us on the way. |
| Oswald 4.2.4-5: ‘I told him…’ | I told him of the army that was landed. He smiled at it… |
| Gonerill 4.2.17-19: ‘I must change…’ | I must change arms at home and give the distaff Into my husband’s hands. This trusty servant Shall pass between us… |
| Stage directions 4.2: ‘(Gonerill) (giving a favour)’ | (Gonerill) (giving a favour) |
| Edmund 4.2.24: ‘Yours in the…’ | Yours in the ranks of death. |
| Gonerill 4.2.26-28: ‘O, the difference…’ | O, the difference of man and man! To thee a woman’s services are due; A fool usurps my bed. |
| Albany 4.2.29-31: ‘O Gonerill, You…’ | O Gonerill, You are not worth the dust which the rude wind Blows in your face… |
| Albany 4.2.32-36: ‘That nature which…’ | That nature which contemns its origin Cannot be bordered certain in itself. She that herself will sliver and disbranch From her material sap perforce must wither And come to deadly use. |
| Albany 4.2.38-40: ‘Wisdom and goodness…’ | Wisdom and goodness to the vile seem vile; Filths savour but themselves. What have you done, Tigers not daughters, what have you performed? |
| Albany 4.2.48-49: ‘Humanity must perforce…’ | Humanity must perforce prey on itself Like monsters of the deep. |
| Gonerill 4.2.50: ‘Milk-livered man!’ | Milk-livered man! |
| Gonerill and Albany 4.2.56-61: ‘France spreads his…’ | GONERILL: France spreads his banners in our noiseless land, With plumed helm thy state begins to threat, Whilst thou, a moral fool, sits still and cries ‘Alack, why does he so?’ALBANY: See thyself, devil! Proper deformity shows not in the fiend So horrible as in woman. |
| Albany 4.2.64: ‘Be-monster not thy…’ | Be-monster not thy feature… |
| Albany and Gonerill 4.2.67: ‘A woman’s shape…’ | ALBANY: A woman’s shape doth shield thee.GONERILL: Marry, your manhood! Mew! |
| Gonerill (aside) 4.2.84-88: ‘One way I…’ | One way I like this well. But being widow, and my Gloucester with her, May all the building in my fancy pluck Upon my hateful life. Another way The news is not so tart. – (Aloud) I’ll read and answer. |
| Albany and Messenger 4.2.91-92: ‘Knows he the…’ | ALBANY: Knows he the wickedness?MESSENGER: Ay, my good lord. ‘Twas he informed against him, |
| Albany 4.2.94-96: ‘Gloucester, I live…’ | Gloucester, I live To thank thee for the love thou show’dst the King And to revenge thine eyes… |
| Kent 4.3.1-2: ‘Why the King…’ | Why the King of France is so suddenly gone back know you no reason? |
| Kent and Gentleman 4.3.7-8: ‘Who hath he…’ | KENT: Who hath he left behind him general?GENTLEMAN: The Marshal of France, Monsieur La Far. |
| Gentleman and Kent 4.3.12-15: ‘And now and…’ | GENTLEMAN: And now and then an ample tear trilled down Her delicate cheek. It seemed she was a queen Over her passion who, most rebel-like, Sought to be king o’er her.KENT: O, then it moved her?GENTLEMAN: Not to a rage… |
| Gentleman 4.3.21-22: ‘What guests were…’ | What guests were in her eyes, which parted thence As pearls from diamonds dropped… |
| Gentleman 4.3.29-30: ‘…There she shook…’ | …There she shook The holy water from her heavenly eyes, |
| Kent 4.3.32-33: ‘It is the…’ | It is the stars, The stars above govern our conditions. |
| Kent 4.3.43-48: ‘A sovereign shame…’ | A sovereign shame so elbows him: his own unkindness That stripped her from his benediction, turned her To foreign casualties, gave her dear rights To his dog-hearted daughters – these things sting His mind so venomously that burning shame Detains him from Cordelia. |
| Cordelia 4.4.1-2: ‘Alack, ’tis he! …’ | Alack, ’tis he! Why, he was met even now As mad as the vexed sea, singing aloud…’ |
| Cordelia 4.4.23-24: ‘…O dear father…’ | …O dear father, It is thy business that I go about. |
| Regan 4.5.9-13: ‘It was great…’ | It was great ignorance, Gloucester’s eyes being out, To let him live. Where he arrives he moves All hearts against us. Edmund, I think, is gone, In pity of his misery, to dispatch His nighted life… |
| Regan 4.5.24: ‘I know your…’ | I know your lady does not love her husband – I am sure of that… |
| Regan 4.5.30-33: ‘My lord is…’ | My lord is dead; Edmund and I have talked, And more convenient is he for my hand Than for your lady’s… |
| Gloucester and Edgar 4.6.3-4: ‘Methinks the ground…’ | GLOUCESTER: Methinks the ground is even.EDGAR: Horrible steep. |
| Edgar 4.6.11-12: ‘…How fearful And…’ | …How fearful And dizzy ’tis to cast one’s eyes so low! |
| Edgar 4.6.25-26: ‘…You are now…’ | …You are now within a foot Of th’extreme verge… |
| Edgar (aside) 4.6.34-35: ‘Why I do…’ | Why I do trifle thus with his despair Is done to cure it. |
| Gloucester 4.6.36-37: ‘(kneeling) O you…’ | (kneeling) O you mighty gods! This world I do renounce… |
| Gloucester 4.6.40: ‘…If Edgar live…’ | …If Edgar live, O bless him! |
| Stage directions 4.6: ‘Gloucester throws himself…’ | Gloucester throws himself forward |
| Gloucester 4.6.48: ‘Away, and let…’ | Away, and let me die. |
| Edgar and Gloucester 4.6.55: ‘Thy life’s a…’ | EDGAR: Thy life’s a miracle. Speak yet again.GLOUCESTER: But have I fallen or no?EDGAR: From the dread summit of this chalky bourn. |
| Gloucester and Edgar 4.6.68-72: ‘A poor unfortunate…’ | GLOUCESTER: A poor unfortunate beggar.EDGAR: As I stood here below methought his eyes Were two full moons; he had a thousand noses, Horns welked and waved like the enridgèd sea. It was some fiend… |
| Gloucester 4.6.75-77: ‘I do remember…’ | I do remember now. Henceforth I’ll bear Affliction till it do cry out itself ‘Enough, enough’, and die… |
| Stage directions 4.6: ‘Enter Lear fantastically…’ | Enter Lear fantastically dressed with wild flowers |
| Lear 4.6.83-84: ‘No, they cannot…’ | No, they cannot touch me for coining. I am the King himself. |
| Lear 4.6.88-90: ‘…Look, look, a…’ | …Look, look, a mouse! – Peace, peace! this piece of toasted cheese will do’t… |
| Gloucester 4.6.95: ‘I know that…’ | I know that voice. |
| Lear 4.6.96: ‘Ha! Gonerill with…’ | Ha! Gonerill with a white beard! They flattered me like a dog and told me I had the white hairs in my beard ere the black ones were there… |
| Lear 4.6.100-105: ‘…When the rain…’ | …When the rain came to wet me once and the wind to make me chatter; when the thunder would not peace at my bidding; there I found ’em, there I smelt ’em out. Go to, they are not men o’their words. They told me I was everything. ‘Tis a lie: I am not ague-proof. |
| Gloucester and Lear 4.6.106-108: ‘The trick of…’ | GLOUCESTER: The trick of that voice I do well remember. Is’t not the King? LEAR: Ay, every inch a king. |
| Lear 4.6.109-110: ‘I pardon that…’ | I pardon that man’s life. What was thy cause? Adultery? Thou shalt not die. Die for adultery? No. |
| Lear 4.6.114-116: ‘Let copulation thrive…’ | Let copulation thrive; for Gloucester’s bastard son Was kinder to his father than my daughters Got ‘tween the lawful sheets. |
| Lear 4.6.124-129: ‘Down from the…’ | Down from the waist they are centaurs, Although women all above; But to the girdle do the gods inherit, Beneath is all the fiends’ – There’s hell, there’s darkness, there is the sulphurous pit – burning, scalding, stench, consumption! |
| Gloucester and Lear 4.6.132-133: ‘O, let me…’ | GLOUCESTER: O, let me kiss that hand!LEAR: Let me wipe it first; it smells of mortality. |
| Lear 4.6.137-138: ‘I remember thine…’ | I remember thine eyes well enough. Dost thou squiny at me? |
| Lear 4.6.151-152: ‘What, art mad? …’ | What, art mad? A man may see how this world goes with no eyes. Look with thine ears. |
| Lear 4.6.154-155: ‘…which is the…’ | …which is the justice, which is the thief? |
| Lear 4.6.159-160: ‘…a dog’s obeyed…’ | …a dog’s obeyed in office. |
| Lear 4.6.171-173: ‘…Get thee glass…’ | …Get thee glass eyes, And like a scurvy politician seem To see the things thou dost not… |
| Lear 4.6.177-179: ‘If thou wilt weep…’ | If thou wilt weep my fortunes, take my eyes. I know thee well enough; thy name is Gloucester… |
| Lear 4.6.183-184: ‘When we are born…’ | When we are born we cry that we are come To this great stage of fools… |
| Lear 4.6.188: ‘Then kill, kill…’ | Then kill, kill, kill, kill, kill, kill! |
| Oswald 4.6.225: ‘A proclaimed prize! …’ | A proclaimed prize! Most happy! That eyeless head of thine was first framed flesh To raise my fortunes. |
| Gonerill (read by Edgar) 4.6.265-266: ‘Then am I…’ | Then am I the prisoner, and his bed my gaol; |
| Gonerill (read by Edgar) 4.6.268-269: ‘Your – wife, so…’ | Your – wife, so I would say – affectionate servant, Gonerill. |
| Edgar 4.6.270: ‘O indistinguished space…’ | O indistinguished space of woman’s will! |
| Cordelia 4.7.15-16: ‘O you kind…’ | O you kind gods, Cure this great breach in his abusèd nature! |
| Cordelia 4.7.36-38: ‘…Mine enemy’s dog…’ | …Mine enemy’s dog, Though he had bit me, should have stood that night Against my fire… |
| Lear 4.7.45-48: ‘You do me…’ | You do me wrong to take me out o’the grave. Thou art a soul in bliss; but I am bound Upon a wheel of fire, that mine own tears Do scald like molten lead. |
| Lear 4.7.53: ‘I am mightily…’ | I am mightily abused… |
| Lear 4.7.60: ‘I am a…” | I am a very foolish fond old man, |
| Lear 4.7.69-70: ‘For, as I…’ | For, as I am a man, I think this lady To be my child Cordelia. |
| Lear and Cordelia 4.7.76-77: ‘You have some…’ | LEAR: You have some cause; they have not. CORDELIA: No cause, no cause. |
| Lear 4.7.77: ‘Do not abuse…’ | Do not abuse me. |
| Lear 4.7.83-84: ‘You must bear…’ | You must bear with me. Pray you now, forget and forgive. I am old and foolish. |
| Gentleman 4.7.90-91: ‘They say Edgar…’ | They say Edgar, his banished son, is with the Earl of Kent in Germany. |
| Regan and Edmund 5.1.9-11: ‘Do you not…’ | REGAN: Do you not love my sister?EDMUND: In honoured love.REGAN: But have you never found my brother’s way To the forfended place? |
| Gonerill (aside) 5.1.18-19: ‘I had rather…’ | I had rather lose the battle than that sister Should loosen him and me. |
| Edmund 5.1.55-59: ‘To both these…’ | To both these sisters have I sworn my love; Each jealous of the other as the stung Are of the adder. Which of them shall I take? Both? One? Or neither? Neither can be enjoyed If both remain alive… |
| Edgar 5.2.6: ‘King Lear hath…’ | King Lear hath lost; he and his daughter ta’en. |
| Edgar 5.2.9-11: ‘What, in ill…’ | What, in ill thoughts again? Men must endure Their going hence even as their coming hither; Ripeness is all. Come on. |
| Cordelia 5.3.4-5: ‘We are not…’ | We are not the first Who with best meaning have incurred the worst |
| Lear 5.3.8-18: ‘No, no, no…’ | No, no, no, no! Come, let’s away to prison. We two alone will sing like birds i’the cage; When thou dost ask me blessing I’ll kneel down And ask of thee forgiveness; so we’ll live, And pray, and sing, and tell old tales, and laugh At gilded butterflies, and hear poor rogues Talk of court news; and we’ll talk with them to – Who loses and who wins, who’s in, who’s out – And take upon’s the mystery of things As if we were God’s spies; and we’ll wear out, In a walled prison, packs and sects of great ones That ebb and flow by the moon. |
| Lear 5.3.23-26: ‘…Wipe thine eyes…’ | …Wipe thine eyes; The good-years shall devour them, flesh and fell, Ere they shall make us weep. We’ll see ’em starved first. Come. |
| Captain 5.3.39-40: ‘I cannot draw…’ | I cannot draw a cart nor eat dried oats; If it be man’s work, I’ll do’t. (Exit) |
| Albany 5.3.60-62: ‘Sir, by your…’ | Sir, by your patience, I hold you but a subject of this war, Not as a brother |
| Regan 5.3.72: ‘Jesters do oft…’ | Jesters do oft prove prophets. |
| Regan 5.3.74-79: ‘Lady, I am…’ | Lady, I am not well; else I should answer From a full-flowing stomach. (To Edmund) General, Take thou my soldiers, prisoners, patrimony, Dispose of them, of me; the walls is thine. Witness the world that I create thee here My lord and master. |
| Albany 5.3.83-85: ‘Stay yet; hear…’ | Stay yet; hear reason. Edmund, I arrest thee On capital treason, and, in thy attaint, (he points to Gonerill) This gilded serpent. |
| Regan and Gonerill 5.3.97-98: ‘Sick, O sick! …’ | REGAN: Sick, O sick!GONERILL (aside): If not, I’ll ne’er trust medicine. |
| Regan and Albany 5.3.105-106: ‘My sickness grows…’ | REGAN: My sickness grows upon me.ALBANY: She is not well. Convey her to my tent. (Exit Regan, supported) |
| Stage directions 5.3: ‘Trumpet answers within…’ | Trumpet answers within. Enter Edgar armed, a trumpet before him |
| Edgar 5.3.119-120: ‘Know, my name…’ | Know, my name is lost, By treason’s tooth bare-gnawn and canker-bit; |
| Albany 5.3.152-153: ‘Shut your mouth…’ | Shut your mouth, dame, Or with this paper shall I stop it… |
| Gonerill 5.3.156-157: ‘Say if I…’ | Say if I do; the laws are mine, not thine. Who can arraign me for’t? |
| Edgar 5.3.168-171: ‘The gods are…’ | The gods are just, and of our pleasant vices Make instruments to plague us: The dark and vicious place where thee he got Cost him his eyes. |
| Edmund 5.3.173: ‘The wheel is…’ | The wheel is come full circle; I am here. |
| Edgar 5.3.186-187: ‘Met I my…’ | Met I my father with his bleeding rings, Their precious stones new lost… |
| Edgar 5.3.194-197: ‘…but his flawed…’ | …but his flawed heart – Alack, too weak the conflict to support – ‘Twixt two extremes of passion, joy and grief, Burst smilingly. |
| Albany 5.3.200-202: ‘If there be…’ | If there be more, more woeful, hold it in; For I am almost ready to dissolve, Hearing of this. |
| Gentleman 5.3.222-223: ”Tis hot; it…’ | ‘Tis hot; it smokes! It came even from the heart of – O, she’s dead! |
| Edmund 5.3.227-228: ‘I was contracted…’ | I was contracted to them both. All three Now marry in an instant. |
| Albany 5.3.228: ‘Produce the bodies…’ | Produce the bodies, be they alive or dead. |
| Kent 5.3.232-233: ‘I am come…’ | I am come To bid my King and master aye good night |
| Stage directions 5.3: ‘Gonerill’s and Regan’s…’ | Gonerill’s and Regan’s bodies are brought out |
| Albany 5.3.240: ‘Even so. Cover…’ | Even so. Cover their faces. |
| Edmund and Albany 5.3.241-246: ‘I pant for…’ | EDMUND: I pant for life; some good I mean to do Despite of mine own nature. Quickly send – Be brief in it – to the castle, for my writ Is on the life of Lear and Cordelia. Nay, send in time!ALBANY: Run, run, O run! |
| Edmund 5.3.250-253: ‘He hath commission…’ | He hath commission from thy wife and me To hang Cordelia in the prison, and To lay the blame upon her own despair, That she did fordid herself. |
| Stage directions 5.3: ‘Enter Lear with…’ | Enter Lear with Cordelia in his arms, followed by Second Officer and others – |
| Lear 5.3.255: ‘Howl, howl, howl! …’ | Howl, howl, howl! O, you are men of stones! |
| Lear and Kent 5.3.257-262: ‘She’s gone for…’ | LEAR: She’s gone for ever. I know when one is dead and when one lives; She’s dead as earth. Lend me a looking-glass; If that her breath will mist or stain the stone, Why then she lives. KENT: Is this the promised end? |
| Lear 5.3.263: ‘This feather stirs…’ | This feather stirs – she lives! … |
| Lear and Second Officer 5.3.267: ‘A plague upon…’ | LEAR: A plague upon you, murderers, traitors all! I might have saved her; now she’s gone for ever. Cordelia, Cordelia, stay a little. Ha! What is’t thou sayest? Her voice was ever soft, Gentle and low – an excellent thing in woman. I killed the slave that was a-hanging thee.SECOND OFFICER: ‘Tis true, my lords; he did. |
| Lear 5.3.279: ‘This is a…’ | This is a dull sight. Are you not Kent? |
| Kent 5.3.287: ‘All’s cheerless, dark…’ | …All’s cheerless, dark, and deadly. |
| Messenger and Albany 5.3.293-294: ‘Edmund is dead…’ | MESSENGER: Edmund is dead, my lord.ALBANY: That’s but a trifle here. |
| Lear 5.3.303-309: ‘And my poor…’ | And my poor fool is hanged! No, no, no life! Why should a dog, a horse, a rat have life, And thou no breath at all? Thou’lt come no more; Never, never, never, never, never. Pray you, undo this button. Thank you, sir. Do you see this? Look on her! Look, her lips! Look there! Look there! (He dies) |
| Kent 5.3.311-313: ‘Vex not his…’ | Vex not his ghost. O, let him past. He hates him That would upon the rack of this touch world Stretch him out longer. |
| Kent 5.3.314-315: ‘The wonder is…’ | The wonder is he hath endured so long. He but usurped his life. |
| Kent 5.3.319-320: ‘I have a…’ | I have a journey, sir, shortly to go. My master calls me, I must not say no. |
| Edgar 5.3.321-324: ‘The weight of…’ | 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. |
| Stage directions 5.3: ‘Exeunt with a…’ | Exeunt with a dead march |
King Lear Quotes
July 16, 2019