King Lear – Act 3

Act 3 Scene 1
What happens?
Kent and a Gentleman meet. The storm is still raging. Kent tells the gentleman three
things:
- the King is out in the storm with only his Fool for company
- Albany and Cornwall are feuding – civil strife
- the King of France has sent troops to England to take advantage of the disorder.
Kent instructs the gentleman to go quickly to Dover, and when there, to make
known the treatment that Lear has suffered. Kent gives the messenger a ring for
delivery to Cordelia. This signet jewellery will disclose Kent's identity to Cordelia
so she knows she can trust him. Kent leaves to search for Lear.
 Act 3 Scene 2 – what happens?
We are presented with an image of Lear on the heath, his despair and
rage clearly equalling the fury of the storm. The king's appearance,
reflecting the turmoil of a familial tragedy, is as ravaged as the natural
landscape under the assault of the storm. It is clear from the description
that the storm is fierce, but so too is Lear's grief.
 Lear’s descent into madness
Lear’s speech How does Shakespeare construct meaning through
language?

“Blow, winds, and crack your cheeks!”

“Strike flat the thick rotundity o’th’world,/Crack nature’s
moulds”

“Here I stand your slave/A poor, infirm, weak, and

despised old man

Let the great gods/That keep this dreadful pudder o’er

our heads/Find out their enemies now.

“I will say nothing”

“My wits begin to turn”
“Come on, my boy. Art cold? . . . I have one part in my
heart/That’s sorry for thee.”
Lear
“I am a man more sinned against than sinning”
Is he?

Argument
Argument
s
s
supporting
supporting
Lear as
Lear as
sinned
sinner:
against:
The Fool’s prophecy
 The Fool’s prophecy

The Fool's metatheatrical performance directly addresses the

audience by breaking the fourth wall and indicates that the Fool
is significant beyond the realm of the play.
Presents chaos and upheaval of the natural order, before
delivering a utopian view of the world that will probably never
happen.
The Fool’s claim that Merlin will make this same prophecy in the
future also suggests that even in the future there will still be a
Britain where people, seeing chaos, will prophesise its doom.
 Act 3 Scene 3 – what happens?
At Gloucester's castle, Gloucester
complains to Edmond about how the
king was being treated and how he
was kicked out of his own house. As
Edmond encourages his father to talk, We see another side of Gloucester
Gloucester tells him he has received a here: In Act I, it was easy to dismiss
letter informing him French armed Gloucester as a silly old man who was The audience would have watched
forces have landed in England. Once blinded by his misjudgement; but in Edmond’s duplicity in horror, while
his father leaves and Edmond is alone this scene, Gloucester seems worthy Gloucester is oblivious to it.
on the stage, he announces he'll take of the king's allegiance. Gloucester Gloucester's figurative blindness
this news directly to Cornwall. proves that he is willing to sacrifice foreshadows horrific events to come.
Edmund plans to speed up his his own life for the king by
inheritance by betraying his father. He disobeying Regan and Cornwall.
will tell Cornwall that his father is
going to see Lear, which is forbidden.
Edmond aims to be rewarded by
receiving all of Gloucester's lands.
Act 3 scene 3 – significant quotes
Quote: Meaning:
“I like not this unnatural dealing” (Gloucester)

“if I die for it – as no less is threatened me – the king

my old master must be relieved.” (Gloucester)
“The younger rises when the old doth fall.” (Edmond)
Act 3 Scene 4 – what happens?
• Much of this scene focuses on Lear's mental disintegration. Once again,
Lear deals with his personal tragedy in a variety of ways. For the first
time, Lear focuses his attention on others' lives, those who are as
wretched as the king himself:
• These words are regretful, remorseful, empathetic, and compassionate for
the poor, a population that Lear has not noticed before. Lear recognises
the parallels between their lives and his current situation. In a real sense,
his pity for the poor is also a reflection of the pity he feels for his own
situation. He finally feels compassion for the poor, only because he has
become one of them.
• With this extension of pity comes a new social awareness. Lear realises
that he has done nothing to aid the poor people in his kingdom. Instead,
he has contributed their demise.
Act 3 Scene 4 – what happens?
• Lear acknowledges that justice comes from man and
heaven. Lear is the anointed king, God's representative,
and thus, shares the responsibility for dispensing justice
on earth. He recognises that he bears responsibility for
both his own problems and for those of others, who suffer
equally
• With his new knowledge, Lear realises he has given up
his royal position and can only take responsibility for his
present situation. His inability to right the wrongs he has
inflicted upon his people contributes to his fall into
madness.
 • When Poor Tom emerges from the hovel, Lear sees a mirror image of
himself. Lear identifies with Poor Tom because both men have lost
everything. Lear imagines that Tom is also the victim of deceitful and
cruel daughters. Lear's identity with Tom is absolute when he removes
his clothing to join Tom in near-nakedness. This inability to
distinguish himself from Tom is a symptom of Lear's madness. This

Act 3 Scene 4 scene reminds the audience that very little separates man from beast.
The fragility of man is inescapable, because only a fine line divides
civilized and uncivilized states.
– what • Although parallels can be drawn between Gloucester's situation and
Lear's circumstances (as both men are being manipulated by their
happens? children), one notable difference remains: Gloucester retains his
sanity. Gloucester is aware of how easily he might lose his mind, and
he fears it may happen yet (III.4.62-63), but he has an inner strength
that Lear does not have, which permits him to survive.
• Paradoxically, Gloucester fails to recognize his own son, Edgar,
disguised as Poor Tom. This scene builds upon Scene 3 by showing
Gloucester's determination to help the old king, but it also reveals a
father in as much pain as the king.
 Questions: Act 3 scene 4
1. What is the significance of Lear’s symbolic action
to The Fool in lines 26-7?
2. Find evidence to show Lear’s new awareness of
others and those who have suffered and his growing
empathy.
3. Find evidence to show Lear’s insanity
4. What are the best THREE lines that show Lear’s
realisation that man is little more than a beast?
5. Why is nakedness both a physical and symbolic
action in this scene?
6. What is the irony of Lear calling Edgar a
“philosopher”?
7. How are the motifs of blindness and sight
developed in this scene? Use 2-3 textual examples
to support your response.
 Question

The only way Lear can gain wisdom is to

experience insanity.
To what extent is this true?
________________________________________
____
Compose a paragraph discussing this claim.
 “True or false, it hath made thee Earl of Gloucester.”

Feigning a stricken conscience, Edmond informs Cornwall of

Gloucester’s covert activities on behalf of the King, and he shows
Cornwall the letter that incriminates his step-father of conspiring with
Act 3 Scene 5

France. Consequently, Cornwall proclaims Edmund the new Earl of

Gloucester and vows immediate retribution with respect to Gloucester.
In this scene, both Edmond and Cornwall pretend to be virtuous, as each
attempts to justify his disloyalty. Clearly, Gloucester and Lear are both
victims of two self-serving men — Edmond and Cornwall. Edmond,
feigning regret for having betrayed his father, laments that his nature,
which is to honour his father, must now be subordinate to the loyalty he
feels for his country. Thus, Edmond makes excuses for betraying his
own father.
 • Lear stages a mock trial of Goneril and Regan for their crimes against
him. Edgar, seeing that the King is actually losing his mind, feels such
pity that he has trouble keeping up his own “mad” act.
Act 3 Scene 6

• Carrying out the imaginary trial—which is almost like a mad parody

of the ceremonial love-test Lear conducted in the first scene of the
play—Lear shows how far he has descended into madness. Ironically,
in this hallucinated parallel trial he has better insight into the nature of
the "she-foxes" (and what he now knows as their animal
heartlessness) than he did in 1.1.
 • The setting moves back to Gloucester's castle. Cornwall is dispatching
Goneril with a letter to Albany, telling him of the invasion by the King of
France. Cornwall orders that Gloucester be found and brought to him.
• Edmond is told to accompany Goneril so that he is not present for
Gloucester's punishment. Before Edmond and Goneril can leave, Oswald
Act 3 Scene enters with news that Gloucester has warned the king and aided his
escape to Dover.
7 • As soon as Gloucester appears on the scene, Cornwall orders him bound
to a chair. Regan viciously plucks at Gloucester's beard, calling him a
traitor.
• Intensifying the torture, Cornwall gouges out one of Gloucester's eyes.
When a servant tries to stop the torment, Regan draws a sword and
murders the steward. Cornwall gouges out Gloucester's other eye.
• When the old man calls out to Edmond for help, Regan reveals that it was
Edmond who betrayed his father. At this, Gloucester finally understands
that he has misjudged Edgar. After throwing Gloucester out to find his
own way to Dover, Regan helps Cornwall, who was wounded in the fray,
and both leave for Dover.
 • Cornwall's villainy in this scene is not unexpected. His anger earlier in Act
III builds to the brink of losing control; in this scene, the audience sees
Regan's husband refusing any attempts at civility. He has become the beast
that is lurking just beneath the veneer of civilization.
• Regan's plucking of Gloucester's beard reinforces the point that she has no
basic respect for age or rank. Gloucester is an earl and an elderly
statesman, and Regan's pulling of his beard further rejects the structure of
nature, which provides that the older members of a society be revered for
their age and wisdom. Gloucester recognises the insult saying, "'tis most
ignobly done" (III.7.35).
• Gloucester has faith in divine justice, just as Lear has implored the gods for

Act 3 Scene 7 justice. Nonetheless, justice appears to be lacking at several points

throughout King Lear, and the plucking of Gloucester's eyes is certainly
one instance. Gloucester has made many errors in judgment, but in this
case, as with Lear, the punishment is surely in excess of his mistakes.
• The plucking out of Gloucester's eyes is so brutal that not even Cornwall's
servants can stand by without acting. Regan, Goneril, and Cornwall's brutal
natures have been evident all along, with each act of wickedness building
upon the previous. But in spite of the hints, no one can be ready for
Cornwall ripping out Gloucester's eyes and stomping them under his boot.
This is a scene of particular brutality.
 Question
Evaluate how Shakespeare’s play King Lear explores the consequences of defying the natural order.

Respond as a mini essay:

- introduction
- two connected body paragraphs
_____________________________________________________________________________________________
Consider:
- WHY does Shakespeare explore the consequences of individuals reversing the natural order?
- What CONTEXTUAL message is Shakespeare giving his Jacobean audience?

POLITICAL: Civil chaos and conflict. Those in positions of power rule with cruelty rather than benevolence; free will is
exercised in the political realm for personal gain/benefit, instability as a consequence.
PERSONAL: Physical and psychological suffering, madness, being stripped of dignity and identity. The suffering and
anguish experienced by those who defy the natural order leads to wisdom and enlightenment, but Shakespeare does not
allow divine justice to prevail
 What is your definition of the
Who defies the natural order and
“natural order”? Use of natural
why?
and unnatural in the play?

Consider setting – What natural order is

why did Shakespeare reversed? Where do we see
set the play in this in the play?
pagan/pre-Christian What is
times when his Shakespeare’s
Jacobean audience purpose?
was deeply Connection to his
Christian? context?