Act 4, Scene 1 — King Lear — Study Shakespeare

The argument Edgar (still as Poor Tom) sees his blinded father being led by an old man. He cannot reveal himself. Gloucester, not recognizing Edgar, asks to be guided to the cliff at Dover. Edgar commits to lead him, still in disguise.

Enter Edgar.

EDGAR ≋ verse EDGAR's speech

Yet better thus, and known to be contemn’d,

Than still contemn’d and flatter’d. To be worst,

The lowest and most dejected thing of fortune,

Stands still in esperance, lives not in fear:

The lamentable change is from the best;

The worst returns to laughter. Welcome then,

Thou unsubstantial air that I embrace;

The wretch that thou hast blown unto the worst

Owes nothing to thy blasts.

Yet better thus, and known to be contemn’d, Than still contemn’d and flatter’d. To be worst, The lowest and most dejected thing of fortune, Stands still in esperance, lives not in fear: The lamentable change is from the best; The worst returns to laughter. Welcome then, Thou unsubstantial air that I

Yet better thus, and known to be contemn

Enter Gloucester, led by an

Old Man.

But who comes here? My father, poorly led?

World, world, O world!

But that thy strange mutations make us hate thee,

Life would not yield to age.

OLD MAN OLD MAN's speech

O my good lord, I have been your tenant, and your father’s tenant

these fourscore years.

O my good lord, I have been your tenant, and your father’s tenant these fourscore years.

O my good lord, I have been your tenant,

GLOUCESTER ≋ verse GLOUCESTER's speech

Away, get thee away; good friend, be gone.

Thy comforts can do me no good at all;

Thee they may hurt.

Away, get thee away; good friend, be gone. Thy comforts can do me no good at all; Thee they may hurt.

Away, get thee away; good friend, be gon

🎭 Dramatic irony Gloucester asks a stranger to guide him to Dover — not knowing the stranger is his own son. Edgar hears his father say 'thou seem'st that thou hast known misfortune ere thou wert born' — a description that is unknowingly accurate about Edgar himself. The irony is almost unbearable.

OLD MAN OLD MAN's speech

You cannot see your way.

GLOUCESTER ≋ verse GLOUCESTER's speech

I have no way, and therefore want no eyes;

I stumbled when I saw. Full oft ’tis seen

Our means secure us, and our mere defects

Prove our commodities. O dear son Edgar,

The food of thy abused father’s wrath!

Might I but live to see thee in my touch,

I’d say I had eyes again!

I have no way, and therefore want no eyes; I stumbled when I saw. Full oft ’tis seen Our means secure us, and our mere defects Prove our commodities. O dear son Edgar, The food of thy abused father’s wrath! Might I but live to see thee in my touch, I’d say I had eyes again!

I have no way, and therefore want no eye

Why it matters This line defines Gloucester's theology at his lowest point. It stands against the possibility of providence, of justice, of divine care. The rest of Act 4 will test it: will the universe prove as indifferent as Gloucester believes?

OLD MAN OLD MAN's speech

How now! Who’s there?

[_Aside._] O gods! Who is’t can say ‘I am at the

EDGAR ≋ verse EDGAR's speech

worst’?

I am worse than e’er I was.

worst’? I am worse than e’er I was.

OLD MAN OLD MAN's speech

’Tis poor mad Tom.

[_Aside._] And worse I may be yet. The worst is not

EDGAR EDGAR's speech

So long as we can say ‘This is the worst.’

So long as we can say ‘This is the worst

OLD MAN OLD MAN's speech

Fellow, where goest?

Why it matters Edgar's aside completes the scene's philosophical argument: there is no reliable floor to suffering. The consolation of 'at least things can't get worse' is a comfort only available in retrospect. In the middle of it, worse is always possible.

GLOUCESTER GLOUCESTER's speech

Is it a beggar-man?

OLD MAN OLD MAN's speech

Madman, and beggar too.

GLOUCESTER ≋ verse GLOUCESTER's speech

He has some reason, else he could not beg.

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 then scarce friends with him.

I have heard more since.

As flies to wanton boys are we to the gods,

They kill us for their sport.

He has some reason, else he could not beg. 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 then scarce friends with him. I have heard more since. As flies to wanton boys are we to the gods, They kill us for their spo

He has some reason, else he could not be

"As flies to wanton boys are we to the gods; they kill us for their sport" This is the most theologically bleak statement in all of Shakespeare. Gloucester is not saying the gods are absent or indifferent — he is saying they are present and actively cruel, that human suffering is not even tragic to them but entertaining. The image of flies and wanton boys is precise: boys who pull wings off insects are not doing it for any reason, just because they can. If the gods have the same relationship to us, the universe is not merely indifferent — it is sadistic. The play will neither confirm nor deny this vision.

[_Aside._] How should this be?

EDGAR ≋ verse EDGAR's speech

Bad is the trade that must play fool to sorrow,

Angering itself and others. Bless thee, master!

Bad is the trade that must play fool to sorrow, Angering itself and others. Bless thee, master!

Bad is the trade that must play fool to

GLOUCESTER GLOUCESTER's speech

Is that the naked fellow?

OLD MAN OLD MAN's speech

Ay, my lord.

GLOUCESTER ≋ verse GLOUCESTER's speech

Then prithee get thee away. If for my sake

Thou wilt o’ertake us hence a mile or twain,

I’ the way toward Dover, do it for ancient love,

And bring some covering for this naked soul,

Which I’ll entreat to lead me.

Then prithee get thee away. If for my sake Thou wilt o’ertake us hence a mile or twain, I’ the way toward Dover, do it for ancient love, And bring some covering for this naked soul, Which I’ll entreat to lead me.

Then prithee get thee away. If for my sa

OLD MAN OLD MAN's speech

Alack, sir, he is mad.

GLOUCESTER ≋ verse GLOUCESTER's speech

’Tis the time’s plague when madmen lead the blind.

Do as I bid thee, or rather do thy pleasure;

Above the rest, be gone.

’Tis the time’s plague when madmen lead the blind. Do as I bid thee, or rather do thy pleasure; Above the rest, be gone.

’Tis the time’s plague when madmen lead

OLD MAN ≋ verse OLD MAN's speech

I’ll bring him the best ’parel that I have,

Come on’t what will.

I’ll bring him the best ’parel that I have, Come on’t what will.

I’ll bring him the best ’parel that I ha

[_Exit._]

GLOUCESTER GLOUCESTER's speech

Sirrah naked fellow.

EDGAR EDGAR's speech

Poor Tom’s a-cold.

[_Aside._] I cannot daub it further.

GLOUCESTER GLOUCESTER's speech

Come hither, fellow.

[_Aside._] And yet I must. Bless thy sweet eyes, they bleed.

GLOUCESTER GLOUCESTER's speech

Know’st thou the way to Dover?

EDGAR EDGAR's speech

Both stile and gate, horseway and footpath. Poor Tom hath been

scared out of his good wits. Bless thee, good man’s son, from

the foul fiend! Five fiends have been in poor Tom at once; of

lust, as Obidicut; Hobbididence, prince of darkness; Mahu, of

stealing; Modo, of murder; Flibbertigibbet, of mopping and

mowing, who since possesses chambermaids and waiting women. So,

bless thee, master!

Both stile and gate, horseway and footpath. Poor Tom hath been scared out of his good wits. Bless thee, good man’s son, from the foul fiend! Five fiends have been in poor Tom at once; of lust, as Obidicut; Hobbididence, prince of darkness; Mahu, of stealing; Modo, of murder; Flibbertigibbet, of mopp

Both stile and gate, horseway and footpa

GLOUCESTER ≋ verse GLOUCESTER's speech

Here, take this purse, thou whom the heaven’s plagues

Have humbled to all strokes: that I am wretched

Makes thee the happier. Heavens deal so still!

Let the superfluous and lust-dieted man,

That slaves your ordinance, that will not see

Because he does not feel, feel your power quickly;

So distribution should undo excess,

And each man have enough. Dost thou know Dover?

Here, take this purse, thou whom the heaven’s plagues Have humbled to all strokes: that I am wretched Makes thee the happier. Heavens deal so still! Let the superfluous and lust-dieted man, That slaves your ordinance, that will not see Because he does not feel, feel your power quickly; So distributi

Here, take this purse, thou whom the hea

EDGAR EDGAR's speech

Ay, master.

GLOUCESTER ≋ verse GLOUCESTER's speech

There is a cliff, whose high and bending head

Looks fearfully in the confined deep:

Bring me but to the very brim of it,

And I’ll repair the misery thou dost bear

With something rich about me: from that place

I shall no leading need.

There is a cliff, whose high and bending head Looks fearfully in the confined deep: Bring me but to the very brim of it, And I’ll repair the misery thou dost bear With something rich about me: from that place I shall no leading need.

There is a cliff, whose high and bending

EDGAR ≋ verse EDGAR's speech

Give me thy arm:

Poor Tom shall lead thee.

Give me thy arm: Poor Tom shall lead thee.

Give me thy arm: Poor Tom shall lead the

[_Exeunt._]

The Reckoning

One of the bleakest scenes in the play — and it produces one of the bleakest lines Shakespeare ever wrote. Edgar begins with what seems like a recovery: 'The worst is not / So long as we can say "This is the worst."' A kind of philosopher's consolation: while you can still articulate your suffering, there is something left. Then his blinded father walks in, led by an old man, and the consolation collapses immediately. 'O gods! Who is't can say "I am at worst"? / I am worse than e'er I was.' Edgar speaks this aside with his father standing within earshot, unable to identify him. The horror of the scene is entirely in that gap: a son watching his father blinded, knowing he caused it by running away rather than staying to defend himself, unable even to announce himself. Gloucester's speech about 'As flies to wanton boys are we to the gods' — his vision of a cosmos governed by sadistic indifference — is the most theologically desolate moment in the play.

If this happened today…

A person in disguise, hiding for their safety, turns a corner and sees someone they love — a parent — blinded, stumbling, being led by a stranger. They cannot announce themselves; it would blow their cover. They watch their parent say that the universe is run by bored children killing insects for sport. Then they step forward and offer to help, still pretending to be a stranger.

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