Act 5, Scene 3 — King Lear — Study Shakespeare

What's at stake

LEARHis daughter is alive, he is with her, and he has achieved something like peace — and none of it will save her
CORDELIAShe returned from France to rescue her father; she has been captured, and the man who ordered her death believes that in prison she and her father can simply disappear
EDMUNDHe has won the battle, holds the prisoners, and is about to be exposed by Albany — his one remaining move is whether to countermand the execution order, and he waits too long
EDGARFive acts of disguise and patience come to this: he must reveal himself, defeat Edmund, and arrive in time — he does not arrive in time
ALBANYHe has the evidence to destroy Edmund and the authority to save Lear and Cordelia — but he holds the power too late, and his mercy cannot outrun the order already given
GONERILShe has poisoned Regan and plotted to murder Albany for Edmund — and she knows the letter is in Albany's hands
KENTHe has served Lear in disguise through the entire play, and he arrives to his master's deathbed in time to be known but not in time to matter

The argument Everything ends. Edmund sends Lear and Cordelia to prison with secret orders for their deaths. The sisters destroy each other. Edgar reveals himself and mortally wounds Edmund. Edmund's repentance comes too late. Lear enters carrying Cordelia's body. He dies over her. The survivors are left to speak the final words.

Enter in conquest with drum and colours, Edmund, Lear and Cordelia

as prisoners; Officers, Soldiers, &c.

EDMUND ≋ verse EDMUND's speech

Some officers take them away: good guard

Until their greater pleasures first be known

That are to censure them.

Some officers take them away: good guard Until their greater pleasures first be known That are to censure them.

Some officers take them away: good guard

CORDELIA ≋ verse CORDELIA's speech

We are not the first

Who with best meaning have incurr’d the worst.

For thee, oppressed King, I am cast down;

Myself could else out-frown false fortune’s frown.

Shall we not see these daughters and these sisters?

We are not the first Who with best meaning have incurr’d the worst. For thee, oppressed King, I am cast down; Myself could else out-frown false fortune’s frown. Shall we not see these daughters and these sisters?

We are not the first Who with best meani

↩ Callback to 1-1 In Act 1, Lear demanded that Cordelia speak her love publicly and in measured quantities, and banished her when she refused. In the prison speech, he asks for her blessing and offers her forgiveness — a complete reversal of the Act 1 dynamic. He now asks where he formerly commanded. What he wanted in 1-1 was a performance; what he has now is the thing itself.

🎭 Dramatic irony Lear speaks the prison speech — his most joyful speech in the play — while the audience knows that Edmund has already issued the death warrant for both of them. The happiness and the death order coexist in the same moment. We watch Lear's vision of birds in a cage knowing that the cage is already a tomb.

LEAR ≋ verse LEAR's speech

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 too,

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 wall’d prison, packs and sects of great ones

That ebb and flow by the moon.

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

No, no, no, no. Come, let’s away to pris

EDMUND EDMUND's speech

Take them away.

LEAR ≋ verse LEAR's speech

Upon such sacrifices, my Cordelia,

The gods themselves throw incense. Have I caught thee?

He that parts us shall bring a brand from heaven,

And fire us hence like foxes. Wipe thine eyes;

The good years shall devour them, flesh and fell,

Ere they shall make us weep!

We’ll see ’em starve first: come.

Upon such sacrifices, my Cordelia, The gods themselves throw incense. Have I caught thee? He that parts us shall bring a brand from heaven, And fire us hence like foxes. Wipe thine eyes; The good years shall devour them, flesh and fell, Ere they shall make us weep! We’ll see ’em starve first: come.

Upon such sacrifices, my Cordelia, The g

[_Exeunt Lear and Cordelia, guarded._]

EDMUND EDMUND's speech

Come hither, captain, hark.

Take thou this note [_giving a paper_]; go follow them to prison.

One step I have advanc’d thee; if thou dost

As this instructs thee, thou dost make thy way

To noble fortunes: know thou this, that men

Are as the time is; to be tender-minded

Does not become a sword. Thy great employment

Will not bear question; either say thou’lt do’t,

Or thrive by other means.

Come hither, captain, hark. Take thou this note [_giving a paper_]; go follow them to prison. One step I have advanc’d thee; if thou dost As this instructs thee, thou dost make thy way To noble fortunes: know thou this, that men Are as the time is; to be tender-minded Does not become a sword. Thy gr

Come hither, captain, hark. Take thou th

CAPTAIN CAPTAIN's speech

I’ll do’t, my lord.

EDMUND ≋ verse EDMUND's speech

About it; and write happy when thou hast done.

Mark, I say, instantly; and carry it so

As I have set it down.

About it; and write happy when thou hast done. Mark, I say, instantly; and carry it so As I have set it down.

About it; and write happy when thou hast

🎭 Dramatic irony Edmund deflects Albany's request for the prisoners with a plausible political argument — popular sympathy for Lear could turn soldiers against them. The audience knows his real reason: the death warrant is already running, and every moment of delay lets it complete. His rhetoric is as smooth here as at any point in the play, even as he is managing a murder.

CAPTAIN ≋ verse CAPTAIN's speech

I cannot draw a cart, nor eat dried oats;

If it be man’s work, I’ll do’t.

I cannot draw a cart, nor eat dried oats; If it be man’s work, I’ll do’t.

I cannot draw a cart, nor eat dried oats

[_Exit._]

Flourish. Enter Albany, Goneril,

Regan, Officers and Attendants.

ALBANY ≋ verse ALBANY's speech

Sir, you have show’d today your valiant strain,

And fortune led you well: you have the captives

Who were the opposites of this day’s strife:

I do require them of you, so to use them

As we shall find their merits and our safety

May equally determine.

Sir, you have show’d today your valiant strain, And fortune led you well: you have the captives Who were the opposites of this day’s strife: I do require them of you, so to use them As we shall find their merits and our safety May equally determine.

Sir, you have show’d today your valiant

EDMUND ≋ verse EDMUND's speech

Sir, I thought it fit

To send the old and miserable King

To some retention and appointed guard;

Whose age has charms in it, whose title more,

To pluck the common bosom on his side,

And turn our impress’d lances in our eyes

Which do command them. With him I sent the queen;

My reason all the same; and they are ready

Tomorrow, or at further space, to appear

Where you shall hold your session. At this time

We sweat and bleed: the friend hath lost his friend;

And the best quarrels in the heat are curs’d

By those that feel their sharpness.

The question of Cordelia and her father

Requires a fitter place.

Sir, I thought it fit To send the old and miserable King To some retention and appointed guard; Whose age has charms in it, whose title more, To pluck the common bosom on his side, And turn our impress’d lances in our eyes Which do command them. With him I sent the queen; My reason all the same; and

Sir, I thought it fit To send the old an

ALBANY ≋ verse ALBANY's speech

Sir, by your patience,

I hold you but a subject of this war,

Not as a brother.

Sir, by your patience, I hold you but a subject of this war, Not as a brother.

Sir, by your patience, I hold you but a

REGAN ≋ verse REGAN's speech

That’s as we list to grace him.

Methinks our pleasure might have been demanded

Ere you had spoke so far. He led our powers;

Bore the commission of my place and person;

The which immediacy may well stand up

And call itself your brother.

That’s as we list to grace him. Methinks our pleasure might have been demanded Ere you had spoke so far. He led our powers; Bore the commission of my place and person; The which immediacy may well stand up And call itself your brother.

That’s as we list to grace him. Methinks

GONERIL ≋ verse GONERIL's speech

Not so hot:

In his own grace he doth exalt himself,

More than in your addition.

Not so hot: In his own grace he doth exalt himself, More than in your addition.

Not so hot: In his own grace he doth exa

REGAN ≋ verse REGAN's speech

In my rights,

By me invested, he compeers the best.

In my rights, By me invested, he compeers the best.

In my rights, By me invested, he compeer

ALBANY ALBANY's speech

That were the most, if he should husband you.

That were the most, if he should husband

REGAN REGAN's speech

Jesters do oft prove prophets.

GONERIL ≋ verse GONERIL's speech

Holla, holla!

That eye that told you so look’d but asquint.

Holla, holla! That eye that told you so look’d but asquint.

Holla, holla! That eye that told you so

REGAN ≋ verse REGAN's speech

Lady, I am not well; else I should answer

From a full-flowing stomach. General,

Take thou my soldiers, prisoners, patrimony;

Dispose of them, of me; the walls are thine:

Witness the world that I create thee here

My lord and master.

Lady, I am not well; else I should answer From a full-flowing stomach. General, Take thou my soldiers, prisoners, patrimony; Dispose of them, of me; the walls are thine: Witness the world that I create thee here My lord and master.

Lady, I am not well; else I should answe

GONERIL GONERIL's speech

Mean you to enjoy him?

ALBANY ALBANY's speech

The let-alone lies not in your good will.

The let-alone lies not in your good will

EDMUND EDMUND's speech

Nor in thine, lord.

ALBANY ALBANY's speech

Half-blooded fellow, yes.

[_To Edmund._] Let the drum strike, and prove my title thine.

ALBANY ≋ verse ALBANY's speech

Stay yet; hear reason: Edmund, I arrest thee

On capital treason; and, in thine arrest,

This gilded serpent. [_pointing to Goneril._]

For your claim, fair sister,

I bar it in the interest of my wife;

’Tis she is sub-contracted to this lord,

And I her husband contradict your bans.

If you will marry, make your loves to me,

My lady is bespoke.

Stay yet; hear reason: Edmund, I arrest thee On capital treason; and, in thine arrest, This gilded serpent. [_pointing to Goneril._] For your claim, fair sister, I bar it in the interest of my wife; ’Tis she is sub-contracted to this lord, And I her husband contradict your bans. If you will marry, m

Stay yet; hear reason: Edmund, I arrest

↩ Callback to 1-2 Edgar names himself to Edmund for the first time since Edmund forged the letter in Act 1 that drove Edgar from his home. Five acts of disguise, exile, and suffering resolve into two words: 'My name is Edgar.' The scene in which the name was taken, and the scene in which it is reclaimed, are the play's longest symmetry.

King Lear is the only major Shakespeare play in which the character the audience most wants to survive — Cordelia, the one person who told the truth in Act 1, who returned from France to save her father — is killed. Not in battle, not heroically, but hanged in prison on a bureaucratic order, by a captain following instructions, while the people who might have saved her were distracted by other things.

Audiences found it unbearable almost immediately. In 1681, the playwright Nahum Tate rewrote the ending: Cordelia lives, marries Edgar, and Lear is restored to the throne. This version replaced Shakespeare's in performance for over 150 years. Samuel Johnson — one of the greatest literary critics in English history — said he was unable to read the original ending: 'I was many years ago so shocked by Cordelia's death that I know not whether I ever endured to read again the last scenes of the play till I undertook to revise them as an editor.' Charles Lamb said the play was too vast for the stage at all.

When Edmund Kean restored the original ending in 1823, audiences were divided and the debate has continued ever since.

The question Shakespeare forces us to ask is: why? What does Cordelia's death accomplish that her survival could not? Several answers suggest themselves.

First, it refuses the play's own consolation. The arc of the plot has been moving toward reunion — Lear and Cordelia together, the wrong of Act 1 repaired. Her death denies that consolation at the last moment, and in doing so refuses to let the play become a redemption story. Lear's suffering does not earn him his daughter back. The connection between suffering and reward is severed.

Second, it is truer to the kind of suffering the play depicts. The Lear-world is one in which the good are not protected by their goodness. Cordelia told the truth in Act 1 and was banished for it. She told the truth about her love — 'Nothing, my lord' — and paid for it. That there is no divine protection of the truthful is the play's most honest and most terrible claim. Her death confirms it.

Third — and this is perhaps the most uncomfortable reading — Cordelia's death breaks Lear in the way that nothing else could. The redemption of the prison speech, the beauty of 'we two alone will sing like birds i' the cage,' is only complete if we understand what it costs. If Cordelia lived, Lear's transformation would be consoled. Her death means his love is given everything and gets nothing back — which is what the play has been arguing love ultimately is.

GONERIL GONERIL's speech

An interlude!

ALBANY ≋ verse ALBANY's speech

Thou art arm’d, Gloucester. Let the trumpet sound:

If none appear to prove upon thy person

Thy heinous, manifest, and many treasons,

There is my pledge. [_Throwing down a glove._]

I’ll make it on thy heart,

Ere I taste bread, thou art in nothing less

Than I have here proclaim’d thee.

Thou art arm’d, Gloucester. Let the trumpet sound: If none appear to prove upon thy person Thy heinous, manifest, and many treasons, There is my pledge. [_Throwing down a glove._] I’ll make it on thy heart, Ere I taste bread, thou art in nothing less Than I have here proclaim’d thee.

Thou art arm’d, Gloucester. Let the trum

REGAN REGAN's speech

Sick, O, sick!

[_Aside._] If not, I’ll ne’er trust medicine.

EDMUND ≋ verse EDMUND's speech

There’s my exchange. [_Throwing down a glove._]

What in the world he is

That names me traitor, villain-like he lies.

Call by thy trumpet: he that dares approach,

On him, on you, who not? I will maintain

My truth and honour firmly.

There’s my exchange. [_Throwing down a glove._] What in the world he is That names me traitor, villain-like he lies. Call by thy trumpet: he that dares approach, On him, on you, who not? I will maintain My truth and honour firmly.

There’s my exchange. [_Throwing down a g

ALBANY ALBANY's speech

A herald, ho!

↩ Callback to 5-1 Edmund issued the death warrant for Lear and Cordelia in 5-1, before the battle began. His repentance in 5-3 is genuine — and it comes too late because he planned it that way: he built the warrant to run faster than any counter-order could travel. The machinery of his earlier efficiency is what destroys his later repentance.

🎭 Dramatic irony Edmund confesses the death warrant and asks Albany to 'send in time' — but the audience has been watching the scene long enough to know the warrant has been running since before the battle. Edmund built the mechanism to be faster than repentance. His own efficiency defeats his own remorse. This is the most precise irony in the play: the villain is destroyed by the very competence he displayed at his vilest.

Enter a Herald.

Trust to thy single virtue; for thy soldiers,

All levied in my name, have in my name

Took their discharge.

REGAN REGAN's speech

My sickness grows upon me.

ALBANY ALBANY's speech

She is not well. Convey her to my tent.

[_Exit Regan, led._]

Come hither, herald. Let the trumpet sound

And read out this.

Sound, trumpet!

[_A trumpet sounds._]

[_Reads._] ‘If any man of quality or degree within the lists of

HERALD HERALD's speech

the army will maintain upon Edmund, supposed Earl of Gloucester,

that he is a manifold traitor, let him appear by the third sound

of the trumpet. He is bold in his defence.’

the army will maintain upon Edmund, supposed Earl of Gloucester, that he is a manifold traitor, let him appear by the third sound of the trumpet. He is bold in his defence.’

the army will maintain upon Edmund, supp

Sound!

[_First trumpet._]

HERALD HERALD's speech

Again!

[_Second trumpet._]

HERALD HERALD's speech

Again!

Third trumpet. Trumpet answers within. Enter Edgar, armed, preceded by

a trumpet.

Again! Third trumpet. Trumpet answers within. Enter Edgar, armed, preceded by a trumpet.

Again! Third trumpet. Trumpet answers wi

ALBANY ≋ verse ALBANY's speech

Ask him his purposes, why he appears

Upon this call o’ the trumpet.

Ask him his purposes, why he appears Upon this call o’ the trumpet.

Ask him his purposes, why he appears Upo

HERALD ≋ verse HERALD's speech

What are you?

Your name, your quality? and why you answer

This present summons?

What are you? Your name, your quality? and why you answer This present summons?

What are you? Your name, your quality? a

EDGAR ≋ verse EDGAR's speech

Know my name is lost;

By treason’s tooth bare-gnawn and canker-bit.

Yet am I noble as the adversary

I come to cope.

Know my name is lost; By treason’s tooth bare-gnawn and canker-bit. Yet am I noble as the adversary I come to cope.

Know my name is lost; By treason’s tooth

ALBANY ALBANY's speech

Which is that adversary?

EDGAR EDGAR's speech

What’s he that speaks for Edmund, Earl of Gloucester?

What’s he that speaks for Edmund, Earl o

EDMUND EDMUND's speech

Himself, what say’st thou to him?

🎭 Dramatic irony 'Look there, look there' — Lear's last words seem to see something in Cordelia's face that gives him comfort or hope or vision. The audience cannot see what he sees, and cannot know whether he sees anything at all. Four hundred years of productions have each had to answer the question that Shakespeare declined to answer: what did Lear see? The irony — that the most important last image in the play is visible only to the dying man — is absolute.

EDGAR ≋ verse EDGAR's speech

Draw thy sword,

That if my speech offend a noble heart,

Thy arm may do thee justice: here is mine.

Behold, it is the privilege of mine honours,

My oath, and my profession: I protest,

Maugre thy strength, youth, place, and eminence,

Despite thy victor sword and fire-new fortune,

Thy valour and thy heart, thou art a traitor;

False to thy gods, thy brother, and thy father;

Conspirant ’gainst this high illustrious prince;

And, from the extremest upward of thy head

To the descent and dust beneath thy foot,

A most toad-spotted traitor. Say thou ‘No,’

This sword, this arm, and my best spirits are bent

To prove upon thy heart, whereto I speak,

Thou liest.

Draw thy sword, That if my speech offend a noble heart, Thy arm may do thee justice: here is mine. Behold, it is the privilege of mine honours, My oath, and my profession: I protest, Maugre thy strength, youth, place, and eminence, Despite thy victor sword and fire-new fortune, Thy valour and thy he

Draw thy sword, That if my speech offend

EDMUND ≋ verse EDMUND's speech

In wisdom I should ask thy name;

But since thy outside looks so fair and warlike,

And that thy tongue some say of breeding breathes,

What safe and nicely I might well delay

By rule of knighthood, I disdain and spurn.

Back do I toss those treasons to thy head,

With the hell-hated lie o’erwhelm thy heart;

Which for they yet glance by and scarcely bruise,

This sword of mine shall give them instant way,

Where they shall rest for ever. Trumpets, speak!

In wisdom I should ask thy name; But since thy outside looks so fair and warlike, And that thy tongue some say of breeding breathes, What safe and nicely I might well delay By rule of knighthood, I disdain and spurn. Back do I toss those treasons to thy head, With the hell-hated lie o’erwhelm thy he

In wisdom I should ask thy name; But sin

[_Alarums. They fight. Edmund falls._]

ALBANY ALBANY's speech

Save him, save him!

↩ Callback to 1-4 Kent was banished in Act 1 for defending Cordelia and telling Lear the truth. He served as Caius through the entire play, never identified. At the moment of Lear's death he is finally known — and his response is to follow his master out of the world. The banishment and the final following form the play's most loyal arc.

GONERIL ≋ verse GONERIL's speech

This is mere practice, Gloucester:

By the law of arms thou wast not bound to answer

An unknown opposite; thou art not vanquish’d,

But cozen’d and beguil’d.

This is mere practice, Gloucester: By the law of arms thou wast not bound to answer An unknown opposite; thou art not vanquish’d, But cozen’d and beguil’d.

This is mere practice, Gloucester: By th

ALBANY ≋ verse ALBANY's speech

Shut your mouth, dame,

Or with this paper shall I stop it. Hold, sir;

Thou worse than any name, read thine own evil.

No tearing, lady; I perceive you know it.

Shut your mouth, dame, Or with this paper shall I stop it. Hold, sir; Thou worse than any name, read thine own evil. No tearing, lady; I perceive you know it.

Shut your mouth, dame, Or with this pape

[_Gives the letter to Edmund._]

GONERIL ≋ verse GONERIL's speech

Say if I do, the laws are mine, not thine:

Who can arraign me for’t?

Say if I do, the laws are mine, not thine: Who can arraign me for’t?

Say if I do, the laws are mine, not thin

[_Exit._]

ALBANY ≋ verse ALBANY's speech

Most monstrous! O!

Know’st thou this paper?

Most monstrous! O! Know’st thou this paper?

Most monstrous! O! Know’st thou this pap

EDMUND EDMUND's speech

Ask me not what I know.

[_To an Officer, who goes out._] Go after her; she’s desperate;

ALBANY ALBANY's speech

govern her.

EDMUND ≋ verse EDMUND's speech

What you have charg’d me with, that have I done;

And more, much more; the time will bring it out.

’Tis past, and so am I. But what art thou

That hast this fortune on me? If thou’rt noble,

I do forgive thee.

What you have charg’d me with, that have I done; And more, much more; the time will bring it out. ’Tis past, and so am I. But what art thou That hast this fortune on me? If thou’rt noble, I do forgive thee.

What you have charg’d me with, that have

EDGAR ≋ verse EDGAR's speech

Let’s exchange charity.

I am no less in blood than thou art, Edmund;

If more, the more thou hast wrong’d me.

My name is Edgar and thy father’s son.

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.

Let’s exchange charity. I am no less in blood than thou art, Edmund; If more, the more thou hast wrong’d me. My name is Edgar and thy father’s son. 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.

Let’s exchange charity. I am no less in

EDMUND ≋ verse EDMUND's speech

Thou hast spoken right, ’tis true;

The wheel is come full circle; I am here.

Thou hast spoken right, ’tis true; The wheel is come full circle; I am here.

Thou hast spoken right, ’tis true; The w

ALBANY ≋ verse ALBANY's speech

Methought thy very gait did prophesy

A royal nobleness. I must embrace thee.

Let sorrow split my heart if ever I

Did hate thee or thy father.

Methought thy very gait did prophesy A royal nobleness. I must embrace thee. Let sorrow split my heart if ever I Did hate thee or thy father.

Methought thy very gait did prophesy A r

EDGAR EDGAR's speech

Worthy prince, I know’t.

ALBANY ≋ verse ALBANY's speech

Where have you hid yourself?

How have you known the miseries of your father?

Where have you hid yourself? How have you known the miseries of your father?

Where have you hid yourself? How have yo

EDGAR ≋ verse EDGAR's speech

By nursing them, my lord. List a brief tale;

And when ’tis told, O that my heart would burst!

The bloody proclamation to escape

That follow’d me so near,—O, our lives’ sweetness!

That with the pain of death we’d hourly die

Rather than die at once!—taught me to shift

Into a madman’s rags; t’assume a semblance

That very dogs disdain’d; and in this habit

Met I my father with his bleeding rings,

Their precious stones new lost; became his guide,

Led him, begg’d for him, sav’d him from despair;

Never,—O fault!—reveal’d myself unto him

Until some half hour past, when I was arm’d;

Not sure, though hoping of this good success,

I ask’d his blessing, and from first to last

Told him my pilgrimage. But his flaw’d heart,

Alack, too weak the conflict to support!

’Twixt two extremes of passion, joy and grief,

Burst smilingly.

By nursing them, my lord. List a brief tale; And when ’tis told, O that my heart would burst! The bloody proclamation to escape That follow’d me so near,—O, our lives’ sweetness! That with the pain of death we’d hourly die Rather than die at once!—taught me to shift Into a madman’s rags; t’assume a

By nursing them, my lord. List a brief t

EDMUND ≋ verse EDMUND's speech

This speech of yours hath mov’d me,

And shall perchance do good, but speak you on;

You look as you had something more to say.

This speech of yours hath mov’d me, And shall perchance do good, but speak you on; You look as you had something more to say.

This speech of yours hath mov’d me, And

ALBANY ≋ verse ALBANY's speech

If there be more, more woeful, hold it in;

For I am almost ready to dissolve,

Hearing of this.

If there be more, more woeful, hold it in; For I am almost ready to dissolve, Hearing of this.

If there be more, more woeful, hold it i

EDGAR ≋ verse EDGAR's speech

This would have seem’d a period

To such as love not sorrow; but another,

To amplify too much, would make much more,

And top extremity.

Whilst I was big in clamour, came there a man

Who, having seen me in my worst estate,

Shunn’d my abhorr’d society; but then finding

Who ’twas that so endur’d, with his strong arms

He fastened on my neck, and bellow’d out

As he’d burst heaven; threw him on my father;

Told the most piteous tale of Lear and him

That ever ear receiv’d, which in recounting

His grief grew puissant, and the strings of life

Began to crack. Twice then the trumpets sounded,

And there I left him tranc’d.

This would have seem’d a period To such as love not sorrow; but another, To amplify too much, would make much more, And top extremity. Whilst I was big in clamour, came there a man Who, having seen me in my worst estate, Shunn’d my abhorr’d society; but then finding Who ’twas that so endur’d, with h

This would have seem’d a period To such

ALBANY ALBANY's speech

But who was this?

EDGAR ≋ verse EDGAR's speech

Kent, sir, the banish’d Kent; who in disguise

Follow’d his enemy king and did him service

Improper for a slave.

Kent, sir, the banish’d Kent; who in disguise Follow’d his enemy king and did him service Improper for a slave.

Kent, sir, the banish’d Kent; who in dis

Enter a Gentleman hastily,

with a bloody knife.

GENTLEMAN GENTLEMAN's speech

Help, help! O, help!

EDGAR EDGAR's speech

What kind of help?

ALBANY ALBANY's speech

Speak, man.

EDGAR EDGAR's speech

What means this bloody knife?

GENTLEMAN ≋ verse GENTLEMAN's speech

’Tis hot, it smokes;

It came even from the heart of—O! she’s dead!

’Tis hot, it smokes; It came even from the heart of—O! she’s dead!

’Tis hot, it smokes; It came even from t

ALBANY ALBANY's speech

Who dead? Speak, man.

GENTLEMAN ≋ verse GENTLEMAN's speech

Your lady, sir, your lady; and her sister

By her is poisoned; she hath confesses it.

Your lady, sir, your lady; and her sister By her is poisoned; she hath confesses it.

Your lady, sir, your lady; and her siste

EDMUND ≋ verse EDMUND's speech

I was contracted to them both, all three

Now marry in an instant.

I was contracted to them both, all three Now marry in an instant.

I was contracted to them both, all three

EDGAR EDGAR's speech

Here comes Kent.

Enter Kent.

ALBANY ≋ verse ALBANY's speech

Produce their bodies, be they alive or dead.

This judgement of the heavens that makes us tremble

Touches us not with pity. O, is this he?

The time will not allow the compliment

Which very manners urges.

Produce their bodies, be they alive or dead. This judgement of the heavens that makes us tremble Touches us not with pity. O, is this he? The time will not allow the compliment Which very manners urges.

Produce their bodies, be they alive or d

KENT ≋ verse KENT's speech

I am come

To bid my King and master aye good night:

Is he not here?

I am come To bid my King and master aye good night: Is he not here?

I am come To bid my King and master aye

ALBANY ≋ verse ALBANY's speech

Great thing of us forgot!

Speak, Edmund, where’s the King? and where’s Cordelia?

The bodies of Goneril and

Regan are brought in.

Seest thou this object, Kent?

Great thing of us forgot! Speak, Edmund, where’s the King? and where’s Cordelia? The bodies of Goneril and Regan are brought in. Seest thou this object, Kent?

Great thing of us forgot! Speak, Edmund,

KENT KENT's speech

Alack, why thus?

EDMUND ≋ verse EDMUND's speech

Yet Edmund was belov’d.

The one the other poisoned for my sake,

And after slew herself.

Yet Edmund was belov’d. The one the other poisoned for my sake, And after slew herself.

Yet Edmund was belov’d. The one the othe

ALBANY ALBANY's speech

Even so. Cover their faces.

EDMUND ≋ verse EDMUND's speech

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 on Cordelia;

Nay, send in time.

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 on Cordelia; Nay, send in time.

I pant for life. Some good I mean to do,

ALBANY ALBANY's speech

Run, run, O, run!

EDGAR ≋ verse EDGAR's speech

To who, my lord? Who has the office? Send

Thy token of reprieve.

To who, my lord? Who has the office? Send Thy token of reprieve.

To who, my lord? Who has the office? Sen

EDMUND ≋ verse EDMUND's speech

Well thought on: take my sword,

Give it the captain.

Well thought on: take my sword, Give it the captain.

Well thought on: take my sword, Give it

EDGAR EDGAR's speech

Haste thee for thy life.

[_Exit Edgar._]

EDMUND ≋ verse EDMUND's speech

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 fordid herself.

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 fordid herself.

He hath commission from thy wife and me

ALBANY ALBANY's speech

The gods defend her! Bear him hence awhile.

The gods defend her! Bear him hence awhi

[_Edmund is borne off._]

Enter Lear with Cordelia dead in his arms; Edgar,

Officer and others following.

LEAR ≋ verse LEAR's speech

Howl, howl, howl, howl! O, you are men of stone.

Had I your tongues and eyes, I’ld use them so

That heaven’s vault should crack. 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.

Howl, howl, howl, howl! O, you are men of stone. Had I your tongues and eyes, I’ld use them so That heaven’s vault should crack. 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

Howl, howl, howl, howl! O, you are men o

KENT KENT's speech

Is this the promis’d end?

EDGAR EDGAR's speech

Or image of that horror?

ALBANY ALBANY's speech

Fall, and cease!

LEAR ≋ verse LEAR's speech

This feather stirs; she lives! If it be so,

It is a chance which does redeem all sorrows

That ever I have felt.

This feather stirs; she lives! If it be so, It is a chance which does redeem all sorrows That ever I have felt.

This feather stirs; she lives! If it be

KENT KENT's speech

O, my good master! [_Kneeling._]

LEAR LEAR's speech

Prithee, away!

EDGAR EDGAR's speech

’Tis noble Kent, your friend.

LEAR ≋ verse LEAR's speech

A plague upon you, murderers, traitors all!

I might have sav’d her; now she’s gone for ever!

Cordelia, Cordelia! stay a little. Ha!

What is’t thou say’st? Her voice was ever soft,

Gentle, and low, an excellent thing in woman.

I kill’d the slave that was a-hanging thee.

A plague upon you, murderers, traitors all! I might have sav’d her; now she’s gone for ever! Cordelia, Cordelia! stay a little. Ha! What is’t thou say’st? Her voice was ever soft, Gentle, and low, an excellent thing in woman. I kill’d the slave that was a-hanging thee.

A plague upon you, murderers, traitors a

OFFICER OFFICER's speech

’Tis true, my lords, he did.

LEAR ≋ verse LEAR's speech

Did I not, fellow?

I have seen the day, with my good biting falchion

I would have made them skip. I am old now,

And these same crosses spoil me. Who are you?

Mine eyes are not o’ the best, I’ll tell you straight.

Did I not, fellow? I have seen the day, with my good biting falchion I would have made them skip. I am old now, And these same crosses spoil me. Who are you? Mine eyes are not o’ the best, I’ll tell you straight.

Did I not, fellow? I have seen the day,

KENT ≋ verse KENT's speech

If Fortune brag of two she lov’d and hated,

One of them we behold.

If Fortune brag of two she lov’d and hated, One of them we behold.

If Fortune brag of two she lov’d and hat

LEAR LEAR's speech

This is a dull sight. Are you not Kent?

KENT ≋ verse KENT's speech

The same,

Your servant Kent. Where is your servant Caius?

The same, Your servant Kent. Where is your servant Caius?

The same, Your servant Kent. Where is yo

LEAR ≋ verse LEAR's speech

He’s a good fellow, I can tell you that;

He’ll strike, and quickly too:. He’s dead and rotten.

He’s a good fellow, I can tell you that; He’ll strike, and quickly too:. He’s dead and rotten.

He’s a good fellow, I can tell you that;

KENT KENT's speech

No, my good lord; I am the very man.

LEAR LEAR's speech

I’ll see that straight.

KENT ≋ verse KENT's speech

That from your first of difference and decay

Have follow’d your sad steps.

That from your first of difference and decay Have follow’d your sad steps.

That from your first of difference and d

LEAR LEAR's speech

You are welcome hither.

KENT ≋ verse KENT's speech

Nor no man else. All’s cheerless, dark and deadly.

Your eldest daughters have fordone themselves,

And desperately are dead.

Nor no man else. All’s cheerless, dark and deadly. Your eldest daughters have fordone themselves, And desperately are dead.

Nor no man else. All’s cheerless, dark a

LEAR LEAR's speech

Ay, so I think.

ALBANY ≋ verse ALBANY's speech

He knows not what he says; and vain is it

That we present us to him.

He knows not what he says; and vain is it That we present us to him.

He knows not what he says; and vain is i

EDGAR EDGAR's speech

Very bootless.

Enter an Officer.

OFFICER OFFICER's speech

Edmund is dead, my lord.

ALBANY ≋ verse ALBANY's speech

That’s but a trifle here.

You lords and noble friends, know our intent.

What comfort to this great decay may come

Shall be applied. For us, we will resign,

During the life of this old majesty,

To him our absolute power;

That’s but a trifle here. You lords and noble friends, know our intent. What comfort to this great decay may come Shall be applied. For us, we will resign, During the life of this old majesty, To him our absolute power;

That’s but a trifle here. You lords and

[_to Edgar and Kent_] you to your rights;

With boot and such addition as your honours

Have more than merited. All friends shall taste

The wages of their virtue and all foes

The cup of their deservings. O, see, see!

LEAR ≋ verse LEAR's speech

And my poor fool is hang’d! 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!

And my poor fool is hang’d! 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!

And my poor fool is hang’d! No, no, no l

[_He dies._]

EDGAR EDGAR's speech

He faints! My lord, my lord!

KENT KENT's speech

Break, heart; I prithee break!

EDGAR EDGAR's speech

Look up, my lord.

KENT ≋ verse KENT's speech

Vex not his ghost: O, let him pass! He hates him

That would upon the rack of this rough world

Stretch him out longer.

Vex not his ghost: O, let him pass! He hates him That would upon the rack of this rough world Stretch him out longer.

Vex not his ghost: O, let him pass! He h

EDGAR EDGAR's speech

He is gone indeed.

KENT ≋ verse KENT's speech

The wonder is, he hath endur’d so long:

He but usurp’d his life.

The wonder is, he hath endur’d so long: He but usurp’d his life.

The wonder is, he hath endur’d so long:

ALBANY ALBANY's speech

Bear them from hence. Our present business

Is general woe. [_To Edgar and Kent._] Friends of my soul, you twain,

Rule in this realm and the gor’d state sustain.

Bear them from hence. Our present business Is general woe. [_To Edgar and Kent._] Friends of my soul, you twain, Rule in this realm and the gor’d state sustain.

Bear them from hence. Our present busine

KENT ≋ verse KENT's speech

I have a journey, sir, shortly to go;

My master calls me, I must not say no.

I have a journey, sir, shortly to go; My master calls me, I must not say no.

I have a journey, sir, shortly to go; My

EDGAR ≋ verse EDGAR's speech

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.

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.

The weight of this sad time we must obey

[_Exeunt with a dead march._]

The Reckoning

There is no scene like this in Shakespeare, and perhaps in all of literature. 5-3 is not a tragedy in the sense of a great person brought down by a fatal flaw — it is closer to an avalanche: event after event, revelation after revelation, death after death, each one arriving before the audience has finished absorbing the last. Cordelia dies. Edmund dies. Goneril kills herself. Regan is poisoned. Lear enters with his daughter in his arms, howling. He dies. Albany, the survivor, looks at the wreckage and has almost nothing useful to say, because there is nothing useful to say. What makes this scene extraordinary is not the accumulation of catastrophe but the counterpoint within it. Against Edmund's cold efficiency runs Lear's strange, terrible happiness on his way to prison — the vision of a man who has lost his kingdom and his sanity and found something else instead: the pure fact of his daughter. Against Regan's poisoning and Goneril's suicide runs Edgar's long patience finally arriving at its moment. And against the howling finale runs Edgar's closing couplet, which is not consolation but honest reckoning: 'The oldest hath borne most: we that are young / Shall never see so much, nor live so long.' It is almost unbearable in its simplicity.

If this happened today…

The final day of a long family crisis. The lawyers have been circling for months, the money is gone, the alliances have collapsed. Someone who was supposed to be on your side turns out to have filed papers against the person you love most. You are in the waiting room when the news comes. You walk into the room. There is no resolution. There is only after.