An unknown opposite;° thou are not vanquished,
But cozened and beguiled.
Albany. 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.
Goneril. Say, if I do, the laws are mine, not thine:Who can arraign me for ’t?
Albany. Most monstrous! O!Know‘st thou this paper?
Goneril. Ask me not what I know.
Exit.
Albany. Go after her; she’s desperate; govern° her.
Edmund. What you have charged 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 thou145 say assay (i.e., touch, sign)
146 safe and nicely cautiously and punctiliously 146 delay i.e., avoid
148 treasons accusations of treason 149 hell-bated hated like hell
150-52 Which... ever which accusations of treason, since as yet they do no harm, even though I have hurled them back, I now thrust upon you still more forcibly, with my sword, so that they may remain with you permanently
153 Save spare
153 practice trickery
155 opposite opponent
157 Hold, sir (to Edmund: “Just a moment!”)
158 Thou (probably Goneril)
163 govern control
That hast this fortune on° me? If thou ‘rt noble,
I do forgive thee.
Edgar. Let’s exchange charity.°I am no less in blood° than thou art, Edmund;
If more,° the more th’ hast wronged 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.
Edmund. Th’ hast spoken right, ‘tis true;The wheel is come full circle; I am here.°
Albany. 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!
Edgar. Worthy° Prince, I know ’t.
Albany. Where have you hid yourself? How have you known the miseries of your father?
Edgar. 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 followed me so near—0, our lives’ sweetness,
That we the pain of death would hourly die
Rather than die at once!°—taught me to shift
Into a madman’s rags, t’ assume a semblance
That very dogs disdained: and in this habit°
Met I my father with his bleeding rings,°
Their precious stones new lost; became his guide,
Led him, begged for him, saved him from despair;167 fortune on victory over
168 charity forgiveness and love
169 blood lineage
170 If more if I am more noble (since legitimate)
172 of our pleasant out of our pleasurable
174 place i.e.. the adulterous bed
174 got begot
176 Wheel ... here i.e., Fortune’s wheel, on which Edmund ascended, has now, in its downward turning, deposited him at the bottom, whence he began
177 gait did prophesy carriage did promise
180 Worthy honorable
185 to escape (my wish) to escape the sentence of death
186-88 O ... once how sweet is life, that we choose to suffer death every hour rather than make an end at once
190 habit attire
191 rings sockets
Never—O fault!—revealed myself unto him,
Until some half-hour past, when I was armed,
Not sure, though hoping, of this good success,
I asked his blessing, and from first to last
Told him our pilgrimage.° But his flawed° heart—
Alack, too weak the conflict to support—
‘Twixt two extremes of passion, joy and grief,
Burst smilingly.
Edmund. This speech of yours hath moved me,And shall perchance do good: but speak you on; You look as you had something more to say.
Albany. If there be more, more woeful, hold it in; For I am almost ready to dissolve,°Hearing of this.
Edgar. This would have seemed 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 clamor,° came there in a man,
Who, having seen me in my worst estate, °
Shunned my abhorred° society; but then, finding
Who ‘twas that so endured, with his strong arms
He fastened on my neck, and bellowed out
As he’d burst heaven; threw him on my father;
Told the most piteous tale of Lear and him
That ever ear received: 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 tranced.°
Albany. But who was this?
Edgar. Kent, sir, the banished Kent; who in disguise Followed his enemy° king, and did him service Improper for a slave.
198 our pilgrimage of our (purgatorial) journey
198 flawed cracked
05 dissolve i.e., into tears
206 period limit
207-09 but ... extremity just one woe more, described too fully, would go beyond the extreme limit
210 big in clamor loud in lamentation
211 estate condition
212 abhorred abhorrent
218 puissant overmastering
220 tranced insensible
222 enemy hostile
Enter a Gentleman, with a bloody knife.
Gentleman. Help, help, O, help!
Edgar. What kind of help?
Albany. Speak, man.
Edgar. What means this bloody knife?
Gentleman. ‘Tis hot, it smokes;°It came even from the heart of—0, she’s dead!
Albany. Who dead? Speak, man.
Gentleman. Your lady, sir, your lady: and her sisterBy her is poisoned; she confesses it.
Edmund. I was contracted° to them both: all three Now marry° in an instant.
Edgar. Here comes Kent.
Albany. Produce the bodies, be they alive or dead. [Exit Gentleman.] This judgment of the heavens, that makes us
tremble,
Touches us not with pity.
Enter Kent.
O, is this he?
The time will not allow the compliment°
Which very manners° urges.
Kent. I am comeTo bid my king and master aye° good night: Is he not here?
Albany. Great thing of° us forgot!Speak, Edmund, where’s the King? and where’s
Cordelia?
Seest thou this object,° Kent?
The bodies of Goneril and Regan are brought in.
Kent. Alack, why thus?
225 smokes steams 230 contracted betrothed 231 marry i.e., unite in death 235 compliment ceremony 236 very manners ordinary civility 237 aye forever 238 thing of matter by 240 object sight (the bodies of Goneril and Regan)
Edmund. Yet° Edmund was beloved:The one the other poisoned for my sake, And after slew herself.
Albany: Even so. Cover their faces.
Edmund. I pant for life:° some good I mean to do,Despite of mine own nature. Quickly send,
Be brief in it, to th’ castle; for my writ°
Is on the life of Lear and on Cordelia:
Nay, send in time.
Albany. Run, run, O, run!
Edgar. To who, my lord? Who has the office?° Send Thy token of reprieve.°
Edmund. Well thought on: take my sword, Give it the captain.
Edgar. Haste thee, for thy
life.
[Exit Messenger.]
Edmund. He hath commission from thy wife and meTo hang Cordelia in the prison, and
To lay the blame upon her own despair,
That she fordid° herself.
Albany. The gods defend her! Bear him hence awhile. [Edmund is borne off.]Enter Lear, with Cordelia in his arms [Gentleman, and others following].
Lear. Howl, howl, howl, howl! O, you are men of stones:Had I your tongues and eyes, I’d 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.
241 Yet in spite of all
245 pant for life gasp for breath
247 writ command (ordering the execution)
250 office commission
251 token of reprieve sign that they are reprieved
257 fordid destroyed
264 stone i.e., the surface of the crystal looking glass
Kent. Is this the promised end?°
Edgar. Or image° of that horror?
Albany. Fall and cease.°
Lear. This feather stirs; she lives. If it be so,It is a chance which does redeem° all sorrows
That ever I have felt.
Kent. O my good master.
Lear. Prithee, away.
Edgar. ‘Tis noble Kent, your friend.
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 say‘st? Her voice was ever soft,
Gentle and low, an excellent thing in woman.
I killed the slave that was a-hanging thee.
Gentleman: ‘Tis true, my lords, he did.
Lear. 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’ th’ best: I’ll tell you straight.°
Kent. If Fortune brag of two° she loved and hated, One of them we behold.
Lear. This is a dull sight.° Are you not Kent?
Kent. The same,Your servant Kent. Where is your servant Caius?°
Lear. He’s a good fellow, I can tell you that;He’ll strike, and quickly too: he’s dead and rotten.
Kent. No, my good lord; I am the very man.
265 promised end Doomsday
266 image exact likeness
266 Fall and cease i.e., let the heavens fall, and all things finish
268 redeem make good 278 falchion small curved sword
280 crosses troubles
280 spoil me i.e., my prowess as a swordsman
281 tell you straight recognize you straightway
282 two i.e., Lear, and some hypothetical second, who is also a prime example of Fortune’s inconstancy (“loved and hated”)
284 dull sight (I) melancholy spectacle (2) faulty eyesight (Lear’s own, clouded by weeping)
285 Caius (Kent’s name, in disguise)
Lear. I’ll see that straight.°
Kent. That from your first of difference and decay° Have followed your sad steps.
Lear. You are welcome hither.
Kent. Nor no man else:° all’s cheerless, dark and deadlyYour eldest daughters have fordone° themselves, And desperately° are dead.
Lear. Ay, so I think.
Albany. He knows not what he says, and vain is it That we present us to him.
Edgar. Very bootless.°
Enter a Messenger.
Messenger. Edmund is dead, my lord.
Albany. 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: [To Edgar and Kent]
you, to your rights;
With boot,° and such addition° as your honors
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. And my poor fool° is hanged: no, no, no life?Why should a dog, a horse, a rat, have life,289 see that straight attend to that in a moment
290 your ... decay beginning of your decline in fortune
292 Nor no man else no, I am not wel- . come, nor is anyone else
293 fordone destroyed
294 desperately in despair
296 bootless fruitless
299 What ... come whatever aid may present itself to this great ruined man
300 us, we (the royal “we”)
303 boot good measure 303 addition additional titles and rights
307 fool Cordelia (“fool” being a term of endearment. But it is perfectly possible to take the word as referring also to the Fool)
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.
Edgar. He faints. My lord, my lord!
Kent. Break, heart; I prithee, break.
Edgar. Look up, my lord.
Kent. Vex not his ghost:° O, let him pass! He hates himThat would upon the rack° of this tough world Stretch him out longer.°
Edgar. He is gone indeed.
Kent. The wonder is he hath endured so long: He but usurped° his life.
Albany. Bear them from hence. Our present businessIs general woe. [To Kent and Edgar] Friends of
my soul, you twain,
Rule in this realm and the gored state sustain.
Kent. I have a journey, sir, shortly to go;My master calls me, I must not say no.
Edgar. 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.
Exeunt, with a dead march.
FINIS
311 undo this button i.e., to ease the suffocation Lear feels
315 Vex ... ghost do not trouble his departing spirit
316 rack instrument of torture, stretching the victim’s joints to dislocation
317 longer (1) in time (2) in bodily length
319 9 usurped possessed beyond the allotted term
325 obey submit to
Textual Note
The earliest extant version of Shakespeare’s King Lear is the First Quarto of 1608. This premier edition is known as the Pied Bull Quarto, after the sign which hung before the establishment of the printer. The title page reads as follows: “M. William Shak-speare: / HIS / True Chronicle Historie of the life and / death of King Lear and his three / Daughters. / With the vnfortunate life of Edgar, sonne / and heire to the Earle of Gloster, and his / sullen and assumed humor of / Tom of Bedlam: / As it was played before the Kings Maiestie at Whitehall vpon l S. Stephans night in ‘Christmas Hollidayes. / By his Maiesties seruants playing vsually at the Gloabe / on the Bancke-side. / LONDON, / Printed for Nathaniel Butter, and are to be sold at his shop in Pauls / Church-yard at the signe of the Pide Bull neere / S’. Austin’s Gate. 1608.” Twelve copies of the First Quarto survive. They are, however, in ten different states, because proofreading, and hence correcting, took place as the play was being printed. The instances (167 in all) in which these copies of Q1 differ from one another have been enumerated by contemporary scholarship.1 Various theories account for the origin of Q1. Perhaps it is a “reported” text, depending on memorial reconstruction by actors who had performed it, or on a shorthand transcription, or on a conventional but poor transcription of Sha
kespeare’s “foul papers” (rough draft). In Shakespeare’s Revision of “King Lear“ (1980), Steven Urkowitz, disputing suggestions of memorial contaminating, concluded that Q was printed directly from the foul papers, not from a transcript of them.
In 1619 appeared the Second Quarto, known as the N. Butter Quarto, and falsely dated in the same year as the first (the title page reads: “Printed for Nathaniel Butter. 1608”). Actually Q2 was printed by William Jaggard as part of an intended collection of plays by or ascribed to Shakespeare, to be published by Jaggard’s friend Thomas Pavier. The source of Q2 was apparently a copy of Q1 in which a number of sheets had been corrected.
Four years later King Lear was reprinted once more, this time in the first collection of Shakespeare’s works, the First Folio of 1623. The source of the Folio text has been much debated. Some propose a corrected copy of Q1, perhaps collated with the theater’s promptbook, a shorter, acting version of the play. Comparative study indicates that Q2 with its corrections was also important for the printing of F, and may have been its principal source. Gary Taylor, analyzing the work of the compositors who set the Folio text, suggested this; others suggested that F’s compositors used an MS copy, probably derived from the promptbook, plus a version of Q2. Between the Q and F texts, variations, both accidental and substantive, are frequent. Accidental changes, those of orthography and punctuation, mean little for a modernized edition like this one. Substantive changes, those of words, may alter the sense. F lacks 285 lines that appear in Q1, and adds 115 lines not in Q1, also supplying many different readings and different punctuation and lineation.
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