King Lear by William Shakespeare (ap literature book list TXT) đ
- Author: William Shakespeare
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This etext was prepared by the PG Shakespeare Team,
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THE TRAGEDY OF KING LEAR
by William Shakespeare
Persons Represented.
Lear, King of Britain.
King of France.
Duke of Burgundy.
Duke of Cornwall.
Duke of Albany.
Earl of Kent.
Earl of Gloster.
Edgar, Son to Gloster.
Edmund, Bastard Son to Gloster.
Curan, a Courtier.
Old Man, Tenant to Gloster.
Physician.
Fool.
Oswald, steward to Goneril.
An Officer employed by Edmund.
Gentleman, attendant on Cordelia.
A Herald.
Servants to Cornwall.
Goneril, daughter to Lear.
Regan, daughter to Lear.
Cordelia, daughter to Lear.
Knights attending on the King, Officers, Messengers, Soldiers,
and Attendants.
Scene,âBritain.
ACT I.
Scene I. A Room of State in King Learâs Palace.
[Enter Kent, Gloster, and Edmund.]
Kent.
I thought the King had more affected the Duke of Albany than
Cornwall.
Glou.
It did always seem so to us; but now, in the division of the
kingdom, it appears not which of the Dukes he values most, for
equalities are so weighed that curiosity in neither can make
choice of eitherâs moiety.
Kent.
Is not this your son, my lord?
Glou.
His breeding, sir, hath been at my charge: I have so often
blushâd to acknowledge him that now I am brazâd toât.
Kent.
I cannot conceive you.
Glou.
Sir, this young fellowâs mother could: whereupon she grew
round-wombed, and had indeed, sir, a son for her cradle ere she
had a husband for her bed. Do you smell a fault?
Kent.
I cannot wish the fault undone, the issue of it being so proper.
Glou.
But I have, sir, a son by order of law, some year elder than
this, who yet is no dearer in my account: though this knave came
something saucily into the world before he was sent for, yet was
his mother fair; there was good sport at his making, and the
whoreson must be acknowledged.âDo you know this noble gentleman,
Edmund?
Edm.
No, my lord.
Glou.
My Lord of Kent: remember him hereafter as my honourable friend.
Edm.
My services to your lordship.
Kent.
I must love you, and sue to know you better.
Edm.
Sir, I shall study deserving.
Glou.
He hath been out nine years, and away he shall again.âThe king
is coming.
[Sennet within.]
[Enter Lear, Cornwall, Albany, Goneril, Regan, Cordelia, and
Attendants.]
Lear.
Attend the lords of France and Burgundy,
Gloster.
Glou.
I shall, my liege.
[Exeunt Gloster and Edmund.]
Lear.
Meantime we shall express our darker purpose.â
Give me the map there.âKnow that we have divided
In three our kingdom: and âtis our fast intent
To shake all cares and business from our age;
Conferring them on younger strengths, while we
Unburdenâd crawl toward death.âOur son of Cornwall,
And you, our no less loving son of Albany,
We have this hour a constant will to publish
Our daughtersâ several dowers, that future strife
May be prevented now. The princes, France and Burgundy,
Great rivals in our youngest daughterâs love,
Long in our court have made their amorous sojourn,
And here are to be answerâd.âTell me, my daughters,â
Since now we will divest us both of rule,
Interest of territory, cares of state,â
Which of you shall we say doth love us most?
That we our largest bounty may extend
Where nature doth with merit challenge.âGoneril,
Our eldest-born, speak first.
Gon.
Sir, I love you more than words can wield the matter;
Dearer than eyesight, space, and liberty;
Beyond what can be valuâd, rich or rare;
No less than life, with grace, health, beauty, honour;
As much as child eâer lovâd, or father found;
A love that makes breath poor and speech unable;
Beyond all manner of so much I love you.
Cor.
[Aside.] What shall Cordelia speak? Love, and be silent.
Lear.
Of all these bounds, even from this line to this,
With shadowy forests and with champains richâd,
With plenteous rivers and wide-skirted meads,
We make thee lady: to thine and Albanyâs issue
Be this perpetual.âWhat says our second daughter,
Our dearest Regan, wife to Cornwall? Speak.
Reg.
Sir, I am made of the selfsame metal that my sister is,
And prize me at her worth. In my true heart
I find she names my very deed of love;
Only she comes too short,âthat I profess
Myself an enemy to all other joys
Which the most precious square of sense possesses,
And find I am alone felicitate
In your dear highnessâ love.
Cor.
[Aside.] Then poor Cordelia!
And yet not so; since, I am sure, my loveâs
More richer than my tongue.
Lear.
To thee and thine hereditary ever
Remain this ample third of our fair kingdom;
No less in space, validity, and pleasure
Than that conferrâd on Goneril.âNow, our joy,
Although the last, not least; to whose young love
The vines of France and milk of Burgundy
Strive to be interessâd; what can you say to draw
A third more opulent than your sisters? Speak.
Cor.
Nothing, my lord.
Lear.
Nothing!
Cor.
Nothing.
Lear.
Nothing can come of nothing: speak again.
Cor.
Unhappy that I am, I cannot heave
My heart into my mouth: I love your majesty
According to my bond; no more nor less.
Lear.
How, how, Cordelia? mend your speech a little,
Lest you may mar your fortunes.
Cor.
Good my lord,
You have begot me, bred me, lovâd me: I
Return those duties back as are right fit,
Obey you, love you, and most honour you.
Why have my sisters husbands if they say
They love you all? Haply, when I shall wed,
That lord whose hand must take my plight shall carry
Half my love with him, half my care and duty:
Sure I shall never marry like my sisters,
To love my father all.
Lear.
But goes thy heart with this?
Cor.
Ay, good my lord.
Lear.
So young, and so untender?
Cor.
So young, my lord, and true.
Lear.
Let it be so,âthy truth then be thy dower:
For, by the sacred radiance of the sun,
The mysteries of Hecate, and the night;
By all the operation of the orbs,
From whom we do exist and cease to be;
Here I disclaim all my paternal care,
Propinquity, and property of blood,
And as a stranger to my heart and me
Hold thee, from this for ever. The barbarous Scythian,
Or he that makes his generation messes
To gorge his appetite, shall to my bosom
Be as well neighbourâd, pitied, and relievâd,
As thou my sometime daughter.
Kent.
Good my liege,â
Lear.
Peace, Kent!
Come not between the dragon and his wrath.
I lovâd her most, and thought to set my rest
On her kind nursery.âHence, and avoid my sight!â[To Cordelia.]
So be my grave my peace, as here I give
Her fatherâs heart from her!âCall France;âwho stirs?
Call Burgundy!âCornwall and Albany,
With my two daughtersâ dowers digest this third:
Let pride, which she calls plainness, marry her.
I do invest you jointly in my power,
Pre-eminence, and all the large effects
That troop with majesty.âOurself, by monthly course,
With reservation of an hundred knights,
By you to be sustainâd, shall our abode
Make with you by due turns. Only we still retain
The name, and all the additions to a king;
The sway,
Revenue, execution of the rest,
Beloved sons, be yours; which to confirm,
This coronet part betwixt you.
[Giving the crown.]
Kent.
Royal Lear,
Whom I have ever honourâd as my king,
Lovâd as my father, as my master followâd,
As my great patron thought on in my prayers.â
Lear.
The bow is bent and drawn; make from the shaft.
Kent.
Let it fall rather, though the fork invade
The region of my heart: be Kent unmannerly
When Lear is mad. What wouldst thou do, old man?
Thinkâst thou that duty shall have dread to speak
When power to flattery bows? To plainness honourâs bound
When majesty falls to folly. Reverse thy state;
And in thy best consideration check
This hideous rashness: answer my life my judgment,
Thy youngest daughter does not love thee least;
Nor are those empty-hearted whose low sound
Reverbs no hollowness.
Lear.
Kent, on thy life, no more.
Kent.
My life I never held but as a pawn
To wage against thine enemies; nor fear to lose it,
Thy safety being the motive.
Lear.
Out of my sight!
Kent.
See better, Lear; and let me still remain
The true blank of thine eye.
Lear.
Now, by Apollo,â
Kent.
Now by Apollo, king,
Thou swearâst thy gods in vain.
Lear.
O vassal! miscreant!
[Laying his hand on his sword.]
Alb. and Corn.
Dear sir, forbear!
Kent.
Do;
Kill thy physician, and the fee bestow
Upon the foul disease. Revoke thy gift,
Or, whilst I can vent clamour from my throat,
Iâll tell thee thou dost evil.
Lear.
Hear me, recreant!
On thine allegiance, hear me!â
Since thou hast sought to make us break our vow,â
Which we durst never yet,âand with strainâd pride
To come between our sentence and our power,â
Which nor our nature nor our place can bear,â
Our potency made good, take thy reward.
Five days we do allot thee for provision
To shield thee from diseases of the world;
And on the sixth to turn thy hated back
Upon our kingdom: if, on the tenth day following,
Thy banishâd trunk be found in our dominions,
The moment is thy death. Away! by Jupiter,
This shall not be revokâd.
Kent.
Fare thee well, king: sith thus thou wilt appear,
Freedom lives hence, and banishment is here.â
[To Cordelia.] The gods to their dear shelter take thee, maid,
That justly thinkâst and hast most rightly said!
[To Regan and Goneril.]
And your large speeches may your deeds approve,
That good effects may spring from words of love.â
Thus Kent, O princes, bids you all adieu;
Heâll shape his old course in a country new.
[Exit.]
[Flourish. Re-enter Gloster, with France, Burgundy, and
Attendants.]
Glou.
Hereâs France and Burgundy, my noble lord.
Lear.
My Lord of Burgundy,
We first address toward you, who with this king
Hath rivallâd for our daughter: what in the least
Will you require in present dower with her,
Or cease your quest of love?
Bur.
Most royal majesty,
I crave no more than hath your highness offerâd,
Nor will you tender less.
Lear.
Right noble Burgundy,
When she was dear to us, we did hold her so;
But now her price is fallân. Sir, there she stands:
If aught within that little seeming substance,
Or all of it, with our displeasure piecâd,
And nothing more, may fitly like your grace,
Sheâs there, and she is yours.
Bur.
I know no answer.
Lear.
Will you, with those infirmities she owes,
Unfriended, new-adopted to our hate,
Dowerâd with our curse, and strangerâd with our oath,
Take her, or leave her?
Bur.
Pardon me, royal sir;
Election makes not up on such conditions.
Lear.
Then leave her, sir; for, by the power that made me,
I tell you all her wealth.â[To France] For you, great king,
I would not from your love make such a stray
To match you where I hate; therefore beseech you
To avert your liking a more worthier way
Than on a wretch whom nature is ashamâd
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