King Lear
Dramatis Personae | 1.1 | 1.2 | 1.3 | 1.4 | 1.5
2.1 | 2.2, part 1 | 2.2, part 2
3.1 | 3.2 | 3.3 | 3.4 | 3.5 | 3.6 | 3.7
The Story So Far: After escorting the raving King Lear and his entourage of sane, semi-sane, and insane people to shelter, the Earl of Gloucester overhears a plot against Lear's life. Against Regan and Cornwall's orders, he sends them towards Dover, where the French army led by Cordelia has landed.
There are many references to eyes in King Lear, and they all lead up to this infamous scene. This is one of the scenes that gets waved around when people say "Oooh, Shakespeare is boring." Boring, is it? Boring? How about a nice old man getting his eyes gouged out on stage? ARE YOU STILL BORED?
There are many massively quotable lines in King Lear: "How sharper than a serpent's tooth it is to have a thankless child", "Blow winds and crack your cheeks", etc. However, the one I always like to quote is Cornwall's "Out, vile jelly! Where is thy lustre now?" If you're creative, you can find lots of uses for it, the most obvious being when you're making a sandwich and run out of spreadable fruit preserves.
That's all for Act 3! Tune in on Monday, when we'll take a short break to check in on a disappearing character before plunging on into Act 4.
Dramatis Personae | 1.1 | 1.2 | 1.3 | 1.4 | 1.5
2.1 | 2.2, part 1 | 2.2, part 2
3.1 | 3.2 | 3.3 | 3.4 | 3.5 | 3.6 | 3.7