king lear plot summary

Act II - Conflict begins between the two daughters Goneril and Regan. Regan learns from her father of the disrespect and hurt he suffered at the hands of Goneril's. Yet after consultation with her sister, allows her father to stay without his men, resulting in his staying with neither. Edmund informs Gloucester of Edgar's plan to kill him and falls for it. Edmund manipulates Edgar, leading him to solitude where he disguises his identity. Meanwhile, Kent has been placed in stocks by Goneril for having a fight with Goneril's steward.

Act III - Lear is caught in a storm, and Kent sends Cordelia a letter notifying her of her father's predicament. After the storm ends and they find refuge in an old farmhouse, Lear begins showing signs of madness (staging a mock trial and punishing two stools as if they were Regan and Goneril). Lear is then led to Dover by Kent. Edmund learns from Gloucester of France's possible invasion of England, and Edgar appears as 'Poor Tom'. Cornwall (Regan's husband) and Edmund converse, and after turning Gloucester over as a traitor to Cornwall, Edmund is ordered to seek him out and punish Gloucester by torturing, and blinding him. Edmund receives his father's title of Earl of Gloucester.

Act IV - Cornwall (Regan's husband) has died, and Goneril's husband has rejected her, so Regan and Goneril compete for Edmund and his affections. Gloucester, now blind, realizes his mistake in trusting Edmund, and not his son Edgar, and asks 'poor Tom' (Edgar) to lead him to the cliffs of Dover. He is tricked into believing he has survived his suicidal fall. Lear learns of Gloucester's blindness, and Edgar kills Goneril's servant Oswald when he attempts to kill Gloucester. He holds a letter from Goneril revealing her plan for Edmund to kill her husband so that she may marry him. With the battle about to start, Cordelia searches for and finds her father, who is deeply remorseful for his treatment of her.

Act V - Regan and Goneril force Edmund to choose between them. Regan's estranged husband Albany agrees to fight on their side, but only to overcome the invading power of France (later turning on them both). Cordelia and her father's forces lose to Regan and Goneril, and they are taken prisoner. Edgar then fights and kills Edmund, and Goneril poisons Regan and kills herself. Edgar's father dies soon after Edgar reveals his true identity. Albany and Edmund (who is dying) attempt to save Lear and Cordelia from being hung, but for Cordelia it is already too late. Before he dies from the unbearable pain of loosing his daughter, Lear honours Kent for his loyalty and bravery. Albany is left to restore order as the only survivor.

King Lear Plot Summary