REGAN
This house is little: the old man and his people
Cannot be well bestow'd.
GONERIL
'Tis his own blame; hath put himself from rest,
And must needs taste his folly.
REGAN
For his particular, I'll receive him gladly,
But not one follower.
GONERIL
So am I purposed. (2.4.330-335)
Regan, on the other hand, is slightly less evil as the readers find out near the end of the novel. She is very similar in characteristics as Goneril except slightly more passive and she gets other men to do her dirty work for her. We see this is Act 3, Scene 7, when Regan begs for Cornwall, her husband, to gouge out Gloucester’s eyes. However, she does kill the servant that tries to defend Gloucester herself. Near the end of the novel, Regan is poisoned out of jealousy by Goneril in order to win Edmund for herself. Here, the readers find out truly who the more evil sister is as Goneril kills herself instead of facing the consequences that she would have been punished for as Edgar rises to power.
Goneril and Regan are, in a sense, personifications of evil in King Lear—they have no conscience, only hunger for power. It is this lust for power that drives them to crush all opposition and make themselves mistresses of England. However, this lust ultimately unravels their binding. Their desire for more power and their sexual attraction and desire to Edmund eventually turns them against each other. It is as if Shakespeare suggests to the readers that the lust for power and villainy eventually turns on itself.
Key Passage:
Goneril
Sister, it is not a little I have to say of what
most nearly appertains to us both. I think our
father will hence to-night.
Regan
That's most certain, and with you; next month with us.
Goneril
You see how full of changes his age is; the
observation we have made of it hath not been
little: he always loved our sister most; and
with what poor judgment he hath now cast her off
appears too grossly.
Regan
'Tis the infirmity of his age: yet he hath ever
but slenderly known himself.
Goneril
The best and soundest of his time hath been but
rash; then must we look to receive from his age,
not alone the imperfections of long-engraffed
condition, but therewithal the unruly waywardness
that infirm and choleric years bring with them.
Regan
Such unconstant starts are we like to have from
him as this of Kent's banishment.
Goneril
There is further compliment of leave taking
between France and him. Pray you, let's hit
together: if our father carry authority with
such dispositions as he bears, this last
surrender of his will but offend us.
Regan
We shall further think on't.
Goneril
We must do something, and i' the heat. (1.1.329-355)
Key Passage Analysis:
In the final part of Act 1, Scene 1, as Cordelia leaves with France, the two older sisters, Goneril and Regan are let alone in the room after Lear has finished dividing the land between them. In this excerpt, Goneril and Regan are planning what they are going to do when Lear comes to live with each of them for one month, and plan to act soon, as shown by the words “i’th’ heat”, meaning “with heat” or quickly. In the parts before, Lear had declared that he will keep 100 knights with him and live with Goneril for one month and then Regan for one month.
This excerpt foreshadows the future incidents that follows suit later on in the novel. Even after Lear had given them each half of the kingdom to divide amongst themselves, they are still greedy for power. All Lear asked for is that he lives with both of them for a month each with 100 knights by his side. However, Regan and Goneril think this is too much to ask. “The unruly waywardness that in firm and choleric years bring with them” (1.1.344-345) contain hyperbaton, which indicates the flaw and the haste in the judgment of Lear. Also, while they talk, they justify that letting Lear keep any form of authority with him (i.e. his 100 knights) would not be beneficial, but rather harmful for them, as he would still have a little power left with him. When Goneril says, “this last surrender of his will but offend us”, we learn that they sisters plan to strip Lear of all his powers so that in the future, Lear wouldn’t be a threat to their power.
Later, in Act 2, Scene 4, Goneril and Regan ask Lear to banish all 50 of his knights that are left, as Goneril has already banished the other 50 before Lear came to stay with Regan. “Hear me, my lord:/What need you five-and-twenty, ten, or five, /to follow in a house where twice so many/Have a command to tend you? /What need one?”(2.4.300-304). As the sisters get greedier, they seek to destroy the little power that he has left. The declining numbers here, from twenty-five to one, are metaphorically representing Lear’s dwindling power and his dignity and pride, as he is brought down to the status of a beggar, with no home and money.
Goneril and Regan’s lust for more power leads them to commit more and more horrendous acts against Lear and anyone else who comes in between them and their wealth throughout the novel. This excerpt relates a lot to our theme of power and villainy, as with the power given to them by Lear himself, they slowly destroy Lear’s power and dignity throughout the novel. It also demonstrates Lear’s fall throughout the novel as he loses his power and dignity little by little with each scene. It makes the readers wonder, if Lear had not been foolish and not given his kingdom to the sisters or if he had given it all to Cordelia, would the final outcome and the sisters be different?
by
acekidash (student)
