King Lear, Act 2

For each act, you should respond to TWO of the reader-response questions. Your answers should be 300+ words apiece.

These blogs are due Tuesday, April 7 at the beginning of the class period.

1. In the study guide, I mentioned that Edgar seemed a bit “too gullible” to be the hero of this play. However, the original title page of King Lear read, “M William Shak-speare: His Ture Chronicle Historie of the life and death of King Lear and his three Daughters. With the unfortunate life of Edgar, sonne and heire to the Earle of Gloster, and his sullen and assumed humor of Tom of Bedlam.”

While the bolding is mine, note that fully half of the original title has to do with Edgar. Shakespeare obviously valued his loyalty and places him squarely in the corner of the “good” characters. Imagine a backstory for Edgar that allows you to see him as fully noble, not as the slower-witted older brother of the diabolical Edmund. You might choose to render a scene from the brothers’ boyhood that reveals Edgar’s honorable qualities (whatever they may be). You might allow another character (perhaps one of the boys’ mothers?) to comment on them. Whatever option you choose, use it to allow you to see Edgar’s fundamental goodness, and to help you imagine him more fully as you read.

2. What is it—what could it conceivably be—that would make children turn against their parent as completely as Goneril and Regan have turned against Lear? They’ve gone beyond irritation and its consequent neglect to outright cruelty. You may consider this question either specifically in reference to the two women (imagine their backstory the way you did Edgar’s) or consider it in general. Where do the terrible resentments of children for their parents come from? What is so very powerful about that relationship?

3. If you chose to do question 1 (or even if you didn’t), it is interesting to consider Edgar’s state of mind when he takes on the persona of Tom O’Bedlam. Certainly, he is trying to disguise himself, but this is an extreme disguise indeed. Consider why he chose this particular disguise. What would drive him to this? Again, you can do this as a mini-essay, but it might be more interesting and more informative to write from Edgar’s perspective. Do whatever comes most naturally to you, but don’t write to fill space—be thoughtful.

4. Cordelia has disappeared from the play. What’s she doing? You might write a dialogue between her and her new husband France—have they heard word of the goings-on in Lear’s kingdom? Is she still concerned about her father? Whatever you want to say here, but they should probably not be discussing whether or not to have roast lamb for dinner. Alternatively, you could have Cordelia write a letter to her father or sisters. What would she say?