Lear Quotes Flashcards
(65 cards)
Love test
“Which of you shall we say doth love us most? That we our largest bounty may extend”
A1 S1
Disowning Cordelia
“Here I disclaim all my paternal care”
A1 S1
Lear threatens Kent
“Come not between a dragon and and his wrath”
A1 S1
Kent will say what he believes is right showing true loyalty to Lear
“Be Kent unmannerly, when Lear is mad”
A1 S1
Kent says he is offering good advice but Lear is going to punish him and reward his manipulative daughters
“Kill thy physician, and thy fee bestow upon the foul disease”
A1 S1
Lear is hurt by Goneril’s ingratitude
“How sharper than a serpents tooth it is to have a thankless child”
A1 S4
Lear, while ranting to Goneril, realizes he shouldn’t have been so harsh to Cordelia
“O most small fault, how ugly dids’t thou in Cordelia show!”
A1 S4
Lear can’t believe that Goneril is treating him so badly, being her father and the King
“Does any here know me? This is not Lear, does Lear walk thus?”
A1 S4
Regan talks down to Lear and tells him he cannot decide for himself because of his age
“O sir, you are old.
Nature in you stands on the very verge
Of her confine”
A2 S4
Lear swears revenge on Goneril and Regan
“No, you unnatural hags,
I will have such revenges on you both”
A2 S4
Lear’s anger turns to upset and says he has good reason to cry but won’t let himself due to his pride
“I have full cause of weeping,
But this heart shall break into a hundred thousand flaws
Or ere I’ll weep.”
A2 S4
Lear asks the storm to destroy the world. This is a pathetic fallacy as it mirrors the disintegration of his mental state. Displays Lear’s sense of self-importance. Now that he has been wronged he wants the whole world to be destroyed
“Blow, winds, and crack your cheeks! Rage! Blow!”
A3 S1
Lear pities himself.
This could be seen as an example of him avoiding responsibility but it also marks a turning point for Lear’s character. For the first time we see him realize his own faults and acknowledge that he has been “sinning”.
“I am a man
More sinned against than sinning”
A3 S1
Lear shows compassion for the Fool and not just for himself, realizing that he’s not the only one suffering. Once again showcasing a change in his character
“Come on, my boy. How dost, my boy? Art cold?”
A3 S1
Lear has learned not to trust false flattery and materialistic gestures
“They told me I was everything
‘Tis a lie: I am not ague-proof”
A4 S6
Lear admits his fault to Cordelia
“I am a very foolish, fond old man”
A4 S7
Cordelia treats Lear with utmost respect
“How does my royal lord? How fares your majesty?”
A4 S7
Goneril flatters Lear
“Sir I love you more than word can wield the matter”
A1 S1
Regan tries to put down Goneril’s flattery. Showing that she is just in it to win power
“I find she names my very deed of love; only she comes too short”
A1 S1
Gloucester believes the Gods arbitrarily determine the faith of human beings
“As flies to wanton boys are we to the gods; They kill us for their sport”
A4 S1
Gloucester believes the stars are causing bad things to happen
“These late eclipses in the sun and moon portend no good to us”
A1 S2
Edmund raises the question of responsibility and why people blame the stars for their misfortunes
“We make guilty of our disasters the sun, the moon and the stars: as if we were villains by necessity, fools by heavenly compulsion”
A1 S2
Edmund is thankful for how easy it is to manipulate his brother and father
“He suspects none; on whose foolish honesty my practices ride easy”
A1 S2
The fool says Lear is a bigger fool than himself
“I had rather be any kind o’thing than a fool. And yet, I would not be thee, nuncle”
A1 S4
