TPTT The Tragedy of King Lear: ACT I
Introduction
ACT I
SCENE I. King Lear's palace.
SCENE II. The Earl of Gloucester's castle.
SCENE III. The Duke of Albany's palace.
SCENE IV. A hall in the same.
SCENE V. Court before the same.
ACT II
ACT III
ACT IV
ACT V
About the Play
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SCENE I. King Lear's palace.
Enter KENT, GLOUCESTER, and EDMUND
KENT
      I thought the king had more affected the Duke of
      Albany than Cornwall.
GLOUCESTER
      It did always seem so to us: but now, in the
      division of the kingdom, it appears not which of
5     the dukes he values most; for equalities are so
      weighed, that curiosity in neither can make choice
      of either's moiety.
KENT
      Is not this your son, my lord?
GLOUCESTER
      His breeding, sir, hath been at my charge: I have
10    so often blushed to acknowledge him, that now I am
      brazed to it.
KENT
      I cannot conceive you.
GLOUCESTER
      Sir, this young fellow's mother could: whereupon
      she grew round-wombed, and had, indeed, sir, a son
15    for her cradle ere she had a husband for her bed.
      Do you smell a fault?
KENT
      I cannot wish the fault undone, the issue of it
      being so proper.
GLOUCESTER
      But I have, sir, a son by order of law, some year
20    elder than this, who yet is no dearer in my account:
      though this knave came something saucily into the
      world before he was sent for, yet was his mother
      fair; there was good sport at his making, and the
      whoreson must be acknowledged. Do you know this
25    noble gentleman, Edmund?
EDMUND
      No, my lord.
GLOUCESTER
      My lord of Kent: remember him hereafter as my
      honourable friend.
EDMUND
      My services to your lordship.
KENT
30    I must love you, and sue to know you better.
EDMUND
      Sir, I shall study deserving.
GLOUCESTER
      He hath been out nine years, and away he shall
      again. The king is coming.
Sennet. Enter KING LEAR, CORNWALL, ALBANY, GONERIL, REGAN, CORDELIA, and Attendants
KING LEAR
      Attend the lords of France and Burgundy, Gloucester.
GLOUCESTER
35    I shall, my liege.
Exeunt GLOUCESTER and EDMUND
KING LEAR
      Meantime we shall express our darker purpose.
      Give me the map there. Know that we have divided
      In three our kingdom: and 'tis our fast intent
      To shake all cares and business from our age;
40    Conferring them on younger strengths, while we
      Unburthen'd crawl toward death. Our son of Cornwall,
      And you, our no less loving son of Albany,
      We have this hour a constant will to publish
      Our daughters' several dowers, that future strife
45    May be prevented now. The princes, France and Burgundy,
      Great rivals in our youngest daughter's love,
      Long in our court have made their amorous sojourn,
      And here are to be answer'd. Tell me, my daughters,--
      Since now we will divest us both of rule,
50    Interest of territory, cares of state,--
      Which of you shall we say doth love us most?
      That we our largest bounty may extend
      Where nature doth with merit challenge. Goneril,
      Our eldest-born, speak first.
GONERIL
55    Sir, I love you more than words can wield the matter;
      Dearer than eye-sight, space, and liberty;
      Beyond what can be valued, rich or rare;
      No less than life, with grace, health, beauty, honour;
      As much as child e'er loved, or father found;
60    A love that makes breath poor, and speech unable;
      Beyond all manner of so much I love you.
CORDELIA
      (Aside) What shall Cordelia do?
      Love, and be silent.
LEAR
      Of all these bounds, even from this line to this,
65    With shadowy forests and with champains rich'd,
      With plenteous rivers and wide-skirted meads,
      We make thee lady: to thine and Albany's issue
      Be this perpetual. What says our second daughter,
      Our dearest Regan, wife to Cornwall? Speak.
REGAN
70    Sir, I am made
      Of the self-same metal that my sister is,
      And prize me at her worth. In my true heart
      I find she names my very deed of love;
      Only she comes too short: that I profess
75    Myself an enemy to all other joys,
      Which the most precious square of sense possesses;
      And find I am alone felicitate
      In your dear highness' love.
CORDELIA
      (Aside) Then poor Cordelia!
80    And yet not so; since, I am sure, my love's
      More richer than my tongue.
KING LEAR
      To thee and thine hereditary ever
      Remain this ample third of our fair kingdom;
      No less in space, validity, and pleasure,
85    Than that conferr'd on Goneril. Now, our joy,
      Although the last, not least; to whose young love
      The vines of France and milk of Burgundy
      Strive to be interess'd; what can you say to draw
      A third more opulent than your sisters? Speak.
CORDELIA
90    Nothing, my lord.
KING LEAR
      Nothing!
CORDELIA
      Nothing.
KING LEAR
      Nothing will come of nothing: speak again.
CORDELIA
      Unhappy that I am, I cannot heave
95    My heart into my mouth: I love your majesty
      According to my bond; nor more nor less.
KING LEAR
      How, how, Cordelia! mend your speech a little,
      Lest it may mar your fortunes.
CORDELIA
      Good my lord,
100   You have begot me, bred me, loved me: I
      Return those duties back as are right fit,
      Obey you, love you, and most honour you.
      Why have my sisters husbands, if they say
      They love you all? Haply, when I shall wed,
105   That lord whose hand must take my plight shall carry
      Half my love with him, half my care and duty:
      Sure, I shall never marry like my sisters,
      To love my father all.
KING LEAR
      But goes thy heart with this?
CORDELIA
110   Ay, good my lord.
KING LEAR
      So young, and so untender?
CORDELIA
      So young, my lord, and true.
KING LEAR
      Let it be so; thy truth, then, be thy dower:
      For, by the sacred radiance of the sun,
115   The mysteries of Hecate, and the night;
      By all the operation of the orbs
      From whom we do exist, and cease to be;
      Here I disclaim all my paternal care,
      Propinquity and property of blood,
120   And as a stranger to my heart and me
      Hold thee, from this, for ever. The barbarous Scythian,
      Or he that makes his generation messes
      To gorge his appetite, shall to my bosom
      Be as well neighbour'd, pitied, and relieved,
125   As thou my sometime daughter.
KENT
      Good my liege,--
KING LEAR
      Peace, Kent!
      Come not between the dragon and his wrath.
      I loved her most, and thought to set my rest
130   On her kind nursery. Hence, and avoid my sight!
      So be my grave my peace, as here I give
      Her father's heart from her! Call France; who stirs?
      Call Burgundy. Cornwall and Albany,
      With my two daughters' dowers digest this third:
135   Let pride, which she calls plainness, marry her.
      I do invest you jointly with my power,
      Pre-eminence, and all the large effects
      That troop with majesty. Ourself, by monthly course,
      With reservation of an hundred knights,
140   By you to be sustain'd, shall our abode
      Make with you by due turns. Only we still retain
      The name, and all the additions to a king;
      The sway, revenue, execution of the rest,
      Beloved sons, be yours: which to confirm,
145   This coronet part betwixt you.
Giving the crown
KENT
      Royal Lear,
      Whom I have ever honour'd as my king,
      Loved as my father, as my master follow'd,
      As my great patron thought on in my prayers,--
KING LEAR
150   The bow is bent and drawn, make from the shaft.
KENT
      Let it fall rather, though the fork invade
      The region of my heart: be Kent unmannerly,
      When Lear is mad. What wilt thou do, old man?
      Think'st thou that duty shall have dread to speak,
155   When power to flattery bows? To plainness honour's bound,
      When majesty stoops to folly. Reverse thy doom;
      And, in thy best consideration, cheque
      This hideous rashness: answer my life my judgment,
      Thy youngest daughter does not love thee least;
160   Nor are those empty-hearted whose low sound
      Reverbs no hollowness.
KING LEAR
      Kent, on thy life, no more.
KENT
      My life I never held but as a pawn
      To wage against thy enemies; nor fear to lose it,
165   Thy safety being the motive.
KING LEAR
      Out of my sight!
KENT
      See better, Lear; and let me still remain
      The true blank of thine eye.
KING LEAR
      Now, by Apollo,--
KENT
170   Now, by Apollo, king,
      Thou swear'st thy gods in vain.
KING LEAR
      O, vassal! miscreant!
Laying his hand on his sword
ALBANY
CORNWALL
      Dear sir, forbear.
KENT
      Do:
175   Kill thy physician, and the fee bestow
      Upon thy foul disease. Revoke thy doom;
      Or, whilst I can vent clamour from my throat,
      I'll tell thee thou dost evil.
KING LEAR
      Hear me, recreant!
180   On thine allegiance, hear me!
      Since thou hast sought to make us break our vow,
      Which we durst never yet, and with strain'd pride
      To come between our sentence and our power,
      Which nor our nature nor our place can bear,
185   Our potency made good, take thy reward.
      Five days we do allot thee, for provision
      To shield thee from diseases of the world;
      And on the sixth to turn thy hated back
      Upon our kingdom: if, on the tenth day following,
190   Thy banish'd trunk be found in our dominions,
      The moment is thy death. Away! by Jupiter,
      This shall not be revoked.
KENT
      Fare thee well, king: sith thus thou wilt appear,
      Freedom lives hence, and banishment is here.

To CORDELIA

195   The gods to their dear shelter take thee, maid,
      That justly think'st, and hast most rightly said!

To REGAN and GONERIL

      And your large speeches may your deeds approve,
      That good effects may spring from words of love.
      Thus Kent, O princes, bids you all adieu;
200   He'll shape his old course in a country new.
Exit
Flourish. Re-enter GLOUCESTER, with KING OF FRANCE, BURGUNDY, and Attendants
GLOUCESTER
      Here's France and Burgundy, my noble lord.
KING LEAR
      My lord of Burgundy.
      We first address towards you, who with this king
      Hath rivall'd for our daughter: what, in the least,
205   Will you require in present dower with her,
      Or cease your quest of love?
BURGUNDY
      Most royal majesty,
      I crave no more than what your highness offer'd,
      Nor will you tender less.
KING LEAR
210   Right noble Burgundy,
      When she was dear to us, we did hold her so;
      But now her price is fall'n. Sir, there she stands:
      If aught within that little seeming substance,
      Or all of it, with our displeasure pieced,
215   And nothing more, may fitly like your grace,
      She's there, and she is yours.
BURGUNDY
      I know no answer.
KING LEAR
      Will you, with those infirmities she owes,
      Unfriended, new-adopted to our hate,
220   Dower'd with our curse, and stranger'd with our oath,
      Take her, or leave her?
BURGUNDY
      Pardon me, royal sir;
      Election makes not up on such conditions.
KING LEAR
      Then leave her, sir; for, by the power that made me,
225   I tell you all her wealth.

To KING OF FRANCE

      For you, great king,
      I would not from your love make such a stray,
      To match you where I hate; therefore beseech you
      To avert your liking a more worthier way
230   Than on a wretch whom nature is ashamed
      Almost to acknowledge hers.
KING OF FRANCE
      This is most strange,
      That she, that even but now was your best object,
      The argument of your praise, balm of your age,
235   Most best, most dearest, should in this trice of time
      Commit a thing so monstrous, to dismantle
      So many folds of favour. Sure, her offence
      Must be of such unnatural degree,
      That monsters it, or your fore-vouch'd affection
240   Fall'n into taint: which to believe of her,
      Must be a faith that reason without miracle
      Could never plant in me.
CORDELIA
      I yet beseech your majesty,--
      If for I want that glib and oily art,
245   To speak and purpose not; since what I well intend,
      I'll do't before I speak,--that you make known
      It is no vicious blot, murder, or foulness,
      No unchaste action, or dishonour'd step,
      That hath deprived me of your grace and favour;
250   But even for want of that for which I am richer,
      A still-soliciting eye, and such a tongue
      As I am glad I have not, though not to have it
      Hath lost me in your liking.
KING LEAR
      Better thou
255   Hadst not been born than not to have pleased me better.
KING OF FRANCE
      Is it but this,--a tardiness in nature
      Which often leaves the history unspoke
      That it intends to do? My lord of Burgundy,
      What say you to the lady? Love's not love
260   When it is mingled with regards that stand
      Aloof from the entire point. Will you have her?
      She is herself a dowry.
BURGUNDY
      Royal Lear,
      Give but that portion which yourself proposed,
265   And here I take Cordelia by the hand,
      Duchess of Burgundy.
KING LEAR
      Nothing: I have sworn; I am firm.
BURGUNDY
      I am sorry, then, you have so lost a father
      That you must lose a husband.
CORDELIA
270   Peace be with Burgundy!
      Since that respects of fortune are his love,
      I shall not be his wife.
KING OF FRANCE
      Fairest Cordelia, that art most rich, being poor;
      Most choice, forsaken; and most loved, despised!
275   Thee and thy virtues here I seize upon:
      Be it lawful I take up what's cast away.
      Gods, gods! 'tis strange that from their cold'st neglect
      My love should kindle to inflamed respect.
      Thy dowerless daughter, king, thrown to my chance,
280   Is queen of us, of ours, and our fair France:
      Not all the dukes of waterish Burgundy
      Can buy this unprized precious maid of me.
      Bid them farewell, Cordelia, though unkind:
      Thou losest here, a better where to find.
KING LEAR
285   Thou hast her, France: let her be thine; for we
      Have no such daughter, nor shall ever see
      That face of hers again. Therefore be gone
      Without our grace, our love, our benison.
      Come, noble Burgundy.
Flourish. Exeunt all but KING OF FRANCE, GONERIL, REGAN, and CORDELIA
KING OF FRANCE
290   Bid farewell to your sisters.
CORDELIA
      The jewels of our father, with wash'd eyes
      Cordelia leaves you: I know you what you are;
      And like a sister am most loath to call
      Your faults as they are named. Use well our father:
295   To your professed bosoms I commit him
      But yet, alas, stood I within his grace,
      I would prefer him to a better place.
      So, farewell to you both.
REGAN
      Prescribe not us our duties.
GONERIL
300   Let your study
      Be to content your lord, who hath received you
      At fortune's alms. You have obedience scanted,
      And well are worth the want that you have wanted.
CORDELIA
      Time shall unfold what plaited cunning hides:
305   Who cover faults, at last shame them derides.
      Well may you prosper!
KING OF FRANCE
      Come, my fair Cordelia.
Exeunt KING OF FRANCE and CORDELIA
GONERIL
      Sister, it is not a little I have to say of what
      most nearly appertains to us both. I think our
310   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
315   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
320   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
325   him as this of Kent's banishment.
GONERIL
      There is further compliment of leavetaking
      between France and him. Pray you, let's hit
      together: if our father carry authority with
      such dispositions as he bears, this last
330   surrender of his will but offend us.
REGAN
      We shall further think on't.
GONERIL
      We must do something, and i' the heat.
Exeunt
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