King Lear characters

• He is the aging King of Britian
• He wishes to unburden himself from the responsibility of king but also maintain the title. 
• To split the kingdom up amongst his three children he asks for them to declare their love to him, to feed his ego. 
• When Cordelia refuses he looses his temper quickly, exiling her. Lear is hot headed and wants everything his own way. 
• Throughout the play he mentally declines as he looses power and status, it is evident that the pain and suffering stems from his inability to see what was right and the cruel intentions of his greedy daughters Goneril and Regan. 
• At the end he comes to some realisation of his short sightedness, he makes amends with those who loved such as Cordelia and Kent but eventually dies a restless death upon realisation his most loved daughter was murdered. 

From the begining to the end of the play it is clear he has decreased in power and sanity, Shakespeare uses him as an example of straying from your place in the chain of being and the consequences of not taking responsibility.

• The greedy and malicious daughters of Lear. 
• Both declare their love for their father in a vulgar and incestial manner so they can gain power for themselves. 
• They plan to over throw their father and ***** him of all his power, sending him into the storm to suffer. 
• Their actions have malicious intent e.g. Regans order of ripping Glosters eyes out and letting him "smell his way to dover".
• The two become very jealous of eachother and fight over Edmund which is ironic as there is more catastrophic things going on in the play. Both of them immaturely fight at the end, Goneril posions her sister and Regan then pathetically kills herself on realisation Edmund is dead. 

There is no progression for these two characters, they start off greedy and savage and end the same way. As well as this they are always fighting for more, they are never content with their own places in the chain which is what Shakespeare highlights as wrong. They also juxtapose the stereotypical fair and feminine view of women at the time which makes a jacobean audience dislike them even more.

• She is Lears youngest and most loved daughter. 
• Described as if she is an angel, soft and sweet.
• Like her father she is strong willed and speaks her mind, when he asks her to declare her love for the portion of the land she refuses saying it is fake and she is not like her sisters.
• Exiled from the country we do not see much of Cordelia until the end.
• She remains loyal to Lear, despite his cruelty to her. 
• At the end of the play she is hung on order of Edmund, this kills Lear emotionally and physically.

As an audience we feel there is injustice for Cordelia, she is the most innocent and kind character in the play yet Shakespeare chose to kill her off at the end. This is to reinforce the tragic genre of the play and the messages about responsibility, seeing reality and the chain of being.

• Father to Edgar and Edmund, he is weak character who lacks courage to stand up for what he knows is right.
• He is an earl which is just below a Duke and supports the old order. 
• Similar to Lear he suffers from Myopia and gets lead to believe by Edmund that his legitimate son: Edgar is attempting to kill him. Without a second thought Gloucester believes him.
• Towards the end of the play he begins to demonstrate bravery, especially when he as his eyes ripped out by Regan and Cornwall, only then does he really see everything truthfully. 

There is a progression seen in this character as he starts of mild and meek and gains courage to stand up against the new order as the play unfolds. As an audience i think we feel sorry for him and the amount he has to suffer, once he is reunited with Edgar disguised as poor Tom he is at a suicidal stage. 

Edgar

• Legitimate son to Gloucester, he is of a high status: eduated and kind. 
• Similar to Cordelia as he did nothing wrong, he was played by his brother Edmund. 
• He transforms to a mad begger called Poor Tom who represents the bottom of the wheel of fortune, he is at the lowest stage in society. 

His many disguises make it difficult for us to characterise him as a person, Shakespear uses Edgar and Poor Tom to highlight the difference between apperance and reality. 

Edmund

• Illigitimate son of Gloucester he is a ******* as he was born out of wedlock. This really affects his confidence and place in society as it was frowned upon in the Elizabethan era.
• In order to move on the wheel of fortune he plays his brother and father off against one another in attempt to gain recognition from his father and take his place. 
• Like Goneril and regan he is apart of the new order who are greedy and malicious. 

Edmund isn't a likeable character he causes suffering for many characters and is eventually killed by his brother Edgar, which is highlighy satisfy and rich in justice. 

• Kent was a nobleman and very faithful and loyal friend to Lear, when he attempts to shed the truth on the situation similar to Cordelia he is also exiled. 
• Despite this, he disguises himself as a servant in order to keep an eye on his master and remain loyal. 
• He is a blunt and outspoken character, he speaks what he believes and sometimes his emotion gets the better of him, for example when he draws his sword to Oswald. 
• He is the only one who fully supports Lear passing at the end of the play becasue he feels he has endured enough, furthermore there is a sucidal tone in his last words that imply he wants to be with his master in heaven. 

Like Cordelia, Kent is a kind character who is used by Shakespeare to exagerate the behaviour of the bad characters and Lears inability to see the truth. 

Cornwall

• Husband to Regan, he is blood thirsty character who like Regan is desperate for power and status.
• He is cruel & violent and this is highlighted in the scene where he rips Gloucesters eyes out. 
• As a result of this he is stabbed and killed by a loyal servant, leaving Regan Widowed. 

He supports the new order and will do anything to get to the top of the chain of being, Shakespeare may be referring to the Jacobeans immoral thirst for violence through characters such as Cornwall. 

Albany

• Very different to Goneril, Regan and Cornwall he is left in the dark for a large preportion of the play, his wife Goneril views him and mild and weak however he does not want to get involved. 

It can be said that Albany is ignorant only realising the true evil of his allies towards the end of the play. Although when he does he makes an effort to support Lear and the old order.

The Fool

• Used by Shakespear to provide comic relief- common in Shakespearean plays. 
• He is a loyal friend to Lear and Lear relies heavily on him as a character. There are suggestions by critics that the fool and Cordelia are the same person which would explain this. There is also evidence to suggest Lear mistreats the fool like he did with Cordelia.
• In the middle of the play he goes missing and it is implied that he was hung. 

Shakespeare uses the fool to speak the truth to Lear and try and get him to realise his wrong doings and prepare for the consequences. Ironically the fool is not a fool at all. 

Oswald

• Servant to Goneril he is loyal and dies for his master. 
• Sneaks around delivering messages for Goneril he is seen as an annoying character. 

However, he is also used by Shakespeare to provide comic relief.