English Lit King Lear Quotes

Few quotes from King Lear. On one side, will be the quote. On the other will be who said it, and a theme if it relates to one, and any other information. 

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  • Created by: jaimme
  • Created on: 02-06-14 18:04
"with washed eyes"
Cordelia - sight and blindness
1 of 31
"See better Lear"
Kent - Sight and Blindness
2 of 31
"Thy youngest daughter does not love thou least"
Kent - Sight and blindness - speaks the truth
3 of 31
"Thou shalt not have been old till thou has been wise"
The fool - age and wisdom
4 of 31
"I am old and foolish"
Lear - By end of play realises his harmartia as an ignorant ruler and begins to realise the truth.
5 of 31
"Child changed Father"
Cordelia - Ideas of senility, regression to child, daughters becoming mothers.
6 of 31
"Old fools are babes again"
Goneril - Ideas of senility, regression to child, daughters becoming mothers.
7 of 31
"The younger rises when the old doth fall"
Edmund - age and wisdom
8 of 31
"Hear nature hear! Thou goddess hear!"
Lear - Nature
9 of 31
"Thou art my Goddess"
Edmund - Nature was his guide and it was her laws he followed. Why should he have to put up with the stupidity of convention and let the idiosyncrasies of an old fashioned society deprive him of his rights, just because he was younger?
10 of 31
"Unnatural detested brutish villian!"
Gloucester - Nature
11 of 31
"Is there any course in nature that makes these hard hearts?"
Lear - Nature
12 of 31
"I like not this unnatural dealing"
Gloucester - Nature
13 of 31
"You unnatural hags"
Lear - Nature
14 of 31
"Crowned with furrow weeds"
Cordelia - Nature
15 of 31
"Winds blow! Crack your cheeks!"
Lear - Claims power over nature
16 of 31
"My services your lordship"
Kent - power
17 of 31
"This is not Lear can anyone tell me who I am"
Lear - then fool: "Lear's shadow" Shows Lear's fall down from power.
18 of 31
"My ladies father"
Oswald - shows Lear's decline in power.
19 of 31
"Now gods stand up for the bastards!"
Edmund - Theme: Gods
20 of 31
"As flies to wanton boys are we to the gods They kill us for their sport. "
Gloucester - For Gloucester, the gods are not only indifferent to human suffering but they're excessively cruel, causing human misery just as easily and thoughtlessly as "wanton boys" might swat at "flies."
21 of 31
"The gods are just"
After Edgar mortally wounds his wicked brother, Edmund, he says "the gods are just" because they punish humans for their wrong doings. This seems to suggest that Edmund deserved what he got (a stab to the guts).
22 of 31
" O heavens! If you do love old men, if your sweet sway Show obedience, if you yourselves are old, Make it your cause. Send down, and take my part!"
After Goneril and Regan betray him, King Lear calls upon the heavens to take his side and send down a punishing storm. As if in answer to his prayer, Lear, and not his daughters, suffers in the ensuing storm.
23 of 31
"The gods defend her [Cordelia]! Bear him hence awhile." /Enter Lear with Cordelia's dead body in his arms./
If you want evidence that divine justice does not exist in the world of the play, look no further. Just as Albany prays to the gods to protect the innocent Cordelia from harm, Lear enters holding Cordelia's lifeless body in his arms.
24 of 31
"one side will mock another"
Regan - Blinding gloucester, shows growing unkindness in her character.
25 of 31
"Some good I mean to do/ Despite of mine own nature"
Edmund - Shows he has a slight good side. Could be described as misunderstood. His 'nature' is that he is the ******* son.
26 of 31
"Nothing my lord" ((Simplicity))
Cordelia - Nothing as a blankness, not that she doesn't love him but that she doesn't love him with all, which may as well be nothing to Lear.
27 of 31
"Now by Apollo"
Lear - Thinks he is almighty/powerful above. - Links to idea of Chain of being, and Oedipus as he thinks he's Godly too.
28 of 31
"I am a fool, thou art nothing"
Fool - Criticizes Lear
29 of 31
[Aside] "My tears begin to take his part so much, They'll mar my counterfeiting."
Edgar almost ruins his "Poor Tom" disguise by weeping in pity for Lear's insanity. The "good" characters in King Lear are unable to control their emotions in the face of injustice and suffering
30 of 31
This speech of yours hath moved me, And shall perchance do good
Edmund - Even Edmund, the play's villain, finds himself moved by pity when his brother Edgar describes the death of their father
31 of 31

Other cards in this set

Card 2

Front

"See better Lear"

Back

Kent - Sight and Blindness

Card 3

Front

"Thy youngest daughter does not love thou least"

Back

Preview of the front of card 3

Card 4

Front

"Thou shalt not have been old till thou has been wise"

Back

Preview of the front of card 4

Card 5

Front

"I am old and foolish"

Back

Preview of the front of card 5
View more cards

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