Original Text |
Translated Text |
| Source: Folger Shakespeare Library |
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Enter in conquest, with Drum and Colors, Edmund;
Lear and Cordelia as prisoners; Soldiers, Captain. EDMUND
Some officers take them away. Good guard
Until their greater pleasures first be known
That are to censure them. | Edmund, who has succeeded in capturing Lear and Cordelia, orders his guards to take them away until he figures out what he's going to do with them. |
CORDELIA, to Lear We are not the first
Who with best meaning have incurred the worst. 5
For thee, oppressèd king, I am cast down.
Myself could else outfrown false Fortune’s frown.
Shall we not see these daughters and these sisters? | All defiance, Cordelia demands to be taken before her wretched sisters. |
LEAR
No, no, no, no. Come, let’s away to prison.
We two alone will sing like birds i’ th’ cage. 10
When thou dost ask me blessing, I’ll kneel down
And ask of thee forgiveness. So we’ll live,
And pray, and sing, and tell old tales, and laugh
At gilded butterflies, and hear poor rogues
Talk of court news, and we’ll talk with them too— 15
Who loses and who wins; who’s in, who’s out—
And take upon ’s the mystery of things,
As if we were God’s spies. And we’ll wear out,
In a walled prison, packs and sects of great ones
That ebb and flow by th’ moon. 20 | Lear tells Cordelia that he is no longer interested in politics and court manipulation. In prison, he tells his daughter, the two of them will watch and laugh as different political factions engage in an endless struggle for dominance. Power doesn't matter to him anymore, he says; what he cares about is being with his beloved daughter. |
EDMUND Take them away. LEAR
Upon such sacrifices, my Cordelia,
The gods themselves throw incense. Have I caught
thee?
He that parts us shall bring a brand from heaven 25
And fire us hence like foxes. Wipe thine eyes.
The good years shall devour them, flesh and fell,
Ere they shall make us weep. We’ll see ’em starved
first.
Come. 30 Lear and Cordelia exit, with Soldiers. EDMUND Come hither, captain. Hark.
Handing him a paper.
Take thou this note. Go follow them to prison.
One step I have advanced thee. If thou dost
As this instructs thee, thou dost make thy way
To noble fortunes. Know thou this: that men 35
Are as the time is; to be tender-minded
Does not become a sword. Thy great employment
Will not bear question. Either say thou ’lt do ’t,
Or thrive by other means. CAPTAIN I’ll do ’t, my lord. 40 EDMUND
About it, and write “happy” when th’ hast done.
Mark, I say, instantly, and carry it so
As I have set it down. CAPTAIN
I cannot draw a cart, nor eat dried oats.
If it be man’s work, I’ll do ’t. Captain exits. 45 | Edmund orders that the prisoners be taken away. He then writes his captain an order on a piece of paper and tells him that he will be promoted if he executes Lear and Cordelia. (And if he doesn't do it, he'll have to "thrive by other means," as in: find a new job.) |
Flourish. Enter Albany, Goneril, Regan, Soldiers and a
Captain. ALBANY, to Edmund
Sir, you have showed today your valiant strain,
And Fortune led you well. You have the captives
Who were the opposites of this day’s strife.
I do require them of you, so to use them
As we shall find their merits and our safety 50
May equally determine. | Albany, Regan, and Goneril enter for a victory conference. Albany praises Edmund for his bravery in battle and then asks him to hand over Lear and Cordelia so he (Albany) can deal with them. |
EDMUND Sir, I thought it fit
To send the old and miserable king
To some retention and appointed guard,
Whose age had charms in it, whose title more, 55
To pluck the common bosom on his side
And turn our impressed lances in our eyes,
Which do command them. With him I sent the
Queen,
My reason all the same, and they are ready 60
Tomorrow, or at further space, t’ appear
Where you shall hold your session. At this time
We sweat and bleed. The friend hath lost his friend,
And the best quarrels in the heat are cursed
By those that feel their sharpness. 65
The question of Cordelia and her father
Requires a fitter place. | Edmund tells Albany that Lear looked so pathetic that he had to send him away because the British troops might have felt sorry for him and rebelled. Besdies, he adds, now's not the most appropriate time to pass down judgment on Lear and Cordelia, seeing as how so many people are bleeding from battle wounds and counting up their dead friends. |
ALBANY Sir, by your patience,
I hold you but a subject of this war,
Not as a brother. 70 REGAN That’s as we list to grace him.
Methinks our pleasure might have been demanded
Ere you had spoke so far. He led our powers,
Bore the commission of my place and person,
The which immediacy may well stand up 75
And call itself your brother. GONERIL Not so hot.
In his own grace he doth exalt himself
More than in your addition. REGAN In my rights, 80
By me invested, he compeers the best. GONERIL
That were the most if he should husband you. REGAN
Jesters do oft prove prophets. GONERIL Holla, holla!
That eye that told you so looked but asquint. 85 REGAN
Lady, I am not well, else I should answer
From a full-flowing stomach. To Edmund.
General,
Take thou my soldiers, prisoners, patrimony.
Dispose of them, of me; the walls is thine. 90
Witness the world that I create thee here
My lord and master. | Albany tells Edmund that they're not equals in this war—Edgar is his subordinate, but Regan disagrees. This exchange sets off a tiff between the sisters over the evil yet oh-so scrumptious Edmund. Regan, who mentions that she's not feeling so hot, basically claims Edmund as her future husband, and she and Goneril scuffle about it—in veiled terms, since Goneril's husband is standing right there. |
GONERIL Mean you to enjoy him? ALBANY
The let-alone lies not in your goodwill. | When Goneril gets upset by the idea that Regan plans to "enjoy" (sleep with) Edmund, Albany tells her that it's not her place to object. She's not in charge, and—ahem—she's married, so she shouldn't be getting competitive over this shmuck. |
EDMUND
Nor in thine, lord. 95 ALBANY Half-blooded fellow, yes. | Edmund tells Albany to butt out, and Albany reminds him that he's only some illegitimate son of a lord. |
REGAN, to Edmund
Let the drum strike, and prove my title thine. ALBANY
Stay yet, hear reason.—Edmund, I arrest thee
On capital treason; and, in thine attaint,
This gilded serpent.—For your claim, fair 100
sister,
I bar it in the interest of my wife.
’Tis she is subcontracted to this lord,
And I, her husband, contradict your banns.
If you will marry, make your loves to me. 105
My lady is bespoke. GONERIL An interlude! ALBANY
Thou art armed, Gloucester. Let the trumpet sound.
If none appear to prove upon thy person
Thy heinous, manifest, and many treasons, 110
There is my pledge. He throws down a glove.
I’ll make it on thy heart,
Ere I taste bread, thou art in nothing less
Than I have here proclaimed thee. | Regan tells Edmund to fight Albany on her behalf, but before Edmund can respond, Albany plays his trump card: he arrests both Edmund and Goneril for treason. Ah-ha! He reveals he knows they've been plotting against his life so they can get married. Albany orders that the trumpet sound three times—if nobody comes to challenge Edmund, then Albany will just have to challenge Edmund to a duel himself. |
REGAN Sick, O, sick! 115 GONERIL, aside If not, I’ll ne’er trust medicine. | Meanwhile, Regan's still belly-aching about how she's not feeling so hot. Goneril snickers and reveals to the audience that she's poisoned her sister. |
| Edmund accepts Albany's challenge while, Regan, who seems to be getting sicker by the minute, is escorted to Albany's tent. The men call for a Herald to declare the challenge for all to hear, and Edgar rushes in dramatically at the third trumpet call, |
ALBANY, to Herald
Ask him his purposes, why he appears 140
Upon this call o’ th’ trumpet. HERALD What are you?
Your name, your quality, and why you answer
This present summons? EDGAR Know my name is lost, 145
By treason’s tooth bare-gnawn and canker-bit.
Yet am I noble as the adversary
I come to cope. ALBANY Which is that adversary? EDGAR
What’s he that speaks for Edmund, Earl of 150
Gloucester? EDMUND
Himself. What sayest thou to him? EDGAR Draw thy sword,
That if my speech offend a noble heart,
Thy arm may do thee justice. Here is mine. 155
He draws his sword.
Behold, it is my privilege, the privilege of mine
honors,
My oath, and my profession. I protest,
Maugre thy strength, place, youth, and eminence,
Despite thy victor-sword and fire-new fortune, 160
Thy valor, and thy heart, thou art a traitor,
False to thy gods, thy brother, and thy father,
Conspirant ’gainst this high illustrious prince,
And from th’ extremest upward of thy head
To the descent and dust below thy foot, 165
A most toad-spotted traitor. Say thou “no,”
This sword, this arm, and my best spirits are bent
To prove upon thy heart, whereto I speak,
Thou liest. | After a few questions from the Herald and Albany to establish that Edgar has come to challenge Edmund, Albany tells him to say his peace. Edgar doesn't tell them who he is, but he does say he has a score to settle with this snake who's lied to everyone: his dad, his brother, Albany, the gods—in short, he's a "toad-spotted traitor." (Shakespeare has the best insults.) |
EDMUND In wisdom I should ask thy name, 170
But since thy outside looks so fair and warlike,
And that thy tongue some say of breeding breathes,
What safe and nicely I might well delay
By rule of knighthood, I disdain and spurn.
Back do I toss these treasons to thy head, 175
With the hell-hated lie o’erwhelm thy heart,
Which, for they yet glance by and scarcely bruise,
This sword of mine shall give them instant way,
Where they shall rest forever. Trumpets, speak!
He draws his sword. Alarums. Fights. Edmund falls, wounded. | Edmund says, "I'm rubber, you're glue, what bounces off me sticks to you," and accepts the challenge. Then Edgar wounds him and he falls down. |
ALBANY, to Edgar
Save him, save him! 180 GONERIL This is practice, Gloucester.
By th’ law of war, thou wast not bound to answer
An unknown opposite. Thou art not vanquished,
But cozened and beguiled. ALBANY Shut your mouth, dame, 185
Or with this paper shall I stopple it.—Hold, sir.—
Thou worse than any name, read thine own evil.
No tearing, lady. I perceive you know it. GONERIL
Say if I do; the laws are mine, not thine.
Who can arraign me for ’t? 190 ALBANY Most monstrous! O!
Know’st thou this paper? GONERIL Ask me not what I know. She exits. | Albany tells Edgar not to kill Edmund—if he dies, Albany won't be able to throw him in prison. Goneril is freaking out because Edmund is hurt, and when Albany tries to confront her about her plot to murder him, she runs offstage. |
ALBANY
Go after her, she’s desperate. Govern her. A Soldier exits. EDMUND, to Edgar
What you have charged me with, that have I done, 195
And more, much more. The time will bring it out.
’Tis past, and so am I. But what art thou
That hast this fortune on me? If thou ’rt noble,
I do forgive thee. | Albany sends a soldier after Goneril to subdue her, and Edmund, mortally wounded, admits that he's guilty of the charges. He wants to know the identity of the man who killed him. |
EDGAR Let’s exchange charity. 200
I am no less in blood than thou art, Edmund;
If more, the more th’ hast wronged me.
My name is Edgar and thy father’s son.
The gods are just, and of our pleasant vices
Make instruments to plague us. 205
The dark and vicious place where thee he got
Cost him his eyes. EDMUND Th’ hast spoken right. ’Tis true.
The wheel is come full circle; I am here. ALBANY, to Edgar
Methought thy very gait did prophesy 210
A royal nobleness. I must embrace thee.
Let sorrow split my heart if ever I
Did hate thee or thy father! EDGAR Worthy prince, I know ’t. ALBANY Where have you hid yourself? 215
How have you known the miseries of your father? EDGAR
By nursing them, my lord. List a brief tale,
And when ’tis told, O, that my heart would burst!
The bloody proclamation to escape
That followed me so near—O, our lives’ sweetness, 220
That we the pain of death would hourly die
Rather than die at once!—taught me to shift
Into a madman’s rags, t’ assume a semblance
That very dogs disdained, and in this habit
Met I my father with his bleeding rings, 225
Their precious stones new lost; became his guide,
Led him, begged for him, saved him from despair.
Never—O fault!—revealed myself unto him
Until some half hour past, when I was armed.
Not sure, though hoping of this good success, 230
I asked his blessing, and from first to last
Told him our pilgrimage. But his flawed heart
(Alack, too weak the conflict to support)
’Twixt two extremes of passion, joy and grief,
Burst smilingly. 235 | Edgar finally reveals himself and tells his story. He explains that roughly half an hour ago, when he finally told Gloucester he was his son, Gloucester had a heart attack from a mixture of shock and joy. (Gosh, the body count just keeps rising.) |
EDMUND This speech of yours hath moved me,
And shall perchance do good. But speak you on.
You look as you had something more to say. ALBANY
If there be more, more woeful, hold it in,
For I am almost ready to dissolve, 240
Hearing of this. EDGAR This would have seemed a period
To such as love not sorrow; but another,
To amplify too much, would make much more
And top extremity. Whilst I 245
Was big in clamor, came there in a man
Who, having seen me in my worst estate,
Shunned my abhorred society; but then, finding
Who ’twas that so endured, with his strong arms
He fastened on my neck and bellowed out 250
As he’d burst heaven, threw him on my father,
Told the most piteous tale of Lear and him
That ever ear received, which, in recounting,
His grief grew puissant, and the strings of life
Began to crack. Twice then the trumpets sounded, 255
And there I left him tranced. ALBANY But who was this? EDGAR
Kent, sir, the banished Kent, who in disguise
Followed his enemy king and did him service
Improper for a slave. 260 | Edmund says that Edgar's words have moved him, and asks him to keep going. He seems to have more to say. Albany isn't sure he can handle more sad stories, but Edgar goes on and explains that Kent found he and Gloucester and shared his tale of woe—about Lear's madness and capture—before Edgar ran off to challenge Edmund. |
Enter a Gentleman with a bloody knife. GENTLEMAN
Help, help, O, help! EDGAR What kind of help? ALBANY, to Gentleman Speak, man! EDGAR What means this bloody knife? GENTLEMAN
’Tis hot, it smokes! It came even from the heart 265
Of—O, she’s dead! ALBANY Who dead? Speak, man. GENTLEMAN
Your lady, sir, your lady. And her sister
By her is poisoned. She confesses it. EDMUND
I was contracted to them both. All three 270
Now marry in an instant. | A man runs onstage screaming and holding a bloody knife. Someone has died. The knife-wielding man reveals that Goneril confessed to poisoning her sister and then stabbed herself. Edmund admits that he told both sisters he would marry them. Now it looks like they'll be married in death. |
EDGAR Here comes Kent. Enter Kent. ALBANY, to the Gentleman
Produce the bodies, be they alive or dead.
Gentleman exits.
This judgment of the heavens, that makes us
tremble, 275
Touches us not with pity. O, is this he?
To Kent. The time will not allow the compliment
Which very manners urges. KENT I am come
To bid my king and master aye goodnight. 280
Is he not here? ALBANY Great thing of us forgot!
Speak, Edmund, where’s the King? And where’s
Cordelia?
Goneril and Regan’s bodies brought out.
Seest thou this object, Kent? 285 KENT Alack, why thus? EDMUND Yet Edmund was beloved.
The one the other poisoned for my sake,
And after slew herself. ALBANY Even so.—Cover their faces. 290 | Albany orders a gentleman to bring out Regan and Goneril's bodies as Kent enters. Kent asks about Lear, and Albany says, "Oh right. Where are they?" He's distracted when the sisters' bodies are produced, and Edmund explains what happened to Kent. Goneril poisoned her sister for Edmund and then killed herself, which makes Edmund feel...loved. |
EDMUND
I pant for life. Some good I mean to do
Despite of mine own nature. Quickly send—
Be brief in it—to th’ castle, for my writ
Is on the life of Lear, and on Cordelia.
Nay, send in time. 295 ALBANY Run, run, O, run! EDGAR
To who, my lord? To Edmund. Who has the office?
Send
Thy token of reprieve. EDMUND
Well thought on. Take my sword. Give it the 300
Captain. EDGAR, to a Soldier Haste thee for thy life.
The Soldier exits with Edmund’s sword. EDMUND, to Albany
He hath commission from thy wife and me
To hang Cordelia in the prison, and
To lay the blame upon her own despair, 305
That she fordid herself. ALBANY
The gods defend her!—Bear him hence awhile. Edmund is carried off. | But then Edmund (who's not quite dead yet) decides to do something good for a change. He suddenly confesses that he ordered his captain to have Lear and Cordelia killed. If Albany sends someone lickety-split to stop the Captain, maybe they can save Cordelia from being hanged. Edgar dashes off to intervene, and everyone else onstage waits tensely to find out if he is too late. Albany prays for the gods to save her. |
Enter Lear with Cordelia in his arms,
followed by a Gentleman. LEAR
Howl, howl, howl! O, you are men of stones!
Had I your tongues and eyes, I’d use them so
That heaven’s vault should crack. She’s gone 310
forever.
I know when one is dead and when one lives.
She’s dead as earth.—Lend me a looking glass.
If that her breath will mist or stain the stone,
Why, then she lives. 315 KENT Is this the promised end? EDGAR
Or image of that horror? ALBANY Fall and cease. LEAR
This feather stirs. She lives. If it be so,
It is a chance which does redeem all sorrows 320
That ever I have felt. | The answer to Albany's prayer is the sound of Lear howling. The old King staggers onstage with his daughter in his arms. Cordelia is dead. Lear keeps asking for some way to check if Cordelia is still breathing—a mirror to look for the mist of her breath, or a feather that might move when she exhales. |
KENT O, my good master— LEAR
Prithee, away. EDGAR ’Tis noble Kent, your friend. LEAR
A plague upon you, murderers, traitors all! 325
I might have saved her. Now she’s gone forever.—
Cordelia, Cordelia, stay a little. Ha!
What is ’t thou sayst?—Her voice was ever soft,
Gentle, and low, an excellent thing in woman.
I killed the slave that was a-hanging thee. 330 GENTLEMAN
’Tis true, my lords, he did. | But really, Lear knows that it's too late. He curses everyone there and says that he killed the slave that hanged Cordelia. |
LEAR Did I not, fellow?
I have seen the day, with my good biting falchion
I would have made him skip. I am old now,
And these same crosses spoil me. To Kent. Who 335
are you?
Mine eyes are not o’ th’ best. I’ll tell you straight. KENT
If Fortune brag of two she loved and hated,
One of them we behold. LEAR
This is a dull sight. Are you not Kent? 340 KENT The same,
Your servant Kent. Where is your servant Caius? LEAR
He’s a good fellow, I can tell you that.
He’ll strike and quickly too. He’s dead and rotten. KENT
No, my good lord, I am the very man— 345 LEAR I’ll see that straight. KENT
That from your first of difference and decay
Have followed your sad steps. LEAR You are welcome
hither. 350 KENT
Nor no man else. All’s cheerless, dark, and deadly.
Your eldest daughters have fordone themselves,
And desperately are dead. LEAR Ay, so I think. ALBANY
He knows not what he says, and vain is it 355
That we present us to him. EDGAR Very bootless. | Kent tries to comfort Lear, and reveals himself as Lear's guardian in disguise. But Lear brushes him off—he is too preoccupied with the death of his daughter to understand what Kent is trying to say. After sacrificing everything to help the King, Kent doesn't even get the satisfaction of Lear recognizing his devotion. |
Enter a Messenger. MESSENGER Edmund is dead, my lord. ALBANY That’s but a trifle here.—
You lords and noble friends, know our intent: 360
What comfort to this great decay may come
Shall be applied. For us, we will resign,
During the life of this old Majesty,
To him our absolute power; you to your rights,
With boot and such addition as your Honors 365
Have more than merited. All friends shall taste
The wages of their virtue, and all foes
The cup of their deservings. O, see, see! | Meanwhile, a Gentleman enters and announces that Edmund is dead. Whatever, says Albany, who tries to address the political situation. He tells Lear that he can be king again, but no one is listening to him. |
LEAR
And my poor fool is hanged. No, no, no life?
Why should a dog, a horse, a rat have life, 370
And thou no breath at all? Thou ’lt come no more,
Never, never, never, never, never.—
Pray you undo this button. Thank you, sir.
Do you see this? Look on her, look, her lips,
Look there, look there! He dies. 375 EDGAR He faints. To Lear. My lord,
my lord! KENT
Break, heart, I prithee, break! EDGAR Look up, my lord. KENT
Vex not his ghost. O, let him pass! He hates him 380
That would upon the rack of this tough world
Stretch him out longer. EDGAR He is gone indeed. KENT
The wonder is he hath endured so long.
He but usurped his life. 385 | Lear is still holding Cordelia and wondering why various animals continue to live while Cordelia has stopped breathing. He asks someone to loosen a button around her neck, and then, just as he imagines that he sees her breathing again, he dies. Edgar and Kent are devastated. |
ALBANY
Bear them from hence. Our present business
Is general woe. To Edgar and Kent. Friends of my
soul, you twain
Rule in this realm, and the gored state sustain. KENT
I have a journey, sir, shortly to go; 390
My master calls me. I must not say no. EDGAR
The weight of this sad time we must obey,
Speak what we feel, not what we ought to say.
The oldest hath borne most; we that are young
Shall never see so much nor live so long. 395 They exit with a dead march. | With Lear dead, the kingdom needs a ruler. Albany suggests that Kent and Edgar share the throne and help England to heal. Kent refuses, saying ambiguously that he's got to follow his master, hinting that he'll go with Lear on his journey into death. Then Edgar says we have to remember this sad day and always vow to be honest and say what's in our hearts instead of running around lying all the time. The oldest (Lear and Gloucester) had it the worst here. We'll never see what they've seen or live as long. It's a downer of an ending, but hey—with most of the main characters dead, that's pretty much a given. |