The aging king of Britain and tragic hero of the play. Lear, who is used to complete obedience from everyone around him, makes two related major errors: giving up of political responsibility by transferring power to his daughters; and trusting the flattering Goneril and Regan over the plainspoken, but true, Cordelia. Despite his flaws he is able to maintain the loyalty of certain subjects, particularly Kent and Gloucester. However, these will not be enough to save him from madness and death.
King Lear Quotes in King Lear
The King Lear quotes below are all either spoken by King Lear or refer to King Lear. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
).
Act 1, scene 1
Quotes
"Nothing will come of nothing."
Related Characters:
King Lear (speaker)
Related Themes:
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Explanation and Analysis:
"Yet he hath ever but slenderly known himself."
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Act 1, scene 3
Quotes
"Old fools are babes again."
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Explanation and Analysis:
Act 1, scene 4
Quotes
"Thou hast pared thy wit o' both sides and left nothing in the middle."
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Act 2, scene 4
Quotes
"O sir, you are old.
Nature I you stands on the very verge
Of his confine."
Nature I you stands on the very verge
Of his confine."
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Act 3, scene 2
Quotes
"The art of our necessities is strange
And can make vile things precious."
And can make vile things precious."
Related Characters:
King Lear (speaker)
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Act 3, scene 4
Quotes
"Poor naked wretches, wheresoe'er you are,
That bide the pelting of this pitiless storm,
How shall your houseless heads and unfed sides,
Your looped and windowed raggedness defend you
From seasons such as these? O I have taken
Too little care of this."
That bide the pelting of this pitiless storm,
How shall your houseless heads and unfed sides,
Your looped and windowed raggedness defend you
From seasons such as these? O I have taken
Too little care of this."
Related Characters:
King Lear (speaker)
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Explanation and Analysis:
Act 3, scene 6
Quotes
"All the power of his wits have given way to his impatience."
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Act 4, scene 6
Quotes
"Gloucester: Oh let me kiss that hand!
Lear: Let me wipe it first; it smells of mortality."
Lear: Let me wipe it first; it smells of mortality."
Related Characters:
King Lear (speaker), Gloucester (speaker)
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Explanation and Analysis:
Act 5, scene 3
Quotes
"No, no, no, no. Come, let's away to prison.
We two alone will sing like birds in the cage."
We two alone will sing like birds in the cage."
"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 forever."
Had I your tongues and eyes, I'd use them so
That heaven's vault should crack. She's gone forever."
Related Symbols:
The Stars, Heavens, and the Gods
Related Themes:
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Explanation and Analysis:
"No, no, no life?
Why should a dog, a horse, a rat have life,
And thou no breath at all? Thou'lt come no more,
Never, never, never, never, never."
Why should a dog, a horse, a rat have life,
And thou no breath at all? Thou'lt come no more,
Never, never, never, never, never."
Get the entire King Lear LitChart as a printable PDF.
King Lear Character Timeline in King Lear
The timeline below shows where the character King Lear appears in King Lear. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance.
Act 1, scene 1
Lear enters with Albany, Cornwall, Goneril, Regan, Cordelia, and their attendants. Having sent Gloucester to fetch...
(full context)
Act 1, scene 3
At Goneril's palace, where Lear has been spending his first month after giving up power, Goneril complains to her steward,...
(full context)
Act 1, scene 4
Kent returns in the disguise of Caius, a commoner, to offer his services to Lear. Lear accepts. He sends Kent to fetch his Fool.
(full context)
Act 1, scene 5
Lear explains what happened with Goneril to Kent (who is still disguised as Cauis), and then...
(full context)
Act 2, scene 4
Lear, his Fool, a Gentleman, and his other followers arrive at Gloucester's castle. Confused not to...
(full context)
Act 3, scene 1
Kent, out looking for Lear, runs into a Gentleman. The Gentleman describes seeing Lear out in the storm, from which...
(full context)
Act 3, scene 2
Lear rages out in the storm, calling upon it to "crack nature's molds" and destroy everything...
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Act 3, scene 3
...received a letter with further information, too dangerous to be spoken, which will eventually bring Lear revenge. Gloucester asks Edmund to distract Cornwall while he sneaks off to aid Lear.
(full context)
Act 3, scene 4
Lear, Kent and the Fool arrive at the hovel. Lear still insists that the "tempest in...
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Act 3, scene 6
...the house to which he has shown them, Kent thanks Gloucester, and then reports that Lear has gone entirely mad. Gloucester exits as Lear, the Fool, and Edgar enter, raving together....
(full context)
Act 3, scene 7
...too brutal for a son to behold. Oswald arrives to report that, thanks to Gloucester, Lear has been carried away to Dover.
(full context)
Act 4, scene 1
...saw such a mad beggar who "made [him] think man a worm" (37). He has learned, he says, about human lowliness: "As flies to wanton boys are we to the gods;/...
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Act 4, scene 2
...who informed against him. Albany vows that he will thank Gloucester for his love toward Lear and will revenge his lost eyes. He summons the Messenger to give him more information.
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Act 4, scene 3
Kent then explains that Lear is in the camp and is occasionally sane. However, he adds, Lear refuses to see...
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Act 4, scene 4
...raving "mad as the vexed sea" (4.4.2). She then promises the doctor that whoever cures Lear can have everything she owns. The doctor responds that, in order to be cured, the...
(full context)
Act 4, scene 7
...nature" (16-7). The Doctor says that they will wake him up. Two servants enter, carrying Lear on a chair. The Doctor cues for music to be played. Cordelia kisses her father...
(full context)
Act 5, scene 1
...against their common enemy of the French, not because he approves of their treatment of Lear and Gloucester, he and Goneril join Edmund and Regan. Edmund says he will join Albany...
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Act 5, scene 2
...a retreat, Edgar appears onstage again. He reports that the French forces have lost and Lear and Cordelia have been taken prisoner. Gloucester says that he would like to die and...
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Act 5, scene 3
Edmund orders that the captured Lear and Cordelia be taken away to prison. Cordelia, speaking with Lear, wonders if they should...
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