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Dramatic Irony
Key Examples in King Lear
Act 1, scene 1
Explanation and Analysis—Lear's Three Daughters:
In Act 1, Scene 1, when Lear asks Regan, Goneril, and Cordelia to profess their love to him in a bid for a share of his kingdom, he pits them directly against each other. It follows that the audience would compare each coming declaration of love with the others, and from this moment onwards, the two deceitful daughters, Regan and Goneril, function as foils for their loyal sister Cordelia. The differences between the daughters’ declarations, excerpted below, are quite stark:
Goneril: Sir, do love you more than word can wield the matter,
Dearer than eyesight, space, and liberty,
Beyond what can be valued, rich or rare,
No less than life, with grace, health, beauty, honor,
As much as child e'er loved or father found;
A love that makes breath poor and speech unable.
Related Themes:
Act 2, scene 2
Explanation and Analysis—Kent and Oswald:
Although they are both royal servants of King Lear, Kent and Oswald have decidedly different dispositions toward their master. Over the course of the play, the two servants come to embody different styles of service and ultimately act as foils to each other. This is especially evident in their dramatic confrontation in Act 2, Scene 2, which sees Kent—in disguise as Caius and unwilling to abandon his king—admonishing Oswald for his selfishness and moral abandon:
Unlock with LitCharts A+Oswald: What do you know about me then?
Kent: A knave, a rascal, an eater of broken meats; a base, proud, shallow, beggarly, three-suited, hundred-pound, filthy, worsted-stocking knave; a lily-livered, action-taking knave; a whoreson, glass-gazing, super-serviceable finical rogue; one-trunk-inheriting slave; one that wouldst be a bawd in way of good service; and art nothing but the composition of a knave, beggar, coward, pander, and the son and heir of a mongrel bitch, one whom I will beat into clamorous whining if thou denies the least syllable of thy addition.
Related Themes:
Act 4, scene 6
Explanation and Analysis—Kent and Oswald:
Although they are both royal servants of King Lear, Kent and Oswald have decidedly different dispositions toward their master. Over the course of the play, the two servants come to embody different styles of service and ultimately act as foils to each other. This is especially evident in their dramatic confrontation in Act 2, Scene 2, which sees Kent—in disguise as Caius and unwilling to abandon his king—admonishing Oswald for his selfishness and moral abandon:
Unlock with LitCharts A+Oswald: What do you know about me then?
Kent: A knave, a rascal, an eater of broken meats; a base, proud, shallow, beggarly, three-suited, hundred-pound, filthy, worsted-stocking knave; a lily-livered, action-taking knave; a whoreson, glass-gazing, super-serviceable finical rogue; one-trunk-inheriting slave; one that wouldst be a bawd in way of good service; and art nothing but the composition of a knave, beggar, coward, pander, and the son and heir of a mongrel bitch, one whom I will beat into clamorous whining if thou denies the least syllable of thy addition.
Related Themes:
Act 5, scene 3
Explanation and Analysis—Lear's Three Daughters:
In Act 1, Scene 1, when Lear asks Regan, Goneril, and Cordelia to profess their love to him in a bid for a share of his kingdom, he pits them directly against each other. It follows that the audience would compare each coming declaration of love with the others, and from this moment onwards, the two deceitful daughters, Regan and Goneril, function as foils for their loyal sister Cordelia. The differences between the daughters’ declarations, excerpted below, are quite stark:
Unlock with LitCharts A+Goneril: Sir, do love you more than word can wield the matter,
Dearer than eyesight, space, and liberty,
Beyond what can be valued, rich or rare,
No less than life, with grace, health, beauty, honor,
As much as child e'er loved or father found;
A love that makes breath poor and speech unable.
Related Themes:
