From start to finish, King Lear is full of references to animals, usually incorporated into insults and curses or used to describe states of maximum human degradation. (The Fool also frequently tells jokes or sings songs involving non-human creatures.) Lear himself observes, in his rage at Goneril and Regan: "Allow not nature more than nature needs,/ Man's life is cheap as beast's" (2.4.307-8). Throughout the play, animals present a vision of brutal nature to which men can descend, and yet the animals are also held up as less corrupt than men. After all the beasts are just beasts, and are naturally brutal, while the finely dressed Goneril and Regan, along with the other disloyal members of Lear's court, can spout beautiful language about love and honor, and then stab their father in the back.
Animals Quotes in King Lear
The King Lear quotes below all refer to the symbol of Animals. 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 2, scene 3
Quotes
"I will preserve myself, and am bethought
To take the basest and most poorest shape
That ever penury in contempt of man
Brought near to beast."
To take the basest and most poorest shape
That ever penury in contempt of man
Brought near to beast."
Related Characters:
Edgar (speaker)
Related Symbols:
Animals, Clothing and Costumes
Related Themes:
Page Number and Citation:
Explanation and Analysis:
Act 2, scene 4
Quotes
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."
"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."
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