King Lear (Grades 9-12) by The Broad Stage

KING LEAR STUDY GUIDE

Shakespeare’s Globe Theatre presents

King Lear Shakespeare at The Broad Stage made possible by a generous gift from Linda and Michael Keston.

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Student Matinee

THU / NOV 6 & 13 11 AM

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KING LEAR STUDY GUIDE

EDUCATION AND COMMUNITY PROGRAMS STAFF Mitch Heskel, Director Amy Kirkland, General Manager Carolyn Palmer, Director of Programming and Education Alisa De Los Santos, Manager of Education and Community Programs Jonathan Redding, Dramaturg Klarissa Leuterio, Education and Community Programs Associate CONSULTANTS Nick Musleh, Curriculum Writer

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Education and Community at The Broad Stage is supported in part by Austin and Virginia Beutner, Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors through the Los Angeles County Arts Commission, City of Santa Monica and the Santa Monica Arts Commission, Herb Alpert Foundation, John W. Carson Foundation, The Rosalinde and Arthur Gilbert Foundation, The Green Foundation, SMC Associates, Matthewson Charitable Trusts, The Roth Family Foundation, Bank of the West, the Ralph M. Parsons Foundation, the Dwight Stuart Youth Fund, Leonard M. Lipman Charitable Fund, Colburn Foundation, and the City of Santa Monica Department of Cultural Affairs.

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EDUCATION & COMMUNITY PROGRAMS Phone 310.434.3560 education @thebroadstage.com thebroadstage.com/education

KING LEAR STUDY GUIDE

Greetings from The Broad Stage! Hello Teachers and Educators, Welcome to a new school year! We have been hard at work all summer (as you have!) planning and preparing for a new season’s worth of student matinees, study guides, and special events for our education community. As we kick off this season, we couldn’t be more excited to have you join us for this amazing student matinee of King Lear.

If you’ve attended a student matinee at The Broad Stage before, you might notice that this study guide is different from study guides of the past. After meeting with many of the educators we serve, we’ve made a few improvements. The activities within this guide are tailored towards two tracks: Theatre/Performance, and English/Literature. They were created to enable you to jump between each track, combine elements from each track, or stick to one track entirely—we’ve designed this study guide to give you flexibility and control as you prepare your students. In preparation for the performance, we ask that you take a few minutes to look through this study guide. It contains teaching resources for you to use in your classroom and each lesson is based on Common Core and VAPA State Standards. Our hope is to support your efforts not only in preparing students for this particular program, but in integrating the arts into other aspects of your students’ day-to-day learning process. We are honored to have you and your students as a part of our Broad Stage family. We admire your hard work every day and are so fortunate to be working with such a talented and engaged group of educators! Thank you for taking this journey with us and for your continued dedication to your students’ academic and artistic development. See you at the show! Sincerely, Alisa De Los Santos Manager of Education & Community Programs delossantos_alisa@smc.edu

Klarissa Leuterio Education & Community Programs Associate leuterio_klarissa@smc.edu

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Often thought of as the darkest of Shakespeare’s tragedies, King Lear explores themes of family, love, loyalty, and betrayal—themes that resonate with all of us on a personal level. Our hope is that the production from Shakespeare’s Globe Theatre and this study guide will inspire students to take ownership of the text, feel empowered to experiment with it as artists, and understand how its words echo throughout our modern society.

CONTENTS

How to use this guide As we continue to expand our educational programming, we have solicited feedback from a variety of educators in order to continue to serve you more effectively. This study guide is a result of that ongoing collaboration and is designed to cover multiple subject areas and is aligned with both Common Core and VAPA Standards. Go with Basic Preparation if you have limited time to spend on King Lear. These activities give students the basics of plot and characters and do not require your students to have read or seen the entire play. Move on to the English/Language Arts Track or the Performing Arts Track if you have the flexibility to cover King Lear more fully in class. These activities are designed to be completed after your students have read the play and/or attended the student matinee. All exercises are adapted for each track to give you the option to teach cross-disciplinarily between English/Language Arts and Performing Arts.

Contents 14â&#x20AC;&#x2030;/â&#x20AC;&#x2030;15 SEASON

Character Exploration Plot Comprehension

English/Language Arts Discussion/Essay Prompts Post-Show Discussion Character Backstory (Hot Seat) Further Character Analysis Write your own Soliloquy Close Readings

Performing Arts Discussion/Debate Prompts Post-Show Discussion Character Backstory (Hot Seat) Further Character Analysis Write your own Soliloquy Further Acting Activities

Appendix Act Summary Character Summary Character Quotes Investigating Soliloquy Soliloquy Examples Scansion Guide Theatre Glossary Shakespeare Glossary THE BROAD STAGE AT THE SANTA MONICA ARTS CENTER 1310 11TH ST., SANTA MONICA, CA 90401 / 310.434.3560

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Basic Preparation

BASIC PREPARATION

Basic Preparation NOTE: These activities should be completed after students have read a summary of King Lear or have seen a production of King Lear—either on stage or video. A good production to watch is the PBS Production with Ian McKellen (see bubble). This exercise is aimed at character analysis through life-sized visual representation. PBS Great Performances of King Lear, starring Ian McKellen can be found at this link: http://www.pbs.org/wnet/gperf/king-lear-watch-the-play/487/ We recommend having students watch the first 24 minutes of the production before doing the Role on The Wall Activity (if they have not read the text).

Character Exploration

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Materials: large drawing paper, writing utensils, coloring materials, scissors, tape, Character Summary, and Act Summary Handouts. Standards Addressed: CCSS:ELA-LITERACY.RL.9-10.3

ROLE ON THE WALL Break class into groups of four and assign each group a character from King Lear. Characters covered in PBS’s version of King Lear include: King Lear, Goneril, Regan, Cordelia, King of France, Kent, Edmund, Edgar, Gloucester. Have students trace character silhouettes on large paper and tape it to the wall. Instruct students to fill the silhouette with character descriptions, attributes, and personality traits of each character as supported by the text/movie. Encourage students to find a creative way to visually represent what a character thinks of herself vs. what others think of her, or what a character feels vs. her outwards appearance. Examples: • Lear refers to himself in many ways throughout the play: as a Dragon Full of Wrath, as a Wise Leader, as a Mad Fool. His daughters refer to him as rash, even during the best of his years. How could you create a silhouette to convey what Lear thinks of himself versus his daughter’s outward perception of him? • Much is written about Edmund’s appearance and inner qualities throughout the play. Edmund serves Nature as his Goddess. How can you use the silhouette to show the different sides of him? Have students share their silhouettes with each other. Ask them to walk around the room, learning about each character. These “Roles on the Wall” silhouettes can be used as references for students during later activities. THE BROAD STAGE AT THE SANTA MONICA ARTS CENTER 1310 11TH ST., SANTA MONICA, CA 90401 / 310.434.3560

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Aim: Active Analysis of characters in the play and ability to demonstrate their analysis visually and artistically

BASIC PREPARATION

Basic Preparation Plot Comprehension Aim: Comprehension of the plot and characters assisted by having students create a visual overview and physical representation of the relationships and events. Materials: drawing paper, writing utensils, coloring materials, Act Summary. Standards Addressed: CCSS:ELA-LITERACY.RL.9-10.1, 11-12.1; CCSS:ELA-LITERACY.RL.9-10.3, 11-12.3; CCSS:ELA-LITERACY.RL.9-10.5

FAMILY TREES Break students into groups of 3-4 and have them review the Act Summary as a group.

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Ask students to draw visual representations of the Lear and Gloucester family trees. Be sure to include descriptions of the characters in the trees. Encourage students to present the information visually (i.e., If Lear’s family were a tree, he could be a tree that is old and withered, and his two corrupt daughters could be the sickest branches, while Cordelia may have flowers blossoming from her branch.)

BODY STORYTELLING AND TABLEAUX Explain that a tableaux is a staged moment in a story, where the performers statically hold gestures and spatial relationships to each other to convey the action and internal experience of the characters. Group students and task them with creating a tableaux of one of the major plot points of King Lear, outlined below. Discuss the similarities that exist between the characters and events in the two families. LEAR Division Cast Out By Daughters Heath Reconciliation Death of Lear, Cordelia, Goneril, and Regan

GLOUCESTER Deceiving Blinding of Gloucester Suicide/Reveal Duel/Dead Eds

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Task each group with separating the stories of the Houses of Lear and Gloucester and creating a family tree for each.

ENGLISH/LANGUAGE AND PERFORMING ARTS TRACKS

ENGLISH/LANGUAGE ARTS TRACK

PERFORMING ARTS TRACK

Aim: To promote deeper understanding of the text through observation and discussion.

Summary: These are discussion prompts about the themes and character motivations of King Lear. This activity should occur after students have already completed plot and character analysis exercises.

Standards Addressed: CCSS:ELA-LITERACY.RL.9-10.2, 11-12.2, 11-12.5 CCSS:ELALITERACY.SL.9-10.1, 11-12.1

Standards Addressed: CCSS:ELA-LITERACY.RL.9-10.2, 11-12.2, 11-12.5 CCSS:ELALITERACY.SL.9-10.1, 11-12.1 VAPA – Theatre 2.1, 2.3

Discussion • In his first line of the play, Kent suggests his confusion about Lear’s decision to split the kingdom: “I thought the King had more affected the Duke of Albany than Cornwall.” If this rash act of dividing the kingdom is a result of one of Lear’s major flaws, what is blinding Lear from seeing that his seemingly generous choice is problematic and severe? Does Lear ever “see clearly” in the play? How do you know?

• Is this a godless play? Search the text for elements to which the events in the play are attributed: celestial bodies, nature, gods killing men for sport like flies. What is said about these forces? Do they seem to affect the action? How so?

•Is this a godless play? Search the text for elements that are accused of being the moving force behind the events in the play: celestial bodies, nature, gods killing men for sport like flies. How do these forces affect the action in the play?

• What qualities, virtues, or lack thereof, does Shakespeare use to characterize noble characters or villainous ones? Does each character (noble or villainous) get what he or she deserves? • The only character in the play not punished by Lear for criticism and honesty is the Fool. Explore this relationship—does Lear learn from the Fool? How much of Lear’s revelations does he come to on his own, how much are from the Fool? When Lear finally sees the folly he has committed, the character of the Fool does not return—why? What could this suggest about the fool?

• What qualities, virtues, or lack thereof, does Shakespeare use to characterize noble characters or villainous ones? How would you represent that onstage? • The only character in the play not punished by Lear for criticism and honesty is the Fool. Explore this relationship—does Lear learn from the Fool? How much of Lear’s revelations does he come to on his own, how much are from the Fool? When Lear finally sees the folly he has committed, the character of the Fool does not return—why? What does that mean for the actor’s portrayal of Lear? Of The Fool? (cont.)

• Examine the pacing of the text during climactic scenes. How does Shakespeare use metaphor, verse, prose, aside, and soliloquy? (cont.)

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Discussion, Writing, Performance and Debate Prompts

ENGLISH/LANGUAGE AND PERFORMING ARTS TRACKS

ENGLISH/LANGUAGE ARTS TRACK

PERFORMING ARTS TRACK

• Discuss the pacing of the text during climactic scenes. How does Shakespeare use metaphor, verse, prose, aside, and soliloquy? How does that inform the performance?

• Each play comes with its own set of challenges when it is transferred from the page to the stage. In groups or on your own, imagine how you could represent the following details and plot points from King Lear on the stage. Create a diagram, drawing, or demonstration to present your idea to your classmates. o King Lear’s hundred knights o The storm on the heath o Edgar’s transformation into Tom O’Bedlam o Gloucester’s suicide attempt from the Cliffs of Dover

• King Lear is often referred to as the “Mad King”, but it can be argued that he is not the sole representation of madness found in the play. Explore madness in its various forms throughout the play. What purpose does Lear’s madness serve? Does he learn from it? In which other characters might we discover madness? What is the nature of it? How would you represent those different forms of madness as an actor or a director? • Each play comes with its own set of challenges when it is transferred from the page to the stage. In groups or on your own, imagine how you could represent the following details and plot points from King Lear on the stage. Create a diagram, drawing, or demonstration to present your idea to your classmates. o King Lear’s hundred knights o The storm on the heath o Edgar’s transformation into Tom O’Bedlam o Gloucester’s suicide attempt from the Cliffs of Dover

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Discussion, Writing, Performance and Debate Prompts (cont.)

ENGLISH/LANGUAGE AND PERFORMING ARTS TRACKS

Further Character Analysis ENGLISH/LANGUAGE ARTS TRACK

PERFORMING ARTS TRACK

HOT SEAT

Aim: Engage students in creating a character backstory which supports the given circumstances within the actual text.

Aim: Engage students with an improvisational exercise that allows them to fill the untold exposition King Lear with their own invented backstory which could support or be supported by the given circumstances within the text.

Materials: Character Quotes Handout Materials: Character Quotes Handout

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Standards Addressed: CCSS:ELA-LITERACY.RL.9-10.1, 11-12.1 CCSS:ELALITERACY.SL.9-10.1, 11-12.1

Pair Students In pairs, have each student (A and B) select a character from the handout. Have Student A write questions to student B’s character and vice versa. Student A asks Student B questions and Student B answers as his or her chosen character. Each answer should create backstory that provides exposition and explanation for the character’s behavior in the first scene. Student A and Student B then switch, with Student B asking questions. It is important that the student answering keeps his/her character in mind, so that they can use the text to support their invented stories.

Summary: The students will create a backstory to one of the characters in King Lear through an improvisational exercise. Then they will successfully test those backstories with support from the text. Standards Addressed: CCSS:ELA-LITERACY.RL.9-10.1, 11-12.1 CCSS:ELALITERACY.SL.9-10.1, 11-12.1 VAPA – Theatre 2.1, 2.2, 2.3 The goal of this exercise is to provide images to serve the actors opinions and actions used during the performance of King Lear. While these can vary between performers, the opinions and actions must be supported by the text. The actor’s job is to create a backstory filled with detailed sensory experiences that can provide the appropriate emotional state for the character. If your students need a quick refresher on objectives or opinions, please refer to the appendix (Further Acting Activities) Note: The Hot Seat can be done in small groups or as a large class depending on teacher and student discretion. Divide students into small or large groups as desired.

Prompt: Based on your partner work, provide a written backstory to the life of a character in King Lear. Use 3 additional quotes from the play to defend your backstory. Example Quote: “I know what you are…” Cordelia says to her sisters just before she leaves them to marry the King of France.

Select one student in each group to be in the Hot Seat. Assign the student a character from King Lear. Ask the rest of the class to each pick a quote about that character in the text or the Character Quotes Handout. Have them ask the student in the Hot Seat questions based on that quote. Example quotes can be found on the Hot Seat worksheet.

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Summary: The students will complete a free-written backstory to one of the characters in King Lear. Then they will test those backstories in a written essay, by explaining how their backstories are supported by the text.

ENGLISH/LANGUAGE AND PERFORMING ARTS TRACKS

Further Character Analysis (cont.) ENGLISH/LANGUAGE ARTS TRACK

PERFORMING ARTS TRACK

Question: What did you mean by that? Why did you say it? What about your past could have informed this statement?

Students take turns in the Hot Seat, where they provide answers to questions from the group to create backstory that provides exposition and explanation for the character’s behavior in the first scene. The other group members are allowed to further ask questions to flesh out the story.

Answer: Student answering for Cordelia may create a story from Cordelia’s childhood. She and her sisters attended a banquet hosted by King Lear. Regan and Goneril plotted to steal Cordelia’s dance partner by distracting her. Goneril tells Cordelia that King Lear was searching for her, and upon returning, Cordelia finds Regan dancing with dance partner.

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Question (from students in class): What did you mean by that? Why did you say it? What about your past could have informed this statement? Answer (from student in the Hot Seat): My sisters and I never got along. They hated me and took advantage of me. When I was 15, my father hosted a banquet. My father had selected suitors for the three of us, and I was paired with the cutest guy there. My sisters hated the suitors dad picked for them. They devised a plan to let Regan take my suitor away from me. Goneril told me that dad was looking for me, and when I came back, Regan was dancing with my partner. They both have treated me this way since I was a young girl, and it hasn’t stopped since. Take it further: Students can expand on the Hot Seat exercise by playing out a scene from the backstory developed in Hot Seat. This is a great way to give students a chance to improvise based on inferences made during the Hot Seat. Students will also use this improvisational exercise to test and strengthen their understanding of the characters. If a written exercise is preferred, ask students to wrote short scenes based on their Hot Seat improvisations.

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Example Quote: “I know what you are…” Cordelia says to her sisters just before she leaves them before she leaves them to marry the King of France.

KING LEAR STUDY GUIDE

Soliloquy Activity ENGLISH/LANGUAGE ARTS AND PERFORMING ARTS TRACK Aim: Students will write their own soliloquy in modern language after active analysis of soliloquies found in King Lear. Materials: Copy of King Lear, pen, paper/notebook to write, Investigating Soliloquy and Soliloquy Examples Handouts. Summary: Some of Shakespeare’s most notable and popular passages are soliloquies, expressed thoughts within one’s mind; introspective, internal debates. Soliloquies seem to be a stream of consciousness. To understand the needed pace and intentions for these soliloquies, students should write their own inner debates. The goal is try to resemble a selfconversation, which is not always grammatically correct, can be very expressive, and moves rapidly from thought to thought, question to question, and discovery to discovery. Standards Addressed: CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.11-12.3; VAPA THEATRE: 2.1, 2.2, 2.3

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Discuss: What persuasive tactics did Edmund use to justify his ambitions? Why is this style of writing effective in the theatre? Compare Edmund’s motivation and reasoning to Edgar’s discovery in his own soliloquy. Write your own modern soliloquies in the two different styles. Try to use the same persuasive tactics in each of the following: o Using logic and reasoning to answer a question or legitimize a wrong o A hero making a profound and hopeful discovery Example “I’m not gonna, no. What would really happen if I did? They have cameras everywhere. It’s not like I’m trying to pass the Bar or something, it’s a restaurant for crying out loud. They just want you to pass, they probably don’t care if you look for just a sec. What if they let me take half the test, then I get to study again for 5 minutes, and then I take the test again? I mean, I’m gonna learn this stuff just from working here, do I really have to know it now? Learning it from a book doesn’t teach me anything, I’ve got to see this stuff. They should have given me an extra day, what is this medical school? No, I can’t cheat. They have cameras and if they see me, that’s just a game changer. That’s not a way to start off. ‘Hey your application looks great, but you cheated on all your tests, we don’t know if we have room for that kind of person on our team.’ UGH... Ok, just do your best, you got this.”

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Write your own Soliloquy Have students read the two soliloquies on the Soliloquy Handout.

KING LEAR STUDY GUIDE

Further Acting Exercises PERFORMING ARTS TRACK Objectives and Tactics Objective: what a character desires in a given moment Tactics: the means employed by a character to fulfill his objective

Have students pair off and determine which will be A and B in each pair. A will pick an objective, something as simple as needing to borrow five dollars. B can never give in, but B may never say no. A needs to get five dollars from B, and must use one tactic until the teacher says switch tactics.

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Then, switch tactics. Switch to flatter, threaten, bribe, convince, etc. After A has tried 5 tactics, then repeat the exercise with Student B.

Opinion and Attitude The opinion and attitude of a character in a given circumstance are determined by the actor and are in support of the text. They can influence the way in which the actor chooses to approach a line or scene (e.g. guiltily, happily, suspiciously, etc.) Students find partners and describe happy memory to each other. Then, describe a memory where they were uncomfortable or unhappy. Listeners are than asked to recall what they noticed about the person describing their happy story; such as speech patterns, eye contact, facial expression, breathing, eloquence and articulation, word choice. Do the same for the unhappy memory. Then have students retell their stories, but instead of using words, have them use numbers or gibberish. See if they can still convey the happy and sad opinions or attitudes about their respective stories without using the words.

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Try to get students to choose different tactics. You can also tell them to crank up the desperation by giving them a number scale, “On a scale of 1-5, where 1 is really subtly begging, and 5 is desperately begging.”

KING LEAR STUDY GUIDE

Close Readings Exercise 1 ENGLISH/LANGUAGE ARTS TRACK These Close Reading exercises are intended to be undertaken after students have seen or read the play. Ideally, they will be familiar with the overall story and characters. • Read Act One, Scene One (lines 34-140), which are provided on the following page. Assign characters to students in your class. Read through the text with them collectively, taking time as needed to answer questions pertaining to meaning and the overall story. Make note of difficult words or phrases that stand out. After you have read through the text, discuss the story you have just read as a group. Students should be able to recount the basic plot and identify the speakers at the conclusion of this step. • Have your students create an Explication of the text. Students individually or in small groups work to re-write the selection in their own words, phrase by phrase. You may find it is more efficient to break the scene down and assign portions to groups or individuals, and then come together as a class to read the full explicated scene. Students should have a strong understanding of Shakespeare’s language at the conclusion of this step.

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o This scene has been likened to something from a fairy tale or parable. Is this accurate? Is the scene believable? Why or why not? o How was the scene supposed to go? What was the King’s initial plan? o What is King Lear’s state of mind at the beginning of the scene? At the end? Is this scene part of his larger madness? If not, when does it begin? o What does each of the characters’ manner of speaking tell us about them? Who uses complex images or pretty phrases? Who uses formal language, and why? How do characters describe themselves and others? o Are there any phrases or images in particular that strike you? Does anything seem out of place, or against the general feel of a character? Why? o What is Lear’s new plan at the end of the selection? Is it a good plan? What new problems does he create with his actions in this scene? o What is your impression of each of Lear’s daughters, and why? o Was Cordelia foolish to behave as she did? Do you think it would have been possible for her to act differently? What does her behavior in the scene say about her? Why? o Was Lear foolish to behave as he did? Do you think it would have been possible for him to act differently? What does his behavior in the scene say about him? Why? Students should be able to support their opinions with evidence from the text at the conclusion of this step.

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• Assign, or conduct as a group, a Close Reading of the text. Students should work toward a deeper understanding of the scene, in terms of its dramatic mechanics and shifts, what it tells them about the characters in both content and style, and the ramifications of the scene on the larger play. For King Lear Ii consider the following questions:

KING LEAR STUDY GUIDE

Close Readings ENGLISH/LANGUAGE ARTS TRACK Act One, Scene One (Line 34-140):

CORDELIA

The Division

Nothing, my lord.

REGAN

KING LEAR

Sir, I am made

Nothing!

Of the self-same metal that my sister is, And prize me at her worth. In my true heart

CORDELIA

I find she names my very deed of love;

Nothing.

Only she comes too short: that I profess KING LEAR

Which the most precious square of sense possesses;

Nothing will come of nothing: speak again.

And find I am alone felicitate 14 / 15 SEASON

In your dear highness’ love.

CORDELIA Unhappy that I am, I cannot heave

CORDELIA

My heart into my mouth: I love your majesty

[Aside] Then poor Cordelia!

According to my bond; nor more nor less.

And yet not so; since, I am sure, my love’s More richer than my tongue.

KING LEAR

How, how, Cordelia! mend your speech a little,

To thee and thine hereditary ever

Lest it may mar your fortunes.

Remain this ample third of our fair kingdom;

CORDELIA

No less in space, validity, and pleasure,

Good my lord,

Than that conferr’d on Goneril. Now, our joy,

You have begot me, bred me, loved me: I

Although the last, not least; to whose young love

Obey you, love you, and most honour you.

The vines of France and milk of Burgundy Strive to be interess’d; what can you say to draw A third more opulent than your sisters? Speak.

Return those duties back as are right fit, Why have my sisters husbands, if they say They love you all? Haply, when I shall wed, That lord whose hand must take my plight shall carry Half my love with him, half my care and duty:

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Myself an enemy to all other joys,

KING LEAR STUDY GUIDE

Sure, I shall never marry like my sisters,

KING LEAR

To love my father all.

Peace, Kent!

KING LEAR

Come not between the dragon and his wrath.

But goes thy heart with this?

I loved her most, and thought to set my rest

CORDELIA

On her kind nursery. Hence, and avoid my sight!

Ay, good my lord.

So be my grave my peace, as here I give

KING LEAR

Her father’s heart from her! Call France; who stirs?

So young, and so untender?

Call Burgundy. Cornwall and Albany, With my two daughters’ dowers digest this third:

CORDELIA So young, my lord, and true.

I do invest you jointly with my power,

Let it be so; thy truth, then, be thy dower:

Pre-eminence, and all the large effects

For, by the sacred radiance of the sun,

That troop with majesty. Ourself, by monthly course,

The mysteries of Hecate, and the night;

With reservation of an hundred knights,

By all the operation of the orbs

By you to be sustain’d, shall our abode

From whom we do exist, and cease to be; Here I disclaim all my paternal care,

Make with you by due turns. Only we still retain

Propinquity and property of blood,

The name, and all the additions to a king;

And as a stranger to my heart and me

The sway, revenue, execution of the rest,

Hold thee, from this, for ever. The barbarous Scythian,

Beloved sons, be yours: which to confirm, This coronet part betwixt you.

Or he that makes his generation messes To gorge his appetite, shall to my bosom Be as well neighbour’d, pitied, and relieved, As thou my sometime daughter.

KENT Good my liege,--

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KING LEAR

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Let pride, which she calls plainness, marry her.

KING LEAR STUDY GUIDE

Close Readings Exercise 2 ENGLISH/LANGUAGE ARTS TRACK • Read through Edmund’s soliloquy with your students collectively, provided on the next page, taking time as needed to answer questions pertaining to meaning and the overall story. Make note of difficult words or phrases that stand out. After you have read through the text, discuss the internal story you have just read.

• Have your students create an Explication of the text. Students individually or in small groups work to re-write the selection in their own words, phrase by phrase. Students should have a strong understanding of Shakespeare’s language at the conclusion of this step.

• Assign, or conduct as a group, a Close Reading of the text. Students should work toward a deeper understanding of the soliloquy, in terms of its dramatic mechanics and shifts, what it tells them about Edmund in both content and style, and the ramifications of Edmund’s internal story on the larger play. For this soliloquy consider the following questions:

o Where are the shifts between these different recipients? Is there a logical progression to them? What does it say that Edmund addresses these persons/apostrophes in this order? o Does Edmund state a problem he is trying to solve? What is the problem as he describes it? o Do you agree with his assessment of the problem? Is there any unspoken problem or subtext presented by the soliloquy? o Does Edmund explore the implications of his problem? What conclusions does he come to? o Do any words or phrases jump out at you? Does anything Edmund says contradict his logic? o The soliloquy contains several repetitions of specific words. What does this tell us? How does he use repeating words and phrases? o Is there an epiphany, or decision-point, anywhere in the soliloquy? o What conclusion does Edmund reach by the end of the soliloquy? o What is Edmund’s perspective on “Nature”? What is his perspective on human society? o What are the ramifications of Edmund’s soliloquy for the world of the play? What are the ramifications of his choice for his character?

Students should be able to support their opinions with evidence from the text at the conclusion of this step.

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o Whom does Edmund directly address in the soliloquy? List each person or apostrophe he speaks to.

KING LEAR STUDY GUIDE

Close Reading ENGLISH/LANGUAGE ARTS TRACK Act One, Scene Two (Line 1-22): Edmund’s Soliloquy EDMUND Thou, nature, art my goddess; to thy law My services are bound. Wherefore should I Stand in the plague of custom, and permit The curiosity of nations to deprive me, For that I am some twelve or fourteen moon-shines Lag of a brother? Why bastard? wherefore base? When my dimensions are as well compact, My mind as generous, and my shape as true, As honest madam’s issue? Why brand they us

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Who, in the lusty stealth of nature, take More composition and fierce quality Than doth, within a dull, stale, tired bed, Go to the creating a whole tribe of fops, Got ‘tween asleep and wake? Well, then, Legitimate Edgar, I must have your land: Our father’s love is to the bastard Edmund As to the legitimate: fine word,--legitimate! Well, my legitimate, if this letter speed, And my invention thrive, Edmund the base Shall top the legitimate. I grow; I prosper: Now, gods, stand up for bastards!

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With base? with baseness? bastardy? base, base?

KING LEAR STUDY GUIDE

Act Summary of William Shakespeare’s King Lear ACT I

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Edmund, the bastard son of the Earl of Gloucester, sets in motion a plan to take the lands and inheritance of his older half-brother Edgar, Gloucester’s legitimate son. Edmund forges a letter in Edgar’s hand insinuating a plot against Gloucester, and pretends to hide it from his father, causing Gloucester to read it. With Gloucester enraged, Edmund convinces Edgar to hide until he can clear his name.

Goneril and her servant Oswald complain about King Lear’s rowdy behavior with his train of knights. She tells Oswald that he and the servants should act disrespectfully towards the King. Kent, meanwhile, disguises himself and convinces King Lear to take him back into his service, pretending to be a simple soldier. Oswald disrespects King Lear, leading to an altercation wherein Kent beats him. As Oswald runs back to Goneril, Lear’s jester, the Fool, enters and begins to tease Lear with songs and riddles for giving up his crown. Goneril interrupts their play, complaining to Lear directly about his behavior, cajoling and finally threatening him to send some of his knights away and behave himself. King Lear flies into a rage, insulting Goneril and Albany, and finally asks the Gods to place a terrible curse on Goneril. Lear finds out that Goneril has sent away half of his knights, and begins to cry. He scolds himself for being weak, and departs to find Regan and (he thinks) better treatment. On the way, Lear sends letters to Gloucester, and the Fool riddles with him.

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King Lear begins in the king’s court of ancient Britain, prior to Roman conquest or the advent of Christianity. King Lear, an aging monarch, calls together the highest of his Lords, along with his three daughters. He announces his plan to abdicate the crown, dividing his lands and his authority amongst his daughters and their husbands: the Duke of Albany, husband to Goneril (eldest daughter); the Duke of Cornwall, husband to Regan (middle daughter); and either the King of France or the Duke of Burgundy, two suitors of Cordelia (the youngest daughter), to one of whom Lear will also now give Cordelia’s hand in marriage. First, Lear demands a competition between the daughters, to prove which loves him most. Goneril and Regan each (disingenuously) profess their love and are granted large territories, but Lear has saved the richest lands for Cordelia. Cordelia, however, refuses to play along, driving the King into a fury. Lear publicly disowns Cordelia, and when Lear’s faithful servant the Earl of Kent tries to intervene Lear banishes him. The King decides to split his kingdom in two instead of three, giving all to Goneril and Regan. He demands that they still treat him as a king, and plans to live with both of them in turn, alternating monthly, accompanied by one hundred knights. Lear then calls in France and Burgundy, offering them Cordelia if they will take her without a dowry: the King of France is moved by her honesty and accepts, taking her to France. Goneril and Regan begin to scheme against their father.

KING LEAR STUDY GUIDE

ACT II Edmund convinces Edgar he has to flee Gloucester’s house for his own safety, and after Edgar is gone, Edmund wounds himself and claims his brother tried to kill him. He convinces Gloucester that Edgar wants to kill him, and attacked Edmund for refusing. Gloucester raises the alarm and Cornwall and Regan enter; they are seeking Gloucester’s advice in managing King Lear. Edmund’s courage is praised by all. Kent arrives at the same time as Oswald, both men carrying letters for Regan. They fight, and Kent beats him before being arrested by Goneril, Cornwall and Regan and placed in the stocks.

Edgar enters nearby, and decides to disguise himself as an insane beggar: Tom O’Bedlam. King Lear arrives and is outraged to find Kent arrested, sending for Regan and Cornwall. They insult him by first refusing to see him, and then Regan talks down to him as to a child, suggesting he make amends to Goneril. Goneril arrives, and the two sisters join against Lear, insulting him further and arguing that they will strip him of his knights entirely. Lear, now entirely irrational, refuses to stay with either daughter and goes out into the night with only the Fool, facing a terrible storm.

Kent is freed and goes in search of Lear. He finds him standing on a heath, enduring the storm and descending into madness. Kent leads him to a hovel where he can take shelter, and the Fool follows. Gloucester reveals to Edmund that there is a conflict between Cornwall and Albany, and that he has received a dangerous letter and needs to find the King. Edmund plots to show the letter to Cornwall, so that Gloucester will be killed and Edmund inherit the family’s title and estate.

King Lear, Kent and the Fool arrive at the hovel, and there discover Edgar disguised as the mad beggar. Speaking to Edgar, Lear takes pity on him and gives him the clothes off of his own back, his first selfless act. Gloucester finds them there, and begs the King to come inside and take shelter. Edmund, meanwhile, has given Cornwall his father’s letter: it contains information about Cordelia and the King of France, coming to rescue Lear. Cornwall sets out to arrest Gloucester, and gives his title to Edmund.

King Lear, now in the hovel with Gloucester, Kent, the Fool and Edgar, enacts a mock-trial of Goneril and Regan. Lear finally collapses, and Gloucester tells Kent to carry him to Dover where he will find help and protection. Back at Gloucester’s home, Oswald brings Cornwall and Regan news that Lear’s remaining knights have rejoined him and headed to Dover. Gloucester returns, and Regan and Cornwall have him arrested. Gloucester admits to aiding the King, and Cornwall and Goneril torture him, tearing out his eyes. One of Cornwall’s servants tries to intervene, wounding Cornwall in the process. Gloucester, blinded, is sent out alone into the night.

ACT IV Edgar, still disguised, meets his father wandering in the countryside. Edgar hears his father repent for wronging him, and in his character of Poor Tom, Edgar agrees to guide his father to Dover, where Gloucester plans to commit suicide by throwing himself from a cliff.

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ACT III

KING LEAR STUDY GUIDE

Goneril meets with Edmund, expressing her desire for him and hinting at a plot against her husband. They kiss and depart, Goneril giving him a token of favor. Albany, in response to the landing of French troops, uneasily returns to Goneril. He insults her for her horrid actions, especially for condoning the blinding of Gloucester, but their argument is interrupted by the news that Cornwall has died from his wound. Albany begins to suspect Edmund, and seeks more information. Cordelia, landed with her soldiers, seeks word of her father. Regan, also lusting after Edmund, runs into Oswald and asks him to deliver a note to Edmund, and to Goneril a message- that she and Edmund plan to be married. She also promises him advancement if he should find and kill Gloucester.

Cordelia and King Lear reunite, and Lear is soothed by Cordelia’s forgiveness: no longer raging in his madness, but exhausted and child-like.

ACT V Regan and Cordelia continue to scheme, distrusting each other over Edmund. Albany joins his army to Edmund’s, compelled by the need to protect Britain from a French invasion. As they prepare for battle, Edgar approaches Albany, giving him Edmund’s treasonous correspondence with Goneril. Edgar promises to produce a champion who can prove Edmund is a villain through trial by combat, and returns to Gloucester. The battle is joined, and Cordelia’s army is defeated; she and Lear are taken captive.

Edgar takes his father to a safe distance, and then reveals his true identity, telling the whole story of his escape and disguise as Tom O’Bedlam. Gloucester, overcome with emotion, dies.

King Lear and Cordelia are brought to Edmund. Cordelia despairs, but Lear comforts her, promising to live out their lives as prisoners, removed from the cares of the world. Edmund has them taken to prison, but secretly gives the order for their execution before Albany can take them into his protective custody. Albany, Goneril and Regan join Edmund; Albany demands Lear and Cordelia, and the two sisters fight over Edmund. Regan begins to feel sick. Albany accuses Edmund and Goneril of treason, and challenges him to trial by combat. Edmund agrees.

Regan grows sicker, and is led away. A herald calls out for a champion to prove Edmund’s guilt, and Edgar appears wearing a mask. Edgar defeats Edmund, mortally wounding him. Albany confronts Goneril with the letters, and she flees.

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Edgar and Gloucester come to the Cliffs of Dover, and Edgar- changing his voice to sound like several people- stages a fake fall to “cure” Gloucester of his desire for suicide. Gloucester is doubtful at first, but finally is convinced that he has miraculously survived a fall: he pledges to live until the gods decide to end his life. Edgar and Gloucester encounter King Lear, adorned with flowers, and the blind man and the madman discuss their suffering. Some of Cordelia’s servants find them; they give Edgar news of the impending battle between the British and the French, and depart with the King. Oswald finds Gloucester and Edgar, and attempts to kill Gloucester to claim Regan’s promise. Edgar kills Oswald, and takes from him letters which prove a conspiracy between Edmund and Goneril to kill Albany. Edgar and Gloucester head towards the battleground.

KING LEAR STUDY GUIDE

Edgar unmasks, revealing himself to Edmund, and Edmund confesses. Edgar tells the story of their father’s death, and as Edmund begins to repent he is interrupted by news of Goneril and Regan’s deaths: Goneril confessed to poisoning Regan, and then committed suicide. Edmund, shaken by these revelations, attempts to reverse his order for the execution of Lear and Cordelia- but he is too late. The jailer has hanged Cordelia, and Lear has killed him for it. Lear enters with Cordelia’s body in his arms, wailing. Lear hears news of the deaths of Goneril, Regan and Edmund; he finally recognizes Kent; and, trying to revive Cordelia, he believes in his final moment that she has begun to breathe again.

King Lear dies with his daughters. Albany abdicates his power, asking Kent and Edgar to rule, but Kent plans to follow Lear into death. The crown falls to a shocked and mourning Edgar.

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KING LEAR STUDY GUIDE

Character Summary for William Shakespeare’s King Lear KING LEAR: the King of ancient Britain, an aging absolute monarch who has grown irrational. King Lear begins the play by abdicating rule amongst his daughters, dividing the kingdom into several territories. When his youngest daughter displeases him, he disowns her, leaving himself to the mercy of his cruel older daughters. Their mistreatment leads him to descend into madness.

GONERIL: Lear’s eldest daughter, wife of the Duke of Albany. Goneril inherits half the kingdom from her father and comes into conflict with him over his train of knights. Through the course of the play she develops a plot to assassinate her husband and marry Edmund, over whom she comes into conflict with her sister Regan.

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CORDELIA: Lear’s youngest daughter. At the beginning of the play she is courted by both the King of France and the Duke of Burgundy. France is moved by her courage when Lear disowns her, and agrees to marry her without a dowry. Cordelia travels to France with him, and later returns with an army to rescue her suffering father, despite his cruelty to her. She and Lear are taken captive after the battle between French and British forces.

DUKE OF ALBANY: husband of Goneril, a man with a conscience.

DUKE OF CORNWALL: husband of Regan, a vicious man.

KING OF FRANCE: suitor and later husband to Cordelia, he sees the value in her when her father disowns her and supplies her with an army to rescue him.

DUKE OF BURGUNDY: suitor to Cordelia, he abandons his pursuit of her when Lear disowns her.

EARL OF KENT: a blunt, honest, loyal man. Kent tries to stop Lear from disowning Cordelia, and is banished in the process. He disguises himself as a simple soldier, Caius, and talks his way back into the service of the King.

EARL OF GLOUCESTER: another aging patriarch, Gloucester is loyal to King Lear. He is the father to one legitimate son, Edgar, and one bastard son, the younger Edmund. Edmund manipulates him into conflict with Edgar, and then betrays him to Cornwall and Regan, who torture and blind him.

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REGAN: Lear’s middle daughter, wife of the Duke of Cornwall. Regan inherits the other half of the kingdom, and aligns with Goneril against her father. She and her husband engage in a scene of shocking violence against the Earl of Gloucester, before her husband dies and she begins to scheme to marry Edmund.

KING LEAR STUDY GUIDE

EDGAR: Gloucester’s lawful son, Edgar is betrayed by his younger half-brother Edmund and forced to flee his father’s house. Edgar disguises himself as Tom O’Bedlam, a poor lunatic, dressed in rags and speaking nonsense. He travels through the play aiding King Lear and then his blind father. He devises a trick to cure Gloucester of suicidal thoughts before finally returning to avenge himself on Edmund.

EDMUND: the bastard son of Gloucester, Edmund frames his brother Edgar and then his father Gloucester, taking over the lands and title of the family. He becomes the leader of the British forces against Cordelia’s French army, and is in the midst of a plot to become the new King when Edgar returns to accuse him of treason and challenge him to a duel.

LEAR’S FOOL: a court jester who attends the King, the Fool speaks in songs and riddles. His relationship with King Lear is strange, both loving and critical. The Fool travels with the King into the terrible night of the storm, and then vanishes from the play.

OSWALD: Steward to Goneril, Oswald is a violent and arrogant yet utterly loyal to his mistress. Oswald has several altercations with Kent, resulting in Kent being arrested; he later attempts to murder Gloucester, but is thwarted by Edgar.

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OLD MAN: a serf living on Gloucester’s land, he helps Gloucester after he has been blinded.

CAPTAIN: a soldier in the British army. Edmund offers him advancement if he will execute Lear and Cordelia after they are captured.

SERVANT OF CORNWALL: snaps after watching Cornwall torture Gloucester, he fatally stabs Cornwall before being killed himself.

HERALD: announces the duel between Edmund and Edgar.

VARIOUS other LORDS, LADIES, MESSENGERS, SERVANTS, SOLDIERS, TRUMPETERS, and KNIGHTS ATTENDANT ON LEAR.

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CURAN: a messenger in the service of Gloucester, Curan brings Edmund gossip of political intrigues.

KING LEAR STUDY GUIDE

Character Quotes LEAR & CORDELIA (ACT 1: Scene 1)

EDMUND (ACT 1: Scene 2)

Lear: I loved her most, and thought to set my rest

Edmund: Wherefore should I

On her kind nursery.

The curiosity of nations to deprive me,

Stand in the plague of custom, and permit

KENT & LEAR (ACT 1: Scene 1)

For that I am some twelve or fourteen moonshines

Lear: “Kent, on thy life, no more.”

Lag of a brother?

Kent: “My life I never held but as a pawn

Why brand they us

To wage against thine enemies; ne’er fear to lose it,

With base? with baseness? bastardy? base, base?

Thy safety being the motive.” GLOUCESTER & EDMUND (ACT 1: Scene 1)

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Cordelia: “The jewels of our father, with wash’d eyes Cordelia leaves you: I know you what you are; And like a sister am most loath to call Your faults as they are named. Use well our father:

Gloucester: But I have, sir, a son by order of law, some year older than this, who yet is no dearer in my account. Though this knave came something saucily to the world before he was sent for, yet was his mother fair, there was good sport at his making, and the whoreson must be acknowledged.—Do you know this noble gentleman, Edmund?

To your professed bosoms I commit him

REGAN & LEAR (ACT 2: Scene 4)

But yet, alas, stood I within his grace,

Lear: I gave you all.

I would prefer him to a better place.

Regan: And in good time you gave it.

So, farewell to you both.” GONERIL & LEAR (ACT 1: Scene 1) EDGAR, EDMUND, & GLOUCESTER (ACT 1: Scene 2) Edmund: A credulous father! and a brother noble, Whose nature is so far from doing harms,

Goneril: “The best and soundest of his time hath been but rash; then must we look to receive from his age, not alone the imperfections of long-engraffed condition, but therewithal the unruly waywardness that infirm and choleric years bring with them.”

That he suspects none: on whose foolish honesty My practises ride easy!

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CORDELIA, GONERIL, & REGAN (ACT 1: Scene 1)

KING LEAR STUDY GUIDE

Investigating Soliloquy A soliloquy is defined in the OED as “an instance of talking to or conversing with oneself, or of uttering one’s thoughts aloud without addressing any person.“ It is derived from the Latin solus, ‘alone’, and loqui, ‘to speak’. In the theatre, soliloquy is a malleable term. It is generally explained as a character speaking either to themselves, to another character onstage (and unaware of the speaker’s presence), or to an apostrophe. In literature, an apostrophe is a figure of speech by which a speaker addresses things, abstract concepts or people who are absent. In Act One Scene Two of King Lear, Edmund gives a soliloquy which we will consider shortly. He begins by addressing an apostrophe: the abstract force of Nature.

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Whether internally or externally spoken, in Shakespeare a soliloquy is predominately used to demonstrate internal stories, centered on problem solving. They are very much plot points which are happening inside of the characters. This frequently begins with an implication or outright statement of a problem, such as to be, or not to be: that is the question. The character then explores the problem systematically, exemplified in Hamlet’s realization of the fearful unknowns inherent in death: To sleep: perchance to dream: ay, there’s the rub; For in that sleep of death what dreams may come When we have shuffled off this mortal coil, Must give us pause: there’s the respect That makes calamity of so long life…

Sometimes the character reaches a conclusion, such as Iago’s epiphany regarding the destruction of Othello in Act One Scene Three: …How, how? Let’s see:-After some time, to abuse Othello’s ear That he is too familiar with his wife…

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Sometimes it is clear that a soliloquy is spoken aloud within the world of the play, for example when it is overheard by another character. When the definite overhearing or interaction of another character is absent, soliloquy has been frequently conceptualized as the dramatization of an internal process: the device makes the inner world of the character accessible. When overhearing is absent, we may imagine that the audience is privy to the inner monologue of the character, and the soliloquy itself is an abstraction. This can extend to soliloquies where a character or apostrophe is not identified. These often seem to be direct addresses to the audience, and are particularly frequent in villains: see, for example, many of the soliloquies of Iago in Othello.

KING LEAR STUDY GUIDE

I have’t. It is engender’d. Hell and night Must bring this monstrous birth to the world’s light.

Sometimes the speaker’s conclusion is doubtful, or seems a stalemate. Sometimes the character is interrupted by another character, as Gloucester is by Clarence in the famous opening of Richard III: This day should Clarence closely be mew’d up, About a prophecy, which says that ‘G’ Of Edward’s heirs the murderer shall be. Dive, thoughts, down to my soul: here Clarence comes.

Sometimes we cannot be sure whether a character’s deliberations would have continued, had they remained alone (or seemingly alone) with their thoughts. Let us consider Juliet’s lines, in Act Two Scene Two of Romeo and Juliet:

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O Romeo, Romeo! wherefore art thou Romeo? Deny thy father and refuse thy name; Or, if thou wilt not, be but sworn my love, And I’ll no longer be a Capulet.

ROMEO [Aside] Shall I hear more, or shall I speak at this?

JULIET ‘Tis but thy name that is my enemy; Thou art thyself, though not a Montague. What’s Montague? it is nor hand, nor foot, Nor arm, nor face, nor any other part Belonging to a man. O, be some other name! What’s in a name? that which we call a rose By any other name would smell as sweet; So Romeo would, were he not Romeo call’d, Retain that dear perfection which he owes Without that title. Romeo, doff thy name, And for that name which is no part of thee Take all myself.

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JULIET

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ROMEO I take thee at thy word: Call me but love, and I’ll be new baptized; Henceforth I never will be Romeo.

JULIET What man art thou that thus bescreen’d in night So stumblest on my counsel?

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We may make observations which apply to most soliloquies, but in practical application we discover that soliloquy is a varied and complex storytelling form, rather than a singular device repeated again and again in different settings. Perhaps the easiest way to determine whether or not a given speech is actually a soliloquy is to look for the element of solitude (whether real or perceived), and then pay attention to the story in the speech. If the story is progressing within the character, if a problem is being examined or solved, if some resolution is required on the part of the speaker before the larger story of the play can proceed, then you are working with a soliloquy.

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First, we note that Juliet is definitely speaking aloud: she is overheard by Romeo. Juliet’s lines, which (though interrupted by an aside) are given without awareness of Romeo’s presence, meet the criteria for soliloquy. She is (she thinks) alone, on her balcony, speaking to a person who she believes is not present. She states the problem (the blood feud between Capulet and Montague, which forbids her love of Romeo) in the line tis but thy name that is my enemy, and attempts a solution by justifying the abandonment of family names in favor of a romantic relationship. She concludes that for the sacrifice of his name, which is not actually any part of him, Romeo will gain Juliet. At this moment, he announces himself to her, agreeing to the terms he has overheard.

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Soliloquy Examples EDMUND

EDGAR

Thou, nature, art my goddess; to thy law

When we our betters see bearing our woes,

My services are bound. Wherefore should I Stand in the plague of custom, and permit The curiosity of nations to deprive me, For that I am some twelve or fourteen moon-shines Lag of a brother? Why bastard? wherefore base? When my dimensions are as well compact, My mind as generous, and my shape as true, As honest madam’s issue? Why brand they us

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Who alone suffers suffers most i’ the mind, Leaving free things and happy shows behind: But then the mind much sufferance doth o’er skip, When grief hath mates, and bearing fellowship. How light and portable my pain seems now, When that which makes me bend makes the king bow, He childed as I father’d! Tom, away! Mark the high noises; and thyself bewray, When false opinion, whose wrong thought defiles thee, In thy just proof, repeals and reconciles thee.

Legitimate Edgar, I must have your land:

What will hap more to-night, safe ‘scape the king!

Our father’s love is to the bastard Edmund

Lurk, lurk.

As to the legitimate: fine word,-legitimate! Well, my legitimate, if this letter speed, And my invention thrive, Edmund the base Shall top the legitimate. I grow; I prosper: Now, gods, stand up for bastards!

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With base? with baseness? bastardy? base, base?

We scarcely think our miseries our foes.

ENGLISH/LANGUAGE ARTS TRACK

Scansion Guide BY JONATHAN REDDING, BROAD STAGE DRAMATURG

Iambic pentameter means that the measured rhythm (meter) is made up of five (penta) distinct units, and in the English tradition the word ‘feet’ is used to describe these units. The word ‘iambic’ tells us what kind of unit makes up each line: an iamb is a unit of speech with two syllables, where the first is unstressed and the second is stressed. One famous example of a normal iambic line from Midsummer can be found in Helena’s speech at the end of Act 1 Scene 1: love LOOKS / not WITH / the EYES / but WITH / the MIND and THERE / fore IS / wing’d CU / pid PAINT / ed BLIND Each of these five sections is an iamb: “love LOOKS”, an unstressed followed by a stressed syllable. So that, as pure rhythm, a normal line of iambic pentameter is often taught as: da DUM da DUM da DUM da DUM da DUM Another series of iambs begins Hamlet’s most famous speech, with a well-known line we will examine more closely below. To think of a normal iamb, you need only remember: to BE / or NOT / to BE However, returning to our example from Helena above, an actor may also approach this with a different sensibility, and consider that the first two ‘feet’ of the first line may be trochaic instead of iambic. This is one of many variations on the normal meter Shakespeare commonly employed: a trochee means a reversed foot, one where the heavy stress is first and the light stress second. Read this way, with two trochees and three iambs, the line would be emphasized: LOVE looks / NOT with / the EYES / but WITH / the MIND

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‘Scansion’ means the work of analyzing the rhythm of metrical poetic verse. ‘Metrical’, in this sense, means only that the verse is composed of units of similar length; the word derives from the Greek metron, which means ‘measure’. Metrical verse has taken many forms throughout the ages, preceding even written language in the oral traditions of the ancient Greeks: their verse was felt, rather than written, and used to manage and give form to very long poems which were performed through a mixture of memorization and improvisation within the rhythm. This was the original dual purpose of rhythmic speech: to give pleasure to the hearer, and to lend form to the speaker. As written language evolved, first in the Greek alphabet and then in the Latinisation which accompanied the Roman empire and gave birth to the romance languages, the concept of rhythmic speech transferred to the written form and became systematized: it was given rules and variations, similar to music, and elaborated into many different types and sub-forms over the centuries. When rhyme is not present but metrical rhythm is, which is often the case in Shakespeare, poetry is called ‘blank verse’. In the plays and poems of Shakespeare, when we say the word verse we are referring to iambic pentameter.

PERFORMING ARTS TRACK

The trochees would pull the attention of the listener to the beginning of this particular line and thought, making it pop out of the rest of the speech. Another famous example of a trochaic line is from the beginning of Richard III: NOW is / the WIN / ter OF / our DIS / con TENT Beginning a play about a usurper with a trochee is a subtle indicator of things to come: from the very first syllable of the play, Richard’s nature is made clear. He jumps the gun. He seizes control from his first breath. To remember a trochee, remember Richard III seizing control: NOW is / the WIN / ter Another common variation Shakespeare used in his verse is the ‘feminine foot’, which is comprised of a first unstressed syllable, a middle syllable which is stressed, and then a third unstressed syllable. “da DUM da.” Often this is used at the end of the line as a ‘feminine ending’, whereby an eleventh syllable is added to the final foot of a line. The most famous example of this technique comes from Hamlet’s fourth soliloquy:

There is a sense of vagueness that comes in to the ending of the line here, and therefore a sense of vagueness to the thought contained in the line. Feminine endings sometimes indicate that a character is puzzling something out, or thinking quickly on his feet. There are other types of three-syllable variations, including the dactyl: this is when the first of three syllables is stressed followed by two unstressed. Consider this speech by Iago, in Act 3 Scene 3 of Othello: Note if your lady strain his entertainment… MUCH will be / SEEN in that. / IN the / MEAN time Let me be thought too busy in my fears… Iago sometimes uses dactyls when he is landing a blow against the mind of Othello. In the middle line above, the whole meter is irregular: two dactyls followed by two trochees. It breaks the rhythm and ensures that the thought will land with particular importance on Othello’s ear (and ours). Iago uses more dactyls than any other character in Othello. Another three-syllable variation is the anapest, or two unstressed syllables followed by a stressed syllable. This can sometimes convey a sense of rushing, a higher momentum leading to the stress. An example from Part II Henry IV, Act 2 Scene 1: you MADE / in a DAY / my LORD / whole TOWNS / to FLY The anapest here draws the attention of the hearer to the most significant facet of the accomplishment being discussed: that the towns in question were put to rout “in a DAY”, as opposed to a longer time. Yet an actor could scan this meter more strangely still, which gives us an opportunity to examine the last two significant variations on the two-syllable foot in Shakespeare: the spondee, which is two strongly stressed syllables in a row; and the pyrrhic, which is two unstressed syllables in a row. For example, an actor could choose this reading: YOU MADE / in a DAY / my lord / WHOLE TOWNS / to fly

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to BE / or NOT / to BE / that IS / the QUES tion

ENGLISH/LANGUAGE ARTS TRACK

This reading has no regular iambs: it is a spondee, followed by an anapest, followed by a pyrrhic, another spondee, and another pyrrhic. It is worth noting that, usually if you find a spondee, or two strong stresses, the same line is likely to contain a pyrrhic of two unstressed syllables to balance it out. What happens when we read the line in this way is that the person accomplishing the heroic act (‘YOU’) is emphasized, along with the act itself (‘MADE’) and the qualifiers which make the act unusual (‘in a DAY’ and ‘WHOLE TOWNS’). In order to make this emphasis stand out, the actor would ‘throw away’ the feet containing the honorific (‘my lord’) and the action of the towns (‘to fly’).

This introduction is meant to be precisely that: a touchstone to open your students to the awareness of this field of study, and its importance to an actor who wishes to interpret plays written in verse. Should you or any student wish to examine scansion more completely, many excellent texts are available, including Shakespeare’s Metrical Art by George T. Wright published through University of California Press; Shakespeare Without Fear by UCLA Chair of the Dept. of Theatre Joseph Olivieri; as well as celebrated American poet Mary Oliver’s Rules for the Dance: A Handbook for Writing and Reading Metrical Verse.

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These terms: iamb, trochee, feminine foot or feminine ending, dactyl and anapest, spondee and pyrrhic, are the most important scansion terms with which we begin to approach Shakespeare’s poetry. Scansion is not, however, an exact science- it is an art, open to debate and interpretation, and one which rests often on texts and whole languages which have evolved over the years. We do not always know how words were pronounced in Shakespeare’s English, and on top of the different units of scansion there is a world of choice available to performers in terms of truncating words, pushing words together (called eliding), and creating additional effects in lines through the use of caesura (pauses) and elongated vowel sounds.

GLOSSARY

Theatre Glossary actor • A person, male or female, who performs a role in a play or an entertainment.

pacing • The tempo of an entire theatrical performance.

antagonist • A person, a situation, or the protagonist’s own inner conﬂict in opposition to his or her goals.

pitch • The highness or lowness of the voice.

articulation • The clear and precise pronunciation of words.

production values • The critical elements of a production, such as acting, direction, lighting, costuming, sets, and makeup.

blocking • The planning and working out of the movements of actors on stage. center stage • The center of the acting area. characterization • The development and portrayal of a personality through thought, action, dialogue, costuming, and makeup. climax • The point of highest dramatic tension or a major turning point in the action.

play • The stage representation of an action or a story; a dramatic composition.

projection • The placement and delivery of volume, clarity, and distinctness of voice for communicating to an audience. protagonist • The main character of a play and the character with whom the audience identiﬁes most strongly. reader’s theatre • A performance created by actors reading script rather working from memory.

crisis • A decisive point in the plot of a play on which the outcome of the remaining actions depends.

rising action • The middle part of a plot consisting of complications and discoveries that create conﬂict.

critique • Opinions and comments based on predetermined criteria that may be used for self-evaluation or the evaluation of the actors or the production itself.

stage left • The left side of the stage from the perspective of an actor facing the audience.

denouement • The conclusion of the conﬂict of the plot.

subtext • Implied action which is signiﬁcant to performance but not explicitly talked about in the text itself, including a character’s internal struggles and emotional life.

design • The creative process of developing and executing aesthetic or functional designs in a production, such as costumes, lighting, sets, and makeup. dialogue • The conversation between actors on stage. diction • The pronunciation of words, the choice of words, and the manner in which a person expresses himself or herself. directing • The art and technique of bringing the elements of theatre together to make a play. director • The person who oversees the entire process of staging a production. downstage • The stage area toward the audience. exposition • Detailed information revealing the facts of a plot. gesture • An expressive movement of the body or limbs. given circumstances • Acting term, any background information /character-speciﬁc exposition of which an actor must be aware. objective • Acting term, what a character desires in a given moment.

stage right • The right side of the stage from the perspective of an actor facing the audience.

superobjective • Acting term, what a character desires most. tactics • Acting term, this represents the means employed by a character to fulﬁll their objective. theatre • The imitation or representation of life performed for other people; the performance of dramatic literature; drama; the milieu of actors, technicians, and playwrights; the place where dramatic performances take place. theatrical experiences • Events, activities, and productions associated with theatre, ﬁlm/ video, and electronic media. upstage • Used as a noun, the stage area away from the audience; used as a verb, to steal the focus of a scene. vocal quality • The characteristics of a voice, such as shrill, nasal, raspy, breathy, booming, and so forth. volume • The degree of loudness or intensity of a voice.

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conﬂict • The opposition of persons or forces giving rise to dramatic action in a play.

GLOSSARY

Shakespeare Glossary play-within-a-play • A device by which characters within a play, themselves, stage a play (e.g. ‘the Mousetrap’ in Hamlet, staged by Players before the King and Queen; or ‘Pyramus and Thisbe’ in A Midsummer Night’s Dream, staged by Athenian workmen at Theseus’ wedding). lexicon • The vocabulary of a person, language, or branch of knowledge. In Shakespeare scholarship or performance, refers to a two-volume set of books which contain the various deﬁnitions for each word he employed. folio • Literally a full printed page of parchment, or a bound volume comprised of full-sized pages. In Shakespeare this often refers to the First Folio version of a text, which means a text taken from the publication of 36 of Shakespeare’s plays and assorted poems issued in 1623.

quarto • A page size achieved by folding a full folio page into quarters. In Shakespeare this refers to various cheaper ‘quarto editions’ of his plays which were published throughout and after his career, often compared against the First Folio versions for differences. scansion • The metrical analysis of rhythmic poetic verse, an important tool in a classical actor’s repertoire. See Scansion Appendix for a brief overview. verse • Writing arranged with a deliberate rhythm prose • Written or spoken language without a deliberate rhythm

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