How was William Shakespeare's King Lear created? The great playwright borrowed the plot from the medieval epic. One of them tells about a king who divided his possessions between his eldest daughters and left the youngest without an inheritance. Shakespeare put a simple story into poetic form, added several details, an original plot line, and introduced a couple of additional characters. The result was one of the greatest tragedies of world literature.

History of creation

Shakespeare was inspired to write King Lear by a medieval legend. But the history of this legend begins in ancient times. Around the 14th century, the legend was translated from Latin into English. Shakespeare wrote his tragedy in 1606. It is known that at the end of the 16th century, the premiere of the play “The Tragic Story of King Lear” took place in one of the British theaters. Some researchers believe that this is Shakespeare's work, which he later renamed.

One way or another, the name of the author who wrote the tragedy at the end of the 16th century is unknown. However, according to some historical sources, Shakespeare completed work on King Lear in 1606. It was then that the first performance took place.

1. Division of inheritance.
2. In exile.
3. War.
4. Death of Lear.

Division of inheritance

The main character is a king who is tired of ruling. He decided to retire, but first he should hand over the reins to his children. King Lear has three daughters. How to divide the possessions between them? The main character makes what he thinks is a wise decision. He is going to bequeath to each of his daughters a property in proportion to her love, that is, the one who loves him the most will receive the largest part of the kingdom.

The older daughters begin to compete in flattery. The youngest, Cordelia, refuses to be a hypocrite and declares that love does not need proof. Foolish Lear is angry. He drives Cordelia out of the court, and divides the kingdom between his eldest daughters. The Earl of Kent, who tried to stand up for his youngest daughter, also finds himself in disgrace.

Time passes, King Lear realizes that he has made a terrible mistake. The daughters' attitude changes dramatically. They are no longer as courteous to their father as before. In addition, a political conflict is brewing in the kingdom, which also upsets Lear a lot.

In exile

The daughters drive away their father just as he once drove Cordelia away. Accompanied by the jester, Lear sets off to the steppe. Here he meets Kent, Gloucester and Edgar. The last two heroes are absent from British legend; they are characters created by Shakespeare. The ungrateful daughters, meanwhile, are developing a plan to eliminate their father. In addition to the main storyline, there is another one in the Shakespearean tragedy - the story of Gloucester and his son Edgar, who diligently pretends to be crazy.

War

Cordelia learns how cruelly the sisters treated their father. She gathers an army and leads it to the sisters' kingdom. The battle begins. King Lear and his youngest daughter are captured. Suddenly Edmund appears, Gloucester’s illegitimate son, whom the author mentions at the beginning of the tragedy. He tries to arrange the murder of Cordelia and her father. But he manages to carry out only part of the plan, namely to kill the youngest daughter of Lear. Edmund then dies in a duel with his brother Edgar.

Death of Lear

All of King Lear's daughters die in the finale. The eldest kills the middle one and then commits suicide. Cordelia is strangled in prison. King Lear is released and dies of grief. By the way, Gloucester also dies. Edgar and Kent remain alive. The latter also does not feel love for life, but thanks to the persuasion of the Duke of Albany, he gives up the idea of ​​​​stabbing himself with a dagger.

Britain, 11th century. The elderly ruler of the vast country Lear, feeling that he is becoming increasingly old and frail, decides to divide all his lands between his three daughters, Goneril, Regan and Cordelia. He calls all three girls to him and asks them to tell him how much they love him. The two eldest daughters, Goneril and Regan, swear to their father that they dote on him, that no one has ever loved their parents the way they do.

Lear really likes the words of the first daughters, dictated by cunning calculation, then he wants to hear the same from the youngest, his favorite Cordelia. However, a sincere and modest girl is absolutely not going to embellish her feelings. She directly answers the king that she loves him as her daughter’s duty tells her, no more and no less.

The enraged sovereign deprives Cordelia of any dowry, dividing the entire kingdom between Goneril and Regan. He leaves himself only a hundred servants and the right to live with each daughter for a month. One of the king’s close associates, the Earl of Kent, tries to reason with him, saying that Cordelia loves her father no less than the eldest daughters, and that the ostentatious expression of tender feelings does not mean that Regan and Goneril really feel that way about Lear. But the king absolutely does not want to listen to Kent and, in a rage, orders him to leave his native country and go into exile.

The Duke of Burgundy, one of Cordelia's suitors, immediately abandons her upon learning that the girl is deprived of any dowry. But the second of the contenders, the king of France, happily takes Cordelia as his wife, knowing the wonderful spiritual qualities of Lear’s youngest daughter. She says goodbye to her sisters, instructing them to take care of their father, but her soul is uneasy, since Cordelia knows very well that Goneril and Regan are only feigning love for the king for their own selfish interests.

The Earl of Gloucester, who served Lear faithfully for decades, is also upset by such a sudden and drastic decision of the sovereign. But he does not realize that his illegitimate son Edmund is intriguing against him, trying to set his father against his half-brother Edgar, who was born legally. The young man inflicts a slight wound on himself, but tells his father that he fought with Edgar, who attempted to assassinate Gloucester. The Count flies into a rage and orders Edgar to be captured; the innocent young man is forced to hide.

First, Lear stops with Goneril. The young woman now behaves completely differently towards her father, believing that he must remember who is now the boss. Her servants behave rudely and arrogantly towards the former king; Goneril herself soon begins to sharply demand from her father that he dismiss half of his entire retinue. Lear cannot believe what is happening; the husband of his eldest daughter, the Duke of Albany, is trying to rein in his wife at least a little, believing that the old man does not deserve such humiliation. However, Goneril does not want to listen to anyone and insists on his own.

Kent, who is unable to leave his master, disguises himself and hires himself to serve Lear under an assumed name. It is him who the old king sends to Regan, giving him a letter for his second daughter. Goneril, in turn, also sends her own envoy to her sister. Lear still counts on help and understanding from Regan, because he gave her a lot.

In the castle of the Earl of Gloucester, where Regan and her husband, the Duke of Cornwall, arrive, Kent, who arrived with a letter, is immediately put in the stocks, despite the intercession of Gloucester. But Regan, like her sister, strives in every possible way to humiliate her father as much as possible, which is why she treats his messenger so cruelly. When Lear arrives at this castle and sees that his ambassador is in the stocks, he does not understand who dared to treat him like that. The answer that his daughter and son-in-law did this shakes the former ruler to the core.

Lear tries to talk to Regan, but she refuses to accept him, saying that she is too tired from the road. When he finally meets with his daughter and son-in-law, the king begins to complain to her about Goneril, but Regan advises him to immediately return to her sister and apologize to her. Lear cannot believe his ears, but at that moment Goneril herself arrives.

The sisters are merciless towards their father, they insult him without any ceremony. One insists on reducing the size of his retinue by half, the other believes that twenty-five people will be enough, in the end both come to the conclusion that old Lear does not need servants at all. The shocked former king realizes that he has nothing more to hope from these heartless creatures, he realizes that he has treated Cordelia extremely unfairly.

A real storm begins, and Lear's daughters leave their old father on the street at the mercy of the uncontrollable elements, slamming the castle gates in front of him. Kent is looking for his king in the endless steppe and at the same time asks one of Lear's former courtiers to inform Cordelia in France about how badly the elderly king is now being treated and how he needs help.

While wandering through the steppe in the pouring rain, the old man finally gives up his illusions. Kent finds Lear and persuades him to hide in the hut, where Edgar is already located, also forced to hide from the authorities due to a slander on the part of his half-brother.

Meanwhile, Edmund decides to get rid of his father and denounces the Earl of Gloucester to the Duke of Cornwall. Having arrested the elderly count, the duke tears out his eyes, but the count's servant, unable to bear what is happening, inflicts a mortal wound on Regan's husband. The blind Gloucester realizes that he was betrayed by his son Edmund, who had previously slandered the innocent Edgar.

Edgar, having heard about his father's terrible misfortune, volunteers to become his guide, although he does not give his real name. At the same time, Goneril returns to her husband’s palace with Edmund, and the woman sends him to command the army; before parting, they swear an oath of eternal love to each other.

The Duke of Albany, having learned about how the sisters treated their father, greets Goneril with an angry and contemptuous speech, but the wife does not want to listen to his reproaches and does not admit her guilt. At the same time, it becomes known about the death of the Duke of Cornwall and what he and Regan did to the Earl of Gloucester. Goneril is upset that her sister has become a widow and Edmund is now with her; the woman fears that her lover will not remain faithful to her.

Edgar, accompanying his blind father, meets Lear in the forest, completely covered with flowers. The old man has lost his mind, which those around him immediately understand from his incoherent speeches. Cordelia, having learned about how shamelessly the older sisters acted with their father and what a terrible situation he is now in, hurries to help Lear.

When the old king, after a long period of unconsciousness, comes to his senses in the French camp and sees his youngest daughter in front of him, he kneels before Cordelia and begs to forgive him. At the same time, Edmund and Regan are at the head of the British army fighting the French. Regan suspects that Edmund is having an affair with Goneril as well, but he assures her that he loves only her. Goneril, in turn, realizing that her sister is competing with her for her lover, decides to poison her.

The French troops are defeated, Lear and Cordelia are captured by Edmund. However, the former king is happy that his beloved youngest daughter is next to him again, they do not part for a minute. Edmund gives secret orders to kill both.

The Duke of Albany, Goneril's husband, insists that the old man and his daughter be handed over to him as prisoners, but Edmund refuses. The Duke discovers the sisters' fierce rivalry over this young man and accuses all three of committing treason. Edgar, hiding his true name and appearance, expresses his readiness to fight Edmund and mortally wounds his half-brother. Before his death, Edmund finds out who took revenge on him and admits himself defeated.

The Duke of Albany is informed that Goneril stabbed herself with a dagger, having previously managed to add poison to Regan. Before his death, Edmund talks about his secret order and asks everyone to hurry to save Cordelia and Lear. But it turns out that it is too late, the young and beautiful daughter of the former king of Britain has already been killed. Lear, who has suffered a lot of grief and disappointment, is unable to come to terms with her loss.

An elderly man dies with his last words of despair. Edgar tries to bring Lear back to life, but Kent stops him, saying that it would be much more merciful to let the former king go quietly, making him suffer again would be extreme cruelty and heartlessness.

Everything that happens ends with the Duke of Albany’s statement that the era forces people to be persistent, no matter how severe the melancholy that grips their souls, that those who survived must still find strength in themselves and continue to move on their path.

The location is Britain. Time of action - XI century. The powerful King Lear, sensing the approach of old age, decides to shift the burden of power onto the shoulders of three daughters: Goneril, Regan and Cordelia, dividing his kingdom between them. The king wants to hear from his daughters how much they love him, “so that during the division we can show our generosity.”

Goneril speaks first. Scattering flattery, she says that she loves her father, “as children / Until now have never loved their fathers.” She is echoed by the sweet-tongued Regan: “I don’t know other joys other than / My great love for you, sir!” And although the falseness of these words hurts the ear, Lear listens to them favorably. It’s the turn of the youngest, beloved Cordelia. She is modest and truthful and does not know how to publicly swear her feelings. “I love you as duty dictates, / No more and no less.” Lear can’t believe his ears: “Cordelia, come to your senses and correct the answer so that you don’t regret it later.” But Cordelia cannot express her feelings better: “You gave me life, good sir, / Raised and loved. In gratitude / I pay you the same.” Lear is furious: “So young and so callous in soul?” “So young, my lord, and straightforward,” Cordelia replies.

In a blind rage, the king gives the entire kingdom to Cordelia's sisters, leaving her only her integrity as a dowry. He provides himself with a hundred guards and the right to live with each of his daughters for a month.

Count Kent, a friend and confidant of the king, warns him against such a hasty decision, begs him to cancel it: “Cordelia’s love is no less than theirs […] Only that which is empty from within thunders...” But Lear has already bitten the bit. Kent contradicts the king, calls him an eccentric old man - that means he must leave the kingdom. Kent responds with dignity and regret: “Since there is no rein on your pride at home, / Then exile is here, but freedom is in a foreign land.”

One of the contenders for Cordelia's hand - the Duke of Burgundy - refuses her, who has become a dowry. The second contender - the king of France - is shocked by the behavior of Lear, and even more so by the Duke of Burgundy. Cordelia’s whole fault “is the timid chastity of feelings that are ashamed of publicity.” “A dream and a precious treasure, / Be a beautiful queen of France...” he says to Cordelia. They are removed. In parting, Cordelia addresses her sisters: “I know your properties, / But, sparing you, I will not name you. / Look after your father, Him with anxiety / I entrust to your ostentatious love.”

The Earl of Gloucester, who served Lear for many years, is upset and puzzled that Lear “suddenly, on the spur of the moment” made such a responsible decision. He does not even suspect that Edmund, his illegitimate son, is weaving an intrigue around him. Edmund planned to denigrate his brother Edgar in the eyes of his father in order to take over his part of the inheritance. He, having forged Edgar's handwriting, writes a letter in which Edgar allegedly plots to kill his father, and arranges everything so that his father reads this letter. Edgar, in turn, he assures that his father is plotting something evil against him; Edgar assumes that someone has slandered him. Edmund easily wounds himself, and presents the matter as if he was trying to detain Edgar, who had attempted to kill his father. Edmund is pleased - he cleverly entwined two honest people with slander: “The father believed, and the brother believed. / He is so honest that he is above suspicion. / It’s easy to play with their simplicity.” His machinations were a success: the Earl of Gloucester, believing in Edgar’s guilt, ordered to find him and capture him. Edgar is forced to flee.

For the first month Lear lives with Goneril. She is just looking for a reason to show her father who is boss now. Having learned that Lear killed her jester, Goneril decides to “restrain” her father. “He himself gave up power, but wants to rule / Still! No, old people are like children, / And a lesson in rigor is required.”

Lyra, encouraged by her mistress, is openly rude to Goneril's servants. When the king wants to talk to his daughter about this, she avoids meeting with her father. The jester bitterly ridicules the king: “You cut off your mind on both sides / And left nothing in the middle.”

Goneril arrives, her speech is rude and impudent. She demands that Lear dismiss half of his retinue, leaving a small number of people who will not “be forgotten and riotous.” Lear is smitten. He thinks that his anger will affect his daughter: “Insatiable kite, / You lie! My bodyguards / A proven people of high qualities...” The Duke of Albany, Goneril’s husband, tries to intercede for Lear, not finding in his behavior what could cause such a humiliating decision. But neither the father’s anger nor the husband’s intercession touches the hard-hearted woman. The disguised Kent did not leave Lear, he came to hire himself into his service. He considers it his duty to be close to the king, who is obviously in trouble. Lear sends Kent with a letter to Regan. But at the same time Goneril sends her messenger to her sister.

Lear still hopes - he has a second daughter. He will find understanding with her, because he gave them everything - “both life and the state.” He orders the horses to be saddled and angrily says to Goneril: “I’ll tell her about you. She / With her nails, she-wolf, will scratch / your face! Don’t think, I will return / To myself all the power / Which I lost, / As you imagined...”

In front of Gloucester Castle, where Regan and her husband arrived to resolve disputes with the king, two messengers collided: Kent - King Lear, and Oswald - Goneril. In Oswald, Kent recognizes Goneril's courtier, whom he reprimanded for disrespect to Lyra. Oswald screams. Regan and her husband, the Duke of Cornwall, come out to hear the noise. They order Kent to be put in stocks. Kent is angry at Lear’s humiliation: “Even if I were / Your father’s Dog, and not an ambassador, / You wouldn’t need to treat me like that.” The Earl of Gloucester unsuccessfully tries to intercede on Kent's behalf.

But Regan needs to humiliate his father so that he knows who has the power now. She is cut from the same cloth as her sister. Kent understands this well; he foresees what awaits Lear at Regan’s: “You fell out of the rain and under the drops...”

Lear finds his ambassador in the stocks. Who dared! It's worse than murder. "Your son-in-law and your daughter," Kent says. Lear does not want to believe, but understands that it is true. “This attack of pain will suffocate me! / My melancholy, don’t torment me, go away! / Don’t approach your heart with such force!” The jester comments on the situation: “A father in rags on his children / Brings blindness. / A rich father is always nicer and has a different attitude.”

Lear wants to talk to his daughter. But she is tired from the road and cannot accept him. Lear screams, is indignant, rages, wants to break down the door...

Finally Regan and the Duke of Cornwall come out. The king tries to tell how Goneril kicked him out, but Regan, not listening, invites him to return to his sister and ask her for forgiveness. Before Lear had time to recover from his new humiliation, Goneril appeared. The sisters vied with each other to defeat their father with their cruelty. One proposes to reduce the retinue by half, the other - to twenty-five people, and, finally, both decide: not a single one is needed.

Lear is crushed: “Do not refer to what is needed. The poor and those / In need have something in abundance. / Reduce all life to necessity, / And man will become equal to an animal...”

His words seem capable of squeezing tears from a stone, but not from the king’s daughters... And he begins to realize how unfair he was to Cordelia.

A storm is coming. The wind howls. Daughters abandon their father to the elements. They close the gate, leaving Lear on the street, “...he has science for the future.” Lear no longer hears these words of Regan.

Steppe. A storm is raging. Streams of water fall from the sky. Kent, in the steppe in search of the king, encounters a courtier from his retinue. He confides in him and tells him that there is “no peace” between the Dukes of Cornwall and Albany, that in France it is known about the cruel treatment “of our good old king.” Kent asks the courtier to hurry to Cordelia and tell her “about the king, / About his terrible fatal misfortune,” and as proof that the messenger can be trusted, he, Kent, gives his ring, which Cordelia recognizes.

Lear walks with the jester, beating the wind. Lear, unable to cope with mental anguish, turns to the elements: “Howl, whirlwind, with might and main! Burn lightning! Let down the rain! / Whirlwind, thunder and downpour, you are not my daughters, / I do not blame you for heartlessness. / I didn’t give you kingdoms, I didn’t call you children, I didn’t oblige you with anything. So let it be done / All your evil will is done to me.” In his declining years he lost his -

Illusions, their collapse, burns his heart.

Kent comes out to meet Lear. He persuades Lear to take refuge in the hut, where poor Tom Edgar is already hiding, pretending to be crazy. Tom engages Lear in conversation. The Earl of Gloucester cannot abandon his old master in trouble. The cruelty of his sisters disgusts him. He received news that there was a foreign army in the country. Until help arrives, Lear must be sheltered. He tells Edmund about his plans. And he decides to once again take advantage of Gloucester’s gullibility to get rid of him too. He will report him to the Duke. “The old man is missing, I’ll move forward. / He has lived - and that’s enough, it’s my turn.” Gloucester, unaware of Edmund's betrayal, searches for Lear. He comes across a hut where the persecuted have taken refuge. He calls Lear to a refuge where there is “fire and food.” Lear does not want to part with the beggar philosopher Tom. Tom follows him to the castle farm where their father is hiding. Gloucester goes to the castle for a while. Lear, in a fit of madness, arranges a trial of his daughters, inviting Kent, the jester and Edgar to be witnesses and jurors. He demands that Regan's chest be opened to see if there is a heart of stone... Finally, Lyra manages to be put to rest. Gloucester returns, he asks the travelers to quickly go to Dover, since he “overheard a plot against the king.”

The Duke of Cornwall learns of the landing of French troops. He sends Goneril and Edmund with this news to the Duke of Albany. Oswald, who spied on Gloucester, reports that he helped the king and his followers escape to Dover. The Duke orders the capture of Gloucester. He is captured, tied up, and mocked. Regan asks the earl why he sent the king to Dover, contrary to orders. “Then, so as not to see / How you tear out the old man’s eyes / With the claws of a predator, like a boar’s tusk / Your fierce sister will plunge / into the body of the anointed one.” But he is sure that he will see “how thunder will incinerate such children.” At these words, the Duke of Cornwall tears out an eye from the helpless old man. The earl's servant, unable to bear the sight of the old man being mocked, draws his sword and mortally wounds the Duke of Cornwall, but is also wounded himself. The servant wants to console Gloucester a little and encourages him to look with his remaining eye at how he has been avenged. The Duke of Cornwall, before his death, in a fit of anger, tears out his second eye. Gloucester calls on Edmund's son for revenge and learns that it was he who betrayed his father. He understands that Edgar has been slandered. Blinded, grief-stricken, Gloucester is pushed out into the street. Regan sees him off with the words: “Drive him to the neck! / Let him find his way to Dover with his nose.”

Gloucester is escorted by an old servant. The Count asks to leave him so as not to incur anger. When asked how he will find his way, Gloucester bitterly replies: “I have no way, / And I don’t need eyes. I stumbled / when I was sighted. […] My poor Edgar, unfortunate target / of blind anger / of a deceived father...” Edgar hears this. He volunteers to become a guide to a blind man. Gloucester asks to be taken to a cliff “large, hanging steeply over the abyss” to take his own life.

Goneril returns to the palace of the Duke of Albany with Edmund; she is surprised that the “peacemaker husband” did not meet her. Oswald talks about the Duke’s strange reaction to his story about the landing of troops and Gloucester’s betrayal: “What is unpleasant makes him laugh, / What should please him makes him sad.” Goneril, calling her husband “a coward and a nonentity,” sends Edmund back to Cornwall to lead the troops. Saying goodbye, they swear their love to each other.

The Duke of Albany, having learned how inhumanely the sisters acted with their royal father, meets Goneril with contempt: “You are not worth the dust / Which the wind showered you in vain... Everything knows its root, and if not, / It dies like a dry branch without juice " But the one who hides “the face of an animal under a woman’s guise” is deaf to her husband’s words: “Enough! Pathetic nonsense! The Duke of Albany continues to appeal to her conscience: “What have you done, what have you done, / Not daughters, but real tigresses. / An aged father, whose feet / A bear would reverently lick, / Driven to madness! / Satan’s ugliness / Nothing compared to an evil woman’s ugliness...” He is interrupted by a messenger who reports the death of Cornwall at the hands of a servant who came to the defense of Gloucester. The Duke is shocked by the new atrocities of the sisters and Cornwall. He vows to repay Gloucester for his loyalty to Lear. Goneril is concerned: her sister is a widow, and Edmund stayed with her. This threatens her own plans.

Edgar leads his father. The Count, thinking that the edge of a cliff is in front of him, rushes and falls in the same place. Comes to his senses. Edgar convinces him that he jumped off the cliff and miraculously survived. Gloucester henceforth submits to fate until she herself says: “Go away.” Oswald appears and is tasked with taking out old man Gloucester. Edgar fights him, kills him, and in the pocket of the “flatterer, servile evil mistress” he finds a letter from Goneril to Edmund, in which she offers to kill her husband in order to take his place herself.

In the forest they meet Lear, intricately decorated with wildflowers. His mind left him. His speech is a mixture of “nonsense and sense.” A courtier appears calling for Lear, but Lear runs away.

Cordelia, having learned about her father's misfortunes and the hard-heartedness of her sisters, rushes to his aid. French camp. Lear in bed. The doctors put him into a life-saving sleep. Cordelia prays to the gods for the “father who fell into infancy” to return his mind. In the dream, Lyr is dressed again in royal robes. And then he wakes up. Sees Cordelia crying. He kneels in front of her and says: “Don’t be strict with me. / Sorry. / Forget. I'm old and reckless."

Edmund and Regan are at the head of the British army. Regan asks Edmund if he is having an affair with his sister. He pledges his love to Regan. The Duke of Albany and Goneril enter with the beating of drums. Goneril, seeing his rival sister next to Edmund, decides to poison her. The Duke proposes to convene a council in order to draw up a plan of attack. Edgar, in disguise, finds him and gives him a letter from Goneril that was found on Oswald. And he asks him: in case of victory, “let the herald […] call me to you with a trumpet.” The Duke reads the letter and learns about the betrayal.

The French are defeated. Edmund, who came forward with his army, takes King Lear and Cordelia prisoner. Lear is happy that he has found Cordelia again. From now on they are inseparable. Edmund orders them to be taken to prison. Lear is not afraid of imprisonment: “We will survive in a stone prison / All the false teachings, all the greats of the world, / All their changes, their ebb and flow […] Like birds in a cage we will sing. You will stand under my blessing, / I will kneel before you, begging forgiveness.”

Edmund gives a secret order to kill them both.

The Duke of Albany enters with an army, he demands that the king and Cordelia be handed over to him in order to decide their fate “in accordance with honor and prudence.” Edmund tells the Duke that Lear and Cordelia have been captured and sent to prison, but refuses to hand them over. The Duke of Albania, interrupting the sisters' obscene squabble over Edmund, accuses all three of treason. He shows Goneril her letter to Edmund and announces that if no one comes to the call of the trumpet, he himself will fight Edmund. At the third call of the trumpet, Edgar comes out to duel. The Duke asks him to reveal his name, but he says that for now it is “contaminated with slander.” Brothers fight. Edgar mortally wounds Edmund and reveals to him who the avenger is. Edmund understands: “The wheel of fate has completed / Its turn. I am here and defeated." Edgar tells the Duke of Albany that he shared his wanderings with his father. But before this fight he opened up to him and asked for his blessing. During his story, a courtier comes and reports that Goneril stabbed herself, having previously poisoned her sister. Edmund, dying, announces his secret order and asks everyone to hurry up. But it’s too late, the crime has been committed. Lear enters carrying the dead Cordelia. He endured so much grief, but he cannot come to terms with the loss of Cordelia. “My poor girl was strangled! / No, he’s not breathing! / A horse, a dog, a rat can live, / But not you. You are gone forever...” Lear dies. Edgar tries to call the king. Kent stops him: “Don’t torture me. Leave his spirit alone. / Let him go. / Who do you have to be to hang him up again / on the rack of life for torment?”

“No matter how much melancholy the soul is struck by, / Times forces us to be persistent” - the final chord is the words of the Duke of Albany.

William Shakespeare. King Lear - summary from Wikipedia. Picture from Yandex.
The plot of the play is based on the story of the legendary King Lear, who in his declining years decides to retire and divide his kingdom between his three daughters. To determine the size of their parts, he asks each of them to say how much she loves him. The two eldest daughters use this chance, and the youngest, Cordelia, refuses to flatter, saying that her love is higher than this. The angry father disowns his youngest daughter and drives out the Earl of Kent, who tried to intercede for Cordelia. Lear divides the kingdom between his eldest and middle daughters.
Two daughters drive out King Lear, who with his faithful jester goes to the steppe. They are soon joined by Kent and Gloucester. Gloucester's son Edgar, who was wanted, pretends to be crazy and also joins Lear. Two daughters want to grab their father and kill him. Gloucester's bastard son Edmund wants to catch his father and execute him in order to take his place. They catch Gloucester, and the Duke of Cornwall, incited by Lear's daughter Regan, plucks out his eyes, but soon Gloucester leaves with his unrecognized son Edgar, who continues to pretend to be someone else.
Cordelia leads troops to war against her sisters. A battle is coming. Cordelia's soldiers fight Regan and Goneril's soldiers. But she and Lyra are captured and imprisoned. Goneril sends his servant Oswald to the blinded Gloucester to kill him. But Edgar, who accompanies his father, kills Oswald in the fight. Edmond bribes an officer to kill the captives Lear and Cordelia, pretending to commit suicide. To be continued...
Wikipedia
Yandex picture

The tragic creation is based on the famous basis - the chronicle of the English king Lear, who in his declining years decided to give his power to his children. As a result, the ruler became a victim of the terrible relationship between his two eldest daughters, and the socio-political situation in the kingdom worsened, threatening him with absolute liquidation. The author supplemented the famous legend with another storyline - the relationships in the family of the Earl of Gloucester, the illegitimate heir of whom, for power and position, did not spare either his brother or his parent. The death of the main characters at the end of the creation, the concept of heroes built in contrasts, are considered the unconditional properties of a classic tragedy.

At first glance, you might think that this tragedy is about the ingratitude of children. But if you think long and hard and look inside the story, you will find that this play, on the contrary, is about a terrible ruler and parent.

The mighty eagle Lear, feeling the approach of death, decided to divide the property between his daughters, Goneril, Regan and Cordelia. However, before the division, the king wanted to hear promises of love from them. Goneril and Regan were very crafty and declared their immense love. When it was soon the turn of the conscientious and shy Cordelia, she sparingly announced her own love for dad and lowered her eyes. the king fell into a rage and decided to divide the property only between the first two daughters. Despite the news, Cordelia accepted the agreement to become the wife of the King of France and left, begging her sisters to look after their father.

The Earl of Gloucester, who worked for King Lear for a long period, wanted to understand the circumstances of such a conclusion for the king. However, his fate was also unhappy. The problem is that Gloucester had two sons, the illegitimate heir Edmund and Edgar. Edmund decided to tarnish his brother's reputation in the eyes of his parent with lies. And he suggested to his brother that the count was planning something bad in spite of him. The result was that Gloucester gave the order to catch Edgar, but he managed to escape.

The daughters received a share of the kingdom, and King Lear went to live with each of them for a month. At first he went to Goneril, but immediately regretted it. Goneril, at every suitable opportunity, demonstrated to the pope her own advantage over him and dishonored him. In addition, she ordered her father to disband his own large retinue. Kent arrived to support Lear and hired himself to serve the king. Lear counted on his other daughter Regan and went to her. The day before he wrote her a notice and sent it with Kent. And while he was on the road, the no less dishonest Regan ordered to catch Kent and put shackles on him. When Lear arrived, he had no information about the vileness of his second daughter. However, seeing his own servant in the stocks, the king was furious. At that time, he realized what his daughters were really like. The pressure on Lear did not stop and soon he found himself outside the gates.

Kent begged to inform Cordelia about the king and his grief. Gloucester, not leaving his own king in trouble, decided to hide him and informed Edmund about it. The latter decided to take advantage of this in order to end his life with his parent. Gloucester took Lear to a refuge and offered to send him to Dover for protection. Soon he was shackled and tortured, since it was established from Goneril’s messenger that the earl had sent the king to Dover. When Gloucester told Regan that she was a flayer, her husband tore out his eyes. Gloucester's servant stood up for his master and the Duke of Cornwall died, tearing out his second eye before his death. Blind and defenseless Gloucester was pushed out into the street. He finally found out about Edmund's betrayal. The Count begged Edgar to take him to the cliff in order to throw himself off it. The son agreed, but brought him to an ordinary plane, and when Gloucester fell and hit the ground, Edgar was able to assure him that he had fallen from a cliff and was in good health.

At the same time, the Duke of Albany sought to force his wife Goneril to come to her senses. However, she didn't care. Goneril was only concerned that Edmund would pay attention to her sister. Thus, she gave Edmund permission to destroy her husband and take his place. Speaking of the king, Lear went crazy. When he met Cordelia, he asked her for mercy. Edmund took Lear and Cordelia into slavery and gave a hidden order to destroy them. Edgar appeared and began to fight with his brother, without showing his own face and without giving away his own name. He destroyed Edmund. Meanwhile, Goneril stabbed herself, and before her death, poisoned her sister. Unfortunately, Edmund's death had no effect on the fate of Lear and Cordelia.

Picture or drawing of King Lear

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