pities neither wise men nor fools. (Fool, lines 12–13)
Act 3
Scene 2
King Lear, directed by Deborah Warner, The Old Vic Theatre, 2016
Another part of the heath
Lear and the Fool enter. In one of his most famous speeches, Lear calls to the storm to destroy him and the world. The Fool begs him to seek shelter and to return to his daughters, humbling himself before them if necessary. Lear ignores him and keeps raving at the storm, cursing his daughters at the same time and asking the storm to destroy them.
Kent finds them and tells them that it is too wild a night to remain outdoors. He says he has never experienced such a bad storm. Lear continues ranting. Kent draws his attention to a hut nearby and tells Lear to go in and wait there, while he returns to Gloucester’s castle and forces Cornwall and Regan to open the doors. Lear suddenly turns to the Fool and, seeming to realise that he has been behaving irrationally, kindly asks the Fool if he is cold. He agrees to go into the hut as he feels sorry for the Fool. Lear asks Kent to guide him and the pair go into the hut, which is offstage. The Fool, alone for a moment, makes a strange prophecy, saying that the world is in turmoil and things will get worse.
