In each case, support your point with suitable reference to and quotation from the play.
1. What does Lear’s conversation with Cordelia tell us about his changed appreciation of what is important in life?
2. Discuss whether or not you agree with Edgar’s view of justice when he tells Edmund the following:
The gods are just, and of our pleasant vices make instruments to plague us: The dark and vicious place where thee he got, Cost him his eyes.
3. ‘Great thing of us forgot!’ Do you think the audience would have forgotten about Lear and Cordelia? What effect would Albany’s words have on the audience at this stage in the scene?
4. Why do you think it was necessary for Edgar to physically fight Edmund at the end of the play?
5. Do you think that Edmund redeems himself in any way when he realises he is dying, or do you think he is still the same self-centred person he always was?
6. What is your impression of Albany in this scene?
7. How do you feel about Cordelia’s death at the end of the play? Do you think it was necessary or do you think she could have been allowed to live?
8. How is tension created and maintained in this scene? ? Writing task
Imagine that you are a Shakespearean theatre critic in the 1600s. You have just been to see the first performance of King Lear. Write the review that you would write for a newspaper of the time. Your review should include an introduction, description, evaluation and recommendation.
