Study Questions

1. Who has taken Lear and Cordelia captive after the French have lost the battle?

2. Who delivers Goneril’s letter, intended for Edmund, to Albany?

3. Who answers the Herald’s third trumpet sound?

4. How does Gloucester die?

5. How do Goneril and Regan die?

6. How does Edmund react to being stabbed by Edgar?

7. What have Goneril and Edmund planned to do to Albany?

8. How does Lear feel about going to prison with Cordelia?

9. What becomes of Cordelia in prison?

10. Who is left to rule the kingdom at the end of the play?

Answers

1. Lear and Cordelia have been taken captive by Edmund.

2. Edgar delivers Goneril’s letter to Albany.

3. Edgar appears on the call of the third trumpet to expose his half-brother Edmund as a villainous traitor.

4. His heart bursts when Edgar reveals himself as his true son.

5. Goneril poisons Regan and then kills herself with a knife.

6. Edmund forgives Edgar for killing him as long as he proves to be noble.

7. Goneril and Edmund have planned to kill Albany.

8. Lear is happy to be in prison with his long-lost daughter. In prison, they will sing and discuss the matters of the court.

9. Edmund has ordered that she be hanged. The order is rescinded by Edmund, but it is too late.

10. Albany appoints Edgar and Kent. Kent declines and leaves only Edgar to restore the kingdom to order.