King Lear One.
1) Look at the stage directions for the entrance of Lear and the implications of the first line he utters. Is there any ambivalence in the ‘darker purpose’ of King Lear?
2) How far do you find the governing idea of the ‘love auction’ reprehensible?
3) Do Goneril and Regan speak with reassuring sincerity about their enduring love for their father? Is hyperbole convincing? What does this show about Lear’s judgement?
4) How close or intimate is Lear with his daughters? Why do you think this?
5) Examine Cordelia’s provocative asides. How do you react to her reflections?
6) Why is the word ‘nothing’ as disturbing as a response? What does it show about Lear’s expectations of language? Are these expectations so very different from our own?
7) Is Cordelia cruel to Lear in this scene? Why?
8) How far do we understand the vitriol of Lear’s response to his supposedly favourite daughter?
9) Much is made of the relationship between sight and power in this play. Why might this be? Is the audience alerted from the beginning to the dramatic irony of such a deployment of ‘sight’?
10) Do we really believe that Lear wishes to abdicate his power? How might this affect our reading of the rest of the play?