Very Short Summary
Ancient Britain. King Lear decided to divide his kingdom among his three daughters based on how much they claimed to love him. The two elder daughters, Goneril and Regan, flattered him with exaggerated declarations, while the youngest, Cordelia, refused to engage in false flattery.
Enraged, Lear disowned Cordelia and divided the kingdom between Goneril and Regan. The Earl of Kent was banished for defending Cordelia, who married the King of France. Soon after, Lear's elder daughters began mistreating him, reducing his retinue and eventually leaving him to wander in a terrible storm.
Meanwhile, Edmund, the illegitimate son of the Earl of Gloucester, plotted against his legitimate brother Edgar and his father. Through deception, he convinced Gloucester that Edgar planned to kill him, forcing Edgar to flee. Edmund later betrayed his father to Cornwall and Regan, leading to Gloucester having his eyes gouged out.
Cordelia returned with a French army to restore her father to the throne. However, they were defeated, and both were imprisoned. Edmund secretly ordered their execution. Though Edmund was mortally wounded by his brother Edgar in a duel, his order to spare them came too late. Cordelia was hanged in prison.
Why should a dog, a horse, a rat have life,
And thou no breath at all? Thou'lt come no more,
Never, never, never, never, never!
Pray you undo this button. Thank you, sir.
Detailed Summary by Acts
Act titles and their division into sections are editorial.
Act 1. The Division of the Kingdom
The Love Test and Cordelia's Banishment
King Lear of Britain decided to divide his kingdom among his three daughters based on how much they could express their love for him. As the aging monarch prepared to step down from power, he gathered his court to hear his daughters' declarations.
The eldest daughter Goneril and the middle daughter Regan both gave elaborate, flattering speeches professing boundless love for their father. However, when it came to the youngest daughter Cordelia's turn, she refused to engage in such excessive flattery, stating simply that she loved him according to her duty, no more, no less.
Enraged by what he perceived as ingratitude, Lear disowned Cordelia and divided her portion of the kingdom between her two sisters. When the Earl of Kent tried to intercede on Cordelia's behalf, Lear banished him as well. The King of France, impressed by Cordelia's honesty, chose to marry her despite her disinheritance, while the Duke of Burgundy withdrew his suit.
Edmund's Plot Against Edgar
Meanwhile, in the castle of the Earl of Gloucester, Edmund, the illegitimate son, began plotting against his legitimate brother Edgar. Through a series of forged letters and manipulative conversations, Edmund convinced their father that Edgar was plotting to kill him to inherit his estate early.
Act 2. The Growing Crisis
Kent's Punishment and Lear's Humiliation
Kent, disguised as a servant named Caius, entered Lear's service to protect him. However, when Goneril and Regan began to strip their father of his retinue and power, Kent's attempts to defend the king led to his being put in the stocks. Lear's authority continued to diminish as his daughters treated him with increasing disrespect.
How sharper than a serpent's tooth it is
To have a thankless child! Away, away!
What, fifty of my followers at a clap?
Within a fortnight?
When Regan and Goneril insisted on reducing Lear's retinue of knights, first from a hundred to fifty, then to twenty-five, and finally to none, the king was outraged. His passionate response revealed his growing awareness of his daughters' ingratitude and his own vulnerability.
O, reason not the need! Our basest beggars
Are in the poorest thing superfluous.
Allow not nature more than nature needs,
Man's life is cheap as beast's.
Act 3. The Storm and Madness
Lear's Descent into Madness
Driven out into a terrible storm by his daughters' cruelty, Lear began to lose his sanity. Accompanied only by his Fool and Kent (still disguised as Caius), he wandered the heath, raging against his daughters and the elements. The Fool provided bitter commentary on Lear's situation through riddles and songs.
I am a man
More sinn'd against than sinning... My wits begin to turn.
Come on, my boy. How dost, my boy? Art cold?
I am cold myself.
Gloucester's Blinding
Meanwhile, Gloucester's attempt to help Lear led to his own tragedy. When Cornwall and Regan discovered that he had warned Edmund of their plot against the king's life, they captured him. In one of the play's most brutal scenes, Cornwall gouged out Gloucester's eyes while Regan watched and encouraged him. After being blinded, Gloucester was turned out of his own castle.
As flies to wanton boys are we to the gods;
They kill us for their sport... I have heard more since.
Full oft 'tis seen our means secure us, and our mere defects prove our commodities.
Act 4. Redemption and Reunion
Gloucester and Edgar's Journey
The blinded Gloucester, now suicidal, was led by his son Edgar, who was disguised as a mad beggar called Poor Tom. Not recognizing his son, Gloucester asked to be led to Dover's cliffs. Edgar deceived his father with an elaborate description of the cliff's height, then staged a miraculous survival when Gloucester attempted to jump to his death. This deception ultimately helped restore Gloucester's will to live.
Cordelia's Return and Lear's Recovery
Cordelia returned to Britain with a French army to restore her father to his throne. When she finally reunited with her father, Lear had been driven mad by his experiences and exposure to the elements. Initially, he didn't recognize her, but gradually, under her loving care, he began to regain his sanity.
We two alone will sing like birds i' the cage...
And pray, and sing, and tell old tales, and laugh
At gilded butterflies... and we'll wear out,
In a wall'd prison, packs and sects of great ones
Act 5. The Tragic Conclusion
Edmund's Defeat and the Deaths of Cordelia and Lear
The final act brought multiple tragic conclusions. Goneril poisoned Regan out of jealousy over Edmund, then took her own life. Edmund was mortally wounded by his brother Edgar in single combat, but before dying, he attempted to undo his final evil deed - his order to have Cordelia hanged in prison. The messenger arrived too late, and Lear appeared carrying Cordelia's dead body.
The weight of this sad time we must obey;
Speak what we feel, not what we ought to say.
The oldest hath borne most: we that are young
Shall never see so much, nor live so long.
The aged king died of grief over Cordelia's body, leaving Edgar to take the throne. Kent declined to share rule, saying he would follow his master in death. The play concluded with Edgar's ascension to the throne, marking the end of a tragic cycle of betrayal, madness, and reconciliation that came too late.