Summary of King Lear by William Shakespeare | Learning Summary The Easy Way

Summary of King Lear

Characters:

• King Lear
• Goneril
• Regan
• Cordelia
• Edmund

 

Summary:

"King Lear" is a famous play by William Shakespeare. In this play, Lear is the famous king of Britain. He has three daughters. His elder daughter's name is Goneril. His second daughter's name is Regan. And younger daughter's name is Cordelia. The king wants to retire and divide the kingdom between his three daughters. He announces that the daughter who respects and loves him the most will give him the largest portion of the kingdom. King's two elder daughters are very clever. They manage to convince their father with lies and sweet words that they respect and love their father very much. But his younger daughter is very innocent. She doesn't say anything to convince his father. She says, "She has no words to compare the respect and love for her father." For this reason, King Lear gets angry with his younger daughter and misunderstands her. So, The king gives Cordelia no wealth. Later, the real face of the two elder daughters comes out. They do not give any respect and love to their father. After that the king becomes worried. He realizes that her younger daughter is his true love. Then the king leaves the palace. Later, the king becomes mad. At one point, the younger daughter finds her father. The king tells everything to his younger daughter. After hearing everything, the younger daughter organized a war to take back her father's kingdom from the hands of the two elder sisters. But tragically all of them die.

So, It is a perfect tragedy by William Shakespeare.