Аnаlуsis оf the climаx оf the trаgedу оf Shаkespeаre. King Leаr

2.3. King Lear: Analysis by Act and Scene

I. THE EXPOSITION, OR INTRODUCTION (TYING OF THE KNOT)
Act I, Scene i. In King Lear the exposition is in the closest conjunction with the complication or rising action. In lines 1-28 all the leading characters, except Edgar and the Fool, are introduced; the two plots and their interaction are prepared for, and the keynote of both Gloucester's character and Lear's is struck. With line 29 and the old king's announcement of his "darker purpose" begins the action of the Lear plot. "Darker" suggests the atmosphere of the drama. The love test, the division of the kingdom, the disinheritance of Cordelia, and the banishment of Kent, determine the issue of the whole action¹⁶.
Act I, Scene ii, 1-304. The action of the Gloucester plot begins with Edmund's soliloquy, in which, like Richard the Third, he is determined to prove a villain, and his persuasion of Gloucester by a forged letter that Edgar wishes to conspire with him in a plot to kill their father and share his property. Edgar is introduced, and his open- mindedness results in his playing into the hands of his arch-enemy.
Act I, Scene iii, 1-186. Goneril's assumption of authority and her attitude to her father are revealed in her conversation with Oswald, who presents an effective contrast to Kent. Kent disguised enters Lear's service, and Lear pathetically begins to realize the position in which he has placed himself. In his answer to the Knight, iv, 64-68, is given a glimpse of his nobler nature. With the entry of the Fool, the keynote of whose character is struck in lines 69-70, the exposition is complete.
II. THE COMPLICATION, RISING ACTION, OR GROWTH (TYING OF THE KNOT)
Act I, Scene iv, 187-338. The function of the Fool in evolving the plot is noteworthy. His poignant wit unmasks the real Goneril and compels her outburst of passion, which sets in motion the machinery that brings about the final overthrow of Lear's mind and the concluding scenes of devilry and death.
Act I, Scene v While the Fool is preparing Lear for the way he will be treated by Regan, his sallies touch the old man to the quick. Lear begins to feel remorse for his treatment of Cordelia (line 22), and the tragic note is struck in all its terror in the cry to be saved from madness (lines 42-43). The very jests with which the Fool strives to avert his master's madness cooperate to augment it, fixing his mind on that which is the irritating cause.
Act II, Scene i. The Gloucester plot is developed by Edmund's success in turning his father against Edgar. When Edmund brings Regan and Cornwall to Gloucester's castle, the way is prepared for the union of the two plots. The chief link between the Lear plot and the Gloucester plot is Edmund's association with Regan and Goneril.¹⁷
Act II, Scene ii. While Regan solicits Gloucester's aid and Corn wall invites Edmund's service, Oswald and Kent fight and Kent is put in the stocks, where, before he sleeps, he intimates that he is in communication with Cordelia.
Act II, Scene iii. Edgar plans to disguise himself as a Bedlam beggar. "His assumed madness serves the great purpose of taking off part of the shock which would otherwise be caused by the true madness of Lear." Coleridge.
Act II, Scene iv. Lear's anguish reaches its height when Regan shows herself to be crueler even than Goneril, and with the words "I shall go mad," line 280, he rushes out into a night of wild storm¹⁸.
Act III, Scene i. The plot is further complicated by the news communicated by Kent to a friend that France, of which country Cordelia is now queen, has planned an invasion of Britain. The tide begins to turn against Regan and Goneril.
Act III, Scene ii. Lear, the Fool, and Kent are in the storm. Here, as in Julius Caesar, the storm is the dramatic background to the tempest of human passion. The old man appeals from his daughters to the heavens, and the heavens prove as deaf to his call as either Goneril or Regan. Amid the "dreadful pudder," line 45, of the elements, his "wits begin to turn," line 62.
Act III, Scene iii. The Gloucester plot is now closely interwoven with the Lear plot. Gloucester tells Edmund that he intends to aid Lear, and in this confidence he plays unwittingly into the hands of his enemies. The result is that he is suspected of being friendly to France, and the relations between Edmund, Cornwall, and Regan are strengthened.