Gloucester

Play

King Lear

Summary

The Earl of Gloucester is the parallel father figure to Lear, fooled by his illegitimate son Edmund's lies into banishing his loyal son Edgar. When he acts to help the king, Cornwall and Regan blind him on stage in one of the play's most savage scenes. Led across the heath by the unrecognized Edgar, he achieves a kind of spiritual vision in his blindness — understanding what he could not see when sighted. His heart "burst smilingly" when Edgar finally revealed himself to him.

Notable Quotations

"I stumbled when I saw." *(IV.1)*

"As flies to wanton boys are we to the gods; / They kill us for their sport." *(IV.1)*

"Let the superfluous and lust-dieted man, / That slaves your ordinance, that will not see / Because he does not feel, feel your power quickly." *(IV.1)*

Cross-references

• King Lear — the play
• Tragedies
• character_lear — the king whose parallel tragedy mirrors his own
• character_edgar — his legitimate son who saves him
• character_edmund — his illegitimate son who destroys him