PLOTS

DISGUISES :

KENT as Caius (530,2056). Conscious

EDGAR as Poor Tom et& (1818, 3130)

DISGUISED as POOR TOM (1818,2481)

then

DISGUISED as A FRIEND (2486,2686) (2704,2742) (2920,2936)

then

DISGUISED as WEST COUNTRY YOKEL (2687,2703)

then

DISGUISED as “man so poore” (2880,2894)

PLAY-IN-PLAY :

•(2430,2525)

Type : Gulling (green)

Title : Th’extreme Verge

DISGUISED as CAIUS (530,2056)

KENT: DISGUISED as CAIUS (530,2056)

Earl of KENT

Earl of GLOSTER

Duke of CORNWALL (husband of Regan)

Duke of ALBANY (husband of Goneril)

GONERIL (daughter of Lear)

REGAN (daughter of Lear)

CORDELIA (youngest daughter of Lear)

King of France

Duke of Burgundy

EDGAR (son of Gloster)

A Gentleman (of Lear’s Court)

F contains so many substantive variants that the play appears to have undergone a considerable re-write in the interim between the publication of Q1 & 2 in 1608 and the 1623 publication of F. So much so, that the Oxford editors — instead of conflating their text of LEAR — rather chose to provide both THE HISTORY OF KING LEAR (ca. 1605) and THE TRAGEDIE of KING LEAR (ca. 1610) in their 1987 edition of THE WORKS.

THE TRAGEDIE OF KING LEAR (2nd version ca. 1610)

p-?½?GEDIE OF KING LEAR (2nd version ca. 1610)

\\

THE TRAGEDIE OF KING LEAR (2nd version ca. 1610)

The Folio’s text of KING LEAR appears to have been set from, both, a marked-up copy of Q2 THE HISTORY OF KING LEAR and another MANUSCRIPT altogether (possibly a promptbook).

\\

F contains so many substantive variants that the play appears to have undergone a considerable re-write in the interim between the publication of Q1 & 2 in 1608 and the 1623 publication of the F. So much so, that the Oxford editors — instead of conflating their text of LEAR — rather chose to provide both THE HISTORY OF KING LEAR (ca. 1605) and THE TRAGEDIE of KING LEAR (ca. 1610) in their 1987 edition of THE WORKS.

_______________

X AXIS (abscisses): 3820 lines

Subdivisions of ACTS & SCENES are according to the FOLIO.

1.1: line 1 (reads “Act 1 scene 1 begins at line 1″)

1.2: line 333

1.3: line 505

1.4: line 529

1.5: line 873

2.1: line 926

2.2: line 1074

3.1: line 1614

3.2: line 1654

3.3: line 1751

3.4: line 1776

3.5: line 1969

3.6: line 1996

3.7: line 2057

4.1: line 2177

4.2: line 2266

4.3: line 2348

4.4: line 2382

4.5: line 2429

4.6: line 2743

5.1: line 2844

5.2: line 2917

5.3: line 2937

_______________

Y AXIS: ENTRANCES & EXITS

Entrances & exits of Characters

According to their order of appearance.

• (2,81) reads “enters at line 2, exits at line 81″.

• DISGUISED as CAIUS (530,3302)”)

is inserted at the end of a character’s list (in this case Kent’s) to indicate “duration” of said disguise.

• (3216 [rip 3283] 3302)

reads “enters at line 3216, dies on line 3283, corpse exits on line 3302”. RIP at the end a character’s list indicates (or confirms) his/her decease.

• (corpse 3184,3302)

indicates that a character’s corpse (i.e. Regan’s) is “carried on”;

• PRINCIPAL CHARACTERS are capitalized.

KENT

(2,201) (530,803) (874,881) (1075,1586) (1615,1653) (1687,1733) (1777,1968) (1997,2056) (2744,2843) (3182,3302) / DISGUISED as CAIUS (530,3302)

GLOSTER

(2,40) (202,291) (357,446) (970,1073) (1117,1236) (1358,1396) (1403,1586) (1596,1613) (1752,1770) (1890,1968) (1997,2000) (2039,2056) (2088,2171) (2188,2265) (2430,2742) (2920,2936) RIP

EDMUND (Bastard son of Glouster)

(2,504) (927,1073) (1117,1227) (1752,1775) (1970,1995) (2893,2894) (2058,2081) (2267,2293) (2845,2879) (2896,2916) (2938,3215) RIP

LEAR

(37,291) (538,803) (809,829) (874,925) (1273,1332) (1358,1596) (1655,1733) (1777,1968) (2003,2056) (2526,2645) (2771,2843) (2918,2919) (2938,2968) (3216 [rip 3283] 3302) RIP

CORNWALL

(37,291) (1024,1073) (1117,1227) (1403,1613) (1970,1995) (2058,2176) RIP

ALBANY

(37,291) (768,872) (2299,2347) (2864,2901) (2983,3302)

GONERIL

(37,332) (506,528) (702,872) (1476,1613) (2058,2081) (2267,2334) (2864,2879) (2983,3117) (rip 3184,3302) RIP

REGAN

(37,332) (1024,1073) (1117,1227) (1403,1613) (2058,2076) (2383,2428) (2845,2879) (2983,3056) (rip 3184,3302) RIP

CORDELIA

(38,309) (2349,2381) (2744,2843) (2919,2919) (2939,2968) (rip 3216,3302) RIP

France

(202,309)

Burgundy

(202,291)

EDGAR

(462,497) (948,965) (1251,1272) (1818,1968) (2003,2056) (2178,2265) (2430,2742) (2880,2894) (2920,2925) (2927,2936) (3067,3302) / DISGUISED as POOR TOM (1818,2481)

DISGUISED as A FRIEND (2486,2686) (2704,2742) (2920,2936)

DISGUISED as WEST COUNTRY YOKEL (2687,2703)

DISGUISED as “man so poore” (2880,2894)

DISGUISED as Champion (3067,3130)

OSWALD (Steward of Goneril)

(506,528) (575,576) (608,621) (856,864) (1075,1227) (1468,1613) (2072,2081) (2267,2298) (2383,2428) (2675 [rip 2703] 2742) RIP

FOOL

(624,841) (874,925) (1273,1586) (1655,1750) (1777,1807) (1818,1968) (2003,2056)

A Gentleman

(874,925) (1273,1586) (1615,1653) (2349,2381) (2630,2661) (2744,2843) (3170,3302)

Curan

(927,942)

Old man

(2188,2239)

Captain

(2939,2982)

Herald

(3050,3302)

Messengers

(2312,2347) (2372,2381) (3264,3302)

___________

PLOTS & COLOURING

KING LEAR has two intermixed plots. The first is that of LEAR himself, which involves:

KENT

LEAR

ALBANY

CORNWALL

GONERIL

REGAN

CORDELIA

OSWALD

FOOL

A GENTLEMAN

The second plot concerns GLOUSTER, it involves:

GLOSTER

EDMUND

EDGAR

CURAN

OLD MAN

___________

ACTION SEQUENCES

Act 5 Scene 2 is the final battle: (2917 to 2925).

___________

METATHEATRE

As indicated in the ENTRANCES & EXITS above two characters are DISGUISED

KENT: DISGUISED as CAIUS (530,3302)

EDGAR:

DISGUISED as POOR TOM (1818,2481)

then

DISGUISED as A FRIEND (2486,2686) (2704,2742) (2920,2936)

then

DISGUISED as WEST COUNTRY YOKEL (2687,2703)

then

DISGUISED as “man so poore” (2880,2894)

then

DISGUISED as Champion (3067,3130)

And GLOUSTER’S LEAP over the Cliffs of Dover (4.5) is certainly worth framing as some form of play-within-the-play: (2430,2525).