A brief dialogue between Edmund and
Cornwall is the topic of the fifth scene. Edmund has already told Cornwall (1) that Gloucester has gone out to help Lear against Cornwall’s orders and (2) that Gloucester has committed treason against England by conspiring with the forces that are coming from France. Edmund also gives Cornwall the letter that Gloucester had entrusted him with. Cornwall is grateful for the intelligence, and he names Edmund as the new Earl of Gloucester (line 14). Edmund pledges to serve Cornwall loyally, and in return Cornwall promises Edmund further rewards: “thou shalt find a dearer father in my love” (20-21). Cornwall promises to take the place of the father that Edmund has lost and be a kinder and more generous father to him in his place.
Gloucester has managed to convince Lear to
come into an old barn-like structure near his palace. Kent, the Fool, and Edgar have also come as well. Gloucester attempts to make the place as comfortable as he can.
While they are sitting there, Lear, whose madness has increased, decides to hold a trial in which Goneril and Regan are the defendants. Lear appoints the Fool and Mad Tom as judges, and Lear himself becomes the prosecutor. The entire scene thus becomes a parody of the justice system. Foolishness and madness play an integral part of the trial from beginning to end, and thus the results can only end up being foolish and mad.
In Goneril’s place, Lear points to an old wooden stool. The stool, being unable to speak, cannot then deny the accusation that Lear makes against it (at line 46). Lear then uses an animal in the barn to supply the place of Regan. In one movie version of the play, a chicken was used (but an ugly pig or dog or cat would work just as well). In a quite humorous line, Lear then declares that Regan’s “warped looks proclaim what store her heart is made on” (48-49). He is suggesting that the ugliness in her face indicates the ugliness or evil that is in her heart. The chicken, however, is not pleased with the criticism and runs off at that moment. The action of the play would then call for Lear (perhaps aided by the Fool and Edgar) madly chasing the chicken around the stage. This is light-hearted and broad physical humor. This is slapstick. Of course, the scene is intended to make the audience laugh.
However, the chaos that appears on stage is also symbolic of the not-so-funny chaos that often appears in the real courtrooms of early England.