One of the problems facing scholars is that more than one version of King Lear exists. Shakespeare wrote the play sometime around 1605, but it first appeared in print in 1608. This first version is referred to as the First Quarto (also known as The History of King Lear). A quarto was a book printed on large sheets that would then be cut into four leaves; thus a single sheet would hold eight pages, four on each side. However, there are some problems with this first printing: the printers were inexperienced and made numerous errors. Moreover, they apparently ran out of type, and so they made changes on Shakespeare’s manuscript. On the other hand, the First Quarto contains approximately 300 lines of text that do not appear elsewhere in other editions.
A different version of the play appeared in the First Folio edition of 1623 (this edition is also known as The Tragedy of King Lear). A folio was a higher quality edition of a book, and the First Folio was actually a collection of three dozen plays by Shakespeare that was published to honor the poet, who had died in 1616. Scholars generally agree that the Folio edition of King Lear contains changes that Shakespeare himself made a few years after he had first written the play. The Folio version does not contain the printing errors of the Quarto edition, but it does contain approximately 100 lines that do not appear in the Quarto. Shakespeare, then, apparently cut 300 lines from his original edition to speed up the pace and to make some slight changes in emphasis.
Thus, two quite distinct but valid versions of the play exist. Since each of these two versions contains lines penned by Shakespeare that the other does not, editors from the eighteenth century created a third version of the play known as the Conflated Text. Originally, these early editors and scholars assumed that both the First Quarto and First Folio editions were missing lines from Shakespeare’s longer original (but no longer extant) manuscript. Scholars today no longer believe that to be true, but the conflated text is still useful for students of Shakespeare because it contains all of the lines that Shakespeare had created for his story. Thus, the conflated text provides a fuller understanding of Shakespeare’s development of characters and plot.
Although the Folio edition may be a better choice for actors who intend to perform King Lear on the stage, the Conflated edition allows readers to see and, perhaps, to understand more of Shakespeare’s thought processes as he developed and fashioned this play. And since the purpose of this present volume is to shed light on understanding King Lear, quotes and summaries contained herein will follow that of the conflated text (the one that was edited by Barbara K. Lewalski and that appears in The Norton
Shakespeare).
The play begins at the court of King Lear. The King of England is quite old; and, knowing that his time on earth will soon come to end, he has made preparations for dividing his kingdom equally among his three daughters. Lear, then, has asked the aristocrats of his kingdom to come to his palace so that he can officially announce the division of the kingdom.
Among those in attendance are the Earl of Gloucester and the Earl of Kent. Kent comments to Gloucester that he always thought that King Lear liked the Duke of Albany more than he liked the Duke of Cornwall. Albany is married to Goneril, Lear’s oldest daughter; and Cornwall is married to Regan, Lear’s middle daughter. The Earl of Kent is suggesting that he had expected Lear to announce that he would name Albany as his sole successor over all of England (or, at the very least, that Albany would have been given the best and largest portion of England to rule over). But Lear has decided to treat each of his three daughters (and their husbands) equally by giving them each an equal portion of the kingdom. Kent’s line also serves the function of foreshadowing. Although both Albany and
Cornwall are Dukes and are married to the two eldest daughters of Lear, the two men are not alike. Lear had favored Albany over Cornwall in the past because, as later events will reveal, Albany is a better man than Cornwall. There is far more virtue in Albany than there is in Cornwall.
Kent observes the young man standing next to Gloucester, and asks him if this man is his son. Gloucester admits that he has been responsible for upbringing and educating the man, and adds the following:
I have so often blushed to acknowledge him,
that now I am brazed to it. (8-10)
Kent is stating that, in the past, he had been embarrassed to admit that the young man, named Edmund, was his son because Edmund is an illegitimate child (a bastard). But now Gloucester accepts Edmund as his son and openly admits it to everyone.
A pun quickly follows. Kent, not understanding why Gloucester should be embarrassed, states, “I cannot conceive you” (11). The word conceive means both (1) to understand and (2) to become pregnant. Although Kent’s line implies the first definition, Gloucester humorously uses the word with the second meaning by asserting that Edmund’s mother did conceive (she became pregnant). Gloucester then explains that Edmund’s mother was not his wife. Gloucester is admitting to an act of adultery.
Gloucester, who is in a good mood, adds another pun: this one being highly sexual in form. Gloucester asks Kent, “Do you smell a fault?” (1415). The word fault means (1) sin. Christian leaders viewed adultery as a grievous sin, a Mortal Sin, because the act of adultery was forbidden according