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Edgar

King Lear

Brother, I advise you to the best

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Edmund
Brother, I advise you to the best. I am no
honest man if there be any good meaning toward
you. I have told you what I have seen and heard, but
faintly, nothing like the image and horror of it. Pray
you, away.
Edgar
Shall I hear from you anon?
Edmund
I do serve you in this business.
… continue reading this quote

Source:
Act 1
Scene 2
Line 180

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Themes:
,

I heard myself proclaimed

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I heard myself proclaimed,
And by the happy hollow of a tree
Escaped the hunt. No port is free; no place
That guard and most unusual vigilance
Does not attend my taking. Whiles I may ‘scape,
I will preserve myself, and am bethought
To take the basest and most poorest shape
That ever penury in contempt of man
Brought near to beast.
… continue reading this quote

Source:
Act 2
Scene 3
Line 1

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Themes:
,

Has his daughters brought him to this pass?

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King Lear
Has his daughters brought him to this pass?—
Couldst thou save nothing? Wouldst thou give ’em all?
Fool
Nay, he reserved a blanket, else we had been all shamed.
King Lear
Now all the plagues that in the pendulous air
Hang fated o’er men’s faults light on thy daughters!
… continue reading this quote

Source:
Act 3
Scene 4
Line 68

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Spoken by:
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Frateretto calls me and tells me Nero is an angler

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Edgar
Frateretto calls me and tells me Nero is an
angler in the lake of darkness. Pray, innocent, and
beware the foul fiend.
Fool
Prithee, nuncle, tell me whether a madman be a
gentleman or a yeoman.
Lear
A king, a king!
Fool
No, he’s a yeoman that has a gentleman to his
son,
… continue reading this quote

Source:
Act 3
Scene 6
Line 6

Source Type:
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Spoken by:
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Themes:
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Connected Notes:
Demons & Madness

When we our betters see bearing our woes

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When we our betters see bearing our woes,
We scarcely think our miseries our foes.
Who alone suffers suffers most i’ th’ mind,
Leaving free things and happy shows behind.
But then the mind much sufferance doth o’erskip
When grief hath mates and bearing fellowship.
How light and portable my pain seems now
When that which makes me bend makes the King bow!
… continue reading this quote

Source:
Act 3
Scene 6
Line 111

Source Type:

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Themes:

Yet better thus, and known to be contemned

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Edgar
Yet better thus, and known to be contemned,
Than still contemned and flattered. To be worst,
The lowest and most dejected thing of Fortune,
Stands still in esperance, lives not in fear.
The lamentable change is from the best;
The worst returns to laughter. Welcome, then,
Thou unsubstantial air that I embrace.
The wretch that thou hast blown unto the worst
Owes nothing to thy blasts.
… continue reading this quote

Source:
Act 4
Scene 1
Line 1

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Spoken by:
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Themes:
,

Is it a beggar-man?

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Gloucester
Is it a beggar-man?
Old Man
Madman and beggar too.
Gloucester
He has some reason, else he could not beg.
I’ th’ last night’s storm, I such a fellow saw,
Which made me think a man a worm. My son
Came then into my mind, and yet my mind
Was then scarce friends with him.
… continue reading this quote

Source:
Act 4
Scene 1
Line 33

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Themes:
,

O ho, are you there with me?

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King Lear
O ho, are you there with me? No eyes in your
head, nor no money in your purse? Your eyes are in
a heavy case, your purse in a light, yet you see how
this world goes.
Gloucester
I see it feelingly.
King Lear
What, art mad? A man may see how this world
goes with no eyes.
… continue reading this quote

Source:
Act 4
Scene 6
Line 160

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What you have charged me with, that have I done

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Edmund, to Edgar
What you have charged me with, that have I done,
And more, much more. The time will bring it out.
‘Tis past, and so am I. But what art thou
That hast this fortune on me? If thou ‘rt noble,
I do forgive thee.
Edgar
Let’s exchange charity.
… continue reading this quote

Source:
Act 5
Scene 3
Line 195

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And my poor fool is hanged

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King Lear
And my poor fool is hanged. No, no, no life?
Why should a dog, a horse, a rat have life,
And thou no breath at all? Thou ‘lt come no more,
Never, never, never, never, never.—
Pray you undo this button. Thank you, sir.
Do you see this? Look on her, look, her lips,
Look there,
… continue reading this quote

Source:
Act 5
Scene 3
Line 369

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