Act 2:2 Flashcards
How does this scene begin?
Kent and Oswald’s both enter, Kent recognises Oswald’s yet Oswald’s doesn’t recognise Kent, and Kent begins to treat him with disrespect
What key quotes/insults does Kent use against Oswald?
‘A whoreson’, ‘heir of a mongrel’, ‘beggarly’, ‘shallow’, ‘coward’
How does Oswald constrast Edmund?
He doesn’t draw his sword when Kent asks him to fight
What key quote by Kent shows that in the ‘new’ world dishonesty is acceptable?
‘Such a slave (Oswald) as this should wear a sword who wears no honesty’
How does Kent allude to the sycophantic nature of Oswald?
He says that he ‘brings oil to the fire, snow to their colder moods’, ‘knowing naught but following’, suggesting that he does whatever Goneril says
What are the clear differences between the old world and new world shown here?
The old world are brutally honest (shown when Kent says to Cornwall ‘I have seen better faces in my time’) which may link to self destruction, however the new world show dishonesty which gives them success
How is a sense of aligence created between the villains in this scene?
Cornwall asks for the stocks to be brought out, to which Regan gets them
What is the tragic significance of the stocks in this scene?
Kent being placed in them acts as a disruption of hierarchy and values, because it would have been seen as disrespectful doing this to the kings servant
Where else in this scene do the old world lack power?
Gloucester tries to help Kent but to no avail, and he says that putting him in the stocks is ‘the Duke’s pleasure’
How are feelings of hope created towards the end of this scene?
Cordelia has sent a letter to Lear, and in the last line Kent says ‘turn thy wheel’, and throughout uses a mixture of comedy and hope to give us expectations of a happy ending
