Act 3 Scene 1

Question 1

Quote from act 1 scene 3 showing Lear’s isolation

Answer 1

Where’s the king?

Question 2

Analysis of “where’s the king”

Answer 2

Paired with us not seeing Lear in this scene increases our anxiety for Lear
Also increases his isolation as at this point even audience can’t see Lear
Also shows the disintegration of political order as Lear as a king is physically lost in the storm shows his authority has crumbled,the idea of a king (a symbol of stability) being in a storm shows the kingdom in turnmoil

Question 3

What is symbolic of the storm and Lear being in it

Answer 3

-The storm externalises Lear’s inner turnmoil and his wandering through it symbolises his descent into madness,Kent asks “where’s the king” asking this both physically as he’s missing and metaphorically as where is Lear in his sanity and identity

Question 4

Quote giving the audience hope in act 3 scene 1

Answer 4

“If you shall see Cordelia”

Question 5

Quote showing Lear as an image of fragility and craziness

Answer 5

“Contending with the fretful elements;bids the wind blow the earth into the sea”

Question 6

Analysis of “contending with the fretful elements”

Answer 6

-“Fretful” personifies the elements as restless,irritable forces suggesting that nature mirrors the disruption in the natural order and is in turnmoil
-Lear attempts to “contend” with these forces beyond her,both the literal storm and the metaphorical storm of his daughters