King Lear: Character Mind Map & Summary
Everything you need on Shakespeare’s King Lear: every key character in the two families, the double plot, who dies and how, the lines examiners love to quote, an act-by-act summary and the key exam facts.
The Character Mind Map
Tap any name to open the character’s role, key moment, fate and famous line.
King Lear
The aged King of Britain, over eighty, who decides to divide his kingdom among his three daughters according to how much they say they love him. Flattered by Goneril and Regan and angered by Cordelia’s honest reply, he banishes her, then is thrown out by the other two. Driven mad on a stormy heath, he learns humility and love too late.
How sharper than a serpent’s tooth it is / To have a thankless child!Fate: dies of grief holding the dead Cordelia
👑 Lear’s Daughters
Two false, one trueGonerilEldest daughter · wife of Albany
Role: Wins her share with flattery, then cuts Lear’s knights and turns him out. Cruel and ambitious, she scorns her gentle husband and lusts after Edmund.
Key moment: Poisons her sister Regan out of jealousy over Edmund.
Stabs herself when her plot is exposedReganSecond daughter · wife of Cornwall
Role: Equally false; shuts her father out in the storm and joins her husband in blinding Gloucester, even plucking his beard.
Key moment: After Cornwall dies, she plans to marry Edmund, which makes her Goneril’s rival.
Poisoned by GonerilCordeliaYoungest daughter · Queen of France
Role: Refuses to flatter; she loves her father “according to my bond, no more nor less”. Disinherited, she marries the King of France.
Key moment: Returns with a French army to rescue Lear. They are reconciled, then captured.
Nothing, my lord.Hanged in prison on Edmund’s order
💍 Husbands & Suitors
The dukes and kingsDuke of AlbanyGoneril’s husband
Role: Mild at first, he grows morally stronger and turns against his wife’s cruelty. Exposes Goneril and Edmund’s plot with a letter.
Survives; hands power to Edgar and KentDuke of CornwallRegan’s husband
Role: Violent and brutal; puts Kent in the stocks and gouges out Gloucester’s eyes.
Out, vile jelly!Fatally wounded by his own servant
King of FranceCordelia’s husband
Role: Takes Cordelia without a dowry, seeing her true worth: “she is herself a dowry”.
Duke of BurgundyRejected suitor
Role: Withdraws his suit to Cordelia once she has no dowry, showing how others measure love by money.
🏛️ Gloucester’s Family
The subplotEarl of GloucesterLear’s loyal nobleman · father of two sons
Role: Mirrors Lear: he believes his wicked son Edmund and turns against his good son Edgar.
Key moment: Helps Lear, so Cornwall blinds him. He then “sees” the truth, and Edgar leads him to “Dover cliff”.
As flies to wanton boys, are we to the gods; / They kill us for their sport.Dies of mixed joy and grief (reported)
EdgarLegitimate son · disguised as “Poor Tom”
Role: Tricked and hunted, he hides as a mad beggar, Poor Tom o’ Bedlam, and meets Lear on the heath. He guides his blind father and saves him from despair.
Key moment: Kills Edmund in single combat.
Men must endure / Their going hence, even as their coming hither: / Ripeness is all.Survives: likely to rule
EdmundIllegitimate son · the villain
Role: Clever and resentful of his “base” birth. With a forged letter he frames Edgar and betrays his father to Cornwall. Both Goneril and Regan fall for him.
Key moment: Dying, he tries to cancel his order to kill Cordelia, too late.
Thou, Nature, art my goddess… / Now, gods, stand up for bastards!Killed by Edgar in a duel
🛡️ Loyal Followers
Truth-tellersEarl of KentLoyal nobleman · disguised as “Caius”
Role: Banished for defending Cordelia, he returns in disguise to serve Lear and is put in the stocks for it.
Key moment: At the end he refuses power, expecting to follow his master in death.
SurvivesThe FoolLear’s jester
Role: Speaks bitter truths in jokes and riddles, mocking Lear for giving his power away. He stays with Lear through the storm.
Key moment: Vanishes after Act 3, Scene 6 (“And I’ll go to bed at noon”). Lear’s cry “my poor fool is hanged” may refer to him or to Cordelia.
🔑 Servants
Small parts, big momentsOswaldGoneril’s steward
Role: Insolent servant who carries Goneril’s messages and insults Lear. Kent beats him.
Killed by Edgar while trying to kill GloucesterFirst ServantCornwall’s servant
Role: Horrified by the blinding of Gloucester, he draws his sword and mortally wounds his master Cornwall.
Stabbed from behind by ReganMemory Hook: 2 Fathers, 2 Kinds of Blindness
The main plot and the subplot mirror each other exactly. Remember one and you have the other.
Who Dies & How: The Death Map
Nine deaths. Of Lear’s and Gloucester’s blood, only Edgar survives.
Famous Lines: Who Says What
The most frequently quoted lines in competitive exams, in the order they appear.
Act-by-Act Summary
The whole plot in five quick stops.
Act 1The Love Test
- Lear divides his kingdom by asking his daughters who loves him most. Goneril and Regan flatter; Cordelia says “Nothing” and is disowned. Kent is banished for defending her.
- France marries Cordelia without a dowry.
- Edmund tricks Gloucester with a forged letter against Edgar.
- Goneril treats Lear badly; he curses her and leaves for Regan’s.
Act 2Shut Out
- Edgar flees and disguises himself as Poor Tom.
- Kent, disguised as Caius, is put in the stocks by Cornwall.
- Goneril and Regan strip Lear of his knights (“O, reason not the need!”). He rushes out into the storm.
Act 3The Storm
- Lear rages on the heath with the Fool and Kent, then meets Poor Tom and begins to go mad.
- Gloucester secretly helps Lear; Edmund betrays him.
- Cornwall and Regan blind Gloucester; a servant fatally wounds Cornwall.
Act 4Dover
- Edgar leads his blind father to “Dover cliff” and saves him from despair with an imagined fall.
- Albany turns against Goneril; both sisters want Edmund.
- Cordelia lands with a French army; Lear, mad and crowned with flowers, is reunited with her.
Act 5The Ending
- The British under Edmund defeat the French; Lear and Cordelia are captured.
- Edgar kills Edmund. Goneril poisons Regan and kills herself.
- Edmund’s order to hang Cordelia is cancelled too late. Lear enters carrying her body and dies.
Must-Know Exam Facts
The details that keep coming up in UGC NET, SET, PGT and state PSC papers.
Date & Two Texts
Written c. 1605–1606; performed at court on 26 December 1606. Two versions: the Quarto (1608), The History of King Lear, and the Folio (1623), The Tragedy of King Lear. Modern editions often combine them.
Sources
The old play King Leir, Holinshed’s Chronicles, Geoffrey of Monmouth, and Spenser’s Faerie Queene. The Gloucester subplot comes from Sidney’s Arcadia, and Poor Tom’s devil names from Harsnett’s Declaration of Egregious Popish Impostures.
The Double Plot
Shakespeare’s only major tragedy with a full parallel subplot: Lear and his daughters, Gloucester and his sons.
Nahum Tate’s Happy Ending
In 1681 Tate rewrote the play: Lear lives and Cordelia marries Edgar. His version held the stage for about 150 years.
Critics Say
Dr Johnson found Cordelia’s death too painful to reread. Charles Lamb: Lear is “essentially impossible to be represented on a stage”. A. C. Bradley called it Shakespeare’s greatest achievement. Jan Kott: “King Lear, or Endgame”.
Key Themes
- Sight and blindness
- Nature: natural bonds vs Edmund’s “Nature”
- Madness and wisdom
- Justice and the gods
- “Nothing”, and flattery vs true love
100+ Key Works of English Literature
All the character mind maps in one printed book.
