King Lear

by Shakespeare, William

  Here are some examples of the way the texts differ. In Q’s version of Act 1, Scene 2, Gloucester thinks his son Edgar cannot be the monster suggested by Edmund’s forged letter. This follows:Edmund. Nor is not, sure.

  Gloucester. To his father, that so tenderly and entirely loves him.

  Heaven and earth!

  (103-5)

  F cuts these two brief speeches, speeding up the pace but losing aspects of devious, credulous, and paternal behavior. A little earlier (Act 1, Scene 1), Lear enters for the first time, and Q has him expressing his purpose to divide the kingdom, transferring its ruler’s obligations to younger hands. F’s version of this passage is more circumstantial. Lear’s age is emphasized, also his unbecoming self-indulgence. He will “Unburdened crawl toward death.” Highlighting a filial relationship, he addresses “Our son of Cornwall” and “our no less loving son of Albany.” Still vigorous, hardly the doting old man of some productions, he stresses his “constant will,” and is provident in publicizing his daughters’ dowries in order “that future strife may be prevented now.” All this Q omits. To the present editor it seems reasonable to conflate the lines omitted in one text and added by the other text, a practice followed by all editors until recently, beginning with Alexander Pope in his edition of 1723-25.

  The F text is seldom abridged simply to shorten the play. Its cuts are likely to change our sense of things, and this is true also of its amplifications. To many scholars, that looks like evidence of authorial intervention. Some propose two different versions of the play, each with its own integrity. They think the First Quarto of 1608 represents Shakespeare’s initial version, satisfactory to him when he wrote it. He didn’t remain satisfied, however, and before his death in 1616 revised this version substantially. His revision is preserved in the First Folio. Editors who think this, like the new Oxford Shakespeare’s (Stanley Wells and Gary Taylor, 1986), will offer separate texts of the play. The most forceful statement that Lear exists in two separate but equal versions is presented in The Division of the Kingdom: Shakespeare’s Two Versions of “King Lear” (1983), edited by Gary Taylor and Michael Warren. This collection of essays by eleven scholars argues that Q is more or less the play as Shakespeare wrote it in 1605-06, and that F—with its additions and reassignment of some speeches—is based on a promptbook which represents Shakespeare’s own reshaping of the play, perhaps around 1610-11. There is, however, at least one great difficulty with this theory: Even if we grant that F represents a revision, how can we be certain that Shakespeare was the reviser? When the Globe burned in 1613, presumably the promptbook was lost, and the company had to construct a new one, probably without Shakespeare’s help, since he had retired to Stratford around 1611. The authors of The Division of the Kingdom argue that the omissions in F improve the play, but it is hard, for instance, to see F’s omission of the mock trial scene in 3.6 as an improvement, even though one writer in the book assures us that this omission “strengthens the dramatic structure.”

  John Russell Brown, whose theater criticism is fortified by long experience as a director, is useful on the matter of textual priority. Arguing that the later date of F is no guarantee of Shakespeare’s approval, he points out that playwrights, “even the most willful and the most gentle,” are often bullied into making expedient changes by the theater people who put the play on stage. When the American poet-turned-playwright Archibald MacLeish gave the director Elia Kazan the text of his new drama, J.B., he thought, said Kazan with amusement, that he had written a play. The director, knowing better, went on to stamp it with his own ideas. Sometimes the actor, especially a star actor, takes over the play, forcing the playwright to build up his part. Sir Henry Irving wouldn’t have cared for a bit part. References to France and the French king’s invasion of England drop from F, perhaps reflecting the censor’s disapproval of allusions to state business in the reign of King James (beginning 1603). Other cuts, though they may be editorial, may as plausibly come from the scribe, or the book-keeper seeking to clarify performance, or may represent a compositor’s error. And so on.

  There seems no reason, accordingly, to deprive readers of anything Shakespeare wrote at any time. The present text of King Lear is therefore an amalgamation of Q and F. It relies chiefly on the Folio, but it turns to the Quarto when the Folio is guilty of an obvious misprinting, or when it omits pertinent material found in’ the Quarto, or when its version seems to the editor so inferior to the Quarto version as to demand precedence for the latter, or when an emendation, even though perhaps unnecessary (like Edwards’ “top th’ legitimate”), has been canonized by use and wont.

  In the preparation of this text, the spelling of Folio and Quarto has been modernized; punctuation and capitalization have been altered, when alteration seemed suitable; character designations have been expanded or clarified (F “Cor.” becomes “Cordelia,” F “Bastard” and “Steward” become “Edmund” and “Oswald”); contractions not affecting pronunciation have been eliminated (F “banish‘d” becomes “banished”); necessary quotation marks (as in the reading of a letter) have been supplied; as have diacritical marks whenever a syllable that is normally unemphasized must be stressed (as in “oppressed”). These changes are not recorded.

  All other departures from the Folio appearing in this text are recorded here in italic type. Unless specifically noted, these departures derive in every case from the First Quarto [Q]. If some other source is levied on, such as the Second Quarto [Q2] or Second Folio [F2] or the conjecture of an editor (for example, [Theobald]), that source is given, within brackets, immediately after the reading. There follows next, in roman type, the Folio reading which has been superseded. If an editor’s emendation has been preferred to both Folio and Quarto readings, the emendation, with its provenance, is followed by the Folio and Quarto readings it replaces.

  Stage directions are not given lineation. Reference to them in these notes is determined, therefore, by the line of text they follow. If a stage direction occurs at the beginning of a scene, reference is to the line of text it precedes. On occasion, the stage direction in the present text represents a conflation of Folio and Quarto. In that case, both Folio and Quarto readings are set down in the notes. Stage directions and notations of place, printed within brackets, are, unless otherwise noted, substantially from the Globe edition. The list of Dramatis Personae, first given by Rowe, is taken also from the Globe edition. 1.1. Act 1 Scene 1 Actus Primus. Scena Prima 5 equalities qualities 34 s.d. Sound... Attendants Sennet. Enter King Lear, Cornwall, Albany, Gonerill, Regan, Cordelia, and attendants [F] Sound a Sennet, Enter one bearing a Coronet, then Lear, then the Dukes of Albany, and Cornwall, next Gonerill, Regan, Cordelia, with followers [Q] 70 speak [F omits] 98 loved me. I loved me 99 Return I return 106 To love my father all [F omits] 112 mysteries [F2] miseries [F] mistress [Q] 157 as a pawn as pawn 158 nor nere [i.e., “ne‘er”] 165 the thy 172 sentencs sentences 176 diseases disasters 190 Gloucester Cor[delia] 208 on in 216 best object object 227 well will 235 Better thou Better thou hadst 250 respects of fortune respect and Fortunes 268 s.d. Lear... Attendants [Capell] Exit Lear and Burgundy [Q] 283 shame them derides with shame derides 291 hath not been hath been 299-300 ingrafted ingraffed 306 let’s hit let us sit 1.2. Scene 2 Scena Secunda 21 top th’ [Edwards] to’ th’ [F] tooth’ [Q] 103-05 Edmund ... earth [F omits] 142 Fut [F omits] 144 Edgar [F omits] 145 and pat [Steevens] Pat [F] and out [Q] 156-64 as... come [F omits] 165 Why, the The 178 brother [F omits] 185 Go armed [F omits] 191 s.d. Exit Edgar Exit 1.3. Scene 3 Scena Tertia 17-21 Not ... abused [F omits] 25-26 I would ... speak [F omits] 27 Go, prepare prepare 1.4. Scene 4 Scena Quarta 1 well will 51 daughter Daughters 100 Fool my Boy 115 Lady the Brach [Steevens] the Lady Brach [F] Ladie oth’e brach [Q] 144-59 That ... snatching [F omits] 158 on’t [Q2] [F omits] an’t [Q] 158 ladies [Q corrected] [F omits] lodes [Q uncorrected] 167 crown Crownes 182 fools Foole 195 Methinks [F omits] 222 it had it’s had 225 Come, Sir [F omits] 234 or his his 237-41 I... father [F omits] 264 O ... co
me [F omits] 298 the cause more of it 311 Yea ... this [F omits] 350 You are [F2] Your are [F] Y‘are [Q] 350 attasked for [Q corrected: “attaskt”] at task for [F] alapt [Q uncorrected]

  1.5. Scene 5 Scena Quinta 1 s.d. Enter... Fool [Q2] Enter Lear, Kent, Gentleman, and Foole 17 Why ... boy What can‘st tell Boy 2.1. Act 2. Scene 1 Actus Secundus. Scena Prima 21 s.d. Enter Edgar [placed by Theobald] [F prints after 1. 20] 55 But And 72 I should should I 73 ay [F omits] 80 I ... him [F omits] 80 s.d. Tucket within [placed by Malone] [F prints after 1. 79] 81 why wher 89 strange news strangenesse 2.2. Scene 2 Scena Secunda 23 clamorous [Q corrected] clamours [F] clamarous [Q uncorrected] 44 s.d. Enter ... drawn Enter Bastard, Cornewall, Regan, Gloster, Servants [F] Enter Edmund with his rapier drawne, Gloster the Duke and Dutchesse [Q] 77 too t’ 80 Renege Revenge 81 gale gall 110 flick’ring [Pope: “flickering”] flicking [F] flitkering [Q] 125 dread dead 132 respect respects 141 s.d. Stocks brought out [placed by Dyce] [F prints after 1. 139] [Q omits] 143-47 His ... with [F omits] 145 contemnèd’ st [Capell] [F omits] contaned [Q uncorrected] temnest [Q corrected) 153 For ... legs [F omits] 154 Come... away [F assigns to Cornwall] 154 my good Lord my Lord 154 s.d Exeunt ... Kent Exit [F] [Q omits] 155 Duke’s Duke 176 s.d Sleeps [F omits]

  2.3. Scene 3 [Steevens] [F, Q omit] 4 unusual unusall 15 mortified bare arms mortified Armes 18 sheepcotes Sheeps-Cotes 2.4.1 s.d Scene 4 [Steevens] [F, Q omit] 2 messenger Messengers 6 thy ahy 9 man’s man 18-19 No ... have [F omits] 30 panting painting 33 whose those 61 the the the 75 have hause 86 s.d. Enter... Gloucester [F prints after 1. 84] 130 mother’s Mother 167 her pride [F omits] 183 s.d Enter Oswald [placed by Dyce] [F and Q print after 1. 181] 185 fickle fickly 188 s.d. Enter Goneril [placed by Johnson] [F and Q print after 1. 186] 282 s.d Storm and tempest [F prints after 1. 283] [Q omits] 285 s.d. Exeunt ... Fool [Q2] Exeunt [F] Exeunt Lear, Leister, Kent, and Foole [Q] 294 s.d. Enter Gloucester [F and Q print after 1. 293]

  3.1. Act 3. Scene 1 Actus Tertius. Scena Prima 7-14 tears ... all [F omits] 30-42 But... you [F omits] 3.2. Scene 2 Scena Secunda 3 drowned drown 71 That And 78 True...boy True boy 3.3. Scene 3 Scaena Terda 3.4. Scene 4 Scena Quarta 7 skin: so [Rowe] skinso [F] skin, so [Q] 10 thy they 27 s.d. Exit [placed by Johnson][F prints after 1. 26] [Q omits] 38 s.d. Enter Fool [Duthie] Enter Edgar, and Foole [F, which prints after 1. 36] [Q omits] 44 s.d. Enter Edgar Enter Edgar, and Foole [F, which prints after 1. 36] [Q omits] 46 blows ... wind blow the windes 47 thy cold bed thy bed 52 ford Sword 57 Bless Blisse 58 Bless blisse 63 What, has Ha’s 91 deeply deerely 101 sessa [Malone] Sesey [F] caese [Q] cease [Q2] 116 s.d Enter ... torch [F prints after 1. 111] Enter Gloster [Q, which prints after 1. 116] 117 foul fiend Flibbertigibbet foule Flibbertigibbet 118 till... cock at first Cocke 138 hath had hath 3.5. Scene 5 Scena Quinta 13 his this 25 dearer deere 3.6. Scene 6 Scena Sexta 5 s.d Exit [placed by Capell] [F prints after 1. 3] 17-55 The ... ‘scape [F omits] 22 Now [Q2] [F omits] no [Q] 25 bourn [Capell] [F omits] broome [Q] 34 cushions [F omits] cushings (Q) 47 she kicked [Q2] [F omits] kicked [Q] 53 made on [Capell] [F omits] made an [Q] 67 lym [Hammer] Hym [F] him [Q] 68 tike, or trundle tight, or Troudle 72 Sessa! [Malone] sese [F] [Q omits] 84 s.d. Enter Gloucester [placed by Capell) [F prints after 1. 80] 97-100 Oppressèd... behind [F omits] 101-14 When ... lurk [F omits] 3.7. Scene 7 Scena Septima 21 s.d. Exit Oswald [Staunton] [F and Q omit] 23 s.d. Exeunt... Edmund [Staunton] [F (Exit) and Q (Exit Gon. and Bast.) print after 1. 22] 28 s.d. Enter... three [Q, which prints after “traitor”] Enter Gloucester, and Servants [F, which prints as here after “control”] 59 rash sticke 64 dearn sterne 79 s.d. Draw and fight [F omits] 81 s.d. She ... him Killes him [F] Shee ... behind [Q] 100-108 I’ll... him [F omits] 100 Second Servant [Capell] [F omits] Servant [Q] 101 Third Servant [Capell] [F omits] 2 Servant [Q] 104 Second Servant [Capell) [F omits] 1 Ser. [Q] 105 roguish [Q2] [Q omits] 107 Third Servant [Capell] [F omits] 2 Ser. [Q] 108 s.d. Exeunt severally [F omits] Exit [Q]

  4.1. Act 4 Scene 1 Actus Quartus. Scena Prima 9 s.d. led by an Old Man [Q, which prints after 1. 12] and an Old man [F, which places after 1. 9, as here] 41 Then, prithee, get thee gone Get thee away 60-65 Five ... master [F omits] 62-63 Flibbertigibbet [Pope] Stiberdigebit [Q] 63 mopping and mowing [Theobald] Mobing, & Mohing [Q]

  4.2. Scene 2 Scena Secunda 1 s.d. Enter Goneril and Edmund Enter Gonerill, Bastard, and Steward 2 s.d. [after “way”] Enter Oswald [placed by Theobald] [Q prints after “master,” 1.2] [F omits] 25 s.d. Exit Edmund [placed by Rowe] Exit [F, which prints after “death”] [Q omits) 28 s.d. Exit [F omits] Exit Stew. [Q] 31-50 I... deep [F omits] 32 its ith [Q] 45 benefited [Q corrected) beniflicted [Q uncorrected] 47 these [Jennens; Heath conj.] the [Q uncorrected) this [Q corrected] 49 Humanity [Q corrected] Humanly [Q uncorrected) 53-59 that ... so [F omits] 56 noiseless [Q corrected] noystles [Q uncorrected] 57 thy state begins to threat [Jennens] thy slayer begin threats [Q uncorrected] thy state begins thereat [Q corrected] thy slaier begins threats [Q2] 58 Whilst [Q corrected] Whil’s [Q uncorrected] 62-69 Thou ... news [F omits] 65 dislocate [Q3] dislecate [Q2.1,2] 68 mew [Q corrected] now [Q uncorrected] 68 s.d. Enter a Messenger [F prints after 1. 61] Enter a Gentleman [Q, which prints after 1. 69; and Q2, which prints after 1. 68, as here] 75 thereat enraged threat-enrag’d 79 justicers [Q corrected] Iustices [F, Q] 87 s.d. Exit [F omits]

  4.3. Scene 3 Scena Tertia [for Scene IV] 1 s.d. Enter... Gentleman [F omits the entire scene] 12 sir [Theobald] say 17 strove [Pope] streme 21 seemed [Pope: “seem‘d”] seeme 30 believed [Q2] beleeft 32 moistened [Capell] moystened her 56 Exeunt [Pope] Exit

  4.4. Scene 4 [Pope] Scena Tertia [F] [Q omits] 1 s.d. Cordelia, Doctor, and Soldiers Cordelia, Gentlemen, and Souldiours [F] Cordelia, Doctor and others [Q] 3 femiter Fenitar 6 century Centery 18 distress desires 28 right Rite

  4.5. Scene 5 [pope] Scena Quarta [F] [Q omits] 39 meet him meet 4.6. Scene 6 [Pope] Scena Quinta [Q omits] 17 walk walk’d 34 s.d. He kneels [F omits] 41 s.d. He falls [F omits] 71 whelked wealk’d 71 enridgèd enraged 83 coinin, crying 97 had white had the white 166 Through Thorough small great 167 Plate sin [Theobald] Place sinnes [Q omits] 199 Ay... dust [F omits] 200 Good sir [Q2] [F and Q omit] 206 s.d. Exit ... follow Exit [F] Exit King running [Q] 208 one a 244 I‘se [Johnson: “Ise”] ice [F] ile [Q] 247 s.d. They fight [F omits] 255 s.d. He dies [F omits] 274 and ... venture [Q reads “Venter”] [F omits] [This line, from the First Quarto, is almost universally omitted from editions of the play] 276 indistinguished indinguish’d 289 s.d. Drum afar off [F prints after 1. 287] A drum a farre off [Q, which prints as here]

  4.7.. Scene 7 Scena Septima 1 s.d. Enter ... Gentleman Enter Cordelia, Kent, and Gentleman [F] Enter Cordelia, Kent, and Doctor [Q] 24 doubt not doubt 24-25 Very ... there [F omits] 32 warring iarring 33-36 To ... helm [F omits] 79-80 and ... lost [F omits] 85 s.d. Exeunt ... Gentleman Exeunt 86-98 Holds... fought [F omits]

  5.1. Act 5 Scene 1 Actus Quintus. Scena Prima 11-13 That ... hers [F omits] 16 Fear me not Feare not 18-19 I ... me [F omits] 23-28 Where ... nobly [F omits] 33 I ... tent [F omits] 36 pray you pray 39 s.d. To those going out [F and Q omit] To Edgar [F and Q omit] Exeunt placed by Cambridge edition] [Q prints after “word,” 1. 39] [F omits] 46 love loues 50 s.d. Exit [placed by Dyce] [F and Q print after 1. 49]

  5.2. Scene 2 Scena Secunda

  5.3. Scene 3 Scena Tertia 13 hear poor rogues heere (poore Rogues) [reference in F is to Lear and Cordelia] 26 s.d. Exeunt... guarded Exit [F] [Q omits] 39-40 I... do’t [F omits] 40 s.d. Exit Captain [F prints after 1.38] [Q omits] 48 and appointed guard [Q corrected, and Q2] [F and Q omit] 55-60 At ... place [F omits] 56 We [Q corrected, and Q2] mee [Q] 58 sharpness [Q corrected, and Q2] sharpes [Q] 84 attaint arrest 85 sister Sisters 98 he is hes 103 Edmund ... ho, a herald [F omits] 108 s.d. Enter a Herald [placed by Hanmer] [F prints after 1. 102] [Q omits] 110 Sound, trumpet [F omits] 110 s.d. A trumpet sounds [F prints after 1. 109] [Q omits] trumpet [F2] Tumpet 116 Sound [F omits] 116 s.d. First trumpet [F prints after 1. 115] [Q omits] 118 s.d. Enter ... him Enter Edgar armed [
F] Enter Edgar at the third sound, a trumpet before him [Q] 137 illustrious illustirous 145 some say (some say) 152 s.d. fight Fights [F, which prints after 1. 153, “him”] [Q omits] 162 Ask... know [F gives to Edmund] 162 s.d. Exit [placed here by Q: “Exit Gonorill‘] [F prints after 1. 161, ”for’t“] 206-23 This...slave [F omits] 215 him [Theobald] me [Q] [F omits] 223 s.d. Enter ... knife Enter a Gentleman [F] Enter one with a bloudie knife [Q] 234 s.d. Enter Kent [placed by Q2] [F prints after 1. 231, ”Kent“] [Q prints after ”allow“ in 1. 235] 240 s.d. The... in Gonerill and Regans bodies brought out [F, which prints after 1. 232] 253 s.d. Exit Messenger [Theobald] [F and Q omit] 259 Howl. howl. howl. howl Howle, howle, howle you are your are 279 them him 291 You are [Q2] Your are [F] You [Q] 296 s.d. Enter a Messenger [F, which prints after ”him“] Enter Captaine [Q, placed as here]

  The Date and Sources of King Lear

  King Lear was probably written between 1603 and 1606. The evidence is as follows. Under the date of November 26, 1607, the printers Nathaniel Butter and John Busby entered the play in the Stationers’ Register, thereby asserting their right to print it. That right was exercised in the following year, with the appearance of the First Quarto of 1608. The title page of that quarto (Q1) announces a performance of the play as having taken place before the King on St. Stephen s Night (December 26) in the Christmas holidays. The entry in the Stationers’ Register (1607), since it refers to the Court performance as occurring on “Christmas Last,” fixes the date of that performance as December 26, 1606. This date is therefore the terminus ad quem for the composition of the play. The earliest date, that of 1603, is more difficult to establish. Probably it is fixed by the entry in the Stationers’ Register, on March 16, 1603, of Samuel Harsnett’s Declaration of Egregious Popishe Impostures. Harsnett’s work, a treatise on dia- bolism and an attack on the Jesuits, was written in 1602-03. It is utilized by Shakespeare in his play, chiefly for the names of the demons who lurk about Poor Tom. Assume—and it is reasonable to do so—that Shakespeare did not have access to Harsnett’s Declaration before the date of publication, and 1603 becomes the terminus a quo for the writing of King Lear.