Act I, Scene I
- Setting is King Lear's Palace
- King Lear plans to divide his Kingdom
between his three daughters (Goneril, Regan, and Cordelia)
- King Lear makes an impressive entry
- Lear is going to relieve himself
of "...all cares and business..."
- Lear wants his daughters to profess
their love to him in exchange for their plots of land
- To Goneril he is "Dearer than
eye-sight"
- To Regan he is dearer than all
of these
- Lear asks Cordelia how much she
loves him and she says that she loves him as her bond (Father and daughter)
warrants, no more and no less
- This upsets the King who acts as
if he didn't hear her correctly
- Lear had originally planned to
give Cordelia the biggest plot of land
- Lear disowns Cordelia as his daughter
- The Earl of Kent then professes
his love for Lear (For some strange reason) but manages to upset the King
as well
- The King of France, hearing of
what has happened, decides that he would like to marry Cordelia, she accepts
- Cordelia asks her sisters to take
good care of their father and receives nasty replies
- Goneril and Regan begin plotting
to make their father completely powerless
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