Monologue

Lear Monologue from King Lear

From King Lear by William Shakespeare

male · anguished · 1:29 min

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Let me alone. (KENT: Good my lord, enter here.) Wilt break my heart? (KENT: I had rather break mine own. Good my lord, enter.) Thou think’st ’tis much that this contentious storm Invades us to the skin: so ’tis to thee, But where the greater malady is fix’d, The lesser is scarce felt. Thou’dst shun a bear; But if thy flight lay toward the raging sea, Thou’dst meet the bear i’ the mouth. When the mind’s free, The body’s delicate: the tempest in my mind Doth from my senses take all feeling else Save what beats there. Filial ingratitude! Is it not as this mouth should tear this hand For lifting food to’t? But I will punish home; No, I will weep no more. In such a night To shut me out! Pour on; I will endure: In such a night as this! O Regan, Goneril! Your old kind father, whose frank heart gave all, O, that way madness lies; let me shun that; No more of that.

About this piece

Lear is caught in a violent storm, both physically and emotionally, grappling with feelings of betrayal from his daughters and the madness that ensues from his despair.

60 and up · despair · betrayal · madness · family · isolation

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