Vocabulary in King Lear

Wronged or harmed by the actions of others. In this play, Lear uses it to claim he has suffered more injustice at others' hands than he himself has caused.

Having more than the bare minimum needed to survive; possessing extras beyond what is strictly necessary. Here it argues that even the poorest people have something beyond pure necessity.

Lowest in rank, social standing, or worth. In this context it refers to the most humble and destitute of beggars.

Do not argue about or question what someone requires; stop calculating whether a want is truly necessary. Lear uses it to insist that human dignity demands more than bare survival.

Acts of payback or punishment inflicted on those who have caused harm. Used here in the plural to suggest multiple, overwhelming acts of retribution.

Massive floodgates or torrents of water pouring from the sky; here used to mean violent downpours or waterfalls of rain unleashed from the heavens during the storm.

An archaic or intensified form of 'hurricanes,' meaning violent, swirling windstorms. Shakespeare uses the word to evoke an almost supernatural, apocalyptic tempest.

Soaked completely through with water. Here Lear commands the storm to flood everything, including church steeples, with torrential rain.

Weathercocks or weather vanes — the rooster-shaped metal figures mounted at the very tops of church steeples to show wind direction. Drowning them means the flood would rise above even the highest points.

Disgusting, morally repulsive, or physically revolting. Used here as a curse directed at Gloucester's eye as it is torn out.

A soft, semi-liquid substance; here a brutal, visceral reference to the eyeball itself as it is gouged from its socket.

The bright, shining quality of light reflected from a surface — here the living gleam or sparkle of an eye. Its loss signals the destruction of sight and vitality.

Carelessly cruel or playfully thoughtless, acting without concern for the suffering caused. Here it describes boys who torment flies purely for amusement, with no sense of guilt.

Entertainment or amusement, especially of a cruel or casual kind. The gods are said to kill humans the way children kill flies — purely for fun, not for any moral reason.

Made serious errors in judgment while still physically sighted; had full vision yet still went morally and intellectually wrong. The line suggests that literal sight does not guarantee true understanding.

Be patient with me; tolerate my failings or confusion. Used here by Lear to ask forgiveness for his mental and emotional frailty in old age.

Put past wrongs out of mind and pardon the person who committed them. Lear uses the reversed order deliberately — forgetting first, then forgiving — as a humble plea.

Returned completely to the starting point, especially after a long journey of change. Here Edmund acknowledges that his scheming has ended exactly where it began — in ruin and defeat.

The Wheel of Fortune, a medieval image of fate that spins people from power to ruin and back. Edmund uses it to accept that his rise and fall were governed by an inevitable turning of fate.

Submit to or accept without resistance. In this closing line it means the survivors must yield to the heavy demands of a sorrowful moment rather than pretend otherwise.

The act of murdering one's own father. Edmund falsely convinces Gloucester that Edgar is plotting this crime in order to steal Edgar's inheritance.

The status of being born to parents who are legally married, which in this period determined a child's right to inherit property and title. The play constantly contrasts legitimate and illegitimate children.

Money, land, or property that a bride's family provides to her husband at marriage. Lear strips Cordelia of hers as punishment, making her a less desirable match in the eyes of suitors.

A wide, open stretch of wild, uncultivated land, typically windswept and treeless. In the play it is the bleak outdoor wilderness where Lear wanders during the storm, far from shelter or comfort.