One example of a key moment in the story is Edmund's monologue on being the Earl of Gloucester's illegitimate son at the beginning of Scene 2: "Wherefore should I stand in the plague of custom, and permit the curiosity of nations to deprive me for that I am some twelve or fourteen moonshines lag of a brother?" (Shakespeare 29) He is often treated wrong by his father and plans to exact revenge on his legitimate half-brother Edgar.

At Regan's castle, Kent (disguised as Caius) shows how his loyalty for Lear remains, even after being banished by him. Kent attacks Oswald after Oswald mistreats Lear and his servants.

Here comes another similarity between Gloucester's plot and Lear's plot: Besides both of them unjustly disowning their most loving children, they die of grief at the end of the story. Lear is stricken with sadness when he sees Cordelia's hanging body, however Gloucester dies of a heart attack when he learns Edgar is still alive.

The ending (Scene 3) is a tragic one, where all of the main characters relevant to the plot (besides Edgar, Albany, and Kent(who later plans to kill himself)) are killed off. Edmund is killed by Edgar, Gloucester dies of a heart attack, Cornwall is killed by his servant, Regan is poisoned by Goneril (who kills herself), Cordelia is hanged, Lear dies of sadness, and even his fool is hanged.

Lear is reunited with his loving daughter Cordelia after being captured ty Edmund and the gang. He tells them: "We two alone will sing like birds i' th' cage... So we'll live, and pray, and sing, and laugh at gilded butterflies" (Shakespeare 235)

In Scene 2, Lear's own two daughters, Goneril and Regan, kick him out after he asks them if his knights could stay over. This is completely contradictory to in Act 1, Scene 1; where both of them exceedingly blandish him with compliments. This once again shows how insincere they are rather than the daughter Lear disowned, Cordelia.

It's interesting how Lear meets Edgar, portraying "Poor Tom O' Bedlam", in Scene 4 after both of them had been rejected and betrayed by their own family. He also meets Gloucester himself, where they both have unknowingly lashed out on the children who actually care for them and favored the other(s).

It's funny how it is revealed in Scene 4 that Cordelia actually seems like she genuinely loves Lear rather than her sisters, because Goneril and Regan only flattered him for their own personal gain. Cordelia sends 100 soldiers to find Lear and is willing to offer him her love and hospitality. "Search every acre in the high-grown field and bring him to our eye... O dear father... No blown ambition doth our arms incite, but love, dear love, and our aged father's right. Soon may I hear and see him." (Shakespeare 189-191)

During Scene 4 when Lear and his knights later visit Goneril's castle, Goneril has her servants treat their guests harshly and rudely, even threatening to kick out some of Lear's knights. This shows how hypocritical she was when flattering Lear earlier in Scene 1.

In the same scene, Gloucester has a moment of realization where he finally figures he was deceived by Edmund. He says: "O my follies! Then Edgar was abused. Kind gods, forgive me that, and prosper him." (Shakespeare 167)

The way Goneril and Regan abuse Lear right after he puts them in charge of Britain shows how power corrupts in the wrong hands.

This scene demonstrates how Edgar is still loyal to his father after being disowned. This might sound familiar...

This video includes a vivid performance of the scene where Gloucester has his eyes gouged out. This performance feels even more sickening than reading Act 3 Scene 7 in the book. An interview after this explains why the scene is so effective toward the reader. He notes that "The sensitivity, the squidginess of an eyeball... it makes us squeamish."

This episode of the I Have Years On My Back podcast surrounds the book The Year of Lear which is about 1606, when King Lear was written. They discuss how 1606 was a terrible year. It came right after the Gunpowder Plot of late 1605, which was a plot to blow up part of Parliament because King James I was intolerant toward Catholics. The plague broke out again during July of 1606 and caused up to 116 deaths per week.