Summary: Act 3, scene 1
A storm rages on the heath. Kent, seeking Lear
in vain, runs into one of Lear’s knights and learns that Lear is
somewhere in the area, accompanied only by his Fool. Kent gives
the knight secret information: he has heard that there is unrest
between Albany and Cornwall and that there are spies for the French
in the English courts. Kent tells the knight to go to Dover, the
city in England nearest to France, where he may find friends who
will help Lear’s cause. He gives the knight a ring and orders him
to give it to Cordelia, who will know who has sent the knight when she
sees the ring. Kent leaves to search for Lear.
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Act 3, scene 1 →
Summary: Act 3, scene 2
Meanwhile, Lear wanders around in the storm, cursing the
weather and challenging it to do its worst against him. He seems
slightly irrational, his thoughts wandering from idea to idea but
always returning to fixate on his two cruel daughters. The Fool,
who accompanies him, urges him to humble himself before his daughters
and seek shelter indoors, but Lear ignores him. Kent finds the two
of them and urges them to take shelter inside a nearby hovel. Lear
finally agrees and follows Kent toward the hovel. The Fool makes
a strange and confusing prophecy.
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Act 3, scene 2 →
Summary: Act 3, scene 3
Inside his castle, a worried Gloucester speaks with Edmund.
The loyal Gloucester recounts how he became uncomfortable when Regan,
Goneril, and Cornwall shut Lear out in the storm. But when he urged
them to give him permission to go out and help Lear, they became
angry, took possession of his castle, and ordered him never to speak
to Lear or plead on his behalf.
Gloucester tells Edmund that he has received news of a
conflict between Albany and Cornwall. He also informs him that a
French army is invading and that part of it has already landed in
England. Gloucester feels that he must take Lear’s side
and now plans to go seek him out in the storm. He tells Edmund that
there is a letter with news of the French army locked in his room,
and he asks his son to go and distract the duke of Cornwall while
he, Gloucester, goes onto the heath to search for Lear. He adds
that it is imperative that Cornwall not notice his absence; otherwise,
Gloucester might die for his treachery.
When Gloucester leaves, Edmund privately rejoices at the
opportunity that has presented itself. He plans to betray his father
immediately, going to Cornwall to tell him about both Gloucester’s
plans to help Lear and the location of the traitorous letter from
the French. Edmund expects to inherit his father’s title, land,
and fortune as soon as Gloucester is put to death.
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Act 3, scene 3 →
Analysis: Act 3, scenes 1–3
The information that Kent gives the knight brings the
audience out of the personal realm of Lear’s anguish and into the
political world of Lear’s Britain. Throughout the play, we hear
rumors of conflict between Albany and Cornwall and of possible war
with France, but what exactly transpires at any specific moment
is rarely clear. The question of the French is not definitively
resolved until Act 4. Kent’s mention of Dover, however, provides
a clue: Dover is a port city in the south of England where ships
from France often landed; it is famous for its high white cliffs.
As various characters begin moving southward toward Dover in the
scenes that follow, the tension of an inevitable conflict heightens.
Whatever the particulars of the political struggle, however, it
is clear that Lear, by giving away his power in Britain to Goneril
and Regan—and eventually Edmund—has destroyed not only his own authority
but all authority. Instead of a stable, hierarchical
kingdom with Lear in control, chaos has overtaken the realm, and
the country is at the mercy of the play’s villains, who care for
nothing but their own power.
