King Lear, Act I Nothing...nothing...nothing...nothing;


King Lear
Here are some quotes from my reading...
 
     As the play opens, King Lear asks his three daughters their opinion of him as he is deciding on having them inherit his kingdom.  The first two daughters praise him effusively if insincerely.   He then asks his third daughter, the spunky Cornelia, what she thinks.

Lear: what can you say to draw a third more opulent than your sisters? Speak.
Cordelia: Nothing.
Lear: Nothing?
Cordelia: Nothing.
Lear: Nothing with come of nothing.  Speak again. (Act  1.1)
    I have to laugh in awe of Shakespeare's creativity and humor.  I don't know of any other place in literature where the word 'nothing' is repeated four times in a row.

 
Fool to King Lear:

Have more than thou showest,
Speak less than thou knowest,
…leave thy drink and thy whore (Act 1.4)


Fool to Lear:
They’ll have me whipped for speaking true; thou’ll have me whipped for lying; and sometimes I am whipped for holding my peace.  (Act 1.4)


Fool speaking about King Lear:
That’s a shealed peascod.  (an empty pea pod)
Thou art a O without a figure. (a zero without a number)  (1.4)

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