PERSONS REPRESENTED. Lear, king of Britain. King of France. Duke of Burgundy. Duke of Cornwall. Duke of Albany. Earl of Kent. Earl of Gloster. Edgar, son to Gloster. Edmund, bastard son to Gloster. Curan, a courtier. Old Man, tenant to Gloster. Physician. Fool. Oswald, steward to Goneril. An Officer, employed by Edmund. Servants to Cornwall. Knights attending on the King, Officers, Messen: gers, Soldiers, and Attendants. Scene, Britain. KING LEAR. ACT I. SCENE I. A room of state in King Lear's palace. Enter Kent, Gloster, and Edmund. Kent. I THOUGHT, the king had more affected the duke of Albany, than Cornwall. Glo. It did always seem so to us: but now, in the division of the kingdom, it appears not which of the dukes he values most; for equalities are so weigh'd, that curiosity* in neither can make choice of either's moiety t. Kent. Is not this your son, my lord? Glo. His breeding, sir, hath been at my charge: I have so often blushed to acknowledge him, that now I am brazed to it. Kent. I cannot conceive you. Glo. Sir, this young fellow's mother could: whereupon she grew round-wombed; and had, indeed, sir, a son for her cradle, ere she had a husband for her bed. Do you smell a fault? • Most scrupulous nicety. + Part or division. |