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 weighed that curiosity in neither can make choice of either’s
moiety.
WORD LISTS"King Lear" by William Shakespeare, Act 1February 6, 2013
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moiety
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 weighed that curiosity in neither can make choice of either’s
moiety.
constant
As king, Lear can proclaim that his will is
constant, but once he steps down, this constancy will be constantly tested.
Our son of Cornwall
And you, our no less loving son of Albany, We have this hour a constant will to publish Our daughters’ several dowers, that future strife May be prevented now.
divest
Tell me, my daughters—
Since now we will divest us both of rule, Interest of territory, cares of state— Which of you shall we say doth love us most, That we our largest bounty may extend Where nature doth with merit challenge.
mettle
I am made of that self
mettle as my sister
And prize me at her worth.
opulent
The adjectives
more (in example sentence) and
superior (in definition) emphasize the public competition Lear is creating among his daughters.
Now, our joy,
Although our last and least, to whose young love The vines of France and milk of Burgundy Strive to be interessed, what can you say to draw A third more opulent than your sisters’?
beget
Good my lord,
You have begot me, bred me, loved me. I return those duties back as are right fit: Obey you, love you, and most honor you.
propinquity
Note how
propinquity and
property are included in the same breath as
paternal care.
Propinquity also means "close kinship."
Here I disclaim all my paternal care,
Propinquity and property of blood, And as a stranger to my heart and me Hold thee from this forever.
liege
KENT: Good my
liege—
LEAR: Peace, Kent.
preeminence
I do invest you jointly with my power,
Preeminence, and all the large effects That troop with majesty.
folly
To plainness honor's bound
When majesty falls to folly.
dominion
If on the tenth day following
Thy banished trunk be found in our dominions, The moment is thy death.
beseech
Note the missing
I before
beseech, which makes Lear's use of the word seem more like a command than a request.
For you, great king,
I would not from your love make such a stray To match you where I hate. Therefore beseech you T’ avert your liking a more worthier way Than on a wretch whom Nature is ashamed Almost t’ acknowledge hers.
glib
I yet beseech your Majesty—
If for I want that glib and oily art To speak and purpose not, since what I well intend I’ll do ’t before I speak—that you make known It is no vicious blot, murder, or foulness, No unchaste action or dishonored step That hath deprived me of your grace and favor
benison
Therefore begone
Without our grace, our love, our benison.
appertain
Sister, it is not little I have to say of what most nearly
appertains to us both.
infirmity
'Tis the
infirmity of his age. Yet he hath ever but slenderly known himself.
choleric
The best and soundest of his time hath been but rash. Then must we look from his age to receive not alone the imperfections of long-engraffed condition, but therewithal the unruly waywardness that infirm and
choleric years bring with them.
casement
It was not brought me, my lord; there’s the cunning of it. I found it thrown in at the
casement of my closet.
auricular
If your Honor judge it meet, I will place you where you shall hear us confer of this, and by an
auricular assurance have your satisfaction, and that without any further delay than this very evening.
portend
These late eclipses in the sun and moon
portend no good to us.
discord
Discord could refer to Lear breaking his bond with Cordelia — a move that leads to a lot of the
discord in the play.
Love cools, friendship falls off, brothers divide; in cities, mutinies; in countries,
discord; in palaces, treason; and the bond cracked ’twixt son and father.
machination
Machinations, hollowness, treachery, and all ruinous disorders follow us disquietly to our graves.
surfeit
This is the excellent foppery of the world, that when we are sick in fortune (often the
surfeits of our own behavior) we make guilty of our disasters the sun, the moon, and stars, as if we were villains on necessity...
dearth
I promise you, the effects he writes of succeed unhappily, as of unnaturalness between the child and the parent, death,
dearth, dissolutions of ancient amities, divisions in state, menaces and maledictions against king and nobles, needless diffidences, banishment of friends, dissipation of cohorts, nuptial breaches, and I know not what.
malediction
Although the example sentence was from Edmund repeating a general prediction of the state of the world, it can be seen as an overview of all the conflicts in the play. In this act, Lear both withholds a
benison from Cordelia and gives a
malediction to Goneril. Note the difference in Lear's power in the scenes.
I promise you, the effects he writes of succeed unhappily, as of unnaturalness between the child and the parent, death, dearth, dissolutions of ancient amities, divisions in state, menaces and
maledictions against king and nobles, needless diffidences, banishment of friends, dissipation of cohorts, nuptial breaches, and I know not what.
diffidence
I promise you, the effects he writes of succeed unhappily, as of unnaturalness between the child and the parent, death, dearth, dissolutions of ancient amities, divisions in state, menaces and maledictions against king and nobles, needless
diffidences, banishment of friends, dissipation of cohorts, nuptial breaches, and I know not what.
dissipation
I promise you, the effects he writes of succeed unhappily, as of unnaturalness between the child and the parent, death, dearth, dissolutions of ancient amities, divisions in state, menaces and maledictions against king and nobles, needless diffidences, banishment of friends,
dissipation of cohorts, nuptial breaches, and I know not what.
cohort
I promise you, the effects he writes of succeed unhappily, as of unnaturalness between the child and the parent, death, dearth, dissolutions of ancient amities, divisions in state, menaces and maledictions against king and nobles, needless diffidences, banishment of friends, dissipation of
cohorts, nuptial breaches, and I know not what.
breach
I promise you, the effects he writes of succeed unhappily, as of unnaturalness between the child and the parent, death, dearth, dissolutions of ancient amities, divisions in state, menaces and maledictions against king and nobles, needless diffidences, banishment of friends, dissipation of cohorts, nuptial
breaches, and I know not what.
allay
Bethink yourself wherein you may have offended him, and at my entreaty forbear his presence until some little time hath qualified the heat of his displeasure, which at this instant so rageth in him that with the mischief of your person it would scarcely
allay.
upbraid
His knights grow riotous, and himself
upbraids us
On every trifle.
dote
LEAR: How old art thou?
KENT: Not so young, sir, to love a woman for singing, nor so old to dote on her for anything. I have years on my back forty-eight.
abatement
There’s a great
abatement of kindness appears as well in the general dependents as in the Duke himself also, and your daughter.
bandy
A
look is not a physical blow, but because Lear is not used to receiving insulting looks, he feels as if he had been hit. So Lear hits Oswald in return, but as a servant, Oswald can't actually
bandy with Lear.
Do you
bandy looks with me, you rascal?
tarry
Away, away. If you will measure your lubber’s length again,
tarry.
gall
A pestilent
gall to me!
pare
Thou hast
pared thy wit o’ both sides and left nothing i’ th’ middle.
forsooth
Yes,
forsooth, I will hold my tongue.
retinue
Not only, sir, this your all-licensed Fool,
But other of your insolent retinue Do hourly carp and quarrel, breaking forth In rank and not-to-be-endurèd riots.
carp
Not only, sir, this your all-licensed Fool,
But other of your insolent retinue Do hourly carp and quarrel, breaking forth In rank and not-to-be-endurèd riots.
redress
Sir,
I had thought by making this well known unto you To have found a safe redress, but now grow fearful, By what yourself too late have spoke and done, That you protect this course and put it on By your allowance; which if you should, the fault Would not ’scape censure, nor the redresses sleep Which in the tender of a wholesome weal Might in their working do you that offense, Which else were shame, that then necessity Will call discreet proceeding.
weal
Sir,
I had thought by making this well known unto you To have found a safe redress, but now grow fearful, By what yourself too late have spoke and done, That you protect this course and put it on By your allowance; which if you should, the fault Would not ’scape censure, nor the redresses sleep Which in the tender of a wholesome weal Might in their working do you that offense, Which else were shame, that then necessity Will call discreet proceeding.
rabble
You strike my people, and your disordered
rabble
Make servants of their betters.
perforce
That thou hast power to shake my manhood thus,
That these hot tears, which break from me perforce, Should make thee worth them.
dotage
Each buzz, each fancy, each complaint, dislike,
He may enguard his dotage with their powers And hold our lives in mercy. |
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