Lesson 6

Vocabulary

1. Choose the correct answer from a, b, c, or d.

1. If someone is cruel to you, you might want to take ............ on him or her.

a. revenge

b. rule

c. a kingdom

d. a storm

2. A king or queen has the power to ............ over a country.

a. pretend

b. rule

c. deceive

d. hold

3. Someone who really wants to lead a country is ............ for power.

a. hungry

b. thirsty

c. angry

d. worry

4. If someone is finding life very difficult because something bad has happened, you might say that he/she has ............. apart.

a. spoken

b. broken

c. fallen

d. taken

Reading

2. Complete the summaries of each scene with the words in the box.

Act 4, Scene i
Gloucester is (1) bleeding when he meets his son, who is pretending to be a mad beggar. Gloucester asks the beggar to take him to the top of a high (2) cliff.
Act 4, Scene ii
Albany says that Goneril and her sister are like (3) tigers. He finds out that Gloucester was attacked and Albany promises to take (4) revenge because Gloucester was hurt.
Act 4, Scene iii
There is a conversation between Kent and a gentleman at the French (5) camp near Dover. They talk about how the king has (6) fallen apart.

3. Answer the questions about what happens in this part of the play.

1. Why does Albany feel frightened of Goneril? Because he thinks Goneril is evil.
2. What name does Edgar call himself while he’s pretending to be a beggar? Poor Tom.
3. What does Goneril tell Edmund to do? What does she plan to do? To go back to Cornwall, get his army together and help him. She is planning to use Edmund to help her, as he is hungry for power.
4. Why does Goneril think it will be easier for her to rule over the whole kingdom now? Because Cornwall is far away.
5. Why has the King of France returned to his country? Because he had something important to do there.
6. Where are Cornwall and Albany’s armies? They are near Dover.

4. What do we learn about the characters in this part of the play?

1. Gloucester c. misses his son.
2. Edgar a. pretended to be someone else but hated it.
3. Goneril b. is angry because someone isn’t doing something.
4. Albany e. feels that another character is evil.
5. The Gentleman d. thinks that King Lear is a poor man.