Lesson 6

Vocabulary

1. Choose the best word to complete each sentence.

1. In a storm, you often see lightning/a torch.

2. A fool/philosopher is someone who studies the meaning of life.

3. They spent the night in a small hut/straw in the mountains.

4. If you forget/forgive someone, you stop being angry with them.

5. People who are hard-/soft-hearted, don’t care how other people feel.

2. Read King Lear’s speech on page 69 again. What does the phrase ‘to walk in someone’s shoes,’ mean?

A To take someone’s shoes without asking them.
B To experience life the way someone else does.
C To be the same as one of your parents

Reading

3. Arrange these events in order on the timeline.

A. Gloucester tells Edmund about a letter. 2
B. They take Poor Tom with them. 6
C. Kent tells Lear about a poor man’s hut. 1
D. Gloucester finds Lear. 5
E. Gloucester goes to look for Lear. 3
F. Lear meets Poor Tom. 4

4. Who is the speaker of each quotation?
Who are they speaking to and why do they say it?

1. “Ask your daughters to forgive you!”

Fool to King Lear; He wants King Lear to go inside because of the storm.

2. “We must help King Lear.”

Gloucester to Edmund; The French army have arrived in England and he is worried.

3. “Are you mad like me?”

King Lear to Edgar (Poor Tom); He thinks he is going mad because he has treated his daughters well and now they are cruel to him.

4. “Why have our children grown up to be so terrible, my lord?”

Gloucester to King Lear; Because they both have problems with their children.

5. “He’s beginning to go mad.”

Kent to Gloucester; He thinks King Lear is going mad because he believes the poor man (Edgar in disguise) is a philosopher.

5. Answer these questions.

1. Who is the ‘old man’ that Edmund refers to?

Gloucester.

2. Is Edmund a good son to his father? Why? Why not?

No, because he deceived his father.

3. Why do you think Poor Tom does not tell King Lear who he really is?

He might be worried that King Lear will tell his father about him.

4. How does King Lear feel about the poor man?

King Lear thinks Poor Tom has been badly treated by his daughters to be in such a desperate situation.