Regan (King Lear)
Encyclopedia
Role in play
She is the middle child of King Lear's daughters and is married to the Duke of Cornwall. Similarly to her older sister, GonerilGoneril
Goneril, or Gonerill, is a fictional character in William Shakespeare’s King Lear. She is the eldest of King Lear's daughters. Along with her sister Regan, Goneril is considered a wicked character. She is obsessed with power and overthrowing her elderly father as ruler of the kingdom...
, Regan is attracted to Edmund
Edmund (King Lear)
Edmund or Edmond is a fictional character and the main antagonist in William Shakespeare's King Lear. He is the illegitimate son of the Earl of Gloucester, and the younger brother of Edgar, the Earl's legitimate son. Early on in the play, Edmund resolves to get rid of his brother, then his...
. Both sisters are eager for power and even convince their father with false flattery to hand over his kingdom.
"Sir, I am made
Of the self same metal that my sister is,
And prize me at her worth. In my true heart,
I find she names my very deed of love;
Only she comes too short, that I profess
Myself an enemy to all other joys,
Which the most precious square of sense possesses,
And find I am alone felicitate
In your dear highness' love."
-Regan's falsely flattering speech to King Lear, King LearKing LearKing Lear is a tragedy by William Shakespeare. The title character descends into madness after foolishly disposing of his estate between two of his three daughters based on their flattery, bringing tragic consequences for all. The play is based on the legend of Leir of Britain, a mythological...
1.1.67-74.
Later in the play, Lear leaves his kingdom to live with Goneril. She rejects him. After Lear leaves Goneril’s house, he asks Regan to take him in. She tells him he has too many servants and knights, just as Goneril had. Unwilling to budge, Regan drives Lear out into the storm.
In the final Act, Goneril poisons Regan’s drink after learning that they share a desire for Edmund. Regan cries, “Sick, O sick!” to which Goneril replies in an aside, “If not, I’ll ne’er trust medicine,” (5.3. 97-98). Regan quickly becomes ill and dies.
Stanley Cavell notes Regan's characteristic relish in building upon and outdoing others' evils: "[S]he has no ideas of her own, her special vileness is always to increase the measure of pain that others are prepared to inflict; her mind itself is a lynch mob." (291)
Performance on Screen
- Monica DolanMonica DolanMonica Dolan is a British actress who has appeared in a number of roles in British television shows and numerous stage productions. She was born in Middlesbrough. Credits include Agatha Christie's Poirot, Dalziel and Pascoe, Tipping the Velvet and Judge John Deed and starred in ITV drama U Be Dead...
. King Lear (2009) PBS Dir. Sir Trevor Nunn and Chris Hunt - Claire Laurie. King LearKing Lear (1999)King Lear is an adaptation of William Shakespeare's play of the same name . The film stars Brian Blessed in the title role .-Cast:* Brian Blessed as King Lear...
(1999) Dir. Brian BlessedBrian BlessedBrian Blessed is an English actor, known for his sonorous voice and "hearty, king-sized portrayals".-Early life:The son of William Blessed, a socialist miner, and Hilda Wall, Blessed was born in the town of Goldthorpe, West Riding of Yorkshire, England...
& Tony RotherhamTony RotherhamTony Rotherham is an English historian, living history re-enactor, actor, teacher, fight choreographer, stuntman, weapon expert, Robin Hood expert and Nottingham's official Robin Hood... - Amanda RedmanAmanda Redman-External links:* ArtistsTheatreSchool.com* The-Little.co.uk...
. Performance King Lear (1998) Dir. Richard Eyre - Diana RiggDiana RiggDame Enid Diana Elizabeth Rigg, DBE is an English actress. She is probably best known for her portrayals of Emma Peel in The Avengers and Countess Teresa di Vicenzo in the 1969 James Bond film On Her Majesty's Secret Service....
. King Lear (1983) (TV) Dir. Michael Elliott - Penelope WiltonPenelope WiltonPenelope Alice Wilton, OBE is an English actress.-Life and career:Penelope Alice Wilton was born in Scarborough, North Riding of Yorkshire, to a former actress mother and a businessman father. She is a niece of actors Bill Travers and Linden Travers and a cousin of the actor Richard Morant...
. King Lear (1982) (TV) Dir. Jonathan Miller - Ann Lynn. King Lear (1976) (TV) Dir. Tony Davenall
- Ellen HollyEllen HollyEllen Holly is an American actress.-Career:Holly began her career on stage appearing in the Broadway productions of Tiger, Tiger Burning Bright and A Hand Is on the Gate before embarking on a television and film career...
. King Lear (1974) (TV) Dir. Edwin Sherin - Susan EngelSusan EngelSusan Engel is a British actress.-Theatre:Engel's work in theatre includes: Angels in America , Richard III, King Lear , The Good Person of Sezuan, Watch on the Rhine , Spring Awakening, The Hour We Knew Nothing Of Each Other and Her Naked Skin at the National Theatre, London; Women...
. King Lear (1971 UK Film) Dir. Peter Brook - Galina Volchek. Korol Lir (1971 USSR Film) Dir. Grigori Kozintsev & Iosif Shapiro
- Margaret Phillips. King Lear (1953) (TV) Dir. Andrew McCullough
Further reading
- Smiley, Jane. A Thousand AcresA Thousand AcresA Thousand Acres is a 1991 novel by American author Jane Smiley. It won the 1992 Pulitzer Prize for Fiction, the National Book Critics Circle Award for fiction in 1991 and was adapted to a 1997 film of the same name....
. Ivy Books, 1996. Print. - Fischlin, Daniel and Fortier, Mark. Adaptations of Shakespeare. Feinstein, Elaine and the Women’s Theatre Group. Lear’s Daughters. 215-232. Routledge, 2000. Print
External links
- http://www.pbs.org/wnet/gperf/episodes/king-lear/watch-the-play/487/ -PBS Production of King LearKing LearKing Lear is a tragedy by William Shakespeare. The title character descends into madness after foolishly disposing of his estate between two of his three daughters based on their flattery, bringing tragic consequences for all. The play is based on the legend of Leir of Britain, a mythological...
- http://www.imdb.com/find?s=all&q=king+lear -King Lear Films
- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j4-fQbVohQ4&feature=related -King Lear Video Clips
- http://www.archive.org/stream/truechroniclehis00greeuoft#page/n21/mode/2up -The True Chronicle Historie of King Leir Text (1605) by Anonymous
- http://andromeda.rutgers.edu/~jlynch/Texts/tatelear.html The History of King Lear (1681) by Nahum Tate