King Lear: Scene Summaries

Act 1, Scene 1: King Lear announces his plan to divide his kingdom amongst his daughters, disinheriting Cordelia for her refusal to flatter him.
Act 1, Scene 2: Edmund reveals his plans to gain his brother Edgar’s inheritance.
Act 1, Scene 3: Goneril begins to treat her father poorly and expresses her disdain for his knights.
Act 1, Scene 4: Lear experiences first-hand his daughters’ ingratitude and rudeness when they treat him with disrespect.
Act 1, Scene 5: Lear sends Kent with a letter to his daughter Regan, expressing his anger at Goneril’s behaviour.
Act 2, Scene 1: Edmund tricks Edgar into hiding, convincing Gloucester Edgar plans to kill him.
Act 2, Scene 2: Kent, disguised, quarrels with Lear’s knight Oswald and is put in the stocks.
Act 2, Scene 3: Edgar, on the run, disguises himself as a mad beggar named ‘Poor Tom’.
Act 2, Scene 4: Regan and her husband Cornwall add to Lear’s distress by siding with Goneril and dismissing Lear’s complaints.
Act 3, Scene 1: Kent sends news to Cordelia about Lear’s mistreatment.
Act 3, Scene 2: In a terrible storm, Lear rages against his treatment by his ungrateful daughters.
Act 3, Scene 3: Gloucester decides to help Lear and is betrayed by Edmund.
Act 3, Scene 4: Lear, out in the storm with his Fool and Edgar (as ‘Poor Tom’), begins to go mad.
Act 3, Scene 5: Regan and Goneril plot against their father; Edmund reveals his deceit.
Act 3, Scene 6: Lear holds a mock trial of his daughters in his madness.
Act 3, Scene 7: Gloucester is blinded by Cornwall for his perceived treachery.
Act 4, Scene 1: Edgar, as ‘Poor Tom’, leads his blind father Gloucester.
Act 4, Scene 2: Albany condemns his wife Goneril’s treatment of Lear and learns of Gloucester’s blinding.
Act 4, Scene 3: Kent and a Gentleman discuss the French forces mobilising to help Lear.
Act 4, Scene 4: Cordelia expresses her unmatched love and worry for her father.
Act 4, Scene 5: Regan displays interest in Edmund, fueling an upcoming rivalry with her sister.
Act 4, Scene 6: Gloucester attempts suicide but is saved by Edgar; Lear and Cordelia are reunited.
Act 4, Scene 7: Lear awakens and reconciles with Cordelia.
Act 5, Scene 1: Goneril and Regan feud over Edmund, while Albany plans to join the battle against the French.
Act 5, Scene 2: Edgar reveals his true identity to Gloucester; the battle takes place offstage and Lear and Cordelia are captured.
Act 5, Scene 3: Edmund’s treachery is revealed, the sisters kill each other, Lear kills Edmund, and then dies himself after Cordelia’s execution.