"Fortune, good night,
smile once more, turn thy wheel. "
Huh?
King Lear.
I did it once. Carried A Spear.
Long time ago.
Long, long time ago....
"Fortune, good night,
smile once more, turn thy wheel. "
Huh?
King Lear.
I did it once. Carried A Spear.
Long time ago.
Long, long time ago....
O, I would so love to have seen
William Hartnell's King Lear...
Bill :
All this stuff, I can
do it with a look!
Truth :
Bill, I really think we should
stick with what's on the page.
Bill :
Verity. I can do all this
with a look, you know.
I don't need all these lines.
It's like ruddy King Lear!
I remember Lindsay Anderson
saying the same thing about me
on 'Sporting Life'.
He just ripped a couple
of pages out of The Script.
"Bill can do all this with
a gesture," you see.
"A raised eyebrow. "
Do you see what I mean?
Truth :
...of course.
Bill :
Bless You.
Truth :
Actually, I'm glad to have
the chance to talk to you, Bill...
Bill :
You're My Rock, Verity.
Oh...You know that. My Rock.
Truth :
I don't know about that...
Bill :
Since that day you first started
telling me about Doctor Who,
I've been spellbound.
Spellbound!
But look at us now, eh?
Just look at us!
Our arses are in butter!
OLD GRANDFATHER :
My Dear Steven, History sometimes gives us a terrible shock, and that is because we don't quite fully understand.
Why should we? After all, we're all too small to realise its final pattern.
Therefore, Don't try and Judge it from where you stand. I Was Right to do as I did.
Yes, that I firmly Believe.
(Steven leaves The TARDIS without another word.) OLD GRANDFATHER :Even after all this time he cannot understand. I dare not change The Course of History.
Well, at least I taught him to take some precautions.
He did remember to look at The Scanner before he opened The Doors.
Now they're all gone. All gone.
None of them could understand.
Not even my little Susan, or Vicki.
And as for Barbara and Chatterton. Chesterton.
They were all too impatient to get back to their own time. And now, Steven.
Perhaps I should go Home, back to My Own Planet.
....But I can't.
I can't.
SCENE I. King Lear's palace.
Enter KENT, GLOUCESTER, and EDMUNDKENT
I thought the king had more affected the Duke ofGLOUCESTER
Albany than Cornwall.
It did always seem so to us: but now, in theKENT
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.
Is not this Your Son, my lord?GLOUCESTER
His breeding, sir, hath been at my charge: I haveKENT
so often blushed to acknowledge him, that now I am
brazed to it.
I cannot conceive you.GLOUCESTER
Sir, this young fellow's mother could: whereuponKENT
she grew round-wombed, and had, indeed, sir, a son
for her cradle ere she had a husband for her bed.
Do you smell a fault?
I cannot wish the fault undone, the issue of itGLOUCESTER
being so proper.
But I have, sir, a son by order of law, some yearEDMUND
elder than this, who yet is no dearer in my account:
though this knave came something saucily into the
world before he was sent for, yet was his mother
fair; there was good sport at his making, and the
whoreson must be acknowledged. Do you know this
noble gentleman, Edmund?
No, my lord.GLOUCESTER
My lord of Kent: remember him hereafter as myEDMUND
honourable friend.
My services to your lordship.KENT
I must love you, and sue to know you better.EDMUND
Sir, I shall study deserving.GLOUCESTER
He hath been out nine years, and away he shall
again. The King is coming.
Sennet. Enter KING LEAR, CORNWALL, ALBANY, GONERIL, REGAN, CORDELIA, and AttendantsKING LEAR
Attend the lords of France and Burgundy, Gloucester.GLOUCESTER
I shall, my liege.
Exeunt GLOUCESTER and EDMUNDKING LEAR
Meantime we shall express our darker purpose.GONERIL
Give me the map there. Know that we have divided
In three our kingdom: and 'tis our fast intent
To shake all cares and business from our age;
Conferring them on younger strengths, while we
Unburthen'd crawl toward death. 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. The princes, France and Burgundy,
Great rivals in our youngest daughter's love,
Long in our court have made their amorous sojourn,
And here are to be answer'd. 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. Goneril,
Our eldest-born, speak first.
Sir, I love you more than words can wield the matter;CORDELIA
Dearer than eye-sight, space, and liberty;
Beyond what can be valued, rich or rare;
No less than life, with grace, health, beauty, honour;
As much as child e'er loved, or father found;
A love that makes breath poor, and speech unable;
Beyond all manner of so much I love you.
[Aside] What shall Cordelia do?LEAR
Love, and be silent.
Of all these bounds, even from this line to this,REGAN
With shadowy forests and with champains rich'd,
With plenteous rivers and wide-skirted meads,
We make thee lady: to thine and Albany's issue
Be this perpetual. What says our second daughter,
Our dearest Regan, wife to Cornwall? Speak.
Sir, I am madeCORDELIA
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.
[Aside] Then poor Cordelia!KING LEAR
And yet not so; since, I am sure, my love's
More richer than my tongue.
To thee and thine hereditary everCORDELIA
Remain this ample third of our fair kingdom;
No less in space, validity, and pleasure,
Than that conferr'd on Goneril. Now, our joy,
Although the last, not least; to whose young love
The vines of France and milk of Burgundy
Strive to be interess'd; what can you say to draw
A third more opulent than your sisters? Speak.
Nothing, my lord.KING LEAR
Nothing!CORDELIA
Nothing.KING LEAR
Nothing will come of nothing: speak again.CORDELIA
Unhappy that I am, I cannot heaveKING LEAR
My heart into my mouth: I love your majesty
According to my bond; nor more nor less.
How, how, Cordelia! mend your speech a little,CORDELIA
Lest it may mar your fortunes.
Good my lord,KING LEAR
You have begot me, bred me, loved me: I
Return those duties back as are right fit,
Obey you, love you, and most honour you.
Why have my sisters husbands, if they say
They love you all? Haply, when I shall wed,
That lord whose hand must take my plight shall carry
Half my love with him, half my care and duty:
Sure, I shall never marry like my sisters,
To love my father all.
But goes thy heart with this?CORDELIA
Ay, good my lord.KING LEAR
So young, and so untender?CORDELIA
So young, my lord, and true.KING LEAR
Let it be so; thy truth, then, be thy dower:KENT
For, by the sacred radiance of the sun,
The mysteries of Hecate, and the night;
By all the operation of the orbs
From whom we do exist, and cease to be;
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, for ever. The barbarous Scythian,
Or he that makes his generation messes
To gorge his appetite, shall to my bosom
Be as well neighbour'd, pitied, and relieved,
As Thou my sometime daughter.
Good my liege,--KING LEAR
Peace, Kent!
Come not between the dragon and his wrath.
I loved her most, and thought to set my rest
On her kind nursery. Hence, and avoid my sight!
So be my grave my peace, as here I give
Her father's heart from her! Call France; who stirs?
Call Burgundy. Cornwall and Albany,
With my two daughters' dowers digest this third:
Let pride, which she calls plainness, marry her.
I do invest you jointly with my power,
Pre-eminence, and all the large effects
That troop with majesty. Ourself, by monthly course,
With reservation of an hundred knights,
By you to be sustain'd, shall our abode
Make with you by due turns. Only we still retain
The name, and all the additions to a king;
The sway, revenue, execution of the rest,
Beloved sons, be yours: which to confirm,
This coronet part betwixt you.
Giving the crownKENT
Royal Lear,KING LEAR
Whom I have ever honour'd as my king,
Loved as my father, as my master follow'd,
As my great patron thought on in my prayers,--
The bow is bent and drawn, make from the shaft.KENT
Let it fall rather, though the fork invadeKING LEAR
The region of my heart: be Kent unmannerly,
When Lear is mad. What wilt thou do, old man?
Think'st thou that duty shall have dread to speak,
When power to flattery bows? To plainness honour's bound,
When majesty stoops to folly. Reverse thy doom;
And, in thy best consideration, cheque
This hideous rashness: answer my life my judgment,
Thy youngest daughter does not love thee least;
Nor are those empty-hearted whose low sound
Reverbs no hollowness.
Kent, on thy life, No More.KENT
My Life I never held but as a pawnKING LEAR
To wage against thy enemies; nor fear to lose it,
Thy safety being the motive.
Out of my sight!KENT
See better, Lear; and let me still remainKING LEAR
The true blank of thine eye.
Now, By Apollo,--KENT
Now, By Apollo, King,KING LEAR
Thou swear'st thy gods in vain.
O, vassal! miscreant!ALBANY CORNWALL
Laying his hand on his sword
Dear sir, forbear.KENT
Do:KING LEAR
Kill thy physician, and the fee bestow
Upon thy foul disease. Revoke thy doom;
Or, whilst I can vent clamour from my throat,
I'll tell thee thou dost evil.
Hear me, recreant!KENT
On thine allegiance, hear me!
Since thou hast sought to make us break our vow,
Which we durst never yet, and with strain'd pride
To come between our sentence and our power,
Which nor our nature nor our place can bear,
Our potency made good, take thy reward.
Five days we do allot thee, for provision
To shield thee from diseases of the world;
And on the sixth to turn thy hated back
Upon our kingdom: if, on the tenth day following,
Thy banish'd trunk be found in our dominions,
The moment is thy death. Away! by Jupiter,
This shall not be revoked.
Fare thee well, king: sith thus Thou wilt appear,
Freedom lives hence, and banishment is here.
To CORDELIA
The gods to their dear shelter take thee, maid,
That justly think'st, and hast most rightly said!
To REGAN and GONERIL
And your large speeches may your deeds approve,
That good effects may spring from words of love.
Thus Kent, O princes, bids you all adieu;
He'll shape his old course in a country new.
Exit
GLOUCESTER
Flourish. Re-enter GLOUCESTER, with KING OF FRANCE, BURGUNDY, and Attendants
Here's France and Burgundy, my noble lord.KING LEAR
My lord of Burgundy.BURGUNDY
We first address towards you, who with this king
Hath rivall'd for our daughter: what, in the least,
Will you require in present dower with her,
Or cease your quest of love?
Most royal majesty,KING LEAR
I crave no more than what your highness offer'd,
Nor will you tender less.
Right noble Burgundy,BURGUNDY
When she was dear to us, we did hold her so;
But now her price is fall'n. Sir, there she stands:
If aught within that little seeming substance,
Or all of it, with our displeasure pieced,
And nothing more, may fitly like your grace,
She's there, and she is yours.
I know no answer.KING LEAR
Will you, with those infirmities she owes,BURGUNDY
Unfriended, new-adopted to our hate,
Dower'd with our curse, and stranger'd with our oath,
Take her, or leave her?
Pardon me, royal sir;KING LEAR
Election makes not up on such conditions.
Then leave her, sir; for, by the power that made me,KING OF FRANCE
I tell you all her wealth.
To KING OF FRANCE
For you, great king,
I would not from your love make such a stray,
To match you where I hate; therefore beseech you
To avert your liking a more worthier way
Than on a wretch whom nature is ashamed
Almost to acknowledge hers.
This is most strange,CORDELIA
That she, that even but now was your best object,
The argument of your praise, balm of your age,
Most best, most dearest, should in this trice of time
Commit a thing so monstrous, to dismantle
So many folds of favour. Sure, her offence
Must be of such unnatural degree,
That monsters it, or your fore-vouch'd affection
Fall'n into taint: which to believe of her,
Must be a faith that reason without miracle
Could never plant in me.
I yet beseech your majesty,--KING LEAR
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 dishonour'd step,
That hath deprived me of your grace and favour;
But even for want of that for which I am richer,
A still-soliciting eye, and such a tongue
As I am glad I have not, though not to have it
Hath lost me in your liking.
Better thouKING OF FRANCE
Hadst not been born than not to have pleased me better.
Is it but this,--a tardiness in natureBURGUNDY
Which often leaves the history unspoke
That it intends to do? My lord of Burgundy,
What say you to the lady? Love's not love
When it is mingled with regards that stand
Aloof from the entire point. Will you have her?
She is herself a dowry.
Royal Lear,KING LEAR
Give but that portion which yourself proposed,
And here I take Cordelia by the hand,
Duchess of Burgundy.
Nothing: I have sworn; I am firm.BURGUNDY
I am sorry, then, you have so lost a fatherCORDELIA
That you must lose a husband.
Peace be with Burgundy!KING OF FRANCE
Since that respects of fortune are his love,
I shall not be his wife.
Fairest Cordelia, that art most rich, being poor;KING LEAR
Most choice, forsaken; and most loved, despised!
Thee and thy virtues here I seize upon:
Be it lawful I take up what's cast away.
Gods, gods! 'tis strange that from their cold'st neglect
My love should kindle to inflamed respect.
Thy dowerless daughter, king, thrown to my chance,
Is queen of us, of ours, and our fair France:
Not all the dukes of waterish Burgundy
Can buy this unprized precious maid of me.
Bid them farewell, Cordelia, though unkind:
Thou losest here, a better where to find.
Thou hast her, France: let her be thine; for weKING OF FRANCE
Have no such daughter, nor shall ever see
That face of hers again. Therefore be gone
Without our grace, our love, our benison.
Come, noble Burgundy.
Flourish. Exeunt all but KING OF FRANCE, GONERIL, REGAN, and CORDELIA
Bid farewell to your sisters.CORDELIA
The jewels of our father, with wash'd eyesREGAN
Cordelia leaves you: I know you what you are;
And like a sister am most loath to call
Your faults as they are named. Use well our father:
To your professed bosoms I commit him
But yet, alas, stood I within his grace,
I would prefer him to a better place.
So, farewell to you both.
Prescribe not us our duties.GONERIL
Let your studyCORDELIA
Be to content your lord, who hath received you
At fortune's alms. You have obedience scanted,
And well are worth the want that you have wanted.
Time shall unfold what plaited cunning hides:KING OF FRANCE
Who cover faults, at last shame them derides.
Well may you prosper!
Come, my fair Cordelia.
Exeunt KING OF FRANCE and CORDELIAGONERIL
Sister, it is not a little I have to say of whatREGAN
most nearly appertains to us both. I think our
father will hence to-night.
That's most certain, and with you; next month with us.GONERIL
You see how full of changes his age is; theREGAN
observation we have made of it hath not been
little: he always loved our sister most; and
with what poor judgment he hath now cast her off
appears too grossly.
'Tis the infirmity of his age: yet he hath everGONERIL
but slenderly known himself.
The best and soundest of his time hath been butREGAN
rash; then must we look to receive from his age,
not alone the imperfections of long-engraffed
condition, but therewithal the unruly waywardness
that infirm and choleric years bring with them.
Such unconstant starts are we like to have fromGONERIL
him as this of Kent's banishment.
There is further compliment of leavetakingREGAN
between France and him. Pray you, let's hit
together: if our father carry authority with
such dispositions as he bears, this last
surrender of his will but offend us.
We shall further think on't.GONERIL
We must do something, and i' the heat.
Exeunt
Embeded Charms and Magicks
Curses :KING LEAR
Hear, nature, hear; dear goddess, hear!
Suspend thy purpose, if thou didst intend
To make this creature fruitful!
Into her womb convey sterility!
Dry up in her the organs of increase;
And from her derogate body never spring
A babe to honour her! If she must teem,
Create her child of spleen; that it may live,
And be a thwart disnatured torment to her!
Let it stamp wrinkles in her brow of youth;
With cadent tears fret channels in her cheeks;
Turn all her mother's pains and benefits
To laughter and contempt; that she may feel
How sharper than a serpent's tooth it is
To have a thankless child! Away, away!
Exit
Some Time Later....
Okay then, so - successful test!
I guess so - I suggest we split up and search.
I guess so - I suggest we split up and search.
Good idea - we can do more damage that way.
No comments:
Post a Comment