Discussion questions – King Lear: Discuss the effect of suffering on both Lear and Gloucester.

1. Discuss the effect of suffering on both Lear and Gloucester.
2. Explain the irony in the deaths of Lear and Cordelia.
3. Compare the character Edmund in King Lear to the character Iago in Othello. Are their motives similar? Is one a more developed character than the other and why is this so?
4. Analyze the following quote taken from the letters of John Keats. Take a stand for or against the argument posed:

“The excellence of every art is its intensity, capable of making all disagreeables evaporate from their being in close relationship with Beauty and Truth. Examine King Lear and you will find this exemplified throughout.” (“Keats in a letter to George and Thomas Keats”, 1817)