Tragedy · King Lear
King Lear Characters and Their Relationships
17 characters, 42 connections. Pick a name to read who they are and rehearse their lines.
Family
3 pairs- LearCordeliaHis youngest and only truly loving daughter
- GloucesterEdmundHis bastard son, who destroys him
- GloucesterEdgarHis legitimate son, wrongly condemned
Romantic
5 pairsConflict
14 pairs- LearGonerilHis eldest daughter, who dismantles him piece by piece
- LearReganHis second daughter, no kinder than her sister
- CordeliaGonerilHer elder sister, whose flattery she will not match
- CordeliaReganHer other sister, equally hollow in her professions
- GonerilReganHer sister and eventual rival for Edmund
- ReganGloucesterThe earl she helps torture
- KentOswaldThe steward he despises and beats
- GloucesterCornwallHis torturer
- EdgarEdmundHis bastard half-brother and destroyer
- EdgarOswaldThe steward he kills to protect his father
- AlbanyEdmundThe rival he ultimately defeats
- CornwallKentThe loyal earl he humiliates
- OswaldGloucesterThe blind man he tries to kill for reward
- ServantsCornwallTheir master, whom the First Servant defies
Political
13 pairs- LearKentHis banished earl, who never leaves him
- CordeliaKentThe banished earl who serves her cause
- EdmundCornwallThe husband whose favour he wins by betrayal
- AlbanyGloucesterThe earl whose suffering awakens his conscience
- AlbanyLearThe king his wife dishonours
- OswaldGonerilHis mistress, whose cruelty he executes
- FranceLearHis new wife's father, whose rage he witnesses
- GentlemanKentThe lord he serves alongside
- GentlemanLearThe king he follows into the storm
- GentlemanCordeliaThe princess he serves in Act IV
- DoctorCordeliaHis mistress and patron
- DoctorLearHis patient
- Old ManGloucesterHis lord of eighty years