Topic Six (1.6): Reading the Play – Act V
Introduction
In this topic, you will complete your reading of King Lear. You will focus on Act V, the final act of the play, making detailed notes and annotations as you go.
Read and Make Notes
Read and make notes on Act V, on pages 357 to 392, using the resources and guidance below.
Tasks
- Deal with one scene at a time.
- For every scene, you should:
- Highlight important quotations as you go along;
- Read the accompanying notes in the text at the same time;
- Use the Sparknotes summary and analysis to consolidate your understanding once you have finished reading:
EXPLORE – Scene by Scene Summary and Analysis (Sparknotes) Links to an external site.
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- Make a very brief summary of the scene, listing key events using simple bullet points. This will be an important ‘map’ of the events of the play to which you can refer later on.
Consolidate
- Now you have read Act V of King Lear, you will find it helpful to consolidate what you have learnt by watching the following videos from MASSOLIT.
- Jot down any key points on your Critical Viewpoints Grid as you watch:
WATCH – Act 5, Scenes 1-2: The Battle – King Lear (MASSOLIT) Links to an external site.
WATCH – Act 5, Scene 3: Edmund is Defeated – King Lear (MASSOLIT) Links to an external site.
WATCH – Act 5, Scene 3: The Promised End? – King Lear (MASSOLIT) Links to an external site.
- The following videos are taken from the second MASSOLIT lecture series and draw together Acts IV and V, considering them in terms of reconciliation and reunion.
- Make sure you have your Critical Viewpoints Grid as you watch.
WATCH – Reconciliation and Reunion: Shakespeare – King Lear (MASSOLIT) Links to an external site.
- You should now watch a film version of the play to consolidate what you have read – or a second version if you already watched one before you began reading.
- See the list of film versions in Topic 1.2 for recommendations.
- If you have not yet listened to this, now is the time to listen to this audio version of the play:
Terminology
Make sure you understand any new literary terminology covered in this topic. You may like to make flashcards of key terms now, to help you with revision later on.