Lear decides that he wants to retire and divide his kingdom 3 parts to give his 3 daughters Goneril, Regan, and Cordelia. He calls for his daughter and he makes them confess their love for him to make them beg for his assets.
I dedicate myself to you my lord, no amounts of joy will pass my need to serve you
Praise me now!
I love you as a father, no more, no less
Regan and Goneril gave heartfelt speeches to their father and Cordelia say, “ Nothing, my lord”(|,|,90). This confuses Lear as he was expecting a beautiful speech from her as he considered her as his favourite daughter. He is furious and he banishes her from his kingdom and decides to split it 2 ways for his other daughters.
We must do something, he is out of control
Is this really the best decision?
I am king you must worship me, be gone Cordelia!!!
I hope my sisters love you well
Let me see what you have in your hands
Gloucester and Edmund are together and Gloucester catches Edmund trying to hide something and Edmund lets him know that it is just a letter with no importance. Gloucester doesn’t believe it and insists, “ Give me the letter, sir”(|,||,40). Gloucester reads the letter and finds out that Edgar is trying to go against him and tells Edmund to go get him. The audience finds out that Edmund wrote this letter to trick his father into believing that Edgar wrote this letter.