King Lear chooses to divide his kingdom among his three daughters and will determine their share based on their answers to his question: “which one of you loves me most?”

 

King Lear and his Fool have been driven outdoors into a thunderstorm. As they try to see shelter, Lear rages at the rain, thunder, and wind about his plight and begins to lose his sanity.

Edgar disguised as Poor Tom pretends to lead his father, the blinded Gloucester, to a cliff’s edge since the older man wishes to end his life and jump to his death. However, the son has a different plan in mind to cure Gloucester of his death wish.

 

After King Lear has been rescued and cared for following his ordeal in the thunderstorm, he is reunited with his beloved daughter Cordelia. When he first wakes from sleep, he is confused by his surroundings and does not trust what he sees.