King Lear
Characters in King Lear
9 characters, main characters first.Main characters
King Lear
The aging king whose vanity and misjudgment bring ruin upon himself and his kingdom.
Antagonists
Goneril
Lear's eldest daughter, whose ambition helps destroy him.
Regan
Lear's second daughter, equally ruthless.
Edmund
Gloucester's scheming illegitimate son.
Supporting characters
Cordelia
Lear's youngest, most honest daughter, disowned for refusing to flatter him.
Earl of Gloucester
Lear's loyal courtier whose blindness to his legitimate son's honesty mirrors Lear's own misjudgment; betrayed by his illegitimate son Edmund and blinded on stage.
Edgar (King Lear)
Gloucester's legitimate son, falsely accused of treachery by his half-brother Edmund; disguises himself as the beggar Poor Tom to survive.
Kent (King Lear)
Lear's loyal earl, banished for opposing the king's rash division of the kingdom, who returns in disguise to continue serving him.
Fool (King Lear)
Lear's court jester, whose barbed wit is the one voice that dares tell the king the truth about his mistakes.