King Lear by William Shakespeare

Two sisters, both alike in inhuman cruelty, in fair Albion where William Shakespeare lays the scene, from an old kingdom break to new mutiny, where unrighteous deeds make unrighteous hands unclean. From forth the fatal hearts of these two foes, these sisters do take each others lives. Or do they? In modern day screenplay writing, writers are introduced to the idea that one page of script is equal to one minute on screen. This same application is also used in playwriting. When Regan is carried offstage, she can be perceived by readers as both alive and dead at same time. The reader does not know the outcome of her fate until roughly four pages of script have passed between her getting carried offstage to the Gentleman running back onstage. For Goneril, she leaves two pages after Regan and is then found dead two pages later. What happened during those two minutes before Goneril? Goneril did not commit suicide; Regan, out of her love-torn jealousy for Edmund, was able to stab Goneril in the heart with a dagger before she herself died from poison.

It is not clear from the initial report that Goneril died by her own hand. The Gentleman who brings back the dagger exclaims to Albany:

‘T is hot, it smokes;

It came even from the heart of— O, she’s dead!

………………………………………………………..

Your lady, sir, your lady: and her sister

By her poisoned; she hath confess’d it (V.iii.114-115).

If the Gentleman is the same person who went off after Goneril when Albany ordered him to follow her, logically he would have reported that Goneril was the one who stabbed the dagger into her chest. This same character would have also been with Goneril when she died, having been ordered by Albany to “govern her” (V.iii.112) in case she did anything reckless. ...

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...sed him, just like how she used everyone else. Since Regan was not around to hear these claims, she still believes that Goneril loves Edmund. When Goneril comes between Regan and the man Regan loves, it is only a matter of time before either sister does something drastic.

There is something poetic of having the person, who is, arguably, one of the most formidable characters in Shakespeare’s work, die at the hands of her own blood. In many stories, the villain is killed by an act of love. Goneril, having a lack of empathy for anyone, could not be stopped until someone close to her was able to stab her in the heart. Regan could kill Goneril because no one else could, redeeming her character before she died as doing one good thing to make up for her other atrocities in the play. For never was a story of loves so weakend, than this of Goneril and her sister Regan.