The Shakespeare Conference: SHK 13.1199  Tuesday, 30 April 2002

From:           Jacob Goldberg <
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Date:           Monday, 29 Apr 2002 17:36:28 EDT
Subject:        King Lear's Daughters

How old are King Lear's daughters?  The two older daughters, Goneril and
Regan, are married, have no children, but are of child-bearing age, as
we learn when Lear brings   that famous curse down on Goneril's
thankless head.  At the time of the curse, Lear is 80.

Assuming that Goneril was 25 when Lear implored Nature to "dry up in her
the organs of increase", Lear would have been in his middle 50's when he
fathered her, and several years older when he fathered Regan and
Cordelia.

Does this ever pose a problem for a director?

Jacob Goldberg

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