Be Kent unmannerly, when Lear is mad (1.1.147-152)

KENT

Let it fall rather, though the fork invade The region of my heart: be Kent unmannerly, When Lear is mad. What wilt thou do, old man? Think'st thou that duty shall have dread to speak, When power to flattery bows? To plainness honour's bound, When majesty stoops to folly.

Despite Lear’s second warning, Kent is willing to take the wrath if it protects Lear or Cordelia. He expresses this by saying “let it fall”. He knows that despite the fact that the event can technically be prevented, Lear’s growing madness makes accidents inevitable; this shows us the absolute loyalty that Kent has considering how willing he is to be hurt in his protection of Lear. He continues with “rather, though the fork invade the region of my heart”. Region suggests the country, and so, if we apply this metaphor to the country itself it could foreshadow the invasion of England. A fork is a name for a two-pointed arrowhead; this could suggest that two sides will invade together: Goneril and Regan, from different sides: North and South. This invasion will penetrate not just the country’s order but the hearts of the people living in it, people like Kent and Lear. It is ironic though as Lear is the one shooting this arrow; he is the one starting the event that will kill him. Kent also - like many other “good” characters - mentions his heart. This acknowledgement of the organ could show a common goodness between them. Furthermore, the diseased descriptions of Goneril and Regan elsewhere foreshadow the people they will hurt (Regan also mentions her heart and clearly is an antagonist, however, Goneril does end up poisoning her). Kent next uses isocolon to juxtapose himself with Lear: “be Kent unmannerly, when Lear is mad. This makes these two clauses seem natural together and aligns them with one another. Moreover, in this quote a certain balance is attained displaying how if “Lear is mad”, Kent must be “unmannerly” and vice versa. Notice that Lear and Kent use familiar pronouns like “thou” together. Through this a greater sense of closeness and comfort is attained, making it all the more shocking that Lear is threatening to kill Kent. It also perhaps shows how through his recent actions, he has lost the kingship once granted to him before, putting him on Kent’s level. Kent calls Lear “old man”, taking his royalty away from him and showing him for what he truly is; he is now like Kent: an “old man”. Kent’s ability to the see this (much like Cordelia) shows his intuition, and his expression of the truth shows him to be an honest and blunt man when he needs to be. This naturally aligns him with Cordelia and puts him in opposition to those who lie or conceal the truth: Goneril, Regan, Edmund, and Cornwall. In this line and the next two, Kent uses a constant barrage of rhetorical questions; the use of these shows Kent’s intelligence: if he openly disagrees with Lear, Lear will only get madder and more violent - making more and more awful decisions, but Kent must warn Lear of the consequences of these choices, for they will damage not only Cordelia but Lear himself. By asking these important questions, Lear is forced to consider the multitudinous reasons for his actions being wrong. This is by far the safest way of attacking Lear’s rashness, and despite the method’s failure - it is the most optimal method of openly opposing Lear. In fact, the sheer number of basic questions that can be asked about the decision speaks to the irrationality of them on its own. The anaphora of “When” in Kent’s speech acts to create a rule of 3, binding the 3 sections to each other, and showing a progression that sums up Lear’s situation in the play and in particular this act: “Lear is mad”, “power to flattery bows”, “majesty stoops to folly”. Perhaps this progression is a warning about the madness is rulers; if a ruler loses his or her mind then these events are set into motion; it will always end the way Lear’s tale does: in death. Kent says to Lear “Think’st thou that duty shall have dread to speak when power to flattery bows?”. “Duty” here is Kent, “power”, and Goneril and Regan are “flattery”. By attributing abstract nouns to people - Shakespeare distances his message from the story in favour of it representing a much larger problem in the real world when it comes to majestic decisions. Kent goes on to say that his “honour’s bound” “to plainness” (plainness being honesty) “when majesty stoops to folly”. Kent clearly feels that it’s his duty to speak up to foolish decisions and that honesty and transparency are that which is important.