- Edition: King Leir
King Leir
- Introduction
- Texts of this edition
- Contextual materials
- Facsimiles
100King Leir, Scene 14
Cast
King Leir: Don Allison
Perillus: Peter Higginson
Cambria: Scott Clarkson
Attendant: Scott Maynard
Ragan: Derek Genova
Queen's Men Dramaturgy: Rhetoric of Emotion (Sc. 14)
Read about the rhetoric of emotion in Scene 10
The opening section of the scene is the second of the carefully crafted rhetorical exchanges between Leir and Perillus and it unpacks many of the play's key themes. Each of the two old men competes in his concern for the health and safety of the other, offering point and counterpoint in their insistence on who is more deserving of sympathy and assistance. The two good men of King Leir each try to outdo their support for the other, a situation that is repeated in the climactic Scene 19. Perillus is unwilling to take the support of his master (TLN 1099-1100) while Leir insists he is to blame for Perillus' suffering and yet helpless to alleviate it (TLN 1101-1106).
The fact that his king should have become so powerless aggravates Perillus' grief so Leir instructs him as follows: "Cease, good Perillus, for to call me 'lord,'/And think me but the shadow of myself" (TLN 1110-1111).
Read more about the rhetoric of emotion
Watch video of Scene 14 on the Performing the Queen's Men website. (The video footage is password protected. Click on "Cancel" in the pop-up window to obtain password.)