User:Soccerangel379/Regan (King Lear)

New article name is Regan (King Lear)

Regan is a fictional character in Shakespeare's tragic play, King Lear. She is the middle child of King Lear and married to the Duke of Cornwall. Similarly to her older sister, Goneril, Regan is attracted to Edmund. Both sisters are eager for power and even convince their father with false flattery to hand over his kingdom.

"Sir, I am made

Of the self same metal that my sister is,

And prize me at her worth. In my true heart,

I find she names my very deed of love;

Only she comes too short, that I profess

Myself an enemy to all other joys,

Which the most precious square of sense possesses,

And find I am alone felicitate

In your dear highness' love."

-Regan's falsely flattering speech to King Lear, King Lear 1.1.67-74.

Later in the play, Lear leaves his kingdom to live with Goneril. She rejects him. After Lear leaves Goneril’s house, he asks Regan to take him in. She tells him he has too many servants and knights, just as Goneril said. Unwilling to budge, Regan’s defiance drives Lear out into the storm.

In the final Act, Goneril poisons Regan’s drink after learning that they share a desire for Edmund. Regan cries, “Sick, O sick!” to which Goneril replies in an aside, “If not, I’ll ne’er trust medicine.” (5.3. 97-98). Regan quickly becomes ill and dies.

Performance on Screen

 * Monica Dolan. King Lear (2009) PBS
 * Claire Laurie. King Lear (1999) Dir. Brian Blessed & Tony Rotherham
 * Amanda Redman. Performance King Lear (1998) Dir. Richard Eyre
 * Diana Rigg. King Lear (1983) (TV) Dir. Michael Elliott
 * Penelope Wilton. King Lear (1982) (TV) Dir. Jonathan Miller
 * Ann Lynn. King Lear (1976) (TV) Dir. Tony Davenall
 * Ellen Holly. King Lear (1974) (TV) Dir. Edwin Sherin
 * Susan Engel. King Lear (1971 UK Film) Dir. Peter Brook
 * Galina Volchek. Korol Lir (1971 USSR Film) Dir. Grigori Kozintsev & Iosif Shapiro
 * Margaret Phillips. King Lear (1953) (TV) Dir. Andrew McCullough