There’s tension, intrigue,
distrust and anticipation throughout the country. An imminent civil war is brewing.
Oswald left Goneril’s at 4:30
in the morning and Kent (Caius) left 15 mins later. They’ve traveled many hours and they’ve
traveled hard. They’re exhausted.
They’ve gone sleepless this past night.
They arrive at 5:00 am. It’s late
Nov so it’s cold and dark. Regan and
Cornwall have just retired. We know from
the opening scene that Kent is a close friend of Gloucester’s so obviously he’s
been to Gloucester’s castle before and knows his way around.
Since Oswald doesn’t know where to set his horses he obviously hasn’t been here before and there’s no reason why he should have.
Since Oswald never would have
gotten a good look at Caius (Kent in disguise) in the third scene and since
it’s dark, there’s no reason he’d recognize him now. Kent, though, would certainly recognize
Oswald, simply by his voice. In his
pursuit of Oswald he has unwittingly worked himself into a rage. What creates even greater outrage is that he
thinks Oswald does know who he is.
Since Oswald doesn’t know where to set his horses he obviously hasn’t been here before and there’s no reason why he should have.
