Arraign her first; ’tis Goneril. I here take my oath before this honourable assembly, kicked the poor king her father.
– William Shakespeare
King Lear, Act 3, Scene 6. Lear presents a sad spectable as he holds a mock trial for his ungrateful daughters, calling for Goneril to be arraigned first. She stands accused in Lear’s comic and absurd indictment of the crime of having "kicked the poor king her father." With Lear presiding, Edgar, Kent and the Fool are the trial judges, and the defendants (where are not there) are represented by a stool. In this scene Lear’s descent to madness borders on the ridiculous.