# Albany — King Lear character guide

> Albany in King Lear by William Shakespeare.

**Role:** supporting

**Also known as:** Albany O Goneril, Albany Sir, Albany The, Albany Who, Albany Who dead, Albany Gloucester, Albany Cornwall

**First appearance:** 0002-act-i-scene-i

## Snapshot

Goneril's husband, a cautious duke who begins the play overshadowed by his wife's ambition but slowly becomes the conscience her cruelty cannot silence.

## Who they are

Albany occupies an awkward position: he is married to Goneril yet increasingly appalled by what she and her sister are willing to do. Early on he seems passive, almost irrelevant, but his revulsion at their treatment of Lear and Gloucester grows into open defiance. His late arrival as a moral counterweight matters because it shows that even inside the corrupt court, someone can still refuse to participate.

## Relationships

### [Edgar](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/king_lear_se/characters/edgar)

_friendship_

Albany allies with Edgar to defeat Edmund and restore justice, respecting Edgar's integrity.

### [Edgar](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/king_lear_se/characters/edgar)

_friendship_

Albany allies with Edgar to defeat Edmund and restore justice, respecting Edgar's integrity.

### [Edgar](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/king_lear_se/characters/edgar)

_friendship_

Albany allies with Edgar to defeat Edmund and restore justice, respecting Edgar's integrity.

## In the story

### [Scene I](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/king_lear_se/chapters/act-i-scene-i)

Present during Lear's division of the kingdom and Kent's banishment.

### [Scene IV](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/king_lear_se/chapters/act-i-scene-iv)

Albany questions Lear's anger and later warns Goneril against excessive fear, but is overruled.

### [Scene I](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/king_lear_se/chapters/act-iii-scene-i)

Referenced as one of the dukes involved in a secret division with Cornwall, with servants spying for France.

### [Scene II](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/king_lear_se/chapters/act-iv-scene-ii)

Confronts Goneril for her treatment of Lear, calls her a 'tiger' and 'devil', and later vows to avenge Gloucester.

### [Scene I](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/king_lear_se/chapters/act-v-scene-i)

Albany reveals that Lear has joined Cordelia and receives a letter from Edgar, showing his conflicted loyalties.

### [Scene III](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/king_lear_se/chapters/act-v-scene-iii)

Arrests Edmund for treason, orders the rescue of Lear and Cordelia, and resigns power to Edgar and Kent.

## Links

- HTML: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/king_lear_se/characters/albany
- Book: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/king_lear_se
- All characters: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/king_lear_se/characters