This chapter's epigraph comes from the play's opening soliloquy, "Ulter till 'Rot' listen to me" . It's a quote from Shakespeare's "The Merchant of Venice" , in which King Lear laments the loss of his son, who has been killed in the line of duty. Lear's son has recently been killed by a white bear, which he says is the result of his father's infidelity. The white bear has come to live with Lear and his friends, and Lear is furious that his son has not been able to join them. He tells the group that he has just found a new love, and that he plans to introduce them to each other later.