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King Lear Satire

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What exactly is a satire? A satire is the use of humor, irony. or exaggeration to criticize someone’s behavior, life, values, or ideas, especially in concurrent events and in social-political issues. Writers most often use satire in literature to make a statement about society or certain people who conform to a general idea that is prominent in society. One particular story, King Lear, is thought to be a satire about King James VI and I because of the parallels to his life. Through comparison and contrast one can determine if King Lear is indeed a satire of the world renowned King James, or if it is all just a coincidental phenomenon.
In the argument that King Lear is an actual satire, the parallels of the story to King James creates a strong …show more content…

King Lear, on the other hand, went insane due to the way his daughters treated him, causing him to run out into a raging storm. Another similarity was how their arrogant behavior showed they thought everyone was beneath them. In King Lear, he believes Regan and Goneril’s lies about their amount of love for him, while King James’ speech in “The True Law of Free Monarchies”, with many details explains how he sees himself as the “father” of England, displaying the King’s self-proclaimed superiority. A loose parallel to King James’ life is his three children, Charles, Henry, and Elizabeth. King James children seem to parallel King Lear’s children, for example Charles is the equivalent to Cordelia be due to their shared French heritage. His other two children Henry and Elizabeth are associated with Regan and Goneril also because of their heritage. Both the fictional king and the actual king were thought as old, cantankerous men. Although King James was only 41 at the time, during that era he was considered old. In addition, his demeanor and disposition mirrored …show more content…

Although both sides have incriminating evidence that supports each side, the story is either a satire, or not a satire. Given the information presented, personally I believe that it was a satire. For one I believe that the sides have details that are almost on an equilibrium with each other, but it seems that the pro side outweighs the other side slightly. Even though King Lear seems to be based on King Leir, I think that Shakespeare only based the story on the old tale to disguise the fact that King Lear was a satire. This is significant because often when people try to teach something to someone or tell a close friend something, they do it with subtly, especially when it can jeopardize their relationship with said friend. In this case, I believe that Shakespeare masked the satirization with King Leir to hint to King James about his tyrannical and unnecessary ways, suggesting it subtly. Another main reason I am convinced that the story was a satire is because the name change from Leir to Lear, I believe Shakespeare did know the meaning of Lear and he was trying to teach the king a lesson rather than the audience. My reasons behind this belief is how Lear is the main person in the story, and the most similar to the actual king. Given that I think Shakespeare made similarities to make King James personally connect

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