Discussion Write Up Day one of our discussion brought up the catharsis in King Lear (#4). I agreed that with Gloucester’s death there was not so much catharsis as there was sympathy and happiness. As readers, I think we were happier to see Gloucester put out of his misery “Pluck out his poor eyes” (3.7.58) and relieved at the fact that he died “smilingly” (5.3.201). I agreed that we readers were happy about Edgar’s ending since he had so much bad fortune throughout the play he deserved a break, which came in the form of him inheriting power. I thought Joe’s comment was interesting in pointing out that both Edgar and Kent were at the bottom of the wheel at the start of the play with Kent banished “Out of my sight” (1.1.157) by Lear simply …show more content…
Although the fool being brutally honest may not be that nice to Lear at least he is helping Lear realize the choices he made were wrong. I found the question about why the fool disappears very interesting and after thinking about it came to the conclusion that by the time he disappeared Lear has realized his mistakes and now just needs to act to fix those mistakes, shifting all the responsibility now to Lear. The poem was interesting (#7) and Maria making direct parallels to the book helped me to make connections between the poem and book because previously I had not seen how this poem represented the book. However, when Maria pointed out “He wants so much to say please, but won’t” directly represents the pride Lear holds in the book I started to see more similarities. “Now he’s been left alone” obviously represents Lear’s 2 daughters, Goneril and Regan no longer willing to house Lear. Also, “something he can’t taste” to me represents his loss of one of his senses however in the book it is his eye sight. Kathy had an interesting point I did not recognize whatsoever before and that was the theme of nature which was present not only in the poem but in King Lear and Hamlet. “Behind the hawthorn bushes”, “the cold blast”, and “the waste field of the afternoon” reminded Kathy of the deterioration of nature in Hamlet. This idea can be related to the use of nature in Edgar’s tricking
The poem "On Sitting Down to Read King Lear Once Again" by John Keats is a sonnet about Keats' relationship with the drama that became his idea of tragic perfection, and how it relates to his own struggle with the issues of short life and premature death. Keats uses the occasion of the rereading this play to explore his seduction by it and its influence on himself and his ways of looking at himself and his situation in spite of his negative capability.
Though King Lear, of Shakespeare's play, King Lear, wrongs both Cordelia and Kent in his harsh treatment against them, the unjust actions of Regan and Goneril against King Lear cause him to be "a man more sinned against than sinning" (3.2.60-61).
My father, poorly led? World, world, O world! But that thy strange mutations make us hate thee, Life would not yield to age. (Act 4 Scene 1 Pg. 207 lines 10-12) This parallels Lear’s death as he also condemns his daughter Cordelia. I have seen the day, with my good biting falchion I would have made ‘em skip. I am old now, And these same crosses spoil me. Who are you? Mine eyes are not o’ the best, I’ll tell you straight. (Act 5 Scene 3 pg. 317 lines 276-279) Both deaths run on the same train tracks, as King Lear and Gloucester die as better and wiser men than they showed themselves at first.
King Lear is a Shakespearian tragedy revolving largely around one central theme, personal transformation. Shakespeare shows in King Lear that the main characters of the play experience a transformative phase, where they are greatly changed through their suffering. Through the course of the play Lear is the most transformed of all the characters. He goes through seven major stages of transformation on his way to becoming an omniscient character: resentment, regret, recognition, acceptance and admittance, guilt, redemption, and optimism. Shakespeare identifies King Lear as a contemptuous human being who is purified through his suffering into some sort of god.
King Lear is understandably one of William Shakespeare’s greatest tragedies, it encompasses the journey through suffering and explores, in detail, the idea of justice. Each character in the play experience s one or the other throughout the progression of the plot, it is evident that through compositional features such as these, the play write is trying to convey this meaning. Through methods such as intense imagery, motifs, repetition of words and rhyming the play write has given intensity to certain passages, speeches and conversations. Shakespeare, through the use of character development, unravels the way in which humanity responds to injustice, the character relationships, specifically character foils, give rise to a number of notions
Due to this flaw, Lear has given way to the two older daughters to conspire against him. Lear is finally thrown out of his daughters’ homes and left with a fool, a servant and a beggar. This is when Lear realizes the mistake that he has made and suffers the banishment of his two eldest daughters. Lear is caught in a storm and begins to lose his sanity because he can not bear the treatment of his two daughters as well as the error he has made with Cordelia and Kent. Lear also suffers from lack of rest when he is moving all over the place and the thing that breaks him is the death of his youngest daughter, Cordelia. This suffering can be contrasted with other happier times like when Lear was still king and when he was not banished by his two daughters.
At the beginning of “King Lear,” an authoritative and willful protagonist dominates his court, making a fateful decision by rewarding his two treacherous daughters and banishing his faithful one in an effort to preserve his own pride. However, it becomes evident during the course of the tragedy that this protagonist, Lear, uses his power only as a means of projecting a persona, which he hides behind as he struggles to maintain confidence in himself. This poses a problem, since the audience is prevented from feeling sympathy for the king. Shakespeare’s ironic solution is to allow Lear’s progressing madness to be paired with his recognition of truth, thereby forcing Lear to shed his persona, and
Shakespeare's tragedy King Lear can be interpreted in many ways and many responses. The imprecision’s and complication of the play has led
In addition, he strips himself to expose the true nature of man which he realizes as insignificant. It's as if he is intentionally trying to alienate himself. As if he views all mankind to be a foreign concept due to the irrational state of life. He curses, “You cataracts and hurricanoes, spout Till you have drenched our steeples, drowned the cocks!(III. ii. 32)” to defy the elements. We can't help but see Lear act against nature as if he is the storm itself. Moreover, he tries to justify his temper by mentioning that nothing can hurt him more than his daughters. Not even the elements can corrupt this poor, old man. We see the storm bring about awareness when Lear exclaims,“You sulfurous and thought-executing fires, Vaunt-couriers of oak-cleaving thunderbolts, Singe my white head!(III. ii. 33)” as if he begins to finally discover his true hair color which directly correlates with his age. I see that Lear is becoming aware of his age, but not willing to accept the anemic state of his body and mind. He intentionally makes note of his hair color, but the realization leaves him in a state of mental insanity soon to discover his impending death.
The opportunity to view both productions of King Lear has appeared twice for me in the past two years. The first time I viewed Trevor Nunn’s 2009 production of King Lear my review would have been based solely on my ability to understand the dialogue and my appreciation of the acting of Ian McKellen. Two years later I have a better understanding of the actual play and while I still enjoy the 2009 production the 1982 production directed by Jonathan Miller presents the words of William Shakespeare in a more accurate and period specific manor.
The most prevailing images in King Lear are the images (metaphoric and actual) of nature. The concept of nature seems to consume the dialogue, monologues, and setting.
King Lear is one of Shakespeare's more complex plays and within it many different themes are addressed and explored. King Lear is the somewhat unfortunate vehicle that Shakespeare uses to explore many of these themes creating a complex character including the roles of a father, king, friend and adversary.
The play, “King Lear” by William Shakespeare, starts with noblemen Kent and Gloucester having a conversation and the audience finds out that Gloucester has two sons. Edgar who is his heir, and Edmund his unimportant son. This info. leads to the mini-plot. Then, Lear enters to say that he is going to end his life’s tasks and problems. He then points to the map, he tells the people there that he will split his land into three parts. They are going to be given to his three daughters. The two oldest, Goneril and Regan, tell their father that their love for him goes beyond expectations. The youngest one, Cordelia, tells him that she loves him, but only as she should love her father. He is then
Throughout history, men have been depicted in literature in various ways: as warriors, heroes, rulers, fathers, brothers, sons and lovers. Shakespeare's King Lear gives a glimpse of a man's psyche in the course of the relationships he has with the women of the play. King Lear brings out the worst of Goneril and Regan, invoking within them deceit, greed and manipulation, portraying women as foul and loathsome creatures who give rise to suffering and discord. While Cordelia embodies a positive female image, King Lear is illogical in his actions toward her due to her sexuality and his opinion of how a female should honor her father.