By close analysis of the language used in this extract, discuss Shakespeare's portrayal of Goneril, Lear and the Fool

This scene with Goneril is very difficult for Lear; not only has he lost the love of his daughter, but he is now beginning to see the error of his decision to hand his power to his daughters, he finds his every expectation and belief disillusioned everywhere he turns. Lear tries to dismiss all the accusations of him and his knights as being degenerate and unlawful, Lear naturally takes great offence to this, he launches an attack on Goneril, saying he still has one ‘kind and comfortable’ daughter left to go to (Regan). Lear goes on to say he does not know who he is any more, he asks, ‘Does any here know me?’,  having banished is favourite daughter from the country, and to be told by his eldest daughter that he is as Foolish as his Fool, naturally Lear feels very lost within himself. At this point it is important for Shakespeare to create tension and create emotion with the audience, whether it be compassionate or opposed to him, Shakespeare creates the mood using language. He creates a quarrel with his father and daughter characters, bringing in very personal and very cutting remarks about one another, Goneril uses very satirical words in her speech to her father, she uses words such as; ‘Disordered’, ‘Deboshed’ and ‘shame’, to describe what her father is doing. This language that suggests that her father is dim-witted and that he is wasting his life with his degenerate faction. Lear snaps back at Goneril claiming that he has no daughter called Goneril, he refers to Goneril as a Degenerate Bastard, this shows that Lear no longer claims to be her father, he has disowned her, this was a very tragic occurrence back in Shakespearian time, but because Goneril was married, she had the back-up of her husband.

Lear expresses his Feelings with great anger and resent, it is evident from the way his speech is structured, and his language that he is greatly irked about what he is being told, his speeches are very short and concise, creating a direct impact on Goneril, obviously upsetting her, but yet, she remains firm and although her father is getting distressed at what she is saying, she persists. Goneril uses an elaborate speech to bring to the audiences attention, her fathers faults, this is done effectively, if drawn out. Goneril uses language that shows her distaste, she dislikes intensely what her father has become, this is reflected in the words she chooses to use, they rip Lear apart and leave no shred of any remains.

Shakespeare’s techniques include his ‘Blank Verse’, which incorporates iambic pentameter into his play giving it rhythm. But sometimes Shakespeare steps out of this iambic pentameter rhythm, when he does this, it represents a moment of chaos or a point being made that does not fit in with the rest of the occurrences at that particular time. One example of Shakespeare straying out of iambic pentameter in this passage is, when the Fool says ‘Lear’s shadow’, in answer to Lear’s question, Who am I?, the fact that Shakespeare has stepped out of his rhythmic pattern here to deliver the Fools lines is interesting, at ones first glance, the eye notices that it does not link with the structure of writing around it, therefore, it must be relevant. What in fact the Fool is saying, is that Lear is his own shadow that he is a shadow on his former self, now much less powerful and significantly less respected, thus leading him on a downward spiral.

What the audience would be feeling in this passage can be an array of feelings, some may feel compassion for Lear, now realising what he has lost, and losing Goneril (by his own fault nevertheless), they may feel sympathy towards him. But the probability of the audience feeling compassion for Lear is quite small, they know what a silly old fool he is, they know what he was capable of when he was in power, i.e. banishing Cordelia and France, leading the audience to believe, that with his new attitude towards life, he may incorporate this into his method of running the country. The audience is more likely to feel for Cordelia, granted she and Regan plan evil things towards their father, but, in this instance Cordelia has done nothing but speak her mind and letting her father know the errors of his ways, but the audience already know what the king does to people, even his own daughter, if they speak their mind to him in an odious manner, so the audience would be feeling compassion for Cordelia at that moment. Also apart from fearing possibly her life, the audience would be sympathising with her at the fact that she has lost her father; he disowns her leaving her without a father.