How does Shakespeare sustain the audience's interest through Act 2 of King Lear?

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Nathan Wilson 10BD

7/01/03

How does Shakespeare sustain the audience’s interest through Act 2 of King Lear?

In Shakespeare’s day this play would have been performed in the Globe theatre. The common people had to stand for the entire performance, but the wealthy and prominent people in society could sit in the stands. If though you were really rich or the king you could have a seat on the stage. The Globe was a circular building designed to carry the sound because there were no microphones. It was made out of wood so the sound could be reflected and there were no carpets in Shakespeare’s day because that would absorb the sound and the actors voice would not travel as far. The actors had to make themselves heard and they had the added distraction of someone sitting on the stage. Also the audience would throw things like walnuts, rotten fruit at the actors if they didn’t like them so it was important to win the audience over. The purpose for writing plays was mainly to amuse the king as he endorsed Shakespeare and provided most of the funds that supported the globe even the actors were called the kings men.

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In Act 2 there are many examples of how Shakespeare sustains the audiences interest. To sustain the audience’s interest you have to grab their attention right from the start. So the opening to Act 2 is very dramatic and starts with a storm. Another point of the storm is that in the play the storm mirrors the disorder and chaos of society at the time and this would have interested the audience and grabbed their attention. Another event that the audience liked was when Edgar and Edmund have a fight. What happens is Edmund meets Edgar and they begin talking. ...

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