In both plays love is insanity, taking over the rational and lucid mind by delusion and self-destruction, which can only be cured when the insane are stripped of what they love the most and honesty, not deceit, take precedence.
Plot Outline Thesis: In both plays love is insanity, taking over the rational and lucid mind by delusion and self-destruction, which can only be cured when the insane are stripped of what they love the most and honesty, not deceit, take precedence. Point 1: The realization of the truth opens the eyes of the characters and finally allows them to see, and not be blinded. Shakespeare uses sight as a tool to cure the characters from their insanity. Proof: King Lear is insane at the beginning of the play and not near the end like one might think. It takes a series of rejections and scrutiny from his daughters for King Lear to understand that they made a fool of him for his land and riches, and that their devotion of love was a hoax. Only later when King Lear realizes this does he become sane. The love in idleness flower in A Midsummers Night Dream has a number of effects on the characters that have it used upon them. It makes all the characters a little insane or at the very least not their normal selves. Firstly it impairs both Lysander and Demetrious to love Helena and not Hermia, and also the insanity of Titantia, the Queen of Fairies, who has fallen in love with Bottom, an ass. Point 2: both plays use location to establish the mood and the location also goes hand in hand with the state that the characters are in. Proof: In A Midsummers Night dream the lovers Hermia
Kent's most notable characteristics are his loyalty and bluntness. Discuss?
Q Kent's most notable characteristics are his loyalty and bluntness. Discuss? The character of King Lear's Kent is a formidable one. Whether it is the extent of his service to the King, the harshness and imagination with which he fights to defend the King or his character progression throughout the play. His most notable characteristics are definitely his incessant loyalty and his use of blunt language when his respectful interjections are ignored. It is his loyalty that motivates him and his bluntness that lands him in trouble. He speaks up to the King and warns him about his 'hideous rashness' in the treatment of Cordelia and is blunt and to the point "What wouldst thou do, old man?" - Act 1 Scene 1; but only uses this language when he is not being taken into consideration. We normally hear Kent referring to the King in a respectful and loyal manner 'my lord' and 'my leige'. His bluntness and forwardness towards the King leads to his banishment, which Kent accepts but not without a final word of advice "See better Lear, and let me still remain the true blank of thine eye." - Act 1 Scene 1 We notice that his advice and speeches are justified by the subsequent events of the play. His reference towards the Kings daughters prior to leaving the court is a sign of what is still to come . "...the gods to their dear shelter take thee, maid, that justly think'st and hast
Kingship and leadership and their absence have major implications in the play King Lear. Explore how Shakespeare presents these themes.
King Lear Kingship and leadership and their absence have major implications in the play King Lear. Explore how Shakespeare presents these themes. Jonathon Dollimore (1984) focuses on Lear's identity throughout the play. 'What makes Lear the person he is, is not kingly essence, but among other things, his authority and his family. As the play progresses Lear is forced to question his identity. "Does anyone hear know me?...Who is it that can tell me who I am?". Dollimore believes King Lear is about power, poverty and inheritance. Shakespeare focuses on what happens when there is a 'catastrophic redistribution of power'. At the start of the play Lear has a rich, powerful and complex social identity. He is King and Patriarch of his family. Being the king he was therefore looked upon as being the source of meaning and order in society. The opening scene represents a strong theme of authority and kingship. A sennet marks the arrival of the king. He enters accompanied by attendants and is greeted as 'Royal Lear' and 'Most Royal Majesty'; "Royal Lear, Whom I have ever honoured as my king, Loved as my master followed, As my great patron thought on in my prayers". "Most royal majesty, I crave no more than hath your Highness offered, Nor will you tender less". We see here how a great image of kingship and authority are presented. When Kent is banished from the kingdom,
King Lear Is a Play Based Upon Love, Betrayal and Conflict. Discuss how King Lear’s Role as King of England Deteriorates
King Lear Is a Play Based Upon Love, Betrayal and Conflict. Discuss how King Lear's Role as King of England Deteriorates From a King to a Man. Aim During the course of this essay, I will be discussing the role of King Lear and his deterioration from being a King, to becoming a man as a result of Ignorance and Dignity. King Lear is a rather complex character, who was neither all good, nor all unpleasant. He was simply a combination of the two. His role as King places a great deal of stress upon him From the opening chapters of King Lear, one is able to deduce that the Kings role is paramount to that of other characters. Shakespeare portrays King Lear as the dominant character in the first stages of the play. This is obvious especially when the Earl of Kent, someone the King had trusted and respected, intervened over the situation where King Lear banished Cordelia. You can see through the manner in which he spoke to Kent that there was something about the King that was not right, which we assume is caused merely by old age, i.e. his ignorance towards a friend, and even more so his ill-treatment of his youngest daughter Cordelia, who was his joy. Lear: "...Now, our joy..." (Act 1 Sc 1) This is the reference of Cordelia prior to the dilemma, a reference of joy that can only be seen as a most pleasant reference for a father to give to a child, and he also says 'our', from
Compare the opening of 'King Lear' to a Shakespeare play you have read before, focusing closely on the way Shakespeare introduces the main themes.
A2 ENGLISH LITERATURE ESSAY TUTOR: Mr. D Anson Compare the opening of 'King Lear' to a Shakespeare play you have read before, focusing closely on the way Shakespeare introduces the main themes. The act of creating and developing a character called characterization not only establishes a character, but serves as a means for the play write to reveal the themes of the play; "A literary character is the invention of the author, and often inventions are indebted to prior inventions", (Kirsch). Therefore, through characterization many common themes repeat within an author's literary collection. Shakespeare is the inventor of many characters and throughout his plays themes often reappear. Othello and King Lear, two of Shakespeare's great tragedies, exemplify this technique explicitly. The protagonists of these two plays, Othello and King Lear, by means of their actions, thoughts and words, reveal the same themes revolving around jealousy, hatred and madness, which stem from the corruptions of the time. In King Lear, Shakespeare introduces to us the story of an old man who moves from a position of encompassing enormous power, status, wealth, responsibility, social complexity, and security, step by step into a terrible isolation from his fellow human beings, his family, and nature itself, and suffers horribly from the stripping away of his entire identity. He then goes mad as a
To what extent are Lear's and Gloucester's troubles brought on by "the surfeits of their own behaviour"?
Yousif Ahmad To what extent are Lear's and Gloucester's troubles brought on by "the surfeits of their own behaviour"? Lear's claim that he is "a man more sinned against that sinning" is undeniably true, but the pathos of his fall is elevated - made more profound and resonant - by the inescapable reality that much of his suffering is ultimately self-inflicted. As voiced by Bradley: "the storm which has overwhelmed him was liberated by his own deed". Lear's fall is a product of conflict - a conflict that is alternately embedded in philosophical differences and a clash of generations. The most obvious generational conflict which exists in the play is that between Lear and his daughters Goneril and Regan. Nature is deeply rooted in the play (perhaps because it deals with a time before Christianity took a foothold in Britain) and is found both metaphorically and physically manifesting itself throughout: the main antagonism in the text comes in the shape of children (the natural preservation of oneself) doing something fundamentally unnatural (that being to turn against their own father). Numerous characters comment on the stark savagery of this throughout the play including Edgar, Albany and of course Lear himself: "Tigers not daughters", "Whose warped looks proclaim what store her heart is made on", "Twas this flesh begot those pelican daughters", "Ingratitude, thou marble
Drama review - I didn't have the opportunity to see Hannie Rayson's first play Life After George and I couldn't be more disappointed, especially after seeing her latest play Inheritance.
DRAMA REVIEW- Draft Claudia Buttazzoni I didn't have the opportunity to see Hannie Rayson's first play Life After George and I couldn't be more disappointed, especially after seeing her latest play Inheritance. Inheritance is a wonderful piece of work. It is a sensitive, tender play, witty and sophisticated at the same time. It is also a very deep piece of work which covers many of our Nations biggest issues. Rayson weaves so many controversies together in the one play; gender identity, women's rights as land owners and the way they are viewed in a mans world, depression and suicide, city life versus life in the bush and one of Australia's longest existing battles- Aboriginal land rights. Inheritance is about rural Australia, which could only mean that it is a play about the land. It tells the story of five generations and just one farm. Twin sisters Girlie Delaney and Dibs Hamilton are preparing to celebrate their 80th birthday. The families are all gathered at 'the farm', Allandale, which Dibs had inherited from her mother. As the story goes, Dibs and Girlie's grandfather Jessie Allan, whose daughter married a man by the name of Norm Myrtle, founded Allandale. They had twin daughter's Dibs and Girlie. Norm struggled with depression, he struggled with life until the day that he decided he couldn't go on anymore, and hung himself. His body was found, hanging, by
King Lear: A Transformation of Self.
Lindsay Grazul December 16, 2003 Dr. Michael Hanby CHS-1000-012 King Lear: A Transformation of Self In King Lear, William Shakespeare traces one man's discovery of his individual sinfulness and ignorance, and his eventual appreciation of his mortal flaws and their consequences. Through the imagery of sight and eyes, Shakespeare details King Lear's passage from initial blindness to the virtue, honesty, and love of Cordelia to the ultimate restoration of his vision through suffering and selfless love. By illustrating the loss and gain of internal sight, as well as, detailing Lear's transformation from egotistic pride to self-abandoning love, the reader is taught to assess reality in terms of truth within ourselves, rather than, mere appearance or monetary value. Lear's tragic flaw is his excessive desire for approval and exaltation, which he looks to obtain by asking his three daughters to profess their love for him. The two eldest daughters, Regan and Goneril, speaking with self-serving exaggeration, give Lear exactly what he desires, reverence and adoration. However, Cordelia, his "most beloved daughter", refuses to comply with Lear's superficial desires. Aware that love extends deeper than artificial compliments, Cordelia confesses her "plain" love, characterized by modesty and honesty. "Then poor Cordelia!/ And not so, since I am sure my love's/ More ponderous
Patriarchy or Matriarchy: Who Has the Real Power in Shakespeare's King Lear?
Patriarchy or Matriarchy: Who Has the Real Power in Shakespeare's King Lear? Robert Di Lorenzo Mr. Naccarato ENG 3U1-02 5 November 2004 Robert Di Lorenzo Mr. Naccarato ENG 3U1-02 5 November 2004 Patriarchy or Matriarchy: Who Has the Real Power in Shakespeare's King Lear? Throughout recorded history, men are seen as the ones with fundamental power; they are the ones that possess leadership qualities and management capabilities. Men are ruthless, barbaric, cold-blooded and merciless, thus making them the individuals sitting a top the executive chain, the figures making the influential decisions, and the people in the important world leading roles. The world has yet to see a system of government dominated by women. On the contrary, it is said that a loyal husband will not purchase a vehicle without consent from his wife, though the wife may not know a thing about cars. On the familial level, the women are the individuals with the power, influencing the husband and children's decisions. The women are those who control the conventional lives of society. So who has the real power: men who control the organization, or women who control mainstream, everyday life? In King Lear, through the representation of Cordelia, Regan, and Goneril, Shakespeare expresses that the females are the ones with the ultimate power and it is matriarchy that runs the world; gender roles
Examine the ways in which Shakespeare presents different ideas relating to the Elizabethan/ Jacobean world picture in King Lear.
Examine the ways in which Shakespeare presents different ideas relating to the Elizabethan/ Jacobean world picture in King Lear. During the Elizabethan/Jacobean period, ideas such as the Divine Right of Kings, the nature of order and hierarchy and the idea of the microcosm and the macrocosm were all seen as "common sense". This ideology can be directly translated within King Lear because it is clear that these Elizabethan/Jacobean themes and beliefs run throughout the play in a number of different ways. One motif that is particularly prevalent in King Lear is the notion of kingship and the theory of the Divine Right of Kings. The Divine Right of Kings was a theory that argued that certain kings ruled because they were chosen to do so by God and that these kings were accountable to no person other than God. Shakespeare shows these beliefs in King Lear because, despite the fact that Lear has disturbed the 'natural order' of things by giving up all of his land and in effect renounced his status as King, he still expects to be treated like a King by his daughters and subjects alike. Lear shows this belief when Oswald responds to his question of "Who am I, sir" with "'My lady's father', my lord's knave". Lear is so outraged by this seemingly disrespectful answer that he strikes Oswald, thus illustrating the fact that despite giving up his kingdom, Lear remains proud and believes