Analysis Of Shakespeare's King Lear

During the 1600s, Europe was standing between the scientific revolution and the the combined power of the Enlightenment and Industrial Revolutions. This time was filled with religious confusion fueled by the transitioning monarchs and the desire to divorce that King Louis XIV had. Through the confusion, William Shakespeare sat down and wrote the play, “King Lear” to provide some of the environment he grew up in to the audience. Although the play Shakespeare wrote was fictional, it did comply with the time it was written. It supported the customs and values of the time while it influenced its own milieu.

Despite amazing success, Shakespeare’ early life, similar to almost everybody else in the time, was not well documented. The only evidence

One thing that is strange about King Lear is that there are not any mother figures seen in throughout the play. During the late 1500s it was customary that mothers raise their children to become well-rounded, polite, and respectful citizens. According to Dr. Douglas Catterall of Oklahoma State University, “Typically, people see children 's behavior as the result of interactions with those around them, with the parents being the primary influence” (Catterall, 2007), While mothers are primary caretakers of the children in general, it would be the mother’s responsibility to raise her children correctly, and misbehavior in public would cause her to be judged. Considering that King Lear has an absence of mothers, this perhaps provides some justification for the children. If they were never raised proper, they could not be expected to behave properly when they grew up. The absence of mothers in King Lear is especially odd, given the fact that Shakespeare himself grew up with his wealthy, young mother, Mary Arden. Many others have noticed these absent mothers, Eric Minton wrote in 2012, “ King Lear, featuring filial relationships at the center of the plot in which the mother is notably absent” (Minton 2012). He later goes on to suggest that perhaps this was simply because Shakespeare did not want to write the mothers in, given the

In the ending of Shakespeare 's play, Cornwall and Albany go to war with France in order to keep their share of the kingdom that the King had provided to them. Albany and Cornwall only wanted to protect their way of living and their authority. Similarly, the Nine Years War of Ireland was waging from 1594-1603. According to Professor Johann Sommerville, this war was waged by religious conflict amplified with excessive military presence. The Irish fought against the English State to protect their way of living and authority (2013). Shakespeare’s King Lear and the Nine Years War were very similar in goals, and therefore, has clear connection to the time of which the play was