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The tragedy of king lear analysis
The theme of justice and power in King Lear
The tragedy of king lear analysis
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LITERATURE REVIEW
Meoto (2003) concludes that Regan’s and Goneril’s cruel treatment of their father can be seen as betrayal and violation of human nature. Further asserts that when he hears “Nothing” from cordelia he finds out himself neither a king nor father. King Lear cannot tolerate her insulting behaviour and exiled her. I opinion King Lear does not deserve torments given by Goneril and Regan. Being a King, King Lear shows his prideful nature in the banishment of Cordelia.
Lofgren (2010) in his research mentions that King Lear’s punishes Cordelia for her disobedience by banishing her. Researcher also points out that Cordelia’s unwillingness to flatter her father like her sister did is the starting point of everything that happens later
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Further a little incident to old age overcast his reasons and becomes unable to recognize truth from flattery. In my views, King Lear, a compelling post pride, overcast his reasons thus he fails to see the harsh truth behind flattery of his daughters.
G K Hunter (1972) in his book proposes that Goneril and Regan are very cruel towards their father and they overwrought him. King Lear is going through external and internal storm because his daughters betrayed him. King Lear gains vision in his disparate world which he never sees in his comfortable world. I agree King Lear is very much puzzled by his evil daughters and his internal storm hurts him most than the harsh weather.
Alfred Harbage (1964) in introduction claims that King Lear is not debased from the heart. His expulsion of Cordelia and Kent is the reflex of his passionate connection to them. King Lear just needs love from little girl, and it is a good thing. I agree King Lear is tender-hearted and somebody has said right that express our anger on those whom we love
With Cordelia declared as banished, Lear states, “With my two daughters’ dowers digest the third...Only we shall retain The name and all th’ addition to a king. The sway, revenue, execution of the rest, Beloved sons, be yours” (Shakespeare 17). Lear’s fault here is that he believes that he can divide up his kingdom to his daughters and still retain the title as king; he wants to retire his position and responsibilities as a king but still remain respected and treated as one. His flaw in wanting to be superior leads to his downfall, as he is so blinded by his greed that he decides to divide up his kingdom to his two daughters who are as hungry for power as he is. They only want to strip him of his position and respect to gain more influence. Lear, not realizing the impact of such an impulsive decision, descends into madness when his daughters force him out of his home. After being locked out of his only shelter by his daughters, he states, “Filial ingratitude!...In such a night To shut me out?...O Regan, Goneril, Your old kind father whose frank heart gave all! O that way madness lies. Let me shun that; No more of that” (Shakespeare 137). Lear becomes fully aware of the consequences of his actions. He realizes how ungrateful his daughters are and how they have treated him unfairly even though he has given them everything; much to his dismay, he is left with
two daughters that flattered him with words he wanted to hear, King Lear suffers greatly during the
Lear’s character is constantly and dramatically changing throughout the play both by growing as a character but also through many downfalls. Lear becomes emotionally stronger and gains much more rationale near the end of the play, but only after a great downfall in each of these sectors. This was a result of the self-entitlement that Lear had placed on himself. King Lear’s vanity and excessive sense of entitlement was his tragic flaw throughout the play. He was a King, and needed to be served on time. Furthermore, when he is referred to as “my lady’s father,” this also hurts his ego for he is a King and that is what he wishes to be addressed
One of the main signals of the growing chaos of Lear's world is the distortion of familial and social ties. King Lear exiles his favorite daughter, Cordelia, for a trifling offense, and those daughters he does favor soon turn against him.
"Unhappy that I am I cannot heave My heart into my mouth. I love your Majesty According to my bond; nor more nor less. " I.i.87-89 Cordelia's refusal to flatter her father during the love test may suggest to the audience that she is not only disobeying her father, but also committing political sui... ... middle of paper ... ..., is one of great pain and sorrow. It eventually leads Lear to madness and it is only then that he sees the true reasons behind his treatment.
King Lear is at once the most highly praised and intensely criticized of all Shakespeare's works. Samuel Johnson said it is "deservedly celebrated among the dramas of Shakespeare" yet at the same time he supported the changes made in the text by Tate in which Cordelia is allowed to retire with victory and felicity. "Shakespeare has suffered the virtue of Cordelia to perish in a just cause, contrary to the natural ideas of justice, to the hope of the reader, and, what is yet more strange, to the faith of chronicles."1 A.C. Bradley's judgement is that King Lear is "Shakespare's greatest work, but it is not...the best of his plays."2 He would wish that "the deaths of Edmund, Goneril, Regan and Gloucester should be followed by the escape of Lear and Cordelia from death," and even goes so far as to say: "I believe Shakespeare would have ended his play thus had he taken the subject in hand a few years later...."3
It is noteworthy that none of the truly evil characters in the drama have yet taken a conscious initiative. Up to this point everything centers around the interaction of Lear, Cordelia and Kent and all the terrible sufferings which follow have their source in this encounter. To rightly comprehend King Lear, we must see the true significance of the court and the direct relationship between it and the tragedy that follows. We must discover the source of the great intensity and direction which finds expression in the action of the drama, and carries it to its inexorable conclusion.
Let us begin by looking at the role of human nature in King Lear more closely. It is clear from the beginning of King Lear that Cordelia has an entirely good nature, she remains constant throughout the play, never wavering in her morals. The play begins with Lear deciding that he will have his daughters compete for their divisions of his kingdoms based on which of them can impress him the most with their proclamations of love. Cordelia, however, cannot express her love for her father in words, and refuses to deceive him by doing otherwise, stating that she is “sure [her] love's more richer than [her] tongue” (1.1.78-80). She realizes that by holding her tongue she is infuriating her father, but her nature cannot allow her to do otherwise. When King Lear asks her what she has to say, she states “Nothing, my lord” (1.1.86). A...
The Consequences of Decisions in King Lear by William Shakespeare King Lear is a detailed description of the consequences of one man's decisions. This fictitious man is Lear, King of England, who's decisions greatly alter his life and the lives of those around him. As Lear bears the status of King he is, as one expects, a man of great power but sinfully he surrenders all of this power to his daughters as a reward for their demonstration of love towards him. This untimely abdication of his throne results in a chain reaction of events that send him through a journey of hell. King Lear is a metaphorical description of one man's journey through hell in order to expiate his sin.
Only the truth is irreconcilable with the demands of Lear’s ego. When Cordelia doesn’t say what Lear wants to hear he breaks out in anger by a violent oath, disclaiming paternal care of Cordelia: “… by the sacred radiance of the sun, The mysteries of Hecat and the night; By all the operations of the orbs From whom we do exist and cease to be” . Lear casts Cordelia from his heart referring to her as a “barbarous Scythian.” His hatred surpasses the notion of equality in love, it shows self-centred love that asks more of the other then of oneself. With Lear’s actions we can see that he can’t recognise treachery and loyalty and falsehood and truth, and no one can tell him about it. Here his lack of self-knowledge is the biggest in the play.
The plot of King Lear is set in motion by the conversation between Lear and his daughters. In return for their love and honour, he will give them land and power. The fact that they are daughters and not sons is significant because Lear demands their total love, trying to put them into a mother role: something he would not do if they were men. Goneril and Regan are neither noble nor truthful and they have no problem lying to their father for their own personal gain. While Regan claims "I am alone felicitate/ In your dear Highness' love." (I.i.75-76) and later treats her father in the most reprehensible manner, Cordelia denies Lear's unnatural request saying, "Sure, I shall never marry like my sisters/ To love my father all" (I.i.103-104). Her truthful refusal to proclaim total love for her father proves her to be the actual loving daughter but results in her banishment. From this first scene, the characters' alliances and allegiances are forged and all that follows is directly resultant.
...caused Lear to curse Goneril and Regan for not caring for him but for ruining his life. Goneril and Regan selfishness for power overwhelmed them leading to their lies of their love for their father and his power would never be returned so they could inherit all of his power.
King Lear had come so accustomed to his praise, that it is the sole thing he lived for, he needed it to survive, his treatment as a king was his Achilles heel in this play. He wanted to step down as king and divide his kingdom into 3 sections, giving them to his daughters to rule. Goneril and Regan were more than willing to accommodate his request to demonstrate their love for their father and king by professing their love to him in dramatic fashion combined with a good bit of exaggeration. While Cordelia on the other hand, found it a struggle to profess what she thought to be known by her father and king, she states, “Unhappy that I am, I cannot heave / My heart into my mouth. I love your majesty / According to my bond; nor more nor less (Scene 1.1, Lines 91-93).
A King is supposed to have all that he needs without having to worry about anything in his late years. Yet King Lear, in Act 3, Scene 2, cried out in pitifully: “I am a man / More sinned against than sinning.'; Although Lear has made a huge mistake in the first scene of the play in dividing up his kingdom and banishing his two dearest people, the sins his two other ungrateful daughters have done him is far greater than the extent of Lear’s wrongs.
King Lear was a tragic hero that was born into nobility, endowed with a tragic flaw and doomed to make a serious error in judgement. King Lear was born into nobility. "He owned vast amounts of land and ruled over many people. Give me the map there. know that we have divided In three our Kingdom." Not only was King Lear born into nobility he was responsible for his own fate. He disowned his daughter Cordelia and made his other two daughters rulers of his land once divided into three now divided into two. His two daughters really did not love him they just wanted the land and power. They turned against their father and had him sentenced to death by Edmund. Lear's death was his own fault. This reason came about because of King Lear's tragic flaw, his pride. Pride is also his reason of how he is a tragic hero. "Tell me, my daughters,-- Since now we will divest us both of rule, Interest of territory, cares of state,-- Which of you shall we say doth love us most, That we our largest bounty may extend Where nature doth with merit challenge?" King Lear was egotistic in the first act where he asked his daughters who loved him most. When he found out his favorite daughter Cordelia did not have much to say about his love for him he disowned her and divided his land to his two evil daughters Regan and Goneril, "From whom we do exist, and cease to be; Here I disclaim all my paternal care, Propinquity and property of blood, And as a stranger to my heart and me Hold thee, from this, for ever." This was also the error in King Lear's judgement.