Truth is a commodity that is often taken for granted in human interaction. Belief in the integrity of others is necessary for healthy, trusting relationships. A presumption of integrity allows individuals to live their lives free from paranoia, however, if not taken in moderation, this same presumption can make it easy for individuals to be taken advantage of. In William Shakespeare’s “King Lear,” the dangers of such presumptions are made clear, as they allow for Edmund, the bastard son of the Earl of Gloucester, to manipulate his way from being one of the least powerful characters in the court to being the most powerful one. This rise of treachery and deceit in Edmund contrasts the banishment of honesty and truth in Cordelia. Taken together, …show more content…
In Act 1, he uses antanaclasis and polyptoton to twist the meaning of words like ‘base’ and ‘legitimate,’ a tactic that obscures his true meaning under a shroud of confusion brought on by the repetition. He also avoids elaborating on his plans, saying only that he “must have [Edgar’s] land.” (1.2.16) and that this will be done “if this letter speed / And my invention thrive,” (1.2.19-20). The vagueness of that statement is inescapable. Edmund, though he is alone, is careful to reveal neither what is in the letter, nor how he plans to possess Edgar’s land. At this point in the play, he is not secure enough in his position of power to allow him to be direct and say what he means, even when he is alone. His lies and schemes do not belong in the world that is used to truth and structure. Comparatively, in Act 5, the world order has turned around fully, and the “capacity to speak the truth, to seek justice, and to love” (Greenblatt 1379) that the characters previously enjoyed has been diminished greatly while the capacity for treachery has increased. In this world, Edmund can freely and explicitly say what he plans to do without fear of reproach. He states that he plans to let Goneril, “who would be rid of [Albany] devise / His speedy taking off” (Shakespeare 5.1.55-56). This proclamation is not muddied by wordplay or
Shakespeare's play "Macbeth" is considered one of his great tragedies. The play fully uses plot, character, setting, atmosphere, diction and imagery to create a compelling drama. The general setting of Macbeth is tenth and eleventh century Scotland. The play is about a once loyal and trusted noble of Scotland who, after a meeting with three witches, becomes ambitious and plans the murder of the king. After doing so and claiming the throne, he faces the other nobles of Scotland who try to stop him. In the play, Macbeth faces an internal conflict with his opposing decisions. On one hand, he has to decide of he is to assassinate the king in order to claim his throne. This would result in his death for treason if he is caught, and he would also have to kill his friend. On the other hand, if he is to not kill him, he may never realize his ambitious dreams of ruling Scotland. Another of his internal struggles is his decision of killing his friend Banquo. After hiring murderers to kill him, Macbeth begins to see Banquo's ghost which drives him crazy, possibly a result of his guilty conscience. Macbeth's external conflict is with Macduff and his forces trying to avenge the king and end Macbeth's reign over Scotland. One specific motif is considered the major theme, which represents the overall atmosphere throughout the play. This motif is "fair is foul and foul is fair."
Family loyalty refers to the feelings of mutual obligation, commitment, and closeness that exist among family members (e.g., parents and children, grandparents and grandchildren and siblings). A loyal per¬son is ready to sacrifice even his own life for the sake of his master, friend, relative or the country. The significance of loyalty in family relationship is an integral part in both Macleod’s novel No Great Mischief and Shakespeare’s play King Lear. However, the characters in No great Mischief have demonstrated true devotion towards every family member whereas Lear’s stubbornness prevents him from being faithful which is shown by the characters.
An act of dishonesty carried out by haste can result in very unlikely consequences to an individual’s life. Firstly, the dishonesty of Friar Lawrence in choosing to marry Romeo and Juliet without the knowledge or permission of their parents, results in undesirable after effects. Secondly, the sudden cessation of support from Juliet’s Nurse, to continue the relationship of Romeo and Juliet causes harm to Juliet’s feelings as a young lover and contributes to their fatality. Finally, Romeo’s haste to marry Juliet to prove his intentions, accounts for a future filled with even more hasty decisions. In Romeo and Juliet by William Shakespeare, the dishonesty of Friar Lawrence and Nurse and the haste of Romeo and Juliet, results in the deaths of the young lovers.
Throughout Macbeth, Shakespeare illustrates Macbeth’s journey to becoming a ruthless and tyrannical man who will do anything and everything to gain more power. Macbeth’s actions of killing prove Machiavelli’s theory that men are cowardly and dishonest, which leads those similar to Macbeth, to believe being feared is safer than being loved. Macbeth has demonstrated Machiavelli’s theory by his actions of murder and betrayal towards individuals, such as Banquo, under his ruling. Macbeth believes that being feared is safer than loved by his people, which causes citizens under his ruling to think he is a bad king. Since individuals believe Macbeth is a negligent king due to his cowardly and dishonest actions, individuals won’t put their trust or
The theme of dishonesty is demonstrated from the start of ‘King Lear’ during the ‘love trial’ when Cordelia dislikes her sister’s “ponderous” words which suggest how dishonest both Goneril and Regan really are. The adjective “ponderous” determines that her love for Lear cannot be measured with words. Cordelia refuses to take part in the contest and Lear comments by saying: “so young and so untender”. The word “untender” suggests that Lear hopes for something that makes him feel valued as a king and father, however this works against him as ultimately both his other daughters better themselves by flattering themselves into trying to get the Kingdom. Arguably in this instance, flattery is a form of dishonesty and although Lear asks for it, their words begin the downward spiral of the tragedy....
to show Lear as being an old man and that he does not know what is
As people live their lives, they will be met with various partial truths and misleading pieces of evidence, but Shakespeare reminds us in Macbeth that people should be cautious of the words they believe. They should judge the speaker’s character before they accept anything spoken by them even if there is partial truth in the words being spoken. Set in eleventh century Great Britain, Macbeth begins with the titular character, Macbeth, killing the armies of the Irish and Norwegians for his king, Duncan. He then receives a prophecy from three witches that he will be the future king of Scotland, which leads him down a dark and bloodied road. Deception is a key theme of this book for it is how the protagonist, Macbeth, is lead astray from loyalty to his king.
Edmund’s discontent with the notion of bastardy is brought up furthermore in his soliloquy at the beginning of scene two: “Thou, nature, art my goddess. To thy law/ My services are bound. Wherefore should I/ Stand in the plague of custom…” (II.1-3). The notion of bastardy in Lear pushes Edmund to place his faith in his born traits as opposed to the system that has labeled him an outsider his whole life. He believes he is equal to his brother in every way—his mind and shape as true—and the only reason he is not aloud to prosper is because of a preconceived idea of the ideal child. Inevitably, Edmund wants to rebel against the system that has stifled him for so long. Gloucester is primarily responsible for Edmund’s actions because he in no way raised him equal to Edgar. Edmund’s goal to usurp his brother and earn the power he believes he deserves is due to the notion of bastardy in the play; Edmund questions “why brand they us with ‘base, base bastardy’” in his first soliloquy (II.10) . After all, even Kent attested to his fine demeanour. But, the steadfast notion of bastardy at the time drove Edmund to the point of betrayal because there was no hope for him in playing by the rules as they are fundamentally opposed to a bastard’s prosperity. With this soliloquy, Edmund positions himself as the more disserving
King Lear is a perfect demonstration of the great consequences one man's actions can cause. While there are certainly religious Christian elements to the story, the story is not one of morality or hope. King Lear is a lesson, making an example of what can come of a single, foolish, egotistical action. King Lear's action is the surrendering of his throne to his daughters.
"Love is whatever you can still betray. Betrayal can only happen if you love." (John LeCarre) In William Shakespeare's The Tragedy of King Lear, characters are betrayed by the closest people to them. The parents betray their children, mostly unintentionally. The children deceive their parents because of their greed and power hunger. Their parents were eventually forgiven, but the greedy children were not. Parents and their children betray one and other, and are only able to do so because they are family, however, the children betray for greed while the parents betray through the credulity caused by their children's greed.
Shakespeare’s tragedy, King Lear, portrays many important misconceptions which result in a long sequence of tragic events. The foundation of the story revolves around two characters, King Lear and Gloucester, and concentrates on their common flaw, the inability to read truth in other characters. For example, the king condemns his own daughter after he clearly misreads the truth behind her “dower,”(1.1.107) or honesty. Later, Gloucester passes judgment on his son Edgar based on a letter in which he “shall not need spectacles”(1.2.35) to read. While these two characters continue to misread people’s words, advisors around them repeatedly give hints to their misinterpretations, which pave the road for possible reconciliation. The realization of their mistakes, however, occurs after tragedy is inevitable.
Shakespeare's good characters, in the play King Lear, are considered good because they are loyal even when they are disguised from or unrecognizable by those to whom they owe loyalty. In addition, their loyalty does not waver even when they are banished or mistreated by those to whom they are loyal. Cordelia, Edgar and Kent are all characters that exemplify this goodness and unwavering loyalty.
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.
To begin, in the tragic play, King Lear, by William Shakespeare, the character of Edmund was used to show how a man is by nature ambitious, jealous, envious, and vengeful. Firstly, Edmund is the most ambitious character, eager to seize any opportunity and willing to do anything to achieve his goal even if it means hurting his own family. This is clear when Edmund plots against his own father; Gloucester and half-brother; Edgar to get hold of his father’s property. All of the efforts he put to destroy the relationship between Gloucester and his legitimate son, Edgar reveals his jealous envious, vengeful, and ambitious character. He could not handle the injustice in the society and he wanted to change his position in...
King Lear is a play about a tragic hero, by the name of King Lear, whose flaws get the best of him. A tragic hero must possess three qualities. The first is they must have power, in other words, a leader. King Lear has the highest rank of any leader. He is a king. The next quality is they must have a tragic flaw, and King Lear has several of those. Finally, they must experience a downfall. Lear's realization of his mistakes is more than a downfall. It is a tragedy. Lear is a tragic hero because he has those three qualities. His flaws are his arrogance, his ignorance, and his misjudgments, each contributing to the other.