The Dysfunctional Family of King Lear
One of the reasons why Shakespeare is so thoroughly read today is because of his ability to portray human nature so accurately through his characters. Shakespeare's play, King Lear shows us that humans are treacherous and selfish. We can also relate to the play because of the family issues that Shakespeare incorporates throughout the work. Lear's family is definitely a dysfunctional one. However, the disrupted family unit is the basis for the play's tragedy. The Contemporary Guide to Literary Terms defines tragedy as "a piece of writing that inspires fear or pity, through which the audience/reader experiences catharsis" (a purging of emotions). Tragic plots should have a clear beginning, middle and end that all involve the protagonist in some way. It is essential in this play for King Lear to have serious family problems in order for him to become a tragic hero. The whole premise of the plot is based on his conniving daughters (with help from Lear's ego). These family problems turn Lear into a tragic hero. Much the same could be said about Gloucester, which will also be examined in this paper.
It is universally agreed that the primary source for the story of King Lear and his daughters was the anonymous earlier play known as The True Chronicle History of King Leir (usually abbreviated to King Leir or just Leir), which was not published until 1605 but was probably performed in 1594 or earlier (Thompson, 13). Shakespeare's King Lear is a detailed description of the consequences of one's man actions, and the behavior of his family. Lear is the king of England in this play, who decides to distribute his kingdom amongst his three daughters...
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...otagonist in the work who suffers great emotional and physical pain, which the reader/audience can identify and sympathize with. This hero must also suffer and/or die, which is unacceptable but inevitable. King Lear is such a hero, the result of both egocentrism and family problems.
Works Cited
Frey, C. Experiencing Shakespeare. Columbia: University of Missouri Press, 1988.
Granville-Barker, H. Prefaces to Shakespeare. London: B.T. Batsford INC, 1984.
Halio, J. The Tragedy of King Lear. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1992.
Kimbrough, R. Shakespeare and the Art of Human Kindness. NJ: Humanities Press
International, 1990.
Thompson, A. King Lear Criticism. NJ: Humanities Press International, 1988.
Vickers, B. Appropriating Shakespeare. New Haven: Yale University Press, 1993.
Investigation of the Concentration and the Effect of Sucrose on Osmosis in Apple and Potato Tissues
Investigating Osmosis in Potatoes Aim: Investigate the movement of osmosis through a selectively permeable membrane, in this case potato. Introduction: Osmosis is the movement of water through a semi permeable membrane. The water passes from an area of high concentration to an area of low concentration, until the two concentrations are equal in concentrations of water. Many cell membranes behave as semi permeable membranes, and osmosis is a vital part in the movement of liquids in living organisms, for example, in the transport of water from the soil to the roots in plants.
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In Shakespeare story King Lear, two of the women were portrayed as emasculating and disloyal while the third was honest and truthful. Showing, that most women who have power can’t be trusted. The story told of a king named Lear who had three daughters named Goneril, Regan, and Cordelia. Lear had given his two oldest daughters Goneril, and Regan a piece of land even though they had lied to their father telling him feelings that they didn’t really have. Then there was his youngest daughter she was as honest and truthful as any other child could be.
"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.
King Lear is often regarded as one of Shakespeare’s finest pieces of literature. One reason this is true is because Shakespeare singlehandedly shows the reader what the human condition looks like as the play unfolds. Shakespeare lets the reader watch this develop in Lear’s own decisions and search for the purpose of life while unable to escape his solitude and ultimately his own death. Examining the philosophies Shakespeare embeds into the language and actions of King Lear allows the reader a better understanding of the play and why the play is important to life today.
The tragedy King Lear by William Shakespeare ought to be seen as a lesson on what not to do as a parent. By picking favorites, King Lear and the Earl of Gloucester leave a lasting impact on their children 's psyche, ultimately leading to them committing horrible crimes. The rash judgments, violent reactions, and blindness of both Lear and Gloucester lead to both their and their children 's demise. As a result, all of the father-child relationships in the play begin to collapse.
Despite its undeniable greatness, throughout the last four centuries King Lear has left audiences, readers and critics alike emotionally exhausted and mentally unsatisfied by its conclusion. Shakespeare seems to have created a world too cruel and unmerciful to be true to life and too filled with horror and unrelieved suffering to be true to the art of tragedy. These divergent impressions arise from the fact that of all Shakespeare's works, King Lear expresses human existence in its most universal aspect and in its profoundest depths. A psychological analysis of the characters such as Bradley undertook cannot by itself resolve or place in proper perspective all the elements which contribute to these impressions because there is much here beyond the normal scope of psychology and the conscious or unconscious motivations in men.
In King Lear, Shakespeare portrays a society whose emphasis on social class results in a strict social hierarchy fueled by the unceasing desire to improve one’s social status. It is this desire for improved social status that led to the unintentional deterioration of the social hierarchy in King Lear. This desire becomes so great that Edmund, Goneril, Reagan and Cornwall were willing to act contrary to the authority of the social hierarchy for the betterment of their own position within it. As the plot unfolds, the actions of the aforementioned characters get progressively more desperate and destructive as they realize their lack of success in attaining their personal goals. The goals vary, however the selfish motivation does not. With Edmund, Goneril, Reagan and Cornwall as examples, Shakespeare portrays the social hierarchy as a self-defeating system because it fosters desires in its members that motivate them to act against the authority of the hierarchy to benefit themselves. A consideration of each characters actions in chronological order and the reasons behind such actions reveals a common theme among the goals for which morality is abandoned.
10% - 15%. I intend to place a predefined weight of potato cells (0.15g) in varying concentrations of sucrose solution (0%, 20%, 40%, 60%, 80%), to see the effects of osmosis in the cells of a potato in varying levels of sucrose solution. The potato cores will be prepared, weighed and then placed in the solution and left for a certain amount of time, they will then be removed, re-weighed and the difference in weights calc...
As a Shakespearean tragedy represents a conflict which terminates in a catastrophe, any such tragedy may roughly be divided into three parts. The first of these sets forth or expounds the situation, or state of affairs, out of which the conflict arises; and it may, therefore, be called the Exposition. The second deals with the definite beginning, the growth and the vicissitudes of the conflict. It forms accordingly the bulk of the play, comprising the Second, Third and Fourth Acts, and usually a part of the First and a part of the Fifth. The final section of the tragedy shows the issue of the conflict in a catastrophe. (52)
* Make sure each piece of potato is exactly the same size as the next.
potato cells. In order to find the best way to do this experiment I am
When you place a potato chip in a salt or sugar solution, then if the
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.