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How does Shakespeare present ideas about kingship in the play
How does Shakespeare present ideas about kingship in the play
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The Selfish King in Shakespeare's King Lear
In Shakespeare's King Lear a king is stripped of his land, wealth, soldiers, and all of his power because he is stubborn, egocentric, and unkind. Other than losing money and power he loses his three daughters as well. Lear?s pride is so overwhelming that he is unwilling to allow anyone to contradict him. If anyone (besides his fool) even remotely hints that his actions were wrong he gets unnecessarily enraged. King Lear acts very harshly to his daughters and should receive the appropriate punishment. Although King Lear completely deserves what he gets and has put his youngest daughter through so much torture, he is not entirely awful. He is a respectable king who people look up to.
When Kent informs Lear of his drastic mistake Lear?s pride takes control of him and he banishes his loyal friend, Kent. Kent is almost like a brother to Lear. He is Lear?s most trusty friend and basically the king?s right hand man. Because Lear is so arrogant and proud, he will not accept any disagreement from anyone. Kent explains to Lear that he has made a mistake in banishing Cordelia and Lear explodes with fury at Kent. This is the response Kent receives in return for correcting the king. ?To come betwixt our sentence and our power, which nor our nature nor our place can bear, our potency made good, take thy reward: ?turn thy hated back upon our kingdom. If ?thy banished trunk be found in our dominions, the moment is thy death.? (I.1.194-202). King Lear is saying that Kent is now a traitor, and since he points out a mistake in the king?s judgment he should be banished. If Kent shows his body in Lear?s kingdom once again h...
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...ecisions. When Kent reveals that banishing Cordelia was an unwise decision Lear exiles Kent, his most trusted friend. There are many terrible deeds that Lear commits, but also has several unpleasant ones committed on him by his daughters. Even though there are horrible things done to king Lear, the terrible things that Lear do outweighs them. Lear deserves his punishment, should live up to his mistakes, and do whatever he can to correct those mistakes.
Works Cited and Consulted
Schneider, Ben R. Jr. "King Lear in Its Own Time: The Difference That Death Makes." Early Modern Literary Studies 1 (1995).
Shakespeare, William. "King Lear." William Shakespeare: the Tragedies, the Poems. Ed. John D. Wilson. Cambridge: Cambridge UP, 2006.
Stern, Jeffrey. ?King Lear: The Transference of the Kingdom.? Shakespeare Quarterly, 1990. Folger Shakespeare Library.
However, as their dreadful actions increased, they failed to realize the struggle to restore honor and certainty did as well. Shakespeare demonstrated how the only situation in which individuals struggle to restore honor is when that honor is gained through dominating and destroying the lives of others; when it is gained through wrongdoing. When the honor is gained through righteous actions, the challenges are easier to handle resulting in internal peace. Both of King Lear’s daughters were trapped in an illusion where they felt they must continue their mischief in order to gain honor. They both drew attention towards their status and power while neglecting their character. They failed to realize this thirst was only destroying the happiness they once owned. Their destruction occurred at the point where they both received what they had given their father: betrayal. Shakespeare presented the idea that restoring honor through harming others results in nothing but one’s self-destruction of their happiness and
Shakespeare, William. "King Lear: A Conflated Text." The Norton Shakespeare. Ed. Stephen Greenblatt. New York:
... Lears blessing, and declared his daughter. Lear also realized that Kents speaking out was for Lear’s best and that he too was abused and banished. What stings Lear even more is that he is now completely dependent upon his two shameless daughters, Goneril and Regan. Plus that he must now beg them when he took care of them like a father when they were once children, to drive Lears further into madness he realizes that as king he was so ignorant and blind with power that he never took care of the homeless and let them suffer. All these realization and the fact that Lear is in his second childhood a tender stage drive him into the peak of madness.
Shakespeare's King Lear is a play which shows the consequences of one man's decisions. The audience follows the main character, Lear, as he makes decisions that disrupt order in his Kingdom. When Lear surrenders all his power and land to his daughters as a reward for their demonstration of love towards him, the breakdown on order in evident. Lear's first mistake is to divide his Kingdom into three parts. A Kingdom is run best under one ruler as only one decision is made without contradiction. Another indication that order is disrupted is the separation of Lear's family. Lear's inability to control his anger causes him to banish his youngest daughter, Cordelia, and loyal servant, Kent. This foolish act causes Lear to become vulnerable to his other two daughters as they conspire against him. Lastly, the transfer of power from Lear to his eldest and middle daughter, Goneril and Regan, reveals disorder as a result of the division of the Kingdom. A Kingdom without order is a Kingdom in chaos. When order is disrupted in King Lear, the audience witnesses chaotic events that Lear endures, eventually learning who truly loves him.
King Lear is a play about loyalty. "Goodness" is portrayed by the characters as selflessness. Each "good" character displays loyalty through selfless actions. Cordelia selflessly does not attempt to rob Lear of his wealth by flattering him. Even though she risks banishment, she selflessly refuses to indulge her father's foolish wishes. Edgar, too, is selfless in his actions by leading his father to safety even when he knows Gloucester does not recognize him and will not appreciate that he was, in fact, the truly loyal son. Finally, Kent, Lear's Selfless servant, risks his life to protect his king even after he has been mistreated.
Shakespeare, William. King Lear. The Complete Works of Shakespeare. Ed. David Bevington. New York: HarperCollins, 1999
(Act I, Sc i, Ln 47-53) This is the first and most significant of the many sins that he makes in this play. By abdicating his throne to fuel his ego he is disrupts the great chain of being which states that the King must not challenge the position that God has given him. This undermining of God's authority results in chaos that tears apart Lear's world. Leaving him, in the end, with nothing.
Shakespeare, William. The Tragedy of King Lear. Ed. Louis B. Wright and Virginia L. Freund. New York: Washington Square, 1957. Print.
Muir, Kenneth. "Great Tragedies I: King Lear." Shakespeare's Sources. London: Methuen & Co Ltd, 1957.
No tragedy of Shakespeare moves us more deeply that we can hardly look upon the bitter ending than King Lear. Though, in reality, Lear is far from like us. He himself is not an everyday man but a powerful king. Could it be that recognize in Lear the matter of dying? Each of us is, in some sense, a king who must eventually give up his kingdom. To illustrate the process of dying, Shakespeare has given Lear a picture of old age in great detail. Lear’s habit to slip out of a conversation (Shakespeare I. v. 19-33), his brash banishment of his most beloved and honest daughter, and his bitter resentment towards his own loss of function and control, highlighted as he ironically curses Goneril specifically on her functions of youth and prays that her
Bengtsson, Frederick. “King Lear by William Shakespeare.” Columbia College. N.p., n.d. Web. 19 Apr. 2015.
The reader discovers Kent's willingness to protect his King in the first scene. After Lear has had his daughter's display their love in a pubic competition Kent tries to persuade him that Cordelia "does not love him least" and that Lear should think about banishing her. Kent is trying to protect the King from his emotions and the decision that they have led him to. But Lear does not listen and instead banishes Kent from the Kingdom. His banishment is a result of another emotional outburst on the part of the King. If Lear were to look rationally at his actions and what his daughters have said he would realize his folly. Instead he is enraged by Kent and thinks that he is challenging his authority.
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
The first flaw in King Lear is his arrogance, which results in the loss of Cordelia and Kent. It is his arrogance in the first scene of the play that causes him to make bad decisions. He expects his favorite, youngest daughter to be the most worthy of his love. His pride makes him expect that Cordelia’s speech to be the one filled with the most love. Unfortunately for King Lear’s pride, Cordelia replies to his inquisition by saying, “I love your majesty/According to my bond and nothing less';(1.1.100-101). Out of pride and anger, Lear banishes Cordelia and splits the kingdom in half to the two evil sisters, Goneril and Regan. This tragic flaw prevents King Lear from seeing the truth because his arrogance overrides his judgement. Lear’s arrogance also causes him to lose his most faithful servan...
To begin, King Lear makes the conscious decision to split up his land, but he choses the most egotistical way to decide which of his daughter’s received which piece of land. Near the beginning Lear says, “Which of you shall say we doth love us most,/ that we our largest bounty may extend/ Where nature doth with merit challenge,” (I.i.52-54). This quotation demonstrates how Lear was constantly seeking ways to build his ego, and was looking for reassurance that he was still the best man that he could be. It proves to the reader or viewer that Lear is clearly not in his right mind. Demonstrating that maybe this character cannot be trusted, as a true king would not be likely to enact this type of behaviour. Society has trained most individuals that someone who constantly seeks attention is not an individual that anyone should want to associate with. Lear’s attitudes in regards to giving up his land to his daughter’s show that he ne...