An Introduction to Shakespeare `Lear` Part 1

Transcription

6th Year
English
Higher Level
Michael Ruaidhri Deasy
An Introduction to
Shakespeare
‘Lear’ Part 1
No part of this publication may be copied, reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any
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The single text question is worth 60 marks. 15% of your total result.
You should spend one hour on this section. 10 minutes planning and 50 minutes writing.
You will have a choice of 2 questions.
Aim to write a minimum of 4A4 pages
Contents
Contents
What to look out for in the story...................................................................... P3
The characters…………………………………………………………………….. P5
Past Paper Questions and Examiners Reactions…………………………...P6-11
Why Study Shakespeare/ Introduction writing………………………………… P12
Dramatic Techniques……………………………………………………………...P14
Structure of Shakespearian Tragedy…………………………………………….P15
Character List……………………………………………………………………….P22
Synopsis- Scene by Scene……………………………………………………….P32
Overview …………………………………………………………………………... P37
The themes……………………………………………………………………….... P39
Commentary………………………………………………………………………....P44
Biography……………………………………………………………………………P48
Act 1…………………………………………………………………………………P 55
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2
What to look out for in the story
As we read through the story we need to remember that the exam will focus not on what
happens ( the plot) but rather on the significance of what happens. What can we learn from
each scene about the following:
Changes and development of characters:
Here we need to look out for a number of points.




How are characters introduced.
how they change and develop
what are their relationships with other characters like.
You should also notice their language.. what type of imagery does it contain, does it
change, what is its tone etc.?
Main themes
Once we have identified the main themes we need to key an eye on the following:





How is the theme introduced.
What events of the plot contribute to this theme?
What imagery/motifs are used to develop the theme?
What do the characters do/say to develop the theme?
What do we learn about the theme from the above? What are we being guided to
think?
Imagery:
Here you are examining and learning how:




The imagery helps to tell the story
What can we learn about a character from the imagery they use?
How does the imagery add to the atmosphere and mood of the play?
Which imagery is used to develop which theme?
3
The story itself
Be careful here. While it is obviously important to understand what is happening in the story
you should consider this as only the starting point. Remember you will never be asked to tell
the story. You need to look at:





How the story is developed.
What are the major conflicts?
How is it paced?
What are the key speeches and scenes?
Does the ending work? Why? Why not?
Story-telling techniques in ‘King Lear’



Constant movement and contrasting scenes- jumping between characters as the
action intensifies.
The creation of suspense- in particular watch how Edmund develops his plans in his
soliloquys.
Foreshadowing- when earlier events hint at and take on a greater significance later in
the play.
4
Exam focus: past questions- Analysis
Our first step is to look at the past paper questions on Shakespeare relating to the single text
What can we deduce?
Questions can focus on:
1. Character- look out for 2 elements to the question- 2 personality traits. Or they may
focus on two characters and their effect on each other/relationship.
2. Themes- focusing on how the theme develops and/or what it contributes to the play.
3. The overall play itself- how it is dramatic, engages the audience etc. How imagery is
used to tell the story.
All questions demand an opinion and clear reasoning. The question will give you a
statement you need to focus on. In that statement there will be a number of key
words/phrases you will need to focus on and repeat constantly throughout the answer.
The key to being successful is to think your way through the question. Don’t see it as a
topic to be tested, instead focus on the fact that it is an opinion to be expressed.
Remember also that the Shakespearean text changes from year to year. Lear has
been examined twice before.
10 steps on how to plan and prepare:
1. Write out the question
2. Underline the key words.
3. Ask yourself what is the question asking you to express an opinion on?
4. Mind map the key words.
5. Decide on your opinion- what are you going to argue?
6. Organise your points- how will you prove your argument/opinion?
7. What proof (quotes/key moments) will you use?
8. Layout your paragraphs
9. Get writing.
10. Remember PQE and always check your points prove your opinion.
5
Past Paper Questions
The key to examining these questions is to avoid seeing them as topics but instead as
statements that you need to pass judgement on. Look for the key words (they’ve been
underlined below) and also what you need to give an opinion on.
2014 MACBETH
“Macbeth’s relationship with other characters can be seen primarily in the power struggles
which prove crucial to the outcome of the play.”
Discuss the above statement in relation to at least two of Macbeth’s relationships with other
characters. Support your answer with suitable references to the play Macbeth.
Or
“Throughout the play Macbeth Shakespeare makes effective use of a variety of dramatic
techniques that evoke a wide range of responses from the audiences.”
Discuss this view with reference to at least two dramatic techniques used by Shakespeare in
the play. Support your answer with suitable references to the play Macbeth.
2013 MACBETH
“The variety of significant insights that we gain into Macbeth’s mind proves critical in
shaping our understanding of his complex character.”
Discuss this view, supporting your answer with suitable reference to the play, Macbeth.
Or
“Shakespeare makes effective use of disturbing imagery in the play, Macbeth.”
Discuss this statement, supporting your answer with suitable reference to the text.
2012 HAMLET
“Hamlet’s madness, whether genuine or not, adds to the fascination of his character for the
audience.”
Discuss this statement, supporting your answer with suitable reference to the play, Hamlet
Or
“Shakespeare uses a variety of techniques to convey a world of corruption in the play,
Hamlet”.
Write your response to this statement, supporting your answer with suitable reference to the
text.
6
2011 HAMLET
“Revenge and justice are finely balanced themes in the play, Hamlet.”
Discuss this statement, supporting your answer with suitable reference to the text.
Or
“Claudius can be seen as both a heartless villain and a character with some redeeming
qualities in the play, Hamlet.”
Discuss both aspects of this statement, supporting your answer with suitable reference to the
text.
2010 KING LEAR
“In King Lear honour and loyalty triumph over brutality and viciousness.”
Write your response to this statement supporting your answer with suitable reference to the
text.
OR
“In King Lear the villainous characters hold more fascination for the audience than the
virtuous ones.”
Discuss this statement with reference to at least one villainous and one virtuous character.
Support your answer with suitable reference to the text.
2009 MACBETH
(i)
“Macbeth’s murder of Duncan has horrible consequences both for Macbeth himself
and for Scotland.” Write a response to this statement. You should refer to the play in
your answer.
Or
“Macbeth has all the ingredients of compelling drama.” Write a response to this
statement, commenting on one or more of the ingredients which, in your opinion,
make Macbeth a compelling drama.
2008 OTHELLO
7
(I) “Othello’s foolishness rather than Iago’s cleverness leads to the tragedy of Shakespeare’s
Othello.”
Discuss this statement supporting your answer with the aid of suitable reference to the text.
OR
(ii) “Shakespeare’s play Othello demonstrates the weakness of human judgement.”
2007
MACBETH
(I) “The relationship between Macbeth and Lady Macbeth undergoes significant change
during the course of the play.”
OR
(ii) “Essentially the play Macbeth is about power, its use and abuse.”
Discuss this view of the play, supporting your answer with the aid of suitable reference to the
text.
2006
KING LEAR
(I) “In the play, King Lear, the stories of Lear and Gloucester mirror one another in interesting
ways.”
Write a response to this view of the play, supporting your answer by reference to the text.
OR
(ii) “Reading or seeing King Lear is a horrifying as well as an uplifting experience.”
Write a response to this view, supporting the points you make by reference to the text.
2005 AS YOU LIKE IT
(I) “Rosalind’s attitudes and qualities make her a very attractive character.”
Do you agree with the above view? Support your answer by reference to the play.
OR
8
(ii) “The play, As You Like It, presents many opportunities for dramatic performance.”
Write your response to the above statement, supporting it by reference to the play.
2004 MACBETH
(I) “Shakespeare’s Macbeth invites us to look into the world of a man driven on by ruthless
ambition and tortured by regret.”
Write a response to this view of the play, Macbeth, supporting the points you make by
reference to the text.
OR
(ii) “The play, Macbeth, has many scenes of compelling drama.”
Choose one scene that you found compelling and say why you found it to be so. Support
your answer by reference to the play.
2003 MACBETH
(I) “We feel very little pity for the central characters of Macbeth and Lady Macbeth in
Shakespeare’s play.”
To what extent would you agree with the above view? Support your answer by reference to
the play.
OR
(ii) “In Macbeth, Shakespeare presents us with a powerful vision of evil.”
Write your response to the above statement. Textual support may include reference to a
particular performance of the play you have seen.
2002
HAMLET
(I) “The appeal of Shakespeare’s Hamlet lies primarily in the complex nature of the play’s
central character, Hamlet.”
9
To what extent would you agree with the above statement? Support your view by reference
to the play.
OR
(ii) What is your view of the importance of either Gertrude or Ophelia in Shakespeare’s play,
Hamlet?
Support the points you make by reference to the play.
2001 HAMLET
(I) “The struggle between Hamlet and Claudius is a fascinating one.”
Discuss this statement, supporting your answer by reference to the play, Hamlet.
OR
(ii) Choose the scene from Shakespeare’s Hamlet that in your view was the most dramatic.
Discuss your choice, supporting your answer by reference to the play. [Textual support may
include reference to a particular performance of the play that you have seen.]
10
What the examiners are saying
Below is a list of points examiners have raised after correcting Leaving Cert Higher
Level English papers. We need to ensure our answers highlight the positives below
and avoid the negatives.
“Examiners noted that the best answers in the Single Text Section were anchored in a
careful and assured examination of all aspects of the question. While unfocused narrative
remains a minor problem, most candidates displayed an admirable flexibility in adapting their
knowledge to the demands of the question”
“An over-reliance on unfocused narrative frequently characterised the less successful
attempts.”
“…there is also a need to stress close, objective reading of the question so that all its
implications are fully recognised. “
“It is advisable to encourage candidates to spend a little time thinking before writing. It is
important that candidates try to form an approach to a set task before immersing themselves
in it totally.”
“Yet all examiners cited the familiar culprits among the common causes of difficulty for
candidates – the lapse into unfocused narrative, the over-reliance on character sketch, the
failure to argue a point of view cogently, the inability to express ideas clearly and accurately.”
11
Why do we study Shakespeare’s work?
Perhaps the most brilliant author in the English language. He is a playwright, poet and
businessman.
Incredibly well-developed characters- his central characters are realistic, have depth and we
get to see their inner mental turmoil and conscience. Shakespeare helps us to learn about
ourselves as human beings. We have strong emotions towards the characters and see many
sides to their personality.
Exquisite use of poetic language. We get to see how imagery helps to add atmosphere,
develop characters and themes and tell the story. We learn about the power of language,
how it can tell stories, create atmosphere, develop characters and affect an audience.
Plays are phenomenally well-crafted- we learn about genre, pace, stagecraft,
characterisation and how a story should be told.
Thematically, Shakespeare is unmatched in his ability to touch the human soul –there is a
real psychological element to his characters, themes and plotlines. His plays deal with major
themes that are still relevant today- from politics to parents, good and evil, power, jealousy,
ambition, the list is endless. Despite being written over 400 years ago his themes and ideas
still speak to our modern society.
Most quoted, most translated of any author on earth. His storylines and characters are
relevant to all, and have been adapted, modernised and updated; while still retaining their
unique identity as a Shakespearean creation.
The storylines are gripping. Full of tension, suspense, dramatic irony, action and emotion,
there is something to keep everyone interested.
12
Shakespeare’s theatre- The Globe
Like newspapers, TV, film, the internet, for people in Elizabethan/Jacobean times theatre was
how they expressed their political, philosophical & personal opinions about events and
intrigues of the day. It was entertainment, social commentary and a reflection of the times.
His plays reflected the concerns of the time – often about kings and queens gaining, fighting
for or losing power, social stability after a long period of conflict (War of the Roses – British
civil war).
Lear deals with themes that were not only relevant and captivating for audiences in the early
1600’s but are still topical and relevant today. Themes such as duty, marriage, sexual desire,
domestic violence, insanity, seniority, and power are all still as relevant today as then.
One of the things we need to think about before we study a Shakespearean play is how his
theatre affect how he wrote his plays. How did its shape and layout help create the drama?
What did Shakespeare have to work with, and against?
What did the Globe consist of?
Round, wooden, roofless building with three galleries of seats and a pit (no seats).
Closeness of different classes- mass appeal of plot and themes- Shakespeare had to write
plays that appealed to the richest and poorest of society.
Main stage - 40 feet wide 27 feet projection into the pit
Open, free stage=quick changes, rapid action
Encourages speechmaking, passionate soliloquies
No women actors.
Plays happened at 2:30 in the afternoon- only day time light= So Shakespeare filled his plays
with speeches about time, season and weather to help the audience.
13
Shakespeare’s dramatic techniques
Scene length and duration- one of the things to notice is how Shakespeare varies the length
of his scenes- long scenes often contain important moments.
Movement on stage- characters enter mid conversation, lots of characters come on and off
stage in quick succession- gives the audience lots to watch. This also helps create contrast
with the scenes that contain soliloquies and the important moments. Notice how the
atmosphere changes, slows down etc.
Language – poetry and prose. His language must complete a number of functions, often at
the same time; create atmosphere, give information to the audience, move the plot forward,
highlight elements of a character’s personality, reinforce/develop themes.
Soliloquies- important speeches that help an audience understand the inner conscience of a
character.
Dramatic irony- when the audience knows something the rest of the characters onstage
don’t. Helps to create tension, drama and suspense.
Structure and shape of his stories- His plot lines are cleverly shaped, contrasting moments of
great action with a slower or comic scene afterwards. The pace of his plays increase as we
build to climax.
The success of any Shakespearean play, and King Lear in particular, lies on the strength of
its actors. Shakespeare wrote his language to help characterise each person on stage, and
all the major parts require the actor to reveal their inner selves- that is what makes a
Shakespearean play so special.
There are no big action pieces, special effects or spectacles to divert the audiences’ attention
away from the characters. We have to concentrate on the human drama that unfolds, how
the relationships change and develop and the conflicts unfold.
Therefore the actors need to establish close bonds with the audience- it is all in the
performance- remember that. And feel free to refer to performances you have seen in your
answer, it is expected.
14
THE STRUCTURE OF A SHAKESPEAREAN TRAGEDY
4. Crisis: This is the turning point in the fortunes of the
tragic protagonist, the consequence(s) of “hamartia”
serving to compound the tragic situation. After the crisis
the tragic figure seems more controlled by events
than in control of them, the situation as a direct
result of his/her previous action(s).
3. Hamartia (errors of judgment): The tragic figure
suffers from a tragic flaw in character. As a result
of this flaw s/he makes errors of judgment that are
later directly responsible for the hero/ine’s tragic
downfall, leading to the catastrophe of the play. At
this point the protagonist still seems in control of
his/her fate.
5. Tragic Force: Following closely after the crisis,
this incident intensifies the downfall of the tragic
hero or heroine and sets in motion the falling
action or denouement of the play.
6. Moment of Final
Suspense: For
a brief moment it
appears as though the
protagonist will actually
escape his or her tragic
downfall after all.
2. Exciting Force: An
incident that introduces the
conflict and sets in motion the
rising action of the play.
7. Catastrophe: The death of the
protagonist. All of Shakespeare’s tragic
figures die, their deaths serving to give a
note of finality to tragic plays.
1. Exposition: Since Shakespeare’s stage had no
central curtain and few stage props, the exposition
reveals the setting (time and place) and sometimes
highlights a theme; it has the important function of
providing the appropriate mood and atmosphere for the
play, also acting as a “hook” to engage the audience.
Shakespeare rarely introduces his tragic figure at this
stage.
15
8. Glimpse of Restored Order:
Shakespeare’s tragedies never end
with the death of the protagonist;
there is always the introduction of a
new social order, a new harmony in
society. For this reason they are not
considered nihilistic or depressing.
THE TRAGIC HERO
In order to decide whether Lear is a tragic hero we need to define exactly what a tragic
hero is. Only then can we really examine the central character in depth.

Usually, there is only one tragic hero- a man, important and powerful.

Shakespeare's tragedies are, for the most part, stories of one person, the "hero," or at
most two, to include the "heroine."

In your Leaving Cert the question may focus on whether the central character is a
tragic hero or not. You will need to be able to define what a tragic hero is and whether
the character meets that definition.
THE TRAGIC HERO AND THE TRAGIC "STORY"

The tragic story leads up to, and includes, the death of the hero

The suffering and calamity are exceptional

They befall a conspicuous person

They are themselves of a striking kind

They are, as a rule, unexpected

They are, as a rule, contrasted with previous happiness and/or glory
On the one hand (whatever may be true of tragedies elsewhere), no play that ends with the
hero alive is, in the full Shakespearean sense, a tragedy.
On the other hand, the story also depicts the troubled part of the hero's life which precedes
and leads up to his death.
It is, in fact, essentially a tale of suffering and calamity, conducting the hero to death.
Shakespeare's tragic heroes will be men of rank, and the calamities that befall them will be
unusual and exceptionally disastrous in themselves.
The hero falls unexpectedly from a high place, a place of glory, or honour, or joy, and as a
consequence, we feel that kind of awe at the depths to which he is suddenly plunged. Thus,
the catastrophe will be of monumental proportions.
Such exceptional suffering and calamity, then, affecting the hero, and generally extending far
beyond him, so as to make the whole scene a scene of woe, are essential ingredients in
tragedy, and the chief sources of the tragic emotions, and especially of pity.
16
ONLY GREAT MEN CAN BE TRAGIC HEROES

Peasants (merely because they're human beings) do not inspire pity and fear as great
men do

A Shakespearean tragedy, then, may be called a story of exceptional calamity leading
to the death of a man of high estate!

His fate affects the welfare of a whole nation or empire; and when he falls suddenly
from the height of earthly greatness to the dust, his fall produces a sense of contrast,
of the powerlessness of man, and the great power of fate or fortune,
 Such feelings are constantly invoked by Shakespeare's tragedies--again, in varying
degrees.
To this point, then, we can extend the definition of Shakespearean tragedy to "a story of
exceptional calamity, leading to the death of a man of high estate." That's adequate for now.
Clearly, there is much more to it than that.
TRAGEDY, HUMAN FLAWS, AND RESPONSIBILITY

The calamities of tragedy do not simply happen, nor are they sent--

The calamities of tragedy proceed mainly from actions, and those, the actions of men--

Shakespeare's tragic heroes are responsible for the catastrophe of their falls.
We see a number of human beings placed in certain situations, and from their relationships,
certain actions arise. These actions cause other actions, until this series of interconnected
deeds leads to complications and an apparently inevitable catastrophe.
The Effect of such a series of events/deeds on the imagination is to make us regard the
sufferings which accompany it, and the catastrophe in which it ends, not only or chiefly as
something which happens to the persons concerned, but equally as something which is
caused by them.
The hero always contributes in some measure to the disaster in which he perishes- his
downfall.
In Shakespeare, the hero recognizes his own responsibility for the catastrophe which befalls
him too late to prevent his death.
17
TRAGIC CONFLICT: EXTERNAL

Usually there are two persons, of whom the hero is one---OR,

Two Parties or Groups, one of which the hero leads---OR,

The passions, tendencies, ideas, principles, forces which animate these persons or
groups.
External conflict will be there, but there is more to it than that. The type of tragedy in which an
undivided soul is opposed to a hostile force is not the Shakespearean type. But, we must
also be aware of the internal conflicts the hero tries to deal with, while hostile forces begin to
surround him, and eventually overwhelm him.
TRAGIC CONFLICT: INTERNAL

Shakespeare's tragic hero, though he pursues his fated way, is, at some point, torn by
an inward struggle--

A comparison of the earlier and later tragedies shows this struggle is most
emphasized in the later tragedies--

The conception of outer and inner struggle includes the action of "spiritual forces."
Whatever forces act in the human spirit, whether good or evil, whether personal passion or
impersonal principle; doubts, desires, scruples, ideas--whatever can animate, shake,
possess, and drive a man's soul--these are the "spiritual forces" generating the internal
turmoil for the hero.
These “spiritual forces” give great depth, insight and realism to Shakespeare’s tragic heroes.
Lear’s external and inner conflict
Lear’s external conflicts are numerous at different times in the play. The central one is the
obvious one with his daughters.
Once relinquishing his kingdom he is placed in conflict with his environment and those parts
of society which support the new powers- this is probably best exemplified by Oswald.
It is his inner conflicts that really appeal. The struggle between his role as a king and his
failings at this role create the drama of the play. His blurring of the lines between public
(King) and private (father) creates a further serious conflict. He is human and makes bad
decisions and poor judgments that cause his downfall.
18
COMMON QUALITIES OF THE TRAGIC HERO/PROTAGIONIST

Tragic heroes are exceptional beings: this is the fundamental trait--

Tragic heroes contribute to their own destruction by acts in which we see a flaw in
their character, or, by tragic error--

The difficulty is that the audience must desire the defeat/destruction of the tragic hero,
but this in itself does not constitute tragic feeling
THEY ARE EXCEPTIONAL BEINGS
It is not just their status in society that counts.
The tragic hero's nature is also exceptional, and generally raises him in some respect much
above the average level of humanity.
Shakespeare's tragic heroes are made of the stuff we find in ourselves and within the
persons who surround him. But, these qualities are concentrated, far more intense than we
meet in normal life.
They have a fatal gift that carries with it a touch of greatness (fierce determination, fixed
ideas); and when nobility of mind, or genius, or immense force are joined to it, we realize the
full power and reach of the soul, and the conflict in which it engages acquires that magnitude
which stirs not only sympathy and pity, but admiration, terror, and awe.
They are conflicted, and often the audience’s feelings are too.
THEY WILL HAVE A TRAGIC FLAW
The flaw often takes the form of obsession. In the circumstances where we see the hero
placed, this tragic trait, which is also his greatness, is fatal to him.
He makes a mistake, by action or omission; and his error, joining with other causes, brings
on his ruin.
Shakespeare gives flaws of character and judgment to Lear. He acts without thinking, is too
open to being flattered (and is consequently easily manipulated), and does not realy
understand what or who he is.

Shakespeare's tragic heroes need not be "good," though they generally are good (at
least in the beginning)--

Shakespeare's tragic heroes project that man is not small or contemptible, no matter
how rotten he can be--
19

Shakespeare's tragic heroes illustrate the center of the tragic impression: the sense of
waste--

Shakespeare's tragic heroes live for what seems to be a type of the mystery of the
whole world.

THEY NEED NOT BE "GOOD":
But they should be admired, at least to begin with.
But it is necessary that the tragic hero should have so much of greatness that in his error and
fall, we may be vividly conscious of the possibilities of human nature- his death is a wasted
opportunity.
CONNECTED TO THE GREATNESS IS A SENSE OF WASTE:
What a great man and king Lear could have been, indeed, should have been! With
Shakespeare, at any rate, the pity and fear which are stirred by the tragic story (Aristotelian
requirements of tragedy) seem to unite with, and even merge in, a profound sense of
sadness and mystery which is due to this impression of waste
A TRAGEDY GETS US TO REFLECT ON OUR WORLD AND ITS MYSTERY
Tragedy is the typical form of this mystery because the greatness of soul which it shows
oppressed, conflicting, and destroyed is the highest existence in our minds.
It forces the mystery upon us, and it makes us realize vividly the worth of that which is
wasted, and that such waste of potential greatness, nobility of soul, of humanity is truly the
tragedy of human existence. Out of all of this, a tragic pattern emerges.
We wonder why there is such waste, why humanity with such potential for greatness can ruin
it all. The tragedy is in the waste, rather than the death of a mere man, which is all he has
become at the end.
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Questions to consider as you read:
1.
The nature of Lear, his strengths and weaknesses. How does he compare to other
tragic heroes?
2.
The character of Edmund. Is he a convincing human being? Is he pure malignancy?
What motivates him?
3.
Is the character of Cordelia convincing in her goodness?
4.
Where does Lear fall between the poles of goodness and evil as represented by
Cordelia and Edmund?
5.
The contrast between love and lust.
6.
The three women and a hierarchy of pure love, pragmatic love, and mercenary love.
7.
The focus on flattery as a political as well as a personal tool.
8.
The themes of justice, kingship, of order and chaos, and their dramatization in the
realms of geography, society, and psychology.
21
Character List
LEAR
Lear Title character of King Lear, an ancient king of Britain. Lear rejects Cordelia, his
only honest daughter, when he mistakes her frankness for a lack of affection. He is
then rejected by his other two daughters Regan and Goneril, to whom he has
granted his kingdom, and finds himself wandering in the wilderness outcast and
insane. His prideful wrath has blinded him to the difference between good and evil,
but before the play's end he recovers his sanity in part, although too late to prevent
the tragedy of Cordelia's death However, in the course of his trials he does come to
recognize his failings, which constitutes the play's most important lesson.
Lear's descent into madness, the central event of the play, illustrates the extent to
which humanity can be degraded by its errors. Lear is both victim and perpetrator,
for his own egocentricity has sparked the events that lead to his collapse; his
ensuing suffering is a result of his inadequacy as a human being Thus his story
presents to us a powerful demonstration of humanity's frailty, and the consequent
potential for tragedy in life.
Our horror at Lear's tale is alleviated somewhat by his partial recognition and
acceptance of his failings Lear s trials have been variously interpreted They may be
seen as comparable to God's punishment for sins; his recognition of his fault is
followed by reconciliation with Cordelia, which is suggestive of God's forgiveness
following a sinner's repentance. That the relief is accompanied by death suggests
the importance of the Christian afterlife and its eternal mercy but this promise is
lacking in Lear's pagan world. In a non-religious interpretation, Lear's endurance is
heroic in itself, and his triumph lies in his acceptance of his errors before he dies.
These two interpretations are not, of course, mutually exclusive: Lear is heroic in
both senses. Also, most commentators agree that Lear's suffering is finally
redemptive, in that it leads to heightened consciousness on his part. Further, Lear's
last words seem to indicate (though the question is disputed) that he dies believing
that Cordelia is alive which implies a happy resolution in death akin to that of
Gloucester, whose heart 'Burst smilingly' (5.3. 198), and whose sufferings
conspicuously parallel Lear's.
In the course of his wanderings, both physical and mental, the distracted Lear is able
to understand his folly. He first recognizes a general lack in his conduct as a ruler.
Raving madly in the storm, Lear suddenly realises that he had been previously
unaware of hunger and homelessness, and he sees that the knowledge would have
been valuable to him as king. He tells himself 'Expose thyself to feel what wretches
feel, /That thou mayst shake the superflux to them, / And show the Heavens more
just' (3.4.34-36).
Lear comes to a more personal acknowledgement of fault, though his progress is
fitful. At first, his guilt takes an unhealthy, morbid form, as he castigates himself for
having fathered his daughters, seeing the fault in the sexual process rather than in
his egotistical demands. While still on the stormy moor, he declares his torment to
be 'Judicious punishment! 'twas this flesh begot / Those pelican daughters' (3.4.7374). He elaborates on these sentiments when he equates female sexuality with the
torments of hell, in 4.6.117-128. Lear's attitude towards sex—also displayed by
22
Edgar—is evidence of the unhealthy mental and moral state of the play's world.
However, before his lowest point, Lear learns of Cordelia's faithfulness and realises
the wrong he has done her. As Kent reports, 'burning shame' (4.3.46) drives him
from her camp. While wandering in the fields nearby, he encounters the blinded
Gloucester and, stirred by the sight of another sufferer, acknowledges his own
weakness—'they told me I was every thing', he says of his former courtly flatterers,
adding sardonically,' 'tis a lie, I am not ague-proof (4.6.104-105). Later, as part of his
remarks on patience, he declares the weakness of all humanity, firmly including
himself. He is raving, but the tone of his lament is clear enough; the arrogance that
informed his earlier vow of revenge is entirely gone. Finally, in Cordelia's presence,
he declares himself'a very foolish fond old man' (4.7.60) and admits that he has
wronged her. He asks her to 'forget and forgive' (4.7.84), and later, as father and
daughter are taken to prison, he is pleased at the prospect of perpetual atonement:
'I'll kneel down, /And ask of thee forgiveness: so we'll live . . .' (5.3.10-11).
KING OF
FRANCE
Still, his insight is at best flawed. That a catastrophe and such a great degree of
unhappiness has been necessary to elicit in Lear the acknowledgement of his faults
and the existence of human ingratitude has been held against him by many readers.
Shakespeare accepted no simple views on the complexities of life, and Lear is
distinctly not a perfectly reformed man. Strikingly, no trace of guilt is found in his
grief over Cordelia's death, and his enthusiasm for imprisonment with her is
disturbingly egocentric in his lack of any sense other life, as was his original demand
for love, in 1.1. This point has been central to much recent feminist criticism of the
play. However, Cordelia acquiesces and so do most audiences; the play's emphasis
on forgiveness and redemption seems clear, and in this light, Lear's residual defects
are perhaps best viewed as evidence of Shakespeare's honesty about human frailty.
Finally, King Lear is a play that raises more questions than it answers, and the
extent to which Lear's tragedy is illuminating to him—as opposed to us, for its
potential for illumination is unquestionably clear—remains for us to
contemplate. Shakespeare doubtless believed that there was a historical king of
Britain named Lear, as is recorded in his sources, but he is in fact a mythical figure.
The name derives from a Celtic god of the sea, Llyr. The legendary king is reported
to have founded the town of Leicester, whose name is related to his own (Lear 4
castrum, Latin for 'camp').
King of France is the suitor and later the husband of Cordelia, King Lear’s rejected
daughter. France, as the king is called, appears only in 1.1. He recognizes the
honesty and virtue in Cordelia and thus emphasizes Lear's moral blindness. He
agrees to marry her, saying 'She is herself a dowry' (1.1.240), and takes her back to
France. Cordelia is thus absent for most of the action as her sisters humiliate and
banish their father. The Earl of Kent soon knows that 'from France there comes a
power' (3.1.30) to aid Lear, but France himself does not reappear; he has returned
home to deal with 'something he left imperfect in the state' (4.3.3), while a French
general unsuccessfully attempts to re-establish Lear on the throne. The subject of
foreign invasion was a touchy one in Shakespeare's day because Protestant
England felt threatened by Catholic enemies, including France, and scholars believe
that the playwright found it expedient, in view of government Censorship, to
deemphasize the role of France, both man and country, in King Lear.
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BURGUNDY Duke of Burgundy is a suitor who rejects Cordelia when she is disinherited by King
Lear. Burgundy appears only in 1.1; he and the King of France have been
summoned to determine which of them will marry Lear's youngest daughter and thus
govern one-third of Britain. Burgundy's concern is with a politically and materially
advantageous match, and when Cordelia is disinherited he simply loses interest in
her. She dismisses his frank but polite apology cooly, saying, 'Peace be with
Burgundy! / Since that respect and fortunes are his love, /I shall not be his wife'
(1.1.246-248). Burgundy's conventionally greedy behavior contrasts tellingly with the
response of France, who recognizes Cordelia's virtues and marries her. The Duke's
equal footing with the King of France reflects a reality of medieval Europe: the Duchy
of Burgundy, though formally a client state of France, was an independent and
wealthy country. However, this medieval context is an anachronism, for in the early
period in which King Lear is set the Duchy of Burgundy did not yet exist.
CORNWALL Duke of Cornwall is the villainous husband of King Lear’s usurping daughter Regan.
Cornwall takes a prominent part in the evil deeds that spark much of the play's
action. In 2.1 he declares that Edgar, who has been falsely accused of a murder plot
against his father, Gloucester, shall be executed, and he adopts as a follower
Edgar's persecutor, Edmund. He places Lear's loyal follower Kent in the stocks and
he supports his wife and sister-in-law Goneril in their expulsion of Lear. At his most
cruel, in 3.7 he puts out Gloucester's eyes when the earl remains loyal to the outcast
former king. For this offence he is killed by an appalled Servant, as is reported in 4.2
by a Messenger). His death is proof that the triumph of villainy will not be total, but at
the same time the enormity of his final deed contributes greatly to the general
atmosphere of horror that so distinguishes the play.
ALBANY
Duke of Albany is the virtuous but weak husband of Leap’s villainous daughter,
Goneril. Albany, who does not discover his wife's wickedness until too late,
eventually aids the banished Lear and formally restores him to power just before his
death. In this way he represents an instance of moral growth in a degraded world. At
the play's close he is the ruler of Britain, sharing power with Edgar and Kent, and
intent on repairing the damage to the state that Lear's crisis has produced. In the
final lines, Albany offers a possible lesson to be drawn from the tragedy, saying,
'The weight of this sad time we must obey' (5.3.322); he recognizes the need to be
aware of human susceptibility to catastrophic error, as Lear did not. (Albany's lines
here are sometimes given to Edgar, as in the First Folio text.)
In his early appearances Albany is ineffectual. He is governed entirely by his wife,
who dismisses his question about her rift with Lear by curtly ordering, 'Never afflict
yourself to know more of it' (1.4.289). After Act 1 he does not reappear until 4.2,
when, having learned of the treacherous blinding of Gloucester, he denounces
Goneril as an evil-doer. 'You are not worth the dust which the rude wind / Blows in
your face', he declares (4.2.30-31). Nevertheless, he goes along with her alliance
with Edmund against Cordelia’s French army, though he privately asserts his
intention to revenge Gloucester. Informed by Edgar of Edmund and Goneril's plot
against his own life, Albany exposes the villains in 5.3. By this time Albany is clearly
intent on rectifying the misdeeds of his wife and her allies, but his earlier weakness
has already helped them. His poor judgment in patriotically fighting the French has
an unintended and fatal result when Edmund gains control of Lear and Cordelia.
Thus, though well intentioned and finally benevolent, Albany reinforces the play's
theme of human fallibility.
24
KENT
Earl of Kent is a nobleman faithful to King Lear. Kent attempts to dissuade the king
from his catastrophic decision to banish Cordelia when she honestly admits that her
love will go to her husband as well as her father, but Lear banishes him as well for
interfering. Kent then disguises himself and attempts to assist Lear when he is
rejected by his other daughters, Regan and Goneril. He succeeds in keeping Lear
safe from possible murder, and he reunites the king and Cordelia at Dover. His
conflict with Goneril's steward Oswald stresses an important value in the play, the
association of virtue with gentlemanly behavior. Kent's steadfast honesty and loyalty
is contrasted with the courtier's self-serving ambition. However, when Cordelia's
invasion fails and she and Lear are captured by Edmund, Kent is helpless. As he
witnesses Lear's death at the play's close, he exclaims, 'Break, heart; I prithee,
break!' (5.3.311). Whether he refers to his own heart or Lear's, this forsaken cry is
emblematic of the sorrowful view of humanity's plight that is an important theme of
the play. Yet Kent's final declaration of his own imminent death, 'I have a journey,
sir, shortly to go; / My master calls me, I must not say no' (5.3.320-321) also
contributes to the play's sense of the nobility of human suffering.
Kent corresponds to a character named Perillus in Shakespeare's chief source for
Lear, the play KING LEIR (c. 1588). Some scholars think Shakespeare may have
played Perillus for the Chamberlain’s Men in the 1590s, for a number of passages in
the older play are especially closely echoed in Lear when Kent is onstage.
GLOUCESTER Earl of Gloucester is the father of Edgar and Edmund. Gloucester is the central
figure of the play's subplot, in which his illegitimate son Edmund's villainy and his
own error lead him to disaster and suffering from which he recovers only to die. This
progression parallels the story of King Lear in the main plot. Deceived by Edmund,
who wants to inherit the earldom, Gloucester disinherits and banishes his legitimate
son Edgar. Because Gloucester is faithful to the outcast and insane Lear, Edmund
turns him over to Lear's enemy, the Duke of Cornwall, who puts out Gloucester's
eyes and banishes him into the wilderness. Edgar, disguised as a wandering lunatic,
tends to his father. He saves him from suicide, in 4.6, and renews in him the strength
to endure. Finally, however, when Gloucester learns Edgar's identity, the old man
dies; 'his flaw'd heart, . . . 'Twixt two extremes of passion, joy and grief, / Burst
smilingly' (5.3.195-198).
Gloucester's tale offers a significant parallel to that of Lear; like the king's,
Gloucester's tragedy is self induced, for his actual blinding is preceded by figurative
blindness when he fails to see either Edgar's virtue or Edmund's villainy. Like Lear,
Gloucester recogniszs his error—'I stumbled when I saw' (4.1.19), he confesses—
when it is too late. His helpless wanderings, dependent on the aid of a seeming
lunatic, suggest powerfully the similar straits of the mad king. The similarity between
the two reaches a horrific climax, in 4.6, when they encounter each other on the
beach at Dover; it is one of the most touching passages in Shakespeare. The mad
and the blind old men recognize each other and acknowledge their joint status as
victims; their consciousness, though it is flawed by their handicaps, is clearly more
acute than it was before. Their parallel tales, and the close sympathy of Lear and
Gloucester when they meet, is highly significant for our interpretation of the play's
final moments. Gloucester's death immediately precedes Lear's at the close of the
play, and because their parallel development has been stressed, we may read in the
king's death the same 'extremes of passion' and presume that his heart, too, 'burst
smilingly'. Thus, Gloucester's tragedy helps confirm the nobility of human suffering, a
central message of the play.
25
EDGAR
Edgar is the banished son of the Earl of Gloucester. Misled by his illegitimate son
Edmund, Gloucester formally exiles Edgar to the wilderness; this action parallels
King Lear’s rejection of his daughter Cordelia. In 2.3 under threat of execution,
Edgar disguises himself as a wandering lunatic. When Lear is banished by his
villainous daughters the disguised Edgar accompanies him, in 3.4 and 3.6. When
Gloucester is blinded and expelled because he has remained loyal to Lear, Edgar,
still disguised, becomes his father's guide, in 4.1, and saves him from suicide and a
murder attempt by Oswald, in 4.6. In Act 5 Edgar finally takes control of the play,
exposing Edmund and Goneril’s plot to murder the Duke of Albany and defeating
Edmund in a trial by combat. At the play's close Edgar is invited by Albany to share
in the rule of Britain; with his final lines, he offers a possible lesson to be drawn from
the play—that we must be aware of our human susceptibility to folly, as Lear was
not—saying, 'The weight of this sad time we must obey' (5.3.322). (In some editions
these lines are given to Albany.)
As the insane Tom O'Bedlam, Edgar embodies the play's theme of disease and
misery as products and emblems of human folly. Tom blames his insanity on his
sexual promiscuity, thus illustrating the morbid attitude towards sex that permeates
the world of the play. Similarly, when he is again himself, Edgar attributes
Gloucester's tragedy to 'The dark and vicious place' (5.3.171) where Edmund was
conceived, that is, to sex outside of marriage.
EDMUND
On the other hand, Edgar's loving loyalty to his father parallels Cordelia's to Lear.
Both present a Christlike willingness to sacrifice themselves that is often cited as a
lesson in accepting the will of God. Even from a non-religious viewpoint, Edgar is an
agent of redemption, preserving order and goodness where chaos and evil have
threatened by acting as a guide and savior first for Lear, then for his father, and
finally for Britain as a whole. When he saves his father from suicide, in 4.6, he offers
a way to renew acceptance of life. Deceiving Gloucester into believing he has
jumped from a cliff and lived, Edgar declares his father's survival to be 'a miracle'
(4.6.55); the blind man concludes that he should not give in to despair, but endure.
Thus, Edgar illuminates a basic principle that is at the core of the tragedy: we must
struggle to make the best of our lives, accepting death only when its time comes. As
he says to his father, 'Men must endure / Their going hence, even as their coming
hither: / Ripeness is all' (5.2.9-11).
Edmund is the unscrupulous and ambitious illegitimate son of the Earl of Gloucester.
Edmund' conspires against his legitimate brother Edgar, who is banished into the
wilderness in 2.1; he betrays his father to King Lear’s evil daughter Regan and her
husband, the Duke of Cornwall, who put out the old man's eyes, in 3.7; and he
pursues a love affair with Lear's other daughter Goneril, with whom, in 4.2, he plots
to murder her husband, the Duke of Albany. When Cornwall is killed the widowed
Regan schemes to take Edmund from Goneril, and this unsavory love triangle is an
important part of the play's atmosphere of moral collapse.
In Act 5 Edmund leads Cornwall's army against the supporters of Lear's faithful
daughter Cordelia; victorious, he thwarts Albany's plans for mercy and imprisons
Lear and Cordelia, ordering their execution. Edgar learns of the plot against Albany,
charges Edmund with treason and challenges him to a trial by combat, wounding
him fatally. The dying Edmund confesses his intention towards Lear, but it is too late
to prevent Cordelia's death, and Lear dies of a broken heart soon thereafter.
26
Edmund's villainy is a central element in King Lear; his schemes are crisply
executed and do much to provide a dramatic structure in the subplot that the more
idea-oriented main story lacks. However, Edmund is a stereotypical villain with little
human complexity—his deeds are more interesting than he is himself—and his
schemes are effective due to the moral weakness of others, not his compelling
personality. His declaration of repentance—'some good I mean to do / Despite of
mine own nature' (5.3.242-243)—is perfunctory and unconvincing. It serves to spark
the final episode—Lear's fatal grief—after which Edmund is carried away to die.
Albany's brusque dismissal of the news of his death demonstrates the extent of the
villain's defeat; compared to the lessons to be absorbed from Lear's end, Edmund's
demise is 'but a trifle here' (5.3.294).
Shakespeare identified Edmund's unscrupulous ambition with a troubling social
phenomenon of his own day, the rise of the new commercially active classes—the
bourgeoisie of the cities and the lesser landowners, or gentry, of the countryside.
The success of these groups depended on their willingness to engage in trade and
banking, as opposed to the traditional dependence on the land, and in this they were
at odds with the great territorial nobles of the old aristocracy. A worldly emphasis on
practical finance characterized the commercial classes, and this was regarded as
unscrupulous by hostile eyes. From this point of view, Edmund represents the new
man in his lack of chivalric scruples and his concern for his own advancement.
CURAN
Old Man
Doctor
Traditionalists conventionally associated such an attitude with a new, 'modern' strain
of thought, and Edmund quite plainly identifies himself with this new mode. In his
first soliloquy he declares, 'Thou, Nature, art my goddess' (1.2.1), boldly stating his
independence of'the plague of custom' (1.2.3) and its manmade moral standards.
Such sophisticated agnosticism arose in part from the Renaissance rediscovery of
classical paganism, and it was reflected in such works as the Essays of Montaigne,
which Shakespeare had read and which he admired in some respects. However, in
placing these sentiments in the mouth of a self-proclaimed villain, Shakespeare
declares his alliance with the old world of the aristocracy that is quite clearly
represented by Lear, Gloucester, and Edgar, Edmund's enemies.
Curan is a follower of the Earl of Gloucester. In 2.1 Curan tells Edmund of a rumor
that the Dukes of Cornwall and Albany—the husbands of Regan and Goneril, to
whom King Lear has foolishly given power—are soon to fall into civil war. This is the
first hint that Lear's error, already disastrous for him personally, is also a potential
catastrophe for the kingdom as a whole.
Old man is a a vassal of the Earl of Gloucester. In 4.1 the Old Man escorts the blind
Gloucester who has had his eyes put out by the evil Duke of Cornwall. The
demoralized and fatalistic Gloucester orders him away, but the Old Man observes
that he has been tenant to the Earl and his father for 'fourscore years' (4.1.14) and
does not obey until he has turned his master over to an escort, the wandering lunatic
Tom O'Bedlam (who is actually Gloucester's son, Edgar, in disguise). The frailty of
the Old Man emphasizes Gloucester's weakness, while at the same time his
devotion offers evidence that some good remains in the increasingly violent and evil
world of the play.
Doctor is a physician who reports to Cordelia on the condition of her father, King
Lear. In 4.4 he tells Cordelia that Lear's sanity can be restored through rest, saying,
'Our foster nurse of nature is repose' (4.4.12). He assures her that he can provide
drugs to sedate the mad king. Later, he oversees the touching reunion of the rested
Lear with his daughter. He ends the meeting for the good of his patient, but again
27
reassures Cordelia that 'the great rage ... is kili'd in him' (4.7.78-79). His kindly
ministrations contrast with the evil that has permeated Lear's world to this point.
Fool
Fool is the court jester to King Lear. The Fool sees that Lear should not have
rejected Cordelia and placed himself in the power of Regan and Goneril, and he
repeatedly reminds his master of this. He employs barbed quips, for instance, having
caused Lear to observe that 'nothing can be made out of nothing', the Fool
remarks,'. . . so much the rent of his land comes to' (1.4.130-132). He also utters
simple truths, such as 'Thou should'st not have been old till thou hadst been wise'
(1.5.41-42). He strives to use his wit to ease Lear's mind as the king goes insane,
and he accompanies him into the stormy wilderness in Act 3. The Fool is last seen
leaving with Lear and Kent after Gloucester has warned them of a murder plot
against the king. His last line, 'And I'll go to bed at noon' (3.6.83), suggests an early
death, but his fate is not reported.
The Fool is deeply moved by Lear's plight, but he is capable of detachment from it.
Lear's Fool shares with other Shakespearean jesters, such as Feste and
Touchstone, an irony that permits him to comment on the action of the play, as does
a Chorus. With jokes, riddles, and scraps of Song he clarifies the central situation by
commenting on it more intelligently than the other characters. Especially pertinent is
his observation, '. . . the Fool will stay, / And let the wise man fly' (2.4.79-80); with it
he makes a declaration of loyalty that helps contrast a moral world with the tragic
one that dominates the play. Similarly, his sanity is a foil for Lear's increasing
disintegration.
The Fool is closely associated with Cordelia at two significant points. Before his first
entrance in 1.4.72, he is said to have 'much pined away' for her, the first mention of
Lear's daughter since her departure in 1.1. At the play's close, Lear, grieving over
Cordelia's corpse, says, 'And my poor fool is hang'd' (5.3.304). 'Fool' was a common
term of endearment in Shake- speare's day, and Lear may simply be referring to his
lost daughter, but the playwright nevertheless takes the occasion to compare the two
characters. The Fool resembles Cordelia in both his devotion to Lear and his
commitment to a truthful assessment of life. He replaces her as the exponent of
these virtues during her long absence from the play, in fact, some scholars suggest
that the two roles may have been taken by the am'e actor in the original productions
by the King’s Men. Others, however, hold that the part of the Fool was probably
played by the famed comedian Robert Armin, whose notoriety would have made him
an unlikely Cordelia.
28
OSWALD
Captain
Gentleman
Oswald is the steward of King Lear’s villainous daughter Goneril. In 1.3 Oswald
coolly accepts Goneril's instructions to treat her father insolently, for she wishes to
humiliate him thoroughly. In 1.4 Oswald acts upon these orders. Thus, the steward is
identified with his mistress as a villain, and when Lord Kent beats him and drives him
away, we approve. In 2.2 Kent encounters Oswald again and berates him in a long,
comical series of insults that focus on the steward's pretensions to gentlemanly
status. Kent's speech is a scathing critique of the vain, self serving 'glass-gazing,
super-serviceable' (2.2.16-17) courtier that Oswald seems to be. Less prominent
after these encounters, Oswald principally serves Goneril as a messenger, until, in
4.5, he delivers a letter to Regan and accepts her implied commission to kill the
outcast and blinded Earl of Gloucester. When he encounters Gloucester in the next
scene he attempts to do so, only to be killed himself by the blind man's son, Edgar.
With his dying breath he begs his killer to make amends by delivering his letters. He
thus demonstrates loyalty to his mistress—he is indeed 'super-serviceable'—while at
the same time he reveals her secrets and provides for her ultimate downfall in the
final scene.
Oswald represents a familiar character type found in the satirical comedy of
Jacobean Drama, a caricature of an ambitious commoner attempting to climb into
aristocratic social circles. The rise of the gentry and the birth of the bourgeoisie
during the reigns of Queen Elizabeth and King James I i resulted in a crisis of
confidence among the aristocracy, who attempted to distinguish themselves from the
newly rich by insisting on proper manners and values. This social conflict is the
subject of humor in many plays of the period. In the clash between Kent and Oswald
the advantage is given clearly to the old nobility at the expense of the rising class,
reflecting Shakespeare's conservative social instincts. Some scholars have
speculated that Oswald is further intended as a satire on an actual person, perhaps
William Farington, the obnoxious steward of the Elizabethan theatre patron Lord
Strange, but this cannot be proven.
Officer is the murderer of King Lear’s daughter Cordelia. In 5.3 Edmund orders the
Officer, a captain (designated as 'Captain' in some editions), to kill the captured king
and his daughter, hanging Cordelia to make her death seem a suicide. The officer is
a petty representative of the evil that permeates the play. He responds to Ed mund's
promise of reward in a cynically mercenary spirit, saying 'I cannot draw a cart nor eat
dried oats; / If it be man's work I'll do 't' (5.3.39-40). He succeeds in disposing of
Cordelia, but he is killed by her father as he does so as we learn from Lear himself in
5.3.273.
Gentleman is a follower of Lear. The Gentleman assists the loyal Kent in his efforts
to aid the wandering and insane king. Primarily a useful attendant, the Gentleman
delivers two important descriptions that help form the audience's responses to the
play in significant ways. In 3.1 he reports vividly to Kent on Lear's raging in the storm
and prepares the audience for the wild scene to follow. In 4.3 he movingly describes
Cordelia’s haunting response to the news of her wretched father. Rich in religious
imagery, this passage provides a strong sense of Cordelia's saintly nature, a central
image of the play. Also a second Gentleman is a follower of the Duke of Albany. In
5.3, the horrified Gentleman announces the deaths of Goneril and Regan. Goneril
has stabbed herself after confessing that she poisoned Regan. The character adds
to the increasing hysteria of the final scene.
29
Servants
GONERIL
REGAN
Servants are members of the household of the Duke of Cornwall. In 3.7, one of the
Servants, designated the First Servant, attacks Cornwall in an effort to prevent him
from barbarously putting out the eyes of the Earl of Gloucester. The First Servant is
killed, but he wounds the duke, who dies later. The Second and Third Servants
assist the wounded Gloucester and they comment on the evil natures of the duke
and his wife Regan. The episode stresses the horror that has been loosed by King
Lear’s folly in granting power to Regan and her sister Goneril. At the same time, the
Servants demonstrate that good still resides in some people, and thereby offer some
relief from the increasing violence and terror of the plot.
Goneril is one of the villainous daughters of King Lear. Goneril and her sister Regan
declare their great love for Lear, in 1.1, when in fact they merely want the portion of
his kingdom that he has foolishly promised to whichever daughter can assure him
she loves him most. They share the prize when their honest younger sister Cordelia
enrages the king with a frank admission that her love will be given in part to her
future husband. Goneril takes the lead in the two sisters' villainy. She introduces the
idea of humiliating Lear, in 1.1, and she orders her steward, Oswald, to commence
the practice, in 1.3. In 1.4 she starts the dispute over Lear's followers that sends the
ex-king fleeing into the storm, where he descends into madness. In 4.2 Goneril's
wickedness becomes more pronounced as she enters into a love affair with the
ambitious Edmund and hints at the existence of a murder plot against her husband,
the virtuous but weak Duke of Albany. She and Regan both desire Edmund, and
Goneril declares that she would rather lose the battle against the avenging forces
led by Cordelia than lose Edmund to her sister. This rivalry depicts the vicious
sexuality that is part of the play's general atmosphere of moral and physical
unhealthiness. When Goneril and Edmund's plot against Albany is exposed, she
poisons Regan and then commits suicide as the Gentleman reports in 5.3.225-226.
Goneril's extravagantly evil nature is so boldly and unsubtly drawn that only her
greater aggression distinguishes her from her sister. Her manipulation of her
husband foreshadows Shakespeare's Lady Macbeth, but Goneril, a less
sophisticated creation, is simply an imitation of a standard male villain, cruel and
ambitious. Unlike Lady Macbeth, she cannot compare herself with conventional
femininity, nor does she succumb to illness through a bad conscience, for she is a
much less complex character and serves chiefly as an emblem of evil.
Regan is one of the villainous daughters of King Lear. In 1.1 Regan and her sister
Goneril hypocritically claim to love their father in order to share the portion of the
kingdom lost by the honest Cordelia, their younger sister, who frankly admits that her
husband as well as her father will receive a share other love. Regan follows
Goneril's lead, and they humiliate Lear once he has surrendered power to them and
their husbands. She is led on also by her husband, the Duke of Cornwall, and
supports him when he performs the play's most appalling act of cruelty and puts out
the eyes of the Earl of Gloucester, in 3.7. Cornwall is killed while performing this
deed, and Regan sets her sights on Goneril's lover, the ambitious Edmund, but her
stronger sister poisons her. Regan is last seen as she withdraws, overcome by
sickness. Only later is word other death, and of Goneril's confession as to its cause,
brought to the other characters. Regan is the least distinguished of the play's
villains, being chiefly a follower of her sister and her husband, though her somewhat
cool and aloof quality presents a contrast with the more energetic Goneril.
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CORDELIA Cordelia is the virtuous daughter whom King Lear mistakenly rejects. Knowing she
will marry, Cordelia refuses to assert that all of her love will forever go to her father,
unlike Regan and Goneril, her hypocritical sisters. Lear mistakes Cordelia's honesty
for a lack of affection and disinherits her, though the King of France recognizes her
innate worth and marries her anyway. She leaves Britain with him at the end of 1.1
and does not reappear until Act 4, when she arrives with an army. She intends to
restore her father to his throne, for he has been humiliated and banished to the
wilderness by Regan and Goneril. Lear and Cordelia are reunited, but are
nonetheless defeated in battle, and the villainous Edmund imprisons them and
orders their murder, in 5.3. Although Edmund is defeated by Edgar it is too late; the
assassin has killed Cordelia, though Lear kills him. In the play's final episode Lear
grieves over his daughter's corpse and dies of a broken heart.
During her long absence from the play we are not permitted to forget Cordelia, for
her goodness and self-sacrifice are central to the tragedy: the Fool is said to have
'much pined away' for her, in 1.4.72; in 2.2, the loyal Kent reveals that she knows of
Lear's situation; Lear himself refers to her in 2.4.211; and her invasion force is
mentioned several times, beginning in 3.1.30.
Many commentators believe that Shakespeare specifically intended Cordelia as an
example of the Christian virtues of self-sacrifice and acceptance of God's will.
Cordelia accepts her undeserved fate while she displays undiminished love for her
erring father. In this view she is a Christ like figure in a pagan world who offers a
suggestion of Christianity's coming redemption of humanity. Her death thus
symbolizes Christ's crucifixion, and the tragedy's lesson is the mysterious nature of
God's will. A non-religious interpretation of Cordelia's sacrifice is also proposed by
many critics, who see her virtue as its own reward, for as a pagan she lacks the
Christian's promise of recompense in the afterlife. In this humanistic view her
goodness inspires our admiration all the more for being unrewarded, and the pure
light of her courage offers the most compelling sense that the play's tragedy is not
utterly futile. Also,
many critics hold that Shakespeare intended Lear to die believing that Cordelia is
still alive, in which case his own fate is greatly eased, and we can feel more strongly
the redemptive effect of her virtues. A final variation on her importance does not
diminish it: some writers hold that King Lear reflects a despairing and pessimistic
view of life that denies aid for human folly in a tragic universe. In this interpretation
Cordelia's virtues, combined with the injustice of both her rejection by her father and
her ultimate death, offer striking confirmation of the dire point of view attributed to
the playwright.
In almost any view Cordelia's manifest virtue is a dominating element of the play,
giving her an importance seemingly unjustified by her relatively few appearances on
stage. In her pure honesty and unqualified love she seems almost devoid of ordinary
human personality traits, and her saintly qualities are especially stressed by the
Gentleman who reports on her in 4.3, preparing the audience for her return to the
drama. In a passage rich in imagery and rhetoric he describes her mingled joy and
sorrow at news of Lear, saying, for instance, '. . . she shook / The holy water from
her heavenly eyes' (4.3.29-30). Later, she is described as one 'Who redeems nature
from the general curse' (4.6.203). Evoked in these terms, Cordelia resembles an
angel more than she does a worldly character. Her vague personality contributes to
31
our sense of dislocation in King Lear. She is remote from the more active figures,
even the fighters against evil, Edgar, Kent, and Albany, and this draws attention to
the failure of human interaction in the play's tragic universe.
Cordelia may also be seen in a more human light, in act some writers declare that
she exhibits a prideful stubbornness in Act 1, only adopting an attitude of loving
generosity when she sees the damage that has been done. In this light her moral
progress may be said to parallel that of her father. This is a minority view, however,
for most commentators feel that Shakespeare intended her initial insistence on
honesty to be an obvious virtue.
Messenger
Officer
Messenger is a servant of Regan. In 4.2 the Messenger interrupts a dispute between
Goneril and Albany with the news that Gloucester has been blinded and Cornwall is
dead. Goneril immediately withdraws to plan her selfish response to the latter event,
in contrast to her husband's shocked dismay over the former. The Messenger then
adds that Gloucester had been betrayed by his son Edmund. The episode stresses
the evil that Albany realises he must oppose as the play approaches its climax.
A second messenger is a follower of Cordelia. In 4.4 the Messenger brings his
mistress the news that the armies of Goneril and Regan are approaching. His brief
announcement immediately throws the newly arrived Cordelia into the fury of battle,
and thereby increases the play's pace as it reaches its climax.
Officers are the followers of the Duke of Albany. In 5.3.109 an Officer relays
Albany's order for a trumpet blast. A little later, an Officer (perhaps the same one) is
sent after the fleeing Goneril, but he does not speak. When it is learned that an
assassin has been ordered to kill Cordelia and Lear, a different Officer (the pursuer
of Goneril does not return) is sent to prevent him. He returns and confirms, in half a
line (5.3.274), Lear's account of how he killed Cordelia's murderer. The Officers,
whether two or three in number, function merely to swell the ranks of the victorious
Albany's entourage in the busy climactic moments of the play.
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Scene by Scene Synopsis
Scene: Ancient Britain
Act I, Scene 1: The Earl of Gloucester introduces his illegitimate son Edmund to the Earl of
Kent and observes that he has a legitimate son as well. King Lear arrives with his daughters,
Goneril, Regan, and Cordelia, and explains his intention to abdicate and distribute Britain
among his sons-in-law, the Dukes of Albany and Cornwall—married to Goneril and Regan,
respectively—and either the Duke of Burgundy or the King of France , suitors of Cordelia. He
will give the largest share of the kingdom to whichever daughter can convince him she loves
him the most. Goneril and Regan declare their love effusively, but Cordelia simply states that
her love is that of a daughter to a father, and that she will also love her husband when she
has one. Infuriated, Lear disinherits her; Kent attempts to dissuade him, and Lear banishes
him. Burgundy rejects the disinherited Cordelia, but France decides to marry her and take her
back to France. Regan and Goneril confer on the need to control their obviously senile father
lest he turn against them.
Act I, Scene 2: Edmund bewails his illegitimacy and decides to steal his brother EDGAR'S
inheritance with the help of the letter he holds. Gloucester enters, and Edmund pretends to
hide the letter, but his father insists upon reading it. It is supposedly from Edgar, proposing to
Edmund that they murder Gloucester. Edmund pretends to believe the letter is merely a test
of his morals, and he offers to arrange for Gloucester to overhear a conversation between the
half brothers. Gloucester agrees and leaves; Edmund remarks on his naiveté. Edgar
appears, and Edmund tells him that their father is viciously angry with him, warning him to go
armed lest he be attacked.
Act I, Scene 3: Goneril desires to humble her father and instructs her steward Oswarld to
treat Lear and his followers disdainfully when they arrive.
Act I, Scene 4: Kent, disguised, plans to rejoin the king's court at Goneril's castle. Lear
arrives with his followers, and Kent is accepted among them. Oswald is surly to the king, and,
to Lear's delight, Kent rails against him, knocks him down, and drives him away. Lear's Fool
mocks the king for having surrendered his authority. Goneril appears and scolds Lear for the
conduct of his men. She demands that he halve their number, and he declares that he will
leave and go to Regan. He departs. Albany protests over Goneril's behavior, but she silences
him and sends Oswald with a letter to Regan that details her tactics with their father.
Act I, Scene 5: Lear sends Kent with a letter to Regan. The Fool again taunts the king for
being at the mercy of his daughters.
Act II, Scene 1: Edmund encounters Edgar and advises him to flee for his life. As Gloucester
approaches, Edmund tricks Edgar by saying that he must pretend to prevent Edgar's flight
but that he will actually help him escape. He draws his sword and fakes a fight, hustling
Edgar away. He then tells Gloucester that Edgar had assaulted him when he opposed the
murder plot. Gloucester declares he will have Edgar captured and executed, and he vows to
legitimate Edmund. Cornwall and Regan arrive on a visit to Gloucester; they praise Edmund
and take him into their service.
Act II, Scene 2: Outside Gloucester's castle, Kent insults and pummels Oswald as Edmund,
Cornwall, Regan, and Gloucester appear. Asked to explain his behavior, Kent declares that
Oswald is a hypocrite. Cornwall places Kent in the stocks despite his status as messenger of
33
the king. Gloucester protests but is ignored. When the others leave, Kent muses on a letter
he has received from Cordelia, who has learned of Lear's humiliation.
Act II, Scene 3: Edgar has escaped from a search party and overheard a proclamation that
he is outlawed. He decides to disguise himself as a wandering lunatic, taking the name Tom
0' Bedlam.
Act II, Scene 4: Lear, seeking Regan, arrives at Gloucester's castle and finds Kent in the
stocks. The Fool calls Kent a fool for attaching himself to a powerless master. Gloucester
reports that Regan and Cornwall will not receive Lear, who begins to rage but restrains
himself. Regan and Cornwall appear and Kent is freed. Regan defends Goneril against Lear's
complaints as Goneril arrives. The two unite in demanding that Lear dismiss his retinue. The
distressed Lear wavers between tears and anger and rages out into a storm that has arisen,
followed by Gloucester and the Fool.
Act III, Scene 1: Kent meets a Gentleman who reports that Lear is raging madly in the storm,
accompanied only by the Fool. Kent asks him to report Lear's situation to Cordelia, who has
arrived in Dover with a French army.
Act III, Scene 2: Lear raves in the storm, cursing his daughters. Kent appears and urges the
king to take shelter in a nearby hovel. The Fool bitterly predicts disruption for England,
whatever lies in store.
Act III, Scene 3: Gloucester tells Edmund that Cornwall, his feudal lord, has forbidden him to
take Lear in. He confides, however, that he has received a letter assuring that Lear's revenge
is at hand in the form of the French invasion. Edmund decides to inform on his father so he
can get his inheritance sooner.
Act III, Scene 4: Lear, Kent, and the Fool approach the hovel. Lear declares that he prefers
the storm to the thoughts he would have if he were sheltered, but he sends the Fool inside.
He reflects on the woes of the poor and homeless, whom he had never considered when he
ruled. The Fool reappears, terrified of a madman in the hovel. He is followed by Edgar,
disguised as Tom 0'Bedlam, who raves about being pursued by devils. Lear sympathizes
with him, assuming that he too has been betrayed by his daughters. Edgar asserts that his
demons are punishment for certain offences: he had been a decadent and immoral servant
who slept with his mistress, among other sins. Gloucester appears and offers them shelter.
He confides to Kent that Lear's daughters seek the king's death.
Act III, Scene 5: Edmund has revealed Gloucester's correspondence s with the French army,
and Cornwall orders him to have his father arrested.
Act III, Scene 6: Gloucester leaves Kent, Lear, the Fool, and Edgar in a warm room. Lear
acts out a criminal trial of Goneril and Regan and finally falls asleep just as Gloucester
returns and warns them to flee immediately. Kent and the Fool leave, carrying the sleeping
Lear. Edgar, left behind, reflects that his own fate does not seem so bad compared with that
of the mad king.
Act III, Scene 7: Gloucester, under arrest, is brought before Cornwall and Regan. When he
says that he will see them punished by fate, Cornwall puts out his eyes. The duke is attacked
by a Servant, who cannot abide such evil. Cornwall kills the Servant, but not before being
34
badly wounded. Regan takes him away, and the remaining Servants agree to take the
blinded Gloucester to the wandering madman, who can help him safely escape.
Act IV, Scene 1: An Old Man leads the blind Gloucester to Edgar, who grieves to see his
father in such condition. However, still an outcast, he resumes his madman's disguise. He
agrees to lead Gloucester to the cliffs of Dover.
Act IV. Scene 2: Oswald meets Goneril and Edmund and tells them that Albany has learned
of Cordelia's invasion, which pleases him, and that Edmund has informed on Gloucester,
which does not. Goneril sends Edmund with a message to Cornwall to hastily muster an
army; they exchange loving farewells, accompanied by hints of a murder plot against Albany.
Albany appears and berates Goneril for her evil; she replies that he is merely a coward. A
Messenger arrives with news of Cornwall's death and Gloucester's blinding. In an aside,
Goneril worries that Regan has possible designs on Edmund, now that she is a widow.
Albany vows privately to revenge Gloucester.
Act IV, Scene 3: In Dover the Gentleman tells Kent of Cordelia's tearful response to news of
Lear. Kent replies that Lear is in Dover but refuses to see Cordelia, out of shame.
Act IV, Scene 4: Cordelia hears that Lear has been seen wandering wearing a crown of
weeds and flowers, and she orders a search party. The Doctor assures her that Lear's
madness may be eased by rest, and that sedatives are available. News arrives that the
armies of Albany and Cornwall are approaching.
Act IV, Scene 5: Oswald reports to Regan that Goneril has convinced Albany to fight against
Cordelia's invasion. He also has a letter from Goneril to Edmund, which sparks Regan's
jealousy; she gives Oswald a token from herself to give Edmund with Goneril's letter. She
adds that if Oswald finds and kills Gloucester, he will be rewarded.
Act IV, Scene 6: Edgar convinces Gloucester that they have reached the top of the cliffs at
Dover and then pretends to leave him. In an aside to himself he says that he must humor his
father's despair in order to cure it. Gloucester leaps forward and falls to the ground. Edgar
then pretends to be a passer-by at the bottom of the cliff and says that he had seen
Gloucester at the top with a hideous demon. Gloucester accepts the idea that the gods have
miraculously preserved him from an evil impulse, and he vows to accept his affliction in the
future. Lear appears, covered with wildflowers and raving madly. A Gentleman with a search
party arrives and takes Lear to Cordelia. Edgar learns from him the location of the British
army. Oswald appears and at-tacks Gloucester, but Edgar kills him. As he dies, Oswald asks
his killer to deliver his letters to Edmund. Edgar reads a letter from Goneril proposing that
Edmund murder Albany and marry her.
Act IV, Scene 7: Cordelia greets her father, but Lear mistakes her for a spirit and only
gradually realises that he is still alive. The Doctor says that he needs more rest, and he is
taken indoors, leaving Kent and the Gentleman to discuss the coming battle. Kent declares
that his life will end that day.
Act V, Scene I: Jealously, Regan interrogates Edmund about Goneril and Goneril says to
herself that she would rather lose the battle than see Regan get Edmund. Edgar appears in
disguise, and takes Albany aside. He gives him the letter he got from Oswald. He proposes
that after the battle Albany call for a challenger to prove in trial by combat that its contents
are true. In a soliloquy Edmund reflects that Albany's leadership will be needed during the
35
battle, but that he hopes Goneril will then see to killing him. He observes that Albany has
proposed mercy for Lear and Cordelia, but he, Edmund, will not permit it.
Act V, Scene 2: Edgar leaves Gloucester and goes to fight. Fleeing soldiers pass by, and
Edgar returns, saying that Cordelia's forces have been routed and she and Lear captured.
Gloucester fatalistically elects to stay, but he recovers when reminded of his resolution to
endure, and the two flee together.
Act V, Scene 3: Edmund sends the captured Lear and Cordelia to prison. Lear rejoices at
being with Cordelia, despite the circumstances. Edmund sends an Officer after them, telling
him to carry out his written instructions mercilessly. Albany arrives with Regan and Goneril.
He arrests Edmund and Goneril for treason, asserting that a challenger will appear to back
the charge in trial by combat. Regan departs, suddenly sick. Edgar appears, unrecognizable
in full amour, and he and Edmund fight until he wounds Edmund badly. Albany displays the
letter, and Goneril departs hastily. The dying Edmund confesses his crimes. Edgar identifies
himself and tells of escorting Gloucester, adding that when he finally told his father who he
was the emotional shock killed the old man. An hysterical Gentleman reports that Goneril has
confessed to poisoning Regan, and then committed suicide. Edmund reveals that he has
ordered someone to kill the king and hang Cordelia in her cell, an apparent suicide. Edmund
is carried away and a soldier is sent to halt the killer, but Lear appears carrying the dead
Cordelia in his arms. He mourns her death, but at intervals believes she may be still alive. He
sees Kent but cannot recognize or understand him; the others realize that he is mad again.
Edmund's death is reported, and Albany declares that he will return Lear's kingdom to him.
Lear suddenly announces that he sees Cordelia breathing, and as he does so, he dies.
Albany orders funeral preparations and appoints Kent and Edgar to be his associates in rule,
though Kent says that he will soon die. Edgar closes the play with the assertion that such
woes as Lear's shall not be seen again.
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Overview:
There are really two plots in King Lear, a main plot and a fully developed subplot. Each has its own set of
characters.
In the main plot, there is the head of the family, the 80-plus-year-old king of Britain, Lear. He has three
daughters, Goneril, Regan, and Cordelia. The Duke of Albany is married to the oldest, Goneril, and the
Duke of Cornwall is married to Regan, the middle daughter. Cordelia has two suitors, the Duke of
Burgundy and the King of France. The court jester, the Fool, is by extension a member of the Lear family
and part of the main plot, as is the Earl of Kent, Lear's loyal follower.
The Earl of Gloucester, also a member of Lear's court, is the head of another family and the focus of the
subplot. He has two offspring, an older, legitimate son named Edgar and a younger, illegitimate or bastard
son named Edmund.
Various minor characters appear from time to time. They are easily identified by their connections with
whatever main character they serve or speak of.
As the play opens, Lear has decided to retire and divide his kingdom among his three daughters. Cordelia's
husband will be chosen for her immediately after Lear executes this "living will." Before he allots the
shares, Lear asks each daughter to make a profession of her love for him in order to receive her entitlement.
Goneril and Regan waste no time professing love for their father, but Cordelia is speechless. She loves her
father as any daughter should, no more and no less. Lear is outraged by what he sees as her lack of
devotion. He cuts Cordelia out of her share and banishes her. Her share is divided between Goneril and
Regan. Lear gives them everything but keeps a retinue, a following of 100 knights who will accompany
him as he alternates monthly visits between his two daughters. Cordelia's suitors are called in. Without a
dowry, Burgundy rejects her; but the King of France sees her true worth and leads Cordelia off to marriage
and his protection.
At Gloucester's castle, Edmund reveals that he will not let his illegitimate birth and older brother prevent
him from inheriting his father's estate. He devises a plan to convince Gloucester that Edgar is secretly
planning to kill his father to get his hands on the family property and enjoy it while he's still young.
Edmund then tells Edgar that their father is after him for some mistaken notion of a reported crime.
Eventually Gloucester is convinced of Edgar's treachery and seeks to put his older son to death. Edgar flees
for his life.
Meanwhile, Lear discovers that living with his two daughters is no joy. He is so outraged by their cruel
behavior toward him that he curses them and rushes out into a violent storm. During his exposure to the
elements he is accompanied by Kent, the Fool (his court jester), and eventually by Edgar, who has
disguised himself as a lunatic beggar named "poor Tom."
Gloucester tries to help Lear and his followers but is betrayed to Cornwall and Regan by Edmund. As
punishment, Gloucester is blinded and sent out into the storm, too. Edgar, still disguised, discovers his
blind father and leads him to Dover, where he joins Lear, who has gone mad from exposure to the elements
and the anguish he has suffered at the hands of his daughters.
37
The news of Lear's treatment had reached Cordelia, and the King of France has sent an invading force to
England to help restore Lear's rights to him. In Dover, where they have landed, Cordelia finds Lear and
helps to restore his sanity by loving care.
While preparing to fight the French invaders, Goneril and Regan have developed a passion for Edmund.
But before they can do anything about it, the battle is fought. The French lose, and Lear and Cordelia are
taken prisoners.
Edmund sends Lear and Cordelia to prison with orders for them to be secretly killed. When Albany enters,
he accuses Edmund of treason for plotting with Goneril against him and the interests of the state. Edmund
is given the chance to defend his honor in a duel. Edgar appears in a new disguise to take up this challenge
and mortally wounds Edmund. Goneril sees the handwriting on the wall and flees from the scene. Edmund
confesses all his crimes as a servant enters and announces that Goneril has poisoned Regan and killed
herself. Edmund then reveals that he has ordered Lear's and Cordelia's deaths. Albany sends soldiers to
prevent it, but he's too late. Lear enters carrying the dead Cordelia in his arms. As he weeps for her,
surrounded by the bodies of Goneril and Regan, the survivors can only stare in respectful awe.
Albany, the victor of the battle, relinquishes rule of the country to Kent and Edgar, but the worn-out Kent
doesn't accept. Edgar is left to restore order in England as the bodies of the dead are carried away.
38
Themes:
Self-knowledge
This is the crucial theme to achieving an understanding of the play. When we are first
presented with Lear we see a character who flips between his many roles without
understanding that he is doing so.
He is:
King
Father
Master/Patron
Judge.
We watch as Lear moves between these different roles with alarming rapidity. His referring to
himself in the third person as was before flicking back to the first person clearly shows this.
His lack of self- knowledge is shown in the Love test itself.
His refusal to delineate his roles is at the very centre of his character and means that he is
overly susceptible to flattery. This in effect is his tragic flaw.
Arguably Cordelia’s actions are a direct result of her refusal to continue the dangerous
flattery that has created the egotistical monster with whom we are presented with in act 1.
His most loyal follower Kent reinforces this as Shakespeare leaves his audience in no doubt
that this is Lear’s greatest failing.
Act 1Scene 1: Be Kent unmannerly when Lear is mad. What wouldst thou do, old man?
Think’st thou that duty shall have dread to speak when power to flattery bows?
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Sight and Insight vs. Blindness and Ignorance
Among the most important recurring themes Shakespeare develops in King Lear is the idea
of SIGHT AND INSIGHT vs. BLINDNESS AND IGNORANCE. Shakespeare continuously
repeats and develops this thematic idea on a literal (EYESIGHT/BLINDNESS) as well as
metaphorical level (INSIGHT/IGNORANCE).
For example, in Act I, scene i, Lear banishes Kent by exclaiming “Out of my sight!” and Kent
replies with the warning “See better, Lear, and let me still remain / The true blank of thine
eye”. Shakespeare develops the idea that “seeing” on a literal, physical level and “knowing”
or “understanding” do not necessarily coincide.
Throughout the play, Lear must gradually learn to value insight and understanding – “seeing”
on a metaphorical level – more highly than purely physical eyesight. This development
eventually leads to his insight about the false love of Regan and Goneril and the honest love
of Cordelia. Lear eventually “sees” that Cordelia is the daughter who loves him most.
Shakespeare continuously demonstrates the ambiguous nature of seeing and blindness as
indicators of knowledge, self-knowledge, and ignorance.
Other references that trace Lear’s development of sight/insight/knowledge can be found in
the following lines:
• REGAN: ’T is the infirmity of his age: yet he hath ever but slenderly known himself (I.i)
• LEAR: Doth any here know me? This is not Lear: Doth Lear walk thus? speak thus? Where
are his eyes? Either his notion weakens, his discernings Are lethargied – Ha! waking? ’tis not
so. Who is it that can tell me who I am? (I.iv)
• LEAR: Old fond eyes, Beweep this cause again, I’ll pluck ye out And cast you with the
waters that you lose To temper clay (I.iv)
• ALBANY: How far your eyes may pierce I cannot tell (I.iv)
The story of the Duke of Gloucester and his two sons, Edgar the legitimate son and Edmund
the bastard, parallels the story of Lear and his daughters in numerous ways. The references
to SIGHT/INSIGHT/BLINDNESS that haunt the story of Lear find their equivalent in
Gloucester’s fate. In Act III, scene vii, Gloucester is captured by Regan and Cornwall who
punish his allegiance to Lear by plucking his eyes out and, thus, blinding him:
CORNWALL: See ’t shalt thou never. Fellows, hold the chair. Upon these eyes of thine I’ll set
my foot (III.vii)
Once Cornwall loses his eyesight, he, like Lear, undergoes a journey toward insight and
knowledge. Although physically blind, Gloucester eventually gains insight and learns that the
banished Edgar is in fact the honest son who is dedicated to helping his father, whereas
Edmund has misled and betrayed his father.
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Nature and Order
The plot of King Lear develops around notions of NATURE AND ORDER.
a) NATURAL ORDER - FAMILY
Family and birthright are important themes in King Lear. At the onset of the play, for example,
Gloucester firmly considers Edgar as his legitimate son. He calls him “a son by order of law”
(I.i). Because Edgar is a legitimate son whereas Edmund is a son born out of wedlock,
natural family order determines that Edgar not only has a right to the inheritance of his
father’s property and possessions, but also to his father’s respect and love. Edmund, on the
other hand, is ridiculed and less respected by his father, because he is considered an
“unnatural” son without rights.
Shakespeare challenges these conventional notions of natural family order. When Edmund
schemes against his brother and father, the natural family order becomes reversed, and
Gloucester is quick to dismiss Edgar’s natural birthright:
GLOUCESTER: O villain, villain! His very opinion in the letter! Abhorred villain! Unnatural,
detested, brutish villain! worse than brutish! (I.ii)
Gloucester disinherits Edgar and raises the “bastard” son in his esteem instead. It is not until
later in the play that the natural family order is reestablished when Gloucester learns that
Edmund has betrayed both him and Edgar. Gloucester learns that Edmund planned to forego
natural order and birthright by tricking his father into giving him an inheritance:
EDMUND: A credulous father, and a brother noble, Whose nature is so far from doing harms
That he suspects none; on whose foolish honesty My practices ride easy. I see the
business.Let me, if not by birth, have lands by wit: All with me’s meet that I can fashion fit (I.ii)
Edgar, on the other hand, has remained loyal to his father despite his banishment.
We should not consider Shakespeare’s intention to be the reaffirmation of natural family
order and birthright at the end of the play. Rather, Shakespeare alerts his audience to the
fact that natural love, affection, and loyalty can only be recognized and understood once one
looks beneath the surface of appearances and conventions and considers actions and
behavior rather than legitimacy or illegitimacy as factors that determine a person’s character.
The tale of Lear and his daughters parallels the story of Gloucester and his two sons.
According to natural law, Lear decides to divide his kingdom equally among his three
legitimate daughters:
LEAR: 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? (I.i)
Lear believes that natural order must determine that all of his daughters must naturally love
him and that they will treat him with respect once he has given away his kingdom.
Shakespeare’s tragedy upsets Lear’s expectations: Although Lear believes that, by nature,
his daughters must love him, Regan and Goneril are interested only in the land they are
inheriting. They do not love their father and disrespect his wishes. Regan’s and Goneril’s
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personalities are disingenuous and ungenerous.
Cordelia, on the other hand, affirms her love for her father by stating that she loves him
“according to [her] bond; nor more nor less” (I.i). Cordelia respects her father and offers him
the honest affections of a daughter. But Lear does not understand that Regan and Goneril
are merely flattering his ego when they avow their love for him, while Cordelia truly cares
about her father but does not offer him empty words. Shakespeare challenges notions of
natural love and order to demonstrate the importance of looking beneath the surface of
relationships in order to determine true affection and love.
b) NATURAL ORDER – FATE AND THE STARS
A number of characters in King Lear refer to the stars or the workings of fate in order to
explain particular events in the story. This notion of astronomical influence was common
during the Elizabethan Age. The progressive ideas of Galileo Galilei, who offered scientific
explanations for the movements of the planets and stars, were, at the time of Shakespeare,
still unaccepted by many who clung to the beliefs inherited from medieval times.
scene ii, Gloucester ponders the influence of the stars:
GLOUCESTER: These late eclipses in the sun and moon portend no good to us: by the
sequent effects: love cools, friendship falls off, brothers divide: in cities, mutinies;in countries,
discord; in palaces, treason (I.ii)
Another passage indicates how, for Gloucester, the gods and fate are the powers that
arbitrarily determine the fates of human beings. In Act IV, scene i, he states, “As flies to
wanton boys, are we to the gods; / They kill us for their sport.” (IV.i)
While Gloucester’s contemplations indeed seem to foreshadow or predict the subsequent
events of the story adequately, Shakespeare’s play seems to raise the question of human
responsibility. Lear, Gloucester, and other major characters must learn that as human beings,
they cannot blame astronomical events for the ways their lives unfold. They must learn to
stand up for their actions and take responsibility for their behavior.
This growing notion of individual accountability is central to the quickly developing humanist
conscience of the English Renaissance. In fact, a number of prevalent writers and thinkers of
the English Renaissance viewed their changing beliefs as indicators of a new world order, a
modern age that would completely replace the antiquated beliefs that had dominated
medieval times. An increased interest in public and political life required active participation
as well as critical thinking and awareness. Shakespeare’s play demonstrates an awareness
of these changing notions of passivity versus activity. Whereas many of his characters in
King Lear demonstrate an adherence to an old world order, other characters display a
concern with the growing humanist ideals of activity and accountability.
Early in the play, Edmund raises the question of human responsibility and wonders why
people blame the stars for their fortunes of misfortunes:
EDMUND: This is the excellent foppery of the world, that when we are sick in fortune—often
the surfeit of our own behavior—we make guilty of our disasters the sun, the moon and the
stars: as if we were villains by necessity, fools by heavenly compulsion; knaves, thieves and
treachers, by spherical predominance; drunkards, liars and adulterers, by an enforced
obedience of planetary influence (I.ii)
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Shakespeare’s play indicates his belief that NATURE cannot determine the ORDER of the
world. Neither NATURAL FAMILY ORDER nor the NATURAL ORDER OF FATE AND THE
STARS can relieve human beings of responsibility of action.
Other Themes and Motifs
• Madness
• The Meaning of “Nothing”
• The Weather—The Recurring Storm
Note that we can also consider recurring references to the storm, the meaning of “nothing,”
and occurrences of madness as powerful symbols that help demonstrate complex ideas or
themes in the play.
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‘King Lear’: Commentary
As was his habit, Shakespeare altered his sources considerably when he wrote King Lear,
and his most important alteration changed the nature of the story entirely. In the many
versions of the tale that preceded Shakespeare's, Lear does not go mad, but recovers his
throne and leaves it to Cordelia. The old story is essentially reassuring: one may make a
catastrophic mistake and still survive to live a peaceful and happy life. Shakespeare plainly
felt that life makes more strenuous demands than a happy ending can illustrate, and at the
core of his story is human failing. Gloucester's blindness is foreshadowed in his lack of
judgment about Edgar, and Lear's madness by his egotistical demand for total love. These
failings are seen in conjunction with the unscrupulous ambition for power represented by
Edmund, Cornwall, Goneril, and Regan, and we are repelled by crimes within families,
violations of the most basic human solidarity. Our horror is compounded by the vivid
depiction of villainy triumphant, which is only slightly lessened by the villains' deaths, as these
are more than matched by those of Gloucester, Lear, and Cordelia. Edmund's remorse at the
play's close does little to compensate for his evil, and Regan and Goneril display no final
repentance at all. Our pity for Lear and Gloucester is increased by the knowledge that they
brought their sufferings on themselves.
The enormity of the tragedy is unmistakable, and the play leaves us with a troubling question:
How can we reconcile human dignity with human failure in the face of life's demands? This is
finally unresolvable; however, several possible ways of addressing the question emerge
through Shakespeare's rich presentation of human tragedy.
Perhaps most striking is the play's obvious religious interpretation, emphasized by numerous
allusions to religious matters. These range from the trivial—as in the many mentions of
pagan gods—to serious remarks such as Edgar's 'The Gods are just, and of our pleasant
vices / Make instruments to plague us' (5.3.169-170). Also, numerous references to the end
of the world are made, most strikingly in the cries of Kent, Edgar, and Albany at the horror of
Cordelia's death, in 5.3.262-263. Most significantly, Cordelia, who suffers through no fault
other own and accepts her fate with uncomplaining fortitude and undiminished love, is often
seen as a personification of the Christian virtues of self-sacrifice and acceptance of God's
will. In fact, many commentators have found her to be a Christlike figure whose death
symbolizes Christ's crucifixion. This offers a positive interpretation of the play's fatal close:
the tragedy is a manifestation of God's will, a reminder of the coming redemption of humanity
through Christianity. On the other hand, a non-Christian interpretation of Cordelia's sacrifice
is also compelling. She lacks the Christian's reward in the afterlife because she is a pagan,
thus her virtue is its own reward. Her conduct is therefore all the more stirring, and our
admiration of her heroic courage is increased.
The sufferings of Lear and Gloucester, which they have brought upon themselves, may be
compared to punishment for sins by God. They recognize that they are at fault and are then
reconciled with their children, and this development suggests God's forgiveness for those
who are contrite. Their forgiveness is accompanied by death, and this points up the doctrinal
importance of the Christian afterlife and its eternal mercy. However, this promise is lacking in
Lear's pagan world and, as with Cordelia, a non-religious interpretation could be that Lear's
endurance is heroic in itself, and his triumph lies in his recognition and acceptance of his
failings before he dies. Most commentators agree, in any case, that the suffering of the
characters in Lear is finally redemptive, for it is heroic, it leads to heightened consciousness
in Lear and Gloucester, and it provides the example of Edgar and Cordelia's undiminished
loyalty and love. Also, many commentators hold that Shakespeare intended Lear to die
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believing that Cordelia is alive, as his last words indicate, which implies a happy resolution in
death akin to that of Gloucester, whose heart 'burst smilingly' (5.3.198).
Another positive conclusion can be drawn from the tragedy. Politics are as important in King
Lear as religion. In fact, in Shakespeare's time, the references to the end of the world carried
a political implication, for people commonly believed that the world's end was more or less
imminent, and that one of the symptoms of approaching apocalypse would be a collapse of
social structures, including political bonds. Much reassurance was found in the peaceful
ascension of King James I—civil war was feared at the time—with its promise for the
unification of England and Scotland. The threat of civil war, several times alluded to in Lear,
raises a point that was important to Shakespeare, and which dominates the History Plays,
the belief that personal immorality in the ruling class is a disease that spreads evil throughout
society, in extreme cases causing it to fall apart. Though Lear, Gloucester, and Cordelia do
not live to appreciate it, Britain at large is rescued from the evil that has overrun the highest
reaches of its society; civil war in Britain is avoided, and the French invasion caused by
Lear's lack of judgment is defeated by Albany. The play is thus supportive of civil authority;
the catastrophe of Lear's reign might be compared, by the 17th-century playgoer, with the
strength and harmony expected from that of James. It is worth noting that in 1606 Lear was
performed at James' court on a very festive occasion, the day following Christmas.
Another point addressed in King Lear is that a sovereign is responsible for his subjects.
Raving madly in the storm, Lear realises that he had been unaware of hunger and
homelessness when he was king, and he sees that his present experience could have been
valuable to him as a ruler. He says to himself: 'Take physic, Pomp; / Expose thyself to feel
what wretches feel, /That thou mayst shake the superflux to them, / And show the Heavens
more just' (3.4.33-36). Lear recognizes that his errors are more important than others'
because he is a king.
A more particular social question is also addressed in King Lear. In Shakespeare's day, the
newly prosperous gentry and the commercially active bourgeoisie were rising in prosperity
and power, largely at the expense of the old aristocracy. This conflict is plainly the cause of
the extraordinary venom displayed by Kent towards Oswald in 2.2. Oswald is a caricature of
a 17th-century social climber, as Kent's accusation, phrased largely in terms of social status,
makes clear. Edmund also represents the new classes, with his lack of chivalric scruples and
his concern for his own advancement. In his first soliloquy Edmund identifies himself with a
typical modern rejection of tradition by declaring, Thou, Nature, art my goddess' (1.2.1), a
reference to the Renaissance rediscovery of classical paganism and the sophisticated
agnosticism that was thought to accompany it. In placing these sentiments in the mouth of a
self-declared villain, Shakespeare stresses his alliance with the old world of the aristocracy,
just as he does in ridiculing Oswald through Kent.
However, though King Lear may lend itself to numerous interpretations, Christian or
humanistic, political or moral, our response to the play is largely governed by its conclusion.
Act 5 brings no relief for our anguish, despite the expectations raised by the reunion of Lear
and Cordelia. The finality of death may suggest that the play reflects a morbidly depressed
response to life on Shakespeare's part (without denying that other plays express other
responses). Such a viewpoint has led some to compare Lear to the Book of Job and see the
play as an explication of the power of fate, or God. However, both Edgar and Albany survive
to carry on, conscious of the fragility of happiness and on guard against the errors of Lear
and Gloucester, for as Edgar (Albany, in some editions) says, 'The weight of this sad time we
must obey' (5.3. 322).
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The extraordinary woe that is at the heart of King Lear can make it a harrowing experience
for audiences. Shakespeare maintains this atmosphere of wretched despair through a variety
of subtle effects. Most striking perhaps is the repeated depiction of pain and disease, capped
by Lear's madness and Gloucester's blinding, but also represented by Edmund's
selfmutilation in 2.1, Edgar's feigned lunacy, and Lear's convulsion of the throat known as
'Hysteria passio (2.4.55), among other instances. Further, painful metaphors of torment and
sickness are extensively used. For instance, the Fool compares the rejected Lear to a bird
that 'had it[s] head bit off (1.4.214); Edgar speaks vividly of self-mutilation, in 2.3.14-16; and
Lear speaks of his daughters' rejection as a 'mouth . . . tear[ing a] hand' (3.4.15). In a famous
image, Gloucester compares humanity's relationship to the gods with that of 'flies to wanton
boys . . . They kill us for their sport' (4.1.36-37).
Another aspect of the theme of disease is the play's morbid attitude towards sex. In King Lear
sexual love is seen as evil and is only presented in the monstrous rivalry of Regan and
Goneril for Edmund. It is also seen as the source of other evils. The misdeeds of Lear's
daughters are firmly connected by Lear to the sexual acts from which they were conceived,
and Edgar points out that Edmund was the product of illicit sex. Also, in his disguise as Tom
O'Bedlam, Edgar declares that intercourse, 'the act of darkness' (3.4.85), is responsible for
his painful madness. Lear goes so far as to condemn human procreation, demanding that the
gods 'Crack Nature's moulds, all germens spill at once / That makes ingrateful man!' (3.2.89). In the extreme, the raving Lear links female sexual anatomy with evil, saying, 'there's hell,
there's darkness, / There is the sulphurous pit—burning, scalding, / Stench, consumption; fie,
fie, fie!' (4.6. 126-128). This incrimination of a natural drive is an indication of the troubled
world in King Lear and of the disturbed minds of its inhabitants. Happiness is only offered in
the isolated and asexual world of the reunited but imprisoned Lear and Cordelia, where all
other human contact is willingly forsworn; the exhausted king declares that 'Upon such
sacrifices . .. /The Gods themselves throw incense' (5.3.20-21). The play's treatment of
psychological distortion is well served by its disjointed and varying tone. This is largely
provided by its complex subplot, whose differing elements include Gloucester's blinding,
Edgar's exile as mad Tom, and Regan and Goneril's sexual rivalry. The intercutting of these
developments with Lear's story was once much criticised; early 19th-century commentators
such as Charles Lamb declared that Lear was a bad play in theatrical terms, while
acknowledging its power as poetry. This was long a traditionally accepted idea, influencing
20th-century critics to elaborately consider the plot's 'failings', despite the play's
unquestionable success with modern audiences.
The sub-plot actually anchors the play's dramatic structure. The wanderings of Edgar and
Gloucester are presented in sequential incidents, as are the machinations of Edmund and the
cruel sisters. Together, they provide a well-defined structure that the main plot—Lear's foolish
choice and subsequent isolation—does not offer. Indeed, the principal action can hardly be
called a plot at all; it is simply a progression, taking the central character from vanity and folly
through deepening madness to a recovered consciousness and ultimate collapse. As we
watch this progression, we do not think about the next step in the plot so much as we simply
observe Lear's personal qualities and contemplate their evolution. The events of Lear's
progress are less important and are not presented in a structured way, unlike, for example, in
Julius Caesar, but are indicated by discrete and almost unconnected subsidiary
developments. The play also offers disconcerting suggestions of comedy that complicate our
response and thus increase its emotional power. In King Lear Shakespeare employed a
number of elements traditionally associated with comedy: a double plot; the use of a jester to
comment on the action; the use of disguise; the progression of the action from royal court to
country and back to court; and the counterpoint of youth and age. Moreover, Kent's ridicule of
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Oswald, a number of Edgar's remarks as Tom O'Bedlam, and the Fool's routines are all quite
funny. These elements suggest the potential for a different sort of story altogether, not a
simple tale of evil triumphant.
King Lear is complex also in its repeated emotional polarities. We are presented with
oppositions of weeping and laughing, silence and speech, honesty and guile, madness and
intelligence, delusion and clear sightedness, love and hate. Cordelia's frankness and
spirituality is contrasted with the deceit and lasciviousness of her sisters; Kent's moral
firmness with Oswald's self-serving oiliness and his strength with Lear's weakness; the
merciful Albany with the cruel Cornwall. Individual characters present contrasts, as well,
though the playwright is careful to motivate each change so as not to dilute a character's
strength as a representative figure. Kent, for instance, announces that he will 'other accents
borrow / That can my speech defuse' (1.4.1-2), and he adopts a plain spoken prose and only
reverts to verse when he cannot be heard by Lear or when he expresses his love and
concern for his demented master, as in 3.2.42-49, Go 67. Edgar similarly effects prose as
Tom O'Bedlam but speaks poetry as himself, and the hypocritical sisters use verse to Hatter
their father and prose to plot against him. Lear's great range of characters stimulates our
strong awareness of the play as a philosophical statement about the human condition.
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Biography
The few facts about Shakespeare’s life are mostly mundane details, reflecting the ordinary
existence of an Englishman of his day and social position. He exemplified the enterprising
yeoman advancing to gentleman status, a common phenomenon in his day. Like many
ambitious early modern Englishmen, he was attracted to London without surrendering his
roots in the countryside. In terms of day-to-day life, the only unusual feature was that he was
a part of the theatrical world. In his day, actors, playwrights, and theatrical entrepreneurs
were only just emerging from an era in which they were stigmatized by both law and custom.
Though in the course of Shakespeare's lifetime, the courts of Queen Elizabeth and King
James I gave prestige to acting, and a few theatre people—including Shakespeare—got rich
protest against drama and acting was still very strong in England. The fascination with
theatrical lives that resulted in memoirs and biographies in later periods did not yet exist.
Nevertheless, the broad outlines of Shakespeare's life can be discerned.
Shakespeare's life falls into three main periods. His first 20 years were spent in Stratford,
where his father was a member of the local establishment. His career as an actor and
playwright in London lasted about 25 years. Finally, he retired to Stratford where for about
five years before his death he was a moderately wealthy member of the local gentry. The first
two periods are linked by several years about which we know absolutely nothing—the socalled dark years—and the transition between the last two was gradual and cannot be
precisely dated.
Shakespeare was baptized on April 25, 1564 and since the normal lag between birth and
baptism was several days, his birthday is conventionally regarded as April 23—also the date
of his death 52 years later. His father, John Shakespeare, was the son of a farmer who lived
near Stratford. A member of the yeoman class, John became a tradesman and moved to the
town. He prospered and became one of the leading figures of Stratford's establishment, only
to encounter serious financial difficulties, for unknown reasons. These began during
Shakespeare's adolescence and were only resolved 20 years later, with the money
Shakespeare earned in the theatre. However, the family was evidently never impoverished,
for the family home was never sold, and John's status in the community was probably not
seriously diminished. Shakespeare's mother, Mary Arden, was a member of the gentry the
next higher social class. Her father, Robert Arden was an owner of inherited property that he
both farmed himself and leased to other farmers The boundary between the gentry and
yeoman classes was notably permeable in the 16th century, and John Shakespeare's rise in
status through marriage was quite typical.
No record of Shakespeare's education has survived, but he doubtless attended the excellent
Stratford Grammar School, which was appropriate to his family's status and free of charge,
since his father was an official of the town. Shakespeare studied mostly Latin literature, in
Latin. Fragments of the standard textbook of the day, William Lily’s Latin Grammar, appear in
the plays, most amusingly in the famous 'Latin scene' (4.1) of The Merry Wives of Windsor.
Also, the Latin authors he studied, such as Ovid, Livy, and Virgil, are echoed, quoted, and
occasionally mentioned in the plays.
Shakespeare probably left school at the normal age, about 15, in 1579. It seems likely,
particularly in view of his father's financial problems, that young William took a job of some
sort at this point. A number of possibilities have been envisioned—based on various
traditions and on references in the plays that imply familiarity with certain occupations—
48
including assistant schoolmaster, law clerk, gardener, and, perhaps the most natural
supposition, assistant to his father who was a glover and dealer in commodities. In any case,
John Shakespeare's business activities left the playwright with specialized knowledge that he
was later to put to good use—for instance, when the Clown in The Winter's Tale puzzles over
the market price of wool in 4.3.32-34, or when a beard is described as 'round . . . like a
glover's paring-knife' (Merry Wives, 1.4.18-19). Recollections of life in the countryside around
Stratford are also frequently found in the plays especially in the Induction to the early Taming
of the Shrew. The town life he knew in Stratford itself is not often appropriate to his dramas,
but it too is convincingly portrayed in The Merry Wives of Windsor.
Within a few years after leaving school, Shakespeare had an affair with Anne Hathaway,
which led to her pregnancy and a hasty marriage, late in 1582. Anne eight years older than
her 18-year-old husband, was the daughter of a farmer in a nearby village. In May 1583 their
first child, Susanna, was born; twins, Hamnet and Judith soon followed. The christening of
the twins in February 1585 provides assurance that Shakespeare was in Stratford nine
months earlier, but no record of his activities between then and 1592 has survived. That
period, utterly opaque to modern investigation constitutes the 'dark years'.
Scholarly speculation has not been wanting, of course. Most notoriously, there was a local
tradition first published in the 18th century—that Shakespeare had been caught poaching by
a local nobleman, Sir Thomas Lucy, and had thus departed for London as a fugitive. Modern
scholarship finds both story and conclusion highly dubious, and attention has instead focused
on Shakespeare's likely occupation during the dark years. In addition to the various
possibilities already outlined, suggestions have included a term as a soldier—in the
Netherlands under the Earl of Leicester or as part of the defense forces assembled against
the Spanish Armada in 1588—or a job in the London publishing industry, perhaps with his
fellow Stratfordian, the printer Richard Field. A 17th-century writer established a tradition that
Shakespeare had been a butcher during this period, reporting that young Will had been
known to 'kill a calf in uproarious spirits’. His conclusion was based on a misunderstanding: to
'kill a calf’ was Elizabethan theatrical slang for a particular comic routine, the details of which
are lost. Nevertheless, the anecdote points to the only certain fact about the dark years: at
some point Shakespeare became involved with a theatrical company. Many traveling
companies played at Stratford, an important provincial town, during Shakespeare's youth,
and Leicester’s were there in 1586, followed by the Queen’s Men (who possibly had a
vacancy in 1587. However, there is no evidence that such troupes ever recruited on the road,
and Shakespeare probably had to go to London to begin his career.
He was probably in London no later than 1589, for he was established as an actor and
playwright by 1592, when the scurrilous criticism of Robert Greene makes it clear that he was
well known. The response by Henry Chettle makes it just as clear that he was respected and
admired. Several of the plays were already popular—3 Henry VI is quoted from by Greene—
and while the earliest plays are notoriously difficult to date, it seems likely that they
included The Comedy of Errors, Titus Andronicus, the three Henry, VI plays, Richard III, The
Taming of the Shrew, and Two Gentlemen of Verona. Several of these plays were performed
by an acting company called Pembroke’s, and it seems likely that early in his career
Shakespeare wrote and acted for them. Similar considerations also suggest links with the
Admiral’s Men, Sussex’s Men, and Strange’s Men. The latter seems especially likely,
because the earliest sure evidence of his employment is a document of 1594, in which he is
listed as a principal member of Strange's Men's successor, the Chamberlain’s Men.
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In the meantime his career was affected by a plague outbreak that closed the theatres in
London for about two years beginning in 1592. Shakespeare may have toured the provinces
with a company under William Alleyn, but he may have left the theatre for a period. He turned
his attention to a purely literary endeavor, the writing of book-length poems. His virtues as a
writer had by now been established, and the theatre was not regarded as the best career for
a serious literary artist in the 16th century. The likeliest avenue to fame and fortune was to
write major works of poetry or prose. Writers offered their works as tokens of esteem to
wealthy nobles, who, if they were pleased, might respond with a gift of money or even some
extended financial support. It was the aristocracy that supported the literary world, for the
most part, with publishing playing only a small role. A writer might live quite comfortably with
a generous patron, and it is evident that Shakespeare attempted to tap this market during the
long layoff due to the plague. He wrote his two long poems, Venus and Adonis (1593)
and The Rape of Lucrece(1594), during this period and dedicated them to the Earl of
Southhampton. Some scholars believe he lived at Southampton's estate for some part of the
time. The first of his dedications, in 1593, is an ordinary approach to a potential patron,
conventionally flattering and self-deprecating, while the second suggests a warm friendship
and makes it clear that the earl had responded positively to the young poet's work. In fact,
that the two men were friends is one of the few undocumented aspects of Shakespeare's life
that virtually all scholars accept.
However—whether out of concern for his independence or from love of the theatre or in view
of some unknown factor—Shakespeare returned to the stage in 1594. Strange's Men were
reorganized as the Chamberlain's Men in June of that year, and the playwright is presumed
to have joined them then or shortly thereafter, since he was a prominent member of the
company in December, when he was a representative of the troupe at court. He was to
remain with this company for the rest of his career. During his first few years with them, he
wrote a long string of successful plays, probably including (though dates continue to be
uncertain) Love's Labour's Lost, Romeo and Juliet, Richard II, and King John. An earlier
play, Richard III, was extremely popular as performed by the Chamberlain's Men; later
tradition had it that it established both Shakespeare and its leading man, Richard Burbage,
as important figures in the London theatre world. They became subjects of gossip, at least,
for the only surviving personal anecdote of Shakespeare that can be certainly dated to his
lifetime concerns Burbage and a female admirer, during a production of Richard III.
Tax assessments and the records of an obscure lawsuit reveal some of Shakespeare's
residences during this period. He apparently moved across the city when the Chamberlain's
Men moved from the Theatre, in a northern suburb, to the Swan Theatre, in southern
Southwark. Some scholars believe that his tax bill in the first of these homes was too large
for a single man's dwelling, suggesting that his wife and children spent time with him in
London. There is no further evidence to confirm this, however.
Shakespeare continued to turn out plays at a great rate, probably completing the following
between 1596 and the death of Queen Elizabeth in 1603- The Merchant of Venice, 1 Henry
IV, 2 Henry IV plays, The Merry Wives of Windsor, Henry V, Much Ado About Nothing, Julius
Caesar, As You Like It, Hamlet, Twelfth Night, and Troilus and Cressida. In 1598 an edition
ofLove's Labour's Lost was the first publication to have Shakespeare's name on it as
booksellers realized the value of his growing fame' In the same year Francis Meres cited him
as among England's best playwrights for both Comedy and Tragedy and compared his poetry
to the greatest of the ancients.
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Throughout the 1590s, and perhaps somewhat later, Shakespeare wrote his Sonnets, a
complex sequence of love poems that is one of the masterpieces of English poetry. These
poems are often taken to reflect a real love for a man and a woman, but they probably
represent merely Shakespeare's pursuit of a fashionable genre. In any case, if they are
autobiographical they are deliberately obscure and can contribute little to our knowledge of
his life; they recount no events or incidents, and they offer little concrete information about
the persons depicted. Shakespeare also composed an allegorical poem. The Phoenix and
Turtle, written for Love’s Martyr, an anthology of poems (1601) celebrating an aristocratic
marriage In addition, a number of brief Epitaphs are sometimes ascribed to Shakespeare by
various scholars.
In 1596, after the first years of Shakespeare's theatrical success, John Shakespeare was
awarded a Coat of Arms. Such tokens of gentlemanly status were nominally awarded for a
family's services to the nation, but they were in fact bought, and it is presumed that the
playwright paid the fees for the Shakespeare escutcheon. Such a public assertion of his
family's recovery from their earlier troubles must have been satisfying to Shakespeare,
especially when it was confirmed by the purchase of a grand Stratford mansion New Place, in
1597. However, Shakespeare's triumphs' were not unalloyed, for in 1596 his son Hamnet
died at the age of 11. Shakespeare presumably returned to Stratford for Hamnet's burial,
though his appearance went unrecorded; the earliest surviving documents indicating his
presence in the town after 1584 are those recording the sale of New Place. The absence of
any certain association of Shakespeare and Stratford for 13 years has sparked suggestions
that the playwright had turned his back on his home, perhaps because of an unhappy
marriage. However, the grant of arms the purchase of New Place, and Shakespeare's
continuing close involvement with Stratford thereafter constitute so firm a commitment to the
town as to imply a strong earlier involvement as well. Later tradition recorded that he had all
along returned frequently, and there is no reason to doubt it. That only the later visits can be
substantiated merely points up the impact of wealth for it is Shakespeare's money matters
that are mostly recorded. He was soon a force in Stratford, being recorded in 1598 as a
leading owner of grain and figuring several times in the correspondence of Richard Quiney as
a man of business. His father died in 1601, and Shakespeare inherited the birthplace, in half
of which his family continued to live, while the other half—formerly his father's shop—was
leased as an inn. New investments were made in Stratford in 1602 and land was added to
the property surrounding New Place.
In London in 1599, Shakespeare became one of the partners in the new Globe Theatre, a
successful enterprise that furthered his prosperity. Most Elizabethan playwrights only wrote,
and of the few who also acted—such as Thomas Heywood and Nathan Field—Shakespeare
alone was a partner in an acting company, deriving his income from the long-term success of
the enterprise, rather than merely from the production of single plays. After the accession of
King James in 1603, the company was part of the royal household—the number of courtly
performances per year more than doubled—and in the first five years of the new regime,
Shakespeare produced an astonishing sequence of major plays: Othello, Measure for
Measure All's Well That Ends Well, King Lear, Macbeth, Conolanus, Antony and
Cleopatra, Pericles, plus the unfinished Timon of Athens. Similarly, when in 1608, the
company acquired the Blackfriars Theatre, with its unusual new scenic capabilities and its
sophisticated clientele, Shakespeare responded with plays in a new genre, the Romances.
These, with Henry VIII and the lost play Cardenio and The Two Noble Knisman, comprise his
final period.
51
Late in his career, Shakespeare was acquainted with the young Christopher Beeston, whose
son, retelling his father's reminiscences years later, left us one of the few glimpses we have
of the living playwright. Beeston described Shakespeare as 'a handsome well shap't man—
very good company, and of a very readie and pleasant smooth Witt'. Beeston also said that
the playwright 'understood Latine pretty well, for he had been in his younger yeares a
Schoolmaster in the Countrey' (the earliest such statement), and added that he was the more
to be admired that he was not a company keeper [and] wouldn't be debauched'. In late 1603
Shakespeare appeared in a play by Ben Jonson; this may have been his last appearance on
stage, for he does not appear on later cast lists His career as an actor is obscure. He
certainly began as one—Robert Greene complained in 1592 that it was presumptuous of him,
as an actor, to write plays—and he appears in the cast lists of several plays put on by the
Chamberlain's Men. We do not, however, know of any role he played or even that he ever
appeared in one of his own works (though as a member of the company he probably did). He
may have played the title character in George Peele’s Edward I (c. 1593), for another
character, referring to the king, says, 'Shake thy spears in honor of his name'. Several
ambiguous contemporary references seem to associate him with kingship, and scholars have
supposed that he played Duncan, Henry IV or Henry VI (the great kingly protagonists such as
Richard IIIand Lear were played by Burbage, however). Later traditions ascribed to
Shakespeare the roles of Adam in As You Like It and the Ghost in Hamlet. From all this it
seems likely that he specialized in roles of older, dignified men, but that his contribution as an
actor was not a great one.
Late in his career, Shakespeare wrote collaboratively (as he may also have done in the
obscure early years) with at least one other playwright, John Fletcher, who wrote parts
of Cardenio,The Two Noble Kinsmen, and possibly Henry VIII. This almost surely reflects
Shakespeare's retirement to Stratford; he was certainly in residence there by 1612 (when he
visited London to testify in a lawsuit and some scholars believe he may have made the move
as early as 1610, writing The Tempest in the country. He presumably visited the city to confer
with Fletcher on the other late plays.
In 1607 his older daughter, Susanna, married a prominent Stratford physician, Dr John Hall,
who seems to have become Shakespeare's friend if he was not already, and in 1608, the
couple had a child, Elizabeth Hall. As the master of New Place, Shakespeare was one of the
social leaders of the town; when visiting preachers came for high holy days, they stayed at
Shakespeare's home. He continued to invest in Stratford real estate. In 1605 he bought a
share of the tax revenues of some agricultural land (a purchasable commodity in those days),
was involved in a lawsuit about it in 1611, and astutely managed the investment during the
enclosure controversy of 1614. Also, in 1613 he bought an investment property in London,
the Blackfriars Gatehouse.
In January 1616 Shakespeare's lawyer prepared a draft of the playwright's last will and
testament. In February his younger daughter Judith married the scandalous Thomas Quiney,
and Shakespeare rewrote his will to protect her portion from her husband, signing it on the
25th of March. On April 23 he died. We do not know the cause; a later tradition that he
caught a chill drinking with his fellow playwrights Ben Jonson and Michael Drayton is almost
certainly apocryphal. On April 25 he was buried_52 years to the day after his baptism—in the
chancel of Holy Trinity Church. Sometime before 1622, the chancel wall received a memorial
relief featuring a portrait bust by Gheerart Janssen), presumably commissioned by his family.
This bald recitation of facts is as much as we can know about Shakespeare's life, unless
further evidence is uncovered. Over the centuries speculative scholars and fantasizing
52
enthusiasts have added a great variety of suppositions, extrapolating from the plays to make
a more fully motivated, psychologically credible human being—or perhaps simply a more
interesting person—than the simple documents allow. This is most easily done by assuming
that the opinions expressed by the major characters in the plays—and by the persona of the
poet in the Sonnets—are those of the author. However, efforts to interpret the works as
fragments of autobiography are generally mistaken; the characters are imaginary, and
because they must occupy all the niches of various fictional worlds, they naturally hold a wide
range of attitudes and opinions. Even very broad interpretations are highly problematic. For
instance, some critics have seen The Winter 's Tale, in which unjust jealousy is followed by
reconciliation, as an autobiographical rendering of the playwright's relationship with his wife.
Though the story is in the play's source material, it is argued that Shakespeare must have
been driven to choose that source by some similar experience of his own. However, in the
absence of evidence, such a hypothesis remains untestable, and it certainly seems
unnecessary. A writer who could produce almost two plays a year for 20 years and make
real such diverse characters as, say, Falstaff, Hamlet, and Volumnia can have had no
serious problem finding material outside his own life. To argue that specific experiences are
necessary for Shakespeare's art suggests that, on the evidence of Hamlet, he must have
suffered from writer's block.
Nevertheless, if considered with care, Shakespeare's works can help us to a fuller
comprehension of the man. Repeated motifs and concepts in the plays permit us to draw a
few conclusions, however tentatively, about Shakespeare's sensibility and his general ideas
on certain subjects. The History Plays and Roman Plays reflect a political conservatism—in
the sense of resistance to changes in the existing system of social organization—that we
might expect of a man of his time and social position. The late 16th and early 17 th centuries
were an anxious period in England, for the newly Protestant country was at odds with the
Catholic powers of continental Europe—to the point of repelling an attempted invasion—and
internal strife bubbled up in such episodes as the rebellion led by the Earl of Essex. Indeed,
civil war was regarded as a serious prospect during the last years of Elizabeth's reign (and
after a brief respite it became reality, not long after Shakespeare's death). On a more
personal level, the playwright's social position was newly achieved and, as his father's
experience had demonstrated, precarious.
In these circumstances Shakespeare's politics were naturally conservative. For instance, the
plays clearly demonstrate that he places a high value on the preservation of social order and
distrusts the disorder that he sees in popular political assertiveness. From Jack Cade,
through the Plebians who kill the wrong man in Julius Caesar and the shifty Junius Brutus of
Coriolanus, to The Tempest's rebellious Caliban, the common man in his political aspect is
generally a villain, though the playwright's fondness for the common people of England is
evident in his many sympathetic characterizations, from the very early Dromios to the very
late Boatswain. Still, the violent and fickle common man is only a secondary villain. In both
the history and Roman dramas popular disorder is seen as a symptom of moral sickness
rather than a cause. The rulers of the state are the major focus, as aristocratic
shortsightedness, greed, and ambition lead to usurpations and civil war. Shakespeare clearly
found the greatest threat to society in disruption of the system at the top. Perhaps for this
reason, he is sometimes interpreted as representing a proto-revolutionary strain of thought;
however, his notions actually reflect the political orthodoxy of the Tudor Dynasty, which
naturally feared the threat of an opposing aristocratic faction, having come to power as one
itself. Shakespeare's work and life considered together do not show us a member of the
rising bourgeoisie who is nervous about the crown's overweening power_the proto-
53
revolutionary image—but rather the unmistakable lineaments of a country gentleman and a
social conservative.
An interpretation of Shakespeare's life from his work that sparks great controversy is the
suggestion that the Sonnets indicate Shakespeare was a homosexual. However, the love for
a man expressed in the Sonnets is not sexual (as is specified in Sonnet 20), though
sexuality is important in the world of the poems. Sonnet sequences were a fashionable
vehicle for comments on love, and they conventionally took unrequited passion as their topic.
The love triangle implicit in the Sonnets is probably such a convention—albeit more complex
and involving than most (as we might expect of Shakespeare) and so more convincing. In
any case it does not involve a homosexual relationship. Here, seeming biographical data
have been forged from nothing, by applying modern values to pre-modern materials.
Moreover, the plays repeatedly focus on heterosexual love and its culmination in marriage.
Shakespeare's heroines are frankly interested in sex. Juliet longs for her wedding night and
its 'amorous rites' (Romeo and Juliet 3.2.8); Rosalind envisions Orlando, whom she has just
met, as 'my child's father' (As You Like It 1.3.10); and Perdita describes Florizel’s body as
'like a bank, for love to lie and play on' (4.4.130). Throughout the plays, Shakespeare
celebrates sexuality in marriage, and he plainly sees marriage as a vehicle for the fulfillment
of humanity's place in the natural order of things. Nothing that can be seen of his own
marriage suggests that he regarded it in any different light, and there seem no grounds for
the idea that he was not a conventional husband with a conventional sex life.
Propositions based on the work are necessarily speculative, but a few elements from the
plays do seem related to what we know of Shakespeare's life. For instance, we have seen
that Stratford is reflected in the early plays, and the playwright's love of country life is evident
throughout his work. English rustics reappear in such unlikely settings as Athens (in both A
Midsummer Night 's Dream and The Two Noble Kinsmen), Denmark (Hamlet), and Bohemia
(The Winter's Tale). More personal concerns may also emerge. Looking at Shakespeare's
remarkably similar doomed boys, the Son of Macduff in Macbeth and Mamillius in The
Winter's Tale, both charming and intelligent lads seen in touching conversation with their
mothers, it is easy to suppose that the playwright was remembering Hamnet.
Also, we can surmise that Shakespeare's consciousness of his own increasing age is
reflected in his remarkable sequence of tragic lovers. Romeo and Juliet (created c. 1595,
when Shakespeare was around 30) re virtually children, powerless in the face of adult
society; Troilus and Cressida (1602) are young adults and have roles in their societies, but
those roles are themselves oppressive and help undo their love; Othello and Desdemona (c.
1604) are fully adult,' married, and entirely in control of their positions in the world, though not
of themselves; Antony and Cleopatra (c. 1608, Shakespeare was 44) are quite mature and
have had adult lives full of incident and accomplishment. Shakespeare seems to have
identified himself with different age groups as he grew older; this is of course natural, and in
observing it, we are not learning about Shakespeare's life through the plays but rather
confirming our awareness that he made his plays out of life.
54
Michael Ruaidhrí Deasy
6th Year English Higher Level
Michael Ruaidhrí Deasy is the Head English
teacher at The Dublin School of Grinds. He has
been an advisor to some of Ireland’s leading
textbook publishers regarding the new English
Syllabus and has worked for the State
Examination Commission.
In most recent results, 36% of Michael
Ruaidhrí’s students achieved an A1. Nationwide,
this figure was just 4%. This can be explained by
his ability to teach English as a scientific formula
that every student can follow, eliminating the air
of mystery and sometimes confusion around the
subject and its marking scheme.
OUR EXPERT TEACHERS

An Introduction to Shakespeare `Lear` Part 1

Transcription

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