zaaaAP Lit SuperBlog

The Scales are Broken

My motif group went through "King Lear" searching for signs of natural and unnatural characters. It was not hard to identify them because we decided that the natural characters were those that were just and respectful or spoke the truth like Gloucester, Edgar, Kent and Cordelia. We defined unnatural characters as evil or corrupt; only in it for the power. These selfish characters were Regan, Edmund and Goneril. We also tied in the motif of natural and unnatural to the theme of the lack of justice that exists in the realm of "King Lear". Before finalizing our outline in class we discussed whether or not we thought that justice existed. It was difficult to come to that decision because even at the end of the play, evil did prevail at a certain degree. The unnatural characters were the cause of the deaths of Cordelia, Lear and Gloucester. They caused their own deaths as well (Regan, Goneril and Edmund did). We finally concluded hat the unnatural characters prevailed in creating havoc in a world where justice was struggling to exist, yet hope was always present and the end of the play proved that as well. The proof of this was that Lear's kingdom was given the chance of redemption when Edmund and Kent were given power to change things for the better. Does anyone else agree with our group's view? Did our confusion on this topic strike anyone else?

Everyone Died And It Wasn't That Sad

I liked reading King Lear and thought it was interesting, but it had one flaw.  I did not really care that much about most of the characters, most importantly Lear.  I thought it was pretty bogus that his kids acted like brats after all he did for them, but after the whole scene where he banishes Cordelia, I did not feel all that sorry for him.  He was just as greedy as his daughters at the start.  Though later, he had his revelation about other people's problems, but by that point I think it was too late.  Also, I found it hard to be very upset about Cordelia because she was never seen in the play again until the very end.  It was kind of poor character development there.  Then there was the Gloucester, who's death was only mentioned in passing after Edgar has killed Edmund.  I feel like in a tragedy I should be at least partially upset when people die.  Though I did enjoy the play, I just did not care about its characters.

So What Happens Now?

The ending of Lear confused me, what happens to the characters that live. Most of the characters die but the play say very little about what will happen now that lear s dead. Do they take over the country? Does Albany rule with Edgar and Kent? In the end Kent says that he has to follow lear, but does that mean he has to burry Lear or actually kill himself to be with lear? If he is going to kill himself isn't that a bit extreme?

Lear is Over

I liked the movie version a lot better than the book.  For some of the chapters I read a long as I watched the movie, and I must say I really liked the play being performed rather than just reading it.  I captured a lot from reading the book as I watched the play.   I liked how we acted out the play, but as expected the professional actors were able to stir up more emotion which makes the performance a little more exciting.

Another thought about King Lear, when I told my friend I was reading the play she told me something I had never heard before and shocked me.  She told me how some people are arguing that Lear is practiced incest and that's why Goneril and Regan hated him, and the reason Cordelia loved him was because she never faced the abuse.  I was skeptical so I looked it up, and I did find some articles and essays about it, but I read one and I don't find the argument to be very solid. 

Nasty Children

After reading King Lear, I was highly amused by the way everything ended up between the characters. My one question, however, is how did things get so bad in the first place? I mean I know they are power hungry, but it seems like Edmund, Goneril, and Regan would all be perfectly fine killing their parents with their bare hands. I guess I am a little skeptical about how ridiculously evil they are without apparent reason. I did notice though that Edmund had more reason to be angry than the two sisters. Perhaps this was Shakespeare's way of saying that men need reasons to why they are evil and bad with power but women just struggle with it because they are women. What are everyone else's thoughts?

Not My Cup Of Tea

So after finally finishing King Lear, I must say that it was not my cup of tea.  I really did not care the play in the beginning and by the end I could not wait for it to be over.  Though I do enjoy some of Shakespeare's other work, for instance Romeo and Juliet, this play was just not that intriguing.  What are your thoughts on King Lear?  Did anyone else find it kind of boring?

Not a Tragedy

Mr. Heidkamp said that you could argue that king lear is not a tragedy. So thats what i will do.

Lear is no one special.
He is another one of Edgars pawns in his own vengeful scheme.
Glouscester follows the same demise, seems like your not the only one lear.

Lear does not learn his lesson
He constantly deffers his problems to his daughters
His "realizations" do nothing but help his dney the absurdity of the "cosmos"
He denys cordelias death, and then he dies of broken heart

Lear does not convey a message of redemption
The only lesson to be learned is there is evil in this world
The evil and good characters suffer a bad end

King Lear is no tragic hero, only a pathetic powerless old man whoses story resembles that of all human beings.

Care to disagree?

King Lear (the movie)

I really enjoyed watching parts of King Lear in class.  I think it is good because, for me, it is easier to understand Shakespeare when it is being acted out and I can see what's going on.  Sometimes I get lost in the language and then I don't really understand what is going on.  I enjoy Shakespeare, it just makes it easier for me to actually see and hear the characters act.  So, I think that watching sections of King Lear in class helped me to understand the play better.

Is there no justice in the World?

By the end of King Lear I was convinced that Shakespeare's reason for composing this piece of are was to highlight the fact that our social and moral conceptions of justice are completely far fetched. I think that most people believe that if someone has suffered an injustice, the person that has committed the wrongdoing should be brought to justice. In King Lear, However,through characters such as Gloucester and Lear himself, the reader is able to see that there is no justice. While evil (represented by Edmund, Regan, Goneril, and Cornwall) was destroyed in the end, the good people ( represented by Gloucester and Lear) all died in the end as well. I would not consider that justice in the least bit. This is what I wrote about in my introduction to my Lear essay. What do you think. Is there such a thing as justice in our world?   

Daughters Vs. Sons

For my introduction to our non-existent Lear essay, I chose to focus on the idea of how the play portrays women in power. It seemed to me that through the play both Regan and Goneril are continuously demonized and reduced to the status of monsters for trying to assert their power in an aggressive or masculine way. And even though some might say it was justified for the way they were acting, I just cannot help wondering if Shakespeare would have had the other characters look down on them so much if they were two sons trying to take their father’s power and not daughters.

Furthermore, even Cordelia, the only daughter that truly loves their father, is banished by Lear when she speaks her mind. At the beginning of the play when Lear is asking his daughter to profess their love for him, and Cordelia is honest in how she feels about this task, Lear banishes her is disgust.

So, I don’t know if this was his goal, but it seems to me that Shakespeare is making a clear point about how he feels about women being in power. Does anyone else think he is doing this to?

Maybe Lear Should Have Listened to Jimmy

As I was working on my intro last night  I came across a quote by Jimmy Hendrix that I think relates to King Lear. The quote was, "When the power of love overcomes the love of power, the world will know peace."

I thought this quote was interesting because I think in King Lear the love of power over shadows and power of love in the play. The power of love is present in a few characters such as Cordelia but a great number of characters have an even bigger love for power. I think this hunger for power plays a big role in causing the tragedy of the play. If Goneril, Regan, and Edmund in particular, had not been quite so power hungry the  play might have had a happier ending.

Edgar is So Clever

While reading Act 4, Scene 6 of King Lear, I couldn't help but to think of how clever Edgar is.  When his father, Gloucester, asked Edgar to lead him to the hills of Dover so he could kill himself, Edgar did not want to do this but knew he should do what was asked of him.  It is interesting to note, though, that when Edgar and Gloucester are "climbing the hill" Gloucester questions the grade of the hill when he says "Methinks the ground is even" and then he recognizes a change in Edgar's speech by commenting that he is "better spoken".  Did Edgar realize that he was no longer acting like Poor Tom?  It is also interesting to notice how Edgar plays off Gloucester's falling off the the cliff.  Edgar uses the Gods as an excuse as to why he was saved.  I understand that Edgar did not want to see his father commit suicide, but I am also surprised that he thought of this way to save his father.  What would other people do in this kind of situation?

The Theme of Women- also in Disney

I found that the discussion we had in class today about women being portrayed as evil when they have power carries over quite easily to many Disney movies.  For example, in "The Little Mermaid,"  the only women that has real power is the sea witch, and who is the villain in the movie.  I believe at one point in the movie, her brother, King Triton, finds her trying to become powerful by taking away his power, and so she gets banished.  She was the only women seeking power in the kingdom, and although she may have gone about it the wrong way, she still gets banished. 

Another movie that portrays the evil woman that has power is "Snow White."  The stepmother of Snow White is the queen of the kingdom, and the only woman who has power.  Because of this, she is portrayed as evil. 

I get that we see these kind of portrayals in things like Shakespeare and maybe James Bond movies, but I don't think it is really necessary to put these kinds of portrays in little kid movies and books. 

That Bastard (Edmund)!!

Edmund is so damn smart! After his "Now gods, stand up for bastards," rant in act 1 he takes matters into his own hands. He develops complex plans to take revenge on his father and the legitimate son, Edgar, and acts on them. Edgar is out running around like a beggar and Gloucester just had his eyes ripped from their sockets. Meanwhile, Edmund is being declared the earl of Gloucester. As Harry pointed out in his post, a characters actions always seems to come back to haunt them. I just hope Edmund has a cold dish of revenge waiting for him in the near future.

Storms Brewing.

In class this week, I've been struggling to decide which part of King Lear draws my attention in the most. After writing the essay on Tuesday, I concluded that the internal and external storm Lear is dealing with holds the most significance to me. I admire the way Shakespeare used a physical obstacle in Lear's life- the storm outside- to enhance the internal strife he is also overcoming. I usually notice authors using literal meanings to convey the actual metaphorical problem. This is hard to explain what I mean... Usually they just use it as a comparison to show the level of intensity a problem contains. But Shakespeare used the storm as a double meaning to describe Lear's current adversities.

Having to read into this message so intently helped me realize the true significance it held for me. It showed Lear having two entirely separate problems but solving both with the same solution: to endure it. I enjoyed realizing this epiphany Lear experienced and how it emphasized the saying "killing two birds with one stone". Another reason I liked this part of the play is because I like to see character transformations and I am beginning to see one here with Lear.

Congrats, King Lear!

Poor naked wretches, whereso'er you are,

That bide the pelting of this pitiless storm

How shall your houseless heads and unfed sides,

Your looped and windowed raggedness, defend you

From seasons such as these? Oh, I have ta'en

Too little care of this! Take physic, pomp.

Expose thyself to feel what wretches feel,

That thou mayst shake the superflux to them

And show the heavens more just.

I connected a lot with this excerpt from King Lear.  I think it happened when we were going over it in class, not even while I read it and was trying to explain in my essay.  This kind of change in a person baffles me: in any plot or in the world and everyday life.  But King Lear has this especially great epiphany and is a more thoughtful person because of it.  He used to be a greedy, controlling booger of a King; but right here, in the course of these ten lines, you can tell he's truly changed.  Because the passage is located at the center of the play, because of the punctual alliteration, because of the captivating imagery that is fresh in our minds as we walk the streets of Chicago, these few sentences display Lear's whole-hearted change.  It kind of got me in the position to root for Lear, even after all the crazy stunts he's pulled with his daughters and servants.

Power Struggles

I can't help but notice how many power struggles are occuring in King Lear; I think it can be essentially considered a motif.

King Lear is obviously having a hard time dealing with the fact that he’s given away so much of his power.  Maybe that’s why he refers to the division of his kingdom as a “darker purpose”, in the very first scene of the play.

 

There’s also the power struggle with Edmund, Edgar, and Gloucester.  Edmund, wanting desperately to improve his status in life, conspires against his brother and then father.  It’s interesting to note that Edmund, who’s initially in a bad position because he’s an illegitimate child, opting for a better position, swaps places with Edgar, who’s in the better position; Edgar then must wander around disguised as a beggar. 

Edmund really seems to be pulling this conspiracy off well.  It makes me wonder how far he can take it before something goes wrong with his plan.  Will he ever get exposed as a traitor for conspiring against his Edgar and Gloucester?  (But certainly if the plan were to backfire on Edmund, it would be too late to help the blind Gloucester.)  I remember how Macbeth, at the urging of his wife, killed the King of Scotland so he could seize power for himself.  But then, his rule, initially illegitimate, began to crumble, ultimately leading to his end.

And while on the subject of conspiracies, I wonder what’s going to happen with this supposed assassination plot against King Lear.  Who’s really behind it?  And what about the French army: how will they make their moves into the politics of all this?

 

Already power struggles are creating problems for some of the characters.  They certainly foreshadow some sobering things to happen.  No wonder this play is termed a tragedy, because, according to the technical definition, something bad will very likely happen to the main character at the end of the play.

 

Is it Mean to Think That?

I try to find humor wherever I can and often times, it is not where humor is "normally" found. What is my latest source of entertainment in King Lear? It's Lear's indecisiveness, of course.

I feel bad for him, don't get me wrong, but the fact that he outright debates with himself aloud I just find funny. He changes his mind back and forth constantly that it's almost childish. I remember when my siblings were 3 or 4 and they could never make a decision as to what they want or how they feel. That is Lear, alright.

The latest time he does this is in the passage we had for our essay. It's act III scene 4 lines 17 through 25. There is another passage when Lear refrains himself from yelling at Cornwall (act II scene 4 lines 118-126). There are others out there, but I cannot find them.

Does anyone else get at least a smile on their face when they think of this? Or do I have just a strange sense of humor?

The Storm

I think that the storm in Act III of King Lear is fascinating. First of all, it obviously represents the physical manifestation of what is really going on in Lear's life with his two horrible, decietful daughters. It also is a window for the reader to see Lear's growing age and him possibly turning senile. In his solilique when he is urging on the storm, it shows that he has lost touch with the natural world and his relation to it. I think this is a major theme in Lear so far, the question of whether the universe is generally friendly or hostile toward man. There's more evidence of this in Act IV. Lastly, the imagery and intense diction found in this passage is also a recurring element of the novel. This passage is intense on a few different levels, and I think that's why I like this novel so much. There's definitely a lot to pay attention to. Any other passages like this?

How Could We Forget the Movie?

Maybe I have not looked hard enough, but nevertheless I was surprised to not find anyone blogging about the ridiculous King Lear movie we are watching in class. I might be alone on this, but I have mostly enjoyed the movie. For one, it really does clarify what we're reading in class. It's really easy for me to zone out while reading Shakespeare, especially because I hate turning to the other page and looking things up. Hence, seeing the movie makes things much more clear by using acting as a translator. I have to give credit to those actors, I know how hard it is to act like that and act serious, let alone do it well. Mr. Heidkamp talks a lot about the great acting done by the actor playing King Lear, but I couldn't help noticing the remarkable performances put on by the actresses playing Goneral and Regan. Anyways, I'm curious to know how did everyone else feel about the movie?

Lear is Going Mad

LEAR
	O, reason not the need! Our basest beggars
	Are in the poorest thing superfluous.
	Allow not nature more than nature needs,
	Man's life's as cheap as beast's. Thou art a lady.
265	If only to go warm were gorgeous,
	Why, nature needs not what thou gorgeous wear'st,
	Which scarcely keeps thee warm. But, for true need—
	You heavens, give me that patience, patience I need.
	You see me here, you gods, a poor old man,
270	As full of grief as age, wretched in both.
	If it be you that stir these daughters' hearts
	Against their father, fool me not so much
	To bear it tamely. Touch me with noble anger.
	And let not women's weapons, water drops.

This passage is spoken by Lear as both Goneril and Reagon denied to keep him and his hundred knights. Lear compared the human with beast by saying that with only "needs" humans are no different than animals. Even the poorest beggars have more possessions than what they really need. To intensify his point, he addressed Reagon as a well-dressed lady who wears those gorgeous clothes which don't keep her warm at all. Then he shifted his outrageous tone and pleas for patience. He asked that if it's the gods who turned his daughters against him since was such a grieving old man that was linger despair. And if so, Lear plea not for the tears but noble anger, and cursed his daughter to be the terror of the world. He soon, desperately claimed that he will do such devastating things as revenge on both of her daughters. And even though his heart would shatters into hundred thousand pieces, he would not let the womanly tears stain his man's cheeks. From this passage, a sense of madness is suggested as Lear experienced two dramatic and eccentric emotional shifts.

Madman In The Storm

Rumble thy bellyful!  Spit, fire!  Spout, rain!

Nor rain, wind, thunder, fire are my daughters.

I tax not you, you elements, with unkindness.

I never gave you kingdom, called you children;

You owe me no subscription.  Then let fall

Your horrible pleasure.  Here I stand your slave,

A poor, infirm, weak, and despised old man.

But yet I call you servile ministers,

That will with two pernicious daughters join

So old and white as this.  O, ho, 'tis foul!

In this passage, Lear is standing out in the middle of the storm.  By this point madness has taken over his mind.  In this scene, he is screaming at the storm while ranting about his daughters.  He is saying he has no control over the elements so they don't owe him anything.  His daughters on the other hand owe their father everything, and yet they treat him worse than the storm he is shut out in.  

Stand Up For Bastards!

Act I, scene 2; lines 1-23 

In this passage Edmund the bastard has a monologue where he feels bad for himself because no one has any right to disrespect him. He is only "some twelve or fourteen moonshines lag of a brother" (5-6) but is no less human than any other person. In fact, he argues that his life was created out of "more composition and fierce quality" (13), or in others words with energy and sport. Edmund thinks this gives him stronger qualities than those who were made in the boredom of marriage. I agree that Edmund is unrightfully discriminated against. After all, one cannot chose when they are born, and the fact that his father thinks its funny that he is a bastard is wrong. Edmund has some evil plans because he needs to prove he is more cunning than his "legitimate" brother, and if his father would only love him as a son should be loved, then future conflict could be avoided.   

Lear Curses Out Goneril

In Act 1 scene 4 Lear finds out that Goneril is going to make him send away half of his knights and Lear begins an angry rant cursing Goneril.

(lines 289-303)

It may be so, my lord.--

Hear, Nature, hear, dear goddess, hear!

Suspend thy purpose if thou didst intend

To make this creature fruitful.

Into her womb convey sterility.

Dry up in her the organs of increase,

And from her derogate body never spring

A babe to honor her. If she must teem,

Create her child of spleen, that it may live 

And be a thwart disnatured torment to her. 

Let it stamp in her brow of youth, 

With cadent tears fret channels in her cheeks, 

Turn all her mother's pains and benefits

To laughter and contempt, that she may feel

How sharper than a serpent's tooth it is

To have a thankless child.-- Away, away!

Lear begins his furious rant pleading with Nature to not allow Goneril to have any children so that she suffers for her betrayal to him. Lear then goes on to ask that if Goneril should have any children that they should be horribly behaved. He asks that they be so uncontrollable that her stress becomes physically evident on her face. Lear then ends his rant saying that he hopes that this will show Goneril what it is like to have an ungrateful child which is how he feels about her.

Born From Passion

In the following passage, Edmund (the bastard) is telling himself the reasons why he is a legitimate son of his father's and a better one because of his bastard birth .  Rather than being born the way all others have been, from parents engaging sex in the dull time between "asleep and wake," he states that he is more fierce because he was born out of lust.  This passion between his parents is what he holds as the reason behind himself being legitimate and better than those who not bastards.  Though I personally think that he is just trying to make himself feel better about being a bastard child, I think he makes a good point; children given birth to unmarried parents are no less important.

Who, in the lusty stealth of nature, take

More composition and fierce quality

Than doth within a dull, stale, tired bed

Go to th' creating a whole tribe of fops

Got 'tween asleep and wake?  Well then,

Legitimate Edgar, I must have your land.

Our father's love is to the bastard Edmund

As to th' legitimate.  Fine word, "legitimate."

Poor King Lear

The passage that I decided to look at is in Act 2 Scene 4 lines 305-328.

O, reason not the need! Our Beggars 305

Are in the poorest thing superfluous.

Allow not nature more the nature needs…

Then Lear grows angry with his daughters question.

…No , you unnatural hags, 320

I will have such a revenge on you both

That all the world shall-- I will do such things--

After Goneril and Regan questions the kings need of his soldier’s from 100 to 50 and ultimately, Regan asks why he needs even one. Is response to her question, Lear at first say that its not about need, but more about him wanting them, and because he is king, he deserves them. After his initial reaction, Lear becomes upset with the disrespect that his daughters are showing him, and threatens that he will take action against him. But as he speaks the words, Lear seems to realize that he has lost all his power that his once help. When he gave his land away to his daughter, they took his power too and had to ideas of letting him keep his authority. Here, Lear is beginning to realize his seemingly doomed fate.

"My love is richer than my tongue"

I chose to simply explicate the scene when Cordelia was asked to speak her love for her father in Act 1...

 

Unhappy that I am, I cannot heave
My heart into my mouth. I love your majesty
According to my bond; no more nor less...(continues after line 92)

 

Although Cordelia was supposedly Lear's favorite daughter, he completely disowned her when she did not flatter him at his immediate request. She strongly believed that her love was shown by daughterly and affectionate actions; actions are stronger than words. Cordelia thought that her loyalty too was enough proof of her love for him. Cordelia also tried to explain to her father that she speaks more realistically than her sisters who are only saying what he wants to hear. In the end Lear is only dipicted as a man that values fortune over truth. As consequence Cordelia was banished from lear's sight and love. Luckily Cordelia's confidence and self-respect won over the respect and love of the king of France. Something that Lear, her own father could not do...

It seems like there is a reoccuring theme of conflicts between parents and their children, or even simblings.

Where else in Lear is this theme seen?

 

Act 2- Scene 2 Pg. 83-85

Kent- A Knave, a rascal, an eater of broken meats; a base, proud, shallow, beggarly, three-suited, hundred-pound, filthy worsted-stocking knave; a lily-livered, action taking, whoreson, glass-gazing, superserviceable, finical rogue; one-trunk-inheriting slave; one that wouldst bawd in way of good service, and are nothing but the composition of a knave, beggar, coward, pander, and the son and heir of a mongrel bitch; one whom I will beat into clamorous whineing if thou deny'st the least syllable of thy addition.

This is the part in the novel that Kent is confronting Oswald and calling him a terrible servant. Kent is upset that Oswald got to Gloucester's castle before he could give the note to Regan so he takes his anger out on Oswald. In the beginning of the passage he starts to attack Oswald by calling him all of these terrible names. HE uses words that are equivalent to the curse words that we have in our modern day society. Eventually he gets to the point where he starts to explain to Oswald what he is doing wrong. He tells Oswald that a servant should not simply concede to every demand that their master asks for. There are points in the servants life where the servant must point out the master's follys in order to make the master a better person. That is why he is the better servant and Oswald is the lesser one. Then he threatens to beat up Oswald.

I'm Innocent- Everyone Else are the Sinners!

Act 3. Sc. 2

Let the great gods

That keep this dreadful pudder o'er our heads

Find out their enemies now. Tremble, thou wretch,

That hast within thee undivulged crimes

Unwhipped of justice. Hide thee, thou bloody hand,

Thou perjured, and thou simular of virtue

That art incestuous. Caitiff, to pieces shake,

That under covert and convenient seeming

Has practiced on man's life.Close pent-up guilts,

Rive your concealing continents and cry

These dreadful summoners grace. I am a man

More sinned against than sinning.

This speech by King Lear is, like Mr. Heidkamp said today in class, a pity party. King Lear is feeling very sorry for himself. He starts by talking about the gods, telling them to be aware of their enemies. He talks about any evil people who committed crimes but weren't caught should tremble in fear now. Any murderers, perjurers, and incestuous people who pretend to be virtuous should hide. The villain should shake in fear that has plotted to kill. Hidden guilts be let out and beg the gods who create these thunderstorms for mercy. People have sinned against him more than he has sinned against them.

King Lear is feeling bad for himself. He doesn't think he has done anything wrong, though he isn't exactly error-free. He calls upon the gods to punish villains (Goneril and Regan, for example), and he tells evil-doers to confess their crimes and beg for mercy from the gods. Oh, King Lear...

Goneril's Feelings Toward Lear

This passage is from Act I, scene iii.  (page 41, lines 13-23)

Goneril speaking to Oswald:

Put on what weary negligence you please,

You and your fellows.  I'd have it come to question.

If he distaste it, let him to my sister,

Whose mind and mine I know in that are one,

Not to be overruled.  Idle old man

That still would manage those authorities

That he hath given away.  Now, by my life,

Old fools are babes again and must be used

With checks as flatteries, when they are seen abused.

Remember what I have said.

This scene is when Goneril is talking to Oswald and she is telling him that she wants to irritate her father.  She is basically telling her servants to be neglectful to Lear and to bother him.   She says that they should do this, and if he doesn't like it, then he can go to her sister's place.  Goneril knows that her sister will do the same to Lear if he chooses to go live there, and she wants to irritate him becuase he thinks he still has power when he gave it all away to his daughters.