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Analysis of the shakespearean tragic hero king lear
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Analysis of the tragedy of King Lear
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How can people’s personal flaws lead to their own destruction? In William Shakespeare's King Lear and Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein, the main characters, Lear and Frankenstein, both as tragic heroes, fall as a result of their own careless actions. Lear and Frankenstein had to die in order to come to epiphanies about their situations and the impact that their own actions have on their lives. Shakespeare and Shelley communicate that one must face a downfall in order to realize his own flaws and the truths of his reality. Lear becomes blinded by his flaws, leading him to make irrational decisions which ultimately cause him to go mad. After Cordelia is unable to state how much she loves her father and outdo her sisters exaggerated professions of …show more content…
With Cordelia declared as banished, Lear states, “With my two daughters’ dowers digest the third...Only we shall retain The name and all th’ addition to a king. The sway, revenue, execution of the rest, Beloved sons, be yours” (Shakespeare 17). Lear’s fault here is that he believes that he can divide up his kingdom to his daughters and still retain the title as king; he wants to retire his position and responsibilities as a king but still remain respected and treated as one. His flaw in wanting to be superior leads to his downfall, as he is so blinded by his greed that he decides to divide up his kingdom to his two daughters who are as hungry for power as he is. They only want to strip him of his position and respect to gain more influence. Lear, not realizing the impact of such an impulsive decision, descends into madness when his daughters force him out of his home. After being locked out of his only shelter by his daughters, he states, “Filial ingratitude!...In such a night To shut me out?...O Regan, Goneril, Your old kind father whose frank heart gave all! O that way madness lies. Let me shun that; No more of that” (Shakespeare 137). Lear becomes fully aware of the consequences of his actions. He realizes how ungrateful his daughters are and how they have treated him unfairly even though he has given them everything; much to his dismay, he is left with …show more content…
As Frankenstein is enroute to his pursuit of gaining more knowledge, he states, “I wished, as it were, to procrastinate all that related to my feelings of affection until the great object, which swallowed up every habit of my nature, should be completed” (Shelley 41). Frankenstein’s decision in allowing his intellectual ambitions to overpower everything else in his life leads him to be blinded to the dangers of creating life. He isolates himself from his society when creating the monster, letting himself be immersed in his creation while being driven by his passions, allowing nobody to be near him. The fact that he allows this creation of a monster to consume his total being reveals how blinded he is to the immorality of stepping outside the boundaries of science and defying nature. His goal in striving to achieve what wants to in placing man over nature makes him lose his sense of self as all he is focused on is the final product of his creation. He starts to realize his own faults as after he has created the monster, he becomes very ill and states, “The form of the monster on whom I had bestowed existence was forever before my eyes, and I raved incessantly concerning him” (48). His impulsive decision to make the monster leads him to abhorring it as it does not turn out to be what he has expected. Because he chooses to isolate himself in creating the
In Frankenstein, Frankenstein was preoccupied with the idea of creating life from nothing. On page 50, he expressed his wonderment, “I succeeded in discovering the cause of generation and life; nay, more, I became myself capable of bestowing animation upon lifeless matter.” He had succeeded in understanding the reasons for which life functions but he placed more importance on the discovery that he could cause it on his own. The events that take place in the novel follow as the consequences of Frankenstein’s longing for validation of his own self-worth. That desire filled his mind to a point where it haunted him. Mary Shelley consistently sho...
Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein tells the story of Victor Frankenstein, a scientist who decides to play God and creates his own human unorthodoxly. Unfortunately, Frankenstein rejects his creation and forces it to live in fear and obliviousness of the world. Throughout the book, the reader is able to witness the character development within the Creature; he grows from a benevolent and benign man to a spiteful and ravenous murderer. In spite of this, I have great compassion and sympathy for the Creature. In order to understand this reasoning, we must take three factors into consideration. Firstly, we have the realize the aspects that drove the Creature into becoming an angry person. Second, we must acknowledge how human nature is. Lastly, we must consider who is to be blamed for the Creature’s actions.
Victor Frankenstein is originally a happy character that loves to learn and read a large variety of books. He was a fiery individual who sought to understand all knowledge; regardless of how practical the information was. Evidence of this is when his father tells him not to worry about fictional writers like Cornelius Agrippa. Yet, Frankenstein states, “But here were books, and here were men who had penetrated deeper and knew more. I took their word for all that they averred, and I became their disciple” (21). Frankenstein embodies the movement in science to understand everything, and that is not necessarily a good thing (Storment 2). Frankenstein only understands that this train of thought is bad when he reaches the pinnacle of knowledge and produces the creature. The fruits of Frankenstein’s labor end up costing him the lives of his friends and family, as well as his own sanity. The feeling of guilt thrives in Frankenstein because he knows his work was the direct cause of the chaos in his life. In Frankenstein’s case, his goal of total enlightenment led to his pitiful demise. Frankenstein’s creature was not originally a monster. He is born with good intentions and is a gentle- although atrocious looking- being until he learns of the sins of the human race. The ultimate factor in the creature’s progression from harmless to
Critic Northrop Frye says, “Tragic heroes tower as the highest points in their human landscape that they seem the inevitable conductors of the power about them, the great trees more likely to be struck by lightning than a clump of grass. Conductors may of course be instruments as well as victims of the divine lightning”. Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein greatly exhibits the theme of the consequence of knowledge and irresponsibility among others through its tragic hero, Victor Frankenstein. Northrop Frye’s quote is certainly true when looking at Frankenstein’s situation. Victor is a victim of his divine lightning, and ultimately causes much trouble for himself; however, Victor also serves as the tragic hero in the lives of the monster, his family, and his friends.
... Lears blessing, and declared his daughter. Lear also realized that Kents speaking out was for Lear’s best and that he too was abused and banished. What stings Lear even more is that he is now completely dependent upon his two shameless daughters, Goneril and Regan. Plus that he must now beg them when he took care of them like a father when they were once children, to drive Lears further into madness he realizes that as king he was so ignorant and blind with power that he never took care of the homeless and let them suffer. All these realization and the fact that Lear is in his second childhood a tender stage drive him into the peak of madness.
We again view his ignorance and irresponsibility when after spending two years of work on his creature he disowns and abandons the creature. He runs out of the room after seeing the creature come to life. He fled the room because he thought the creature was so hideous, even though he had chosen all the best body parts for its creation. When Frankenstein returns to the house when he “became assured that my enemy had indeed fled, I clapped my hands for joy”(55). Even after all his work he is ecstatic that this horrible beast has left him.
The pop culture version of the novel Frankenstein depicts Victor Frankenstein’s need for science and creation, a need that results in him creating a monster. An ingenious and inventive scientist, Victor mastered everything he learned from his professors. Unfortunately, he ultimately created something he regrets and pays for until the day he dies. Victor Frankenstein takes his interest in science and creation to an unhealthy and extreme level, and plays God. In playing this God figure over his creation, he creates this being with no intentions of giving it love or happiness. He is selfish and creates it for himself, and he brings the unliving to life out of old used parts.
The first flaw in King Lear is his arrogance, which results in the loss of Cordelia and Kent. It is his arrogance in the first scene of the play that causes him to make bad decisions. He expects his favorite, youngest daughter to be the most worthy of his love. His pride makes him expect that Cordelia’s speech to be the one filled with the most love. Unfortunately for King Lear’s pride, Cordelia replies to his inquisition by saying, “I love your majesty/According to my bond and nothing less';(1.1.100-101). Out of pride and anger, Lear banishes Cordelia and splits the kingdom in half to the two evil sisters, Goneril and Regan. This tragic flaw prevents King Lear from seeing the truth because his arrogance overrides his judgement. Lear’s arrogance also causes him to lose his most faithful servan...
William Shakespeare's tragedy of King Lear begins with the King's decision to divide his kingdom between his three daughters. He gathers them all together, and tells them he will divide up the kingdom according to whoever has the most love for him. Goneril and Reagan, the two older daughters, make big declarations of love in order to get the shares they want of the kingdom. The youngest daughter, Cordelia, tells Lear that she loves him, as a daughter should love a father. Lear becomes angry and disappointed with Cordelia's response feeling she has shown a lack of devotion so he takes action and banishes her. When Kent, a close friend of Lear, attempts to defend Cordelia, but as well he is banished by Lear. Cordelia marries the King of France and goes to live there. The kingdom is equally divided between Goneril and Regan. These two daughters are evil and decide if Lear becomes too much of a problem then they will take d...
He was not willing to take responsibility for the monster he created. The monster was his responsibilities, his belongings, but Frankenstein didn’t accept the monster, “I had desired it with an ardour that far exceeded moderation; but now that I had finished, the beauty of the dream vanished, and breathless horror and disgust filled my heart. Unable to endure the aspect of the being I had created, I rushed out of the room, and continued a long time traversing my bedchamber…” (35). the moment his creation comes to life, Frankenstein abandons it and letting it free into the world. Frankenstein did not know what the monster is even capable of, leaves it unattended. In the article, “The Age of Biological Control”, A.T. Nuyen discusses bioethics as well as Confucianism, which is the religion of ethical, political, and social teachings. The article also goes over Francis Fukuyama’s concepts which examine the transformation human beings will go through. Moral principles don’t seem to matter because scientists are willing to do just about anything to reach their scientific goal, no matter the responsibilities that follow. Shelley reveals how ignoring one’s responsibility will catch up to them and cause havoc on their life. Frankenstein avoided his responsibility of the monster and in return, the monster began killing his loved ones and getting revenge on his creator for abandoning
In Mary Shelley’s gothic novel Frankenstein, Victor Frankenstein, a brilliant and passionate scientist, seems to be in constant conflict with his own mind and his own creation. The internal and external struggles he suffers are due to the battle between his five bones—desire (knowledge), fear (failure), strength (persistence), weakness (egotism), and action (hunt for revenge). Frankenstein’s five bones help to define him as a tragic hero; a character (normally a protagonist) who makes errors in judgment that inescapably leads to his own demise. Despite the struggles, Frankenstein seems to persevere as he pursues his creation in an attempt to right his mistakes until his eventual death. Ultimately, through his failed efforts to destroy his own creation (the monster), Frankenstein evolves convincingly into a tragic hero.
Shakespeare's King Lear is a play which shows the consequences of one man's decisions. The audience follows the main character, Lear, as he makes decisions that disrupt order in his Kingdom. When Lear surrenders all his power and land to his daughters as a reward for their demonstration of love towards him, the breakdown on order in evident. Lear's first mistake is to divide his Kingdom into three parts. A Kingdom is run best under one ruler as only one decision is made without contradiction. Another indication that order is disrupted is the separation of Lear's family. Lear's inability to control his anger causes him to banish his youngest daughter, Cordelia, and loyal servant, Kent. This foolish act causes Lear to become vulnerable to his other two daughters as they conspire against him. Lastly, the transfer of power from Lear to his eldest and middle daughter, Goneril and Regan, reveals disorder as a result of the division of the Kingdom. A Kingdom without order is a Kingdom in chaos. When order is disrupted in King Lear, the audience witnesses chaotic events that Lear endures, eventually learning who truly loves him.
The setting of King Lear is one spoiled with materialism, and is portrayed clearly within the first scene. King Lear is demanding his daughters proclaim their affections towards, in order to divvy up the land of his kingdom upon his retirement. Upon this forcefulness, Regan and Goneril are willing to falsely profess their love towards Lear, with clearly negative intentions. Their deceit is established early in the play. Cordelia, Lear’s third daughter, refuses to comply immediately. She will not participate because she understands the vanity, although her feelings towards her father are the most genuine; she believes that there are no words to accurately express her love. Lear’s inflamed insecurities cause him to dismiss Cordelia, refusing her an inheritance. Her initial refusal is minimal as a means to convey the depth of concern she has for her father, as she witnesses her sisters fake their admiration for material wealth and power.
In the beginning of the play the reader learns that Lear is ready to give up his kingdom and retire from a conversation that two noblemen, Gloucester and Kent, are having. He asks his three daughters; Cordelia, Goneril, and Regan to express their love for him to help him make his decision as to who would inherit his kingdom. Cordelia has always been his “favorite” daughter and when asked how much she loved her father she does not lie to him and tells him “I am sure my love’s more ponderous than my tongue” (1363). Rather than being grateful for such love and honesty, Lear banishes her to France and divides his kingdom to his two other daughters. Kent does not agree with Lear’s decision and Lear banishes him too.
Lear's sins as a father are quite unique and therefore difficult to analyse. First he asks his three daughters to announce their great love for him so he can reward them with shares of his kingdom, Cordellia is brutally honest with her reply and states "[I love you] according to my bond; no more no less." Lear subsequently banishes Cordellia, and so starts Lear's suffering. He then splits his kingdom between Regan and Goneril which in itself was a foolish thing to do as the responsibility and power suddenly given to these two sisters could easily corrupt them. Next he arrives at his daughter's houses with a large group of unruly k...