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king lear dysfunctional essay
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Restructuring Relationships in King Lear The play of "King Lear" is about a search for personal identity. In the historical period in which this play is set, the social structure was set in order of things closest to Heaven. Therefore, on Earth, the king was at the top, followed by his noblemen and going all the way down to the basest of objects such as rocks and dirt. This structure was set up by the people, and by going by the premise that anything that is man made is imperfect, this system cannot exist for long without conflict. Through tattered clothes small vices do appear; Robes and furred gowns hide all. Plate sin with gold, And the strong lance of justice hurtles breaks; (IV, vi). The chaos that occurs in "King Lear" is due the reshaping of bonds within the society. Thus naturally, bonds must be broken, kept and most importantly, formed. This rearrangement of bonds is necessary to Lear understanding his personal identity. Bonds that are broken include those relations between King Lear and his two eldest daughters (Regan and Goneril), between Glouster and Edmund and also between Edmund and Edgar. Lear and Cordelia; Lear and Kent; Glouster and Edgar include those bonds that are existent at both the beginning and conclusion of the play. By the ending of the play, Lear is able to come to terms with himself and with nature. For the rearrangement of the bonds, it is necessary that those based on money, power, land, and deception be to abandoned. In the case of Lear and Goneril and Regan, his two daughters have deceived their father for their personal gain. Furthermore, they had not intended to keep the bond with their father once they had what they wanted. Goneril states "We must do something, and i' th' heat." (I, i, 355), meaning that they wish to take more power upon themselves while they can. By his two of his daughters betraying him, Lear was able to gain insight that he is not as respected as he perceives himself to be. The relationship broken between Edmund his half- bother, Edgar and father, Glouster is similarly deteriorated in the interest of material items. By the end of the play, Edgar has recognized who is brother really is and when he has confronted him says "the more th' hast wronged me...
King Lear is one of the more caged characters of the play, he suffers both social and psychological incarceration and this is one the chief reasons for his descent into mental hell and inevitable downfall. Lear is imprisoned by the role he must play in society and by his own internal shackles. The abdication of the throne initiates the action in the play, through the consequent chain of events. However this indicates that Lear is imprisoned by his responsibility to society, a social harness binds him. He renounces the throne to lead the rest of his life in pleasure and in doing so he disrupts the Great Chain of Being, he challenges the position that he has been given and thus his family and indeed the entire nation, descend into disorder and chaos. The storm is symbolic of this occurrence; the weather imitates the state of men. "One minded like the weather," the gentle man recognizes the disquiet and unrest of the storm, as a manifestation of the turbulence in Society at the time. He is not only responsible for the harmony of a nation, it is also his duty to maintain harmony in his house. This he does with little success when "bribes" his daughters to fuel his own ego. "Which of you shall we say doth love us most,/That we our largest bounty extend," Lear is requesting his daughters to compete in a "game" of words, he does not really wish to know who loves him the most, he simply wishes to be flattered, through this he is rashly aba...
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.
Lear begins to realize the fact that underneath the expensive clothes, there is a weak human being like any other. People in the society are judged and given a higher position based on how much luxury they have rather than for what they are. On the other side, regardless of how wealthy and powerful one is, one cannot escape from natural causes such as death. This reveals that even though there are boundaries between rich and poor people, they are all the same when it comes to issues like old, diseases and death. Hence, titles and clothes are the social illusions that separate humans in the name of the value and importance. Society also considers people with torn or poor clothes to be unimportant, while the ones with expensive clothes are considered valuable. The Fool calls Lear “fool” because the Fool clearly sees that Lear has lost his power. This is evident when the Fool points out that Lear has given away “All thy other titles thou hast given away; that/ thou wast born with” (I.iv.147-148). Lear no longer has the power and the title of a king since he has given his kingdom to his two daughters. Oswald, who is the chief servant in Goneril’s house, calls Lear “my lady’s father” rather than calling him a
...ith his personality, Lear made a mistake and his chastisement is the death of his only loyal daughter Cordelia. Throughout King Lear characters put each other on trial. Lear and Gloucester both misjudge their children, who seem to possess better judgement. Cordelia has the measure of her sisters and Goneril's assessment of their father is acute and accurate. Edmund knows exactly how to take in his gullible relatives. It seems that better judgment is not the preserve of those who seemingly have good intentions. Sight is gained with blindness and this is shown to both Lear and Gloucester. Lear's insanity and Gloucester's blindness enables them to obtain this better judgement in the end. Lear has inspired in us, together with his pity, much admiration and affection. We can say the cause of his fatal flaw, in its full entirety, leads him to the discovery of this flaw.
We see this in Scene 3 when Goneril is unhappy with her father. She shows her true self in this scene, not the loving daughter which she shows to be in Scene 1, but almost a villain, who goes against the hierarchy of nature. Daughters are supposed to respect and love their fathers, which is exactly the opposite o what Goneril is doing. She treats her father, who deserves more respect as he is also king, badly, and also advises her servant Oswald to do so. Lear still views himself as a king, while his daughter calls him an ?Idle old man?.
The plot of King Lear is set in motion by the conversation between Lear and his daughters. In return for their love and honour, he will give them land and power. The fact that they are daughters and not sons is significant because Lear demands their total love, trying to put them into a mother role: something he would not do if they were men. Goneril and Regan are neither noble nor truthful and they have no problem lying to their father for their own personal gain. While Regan claims "I am alone felicitate/ In your dear Highness' love." (I.i.75-76) and later treats her father in the most reprehensible manner, Cordelia denies Lear's unnatural request saying, "Sure, I shall never marry like my sisters/ To love my father all" (I.i.103-104). Her truthful refusal to proclaim total love for her father proves her to be the actual loving daughter but results in her banishment. From this first scene, the characters' alliances and allegiances are forged and all that follows is directly resultant.
Through the play, they plan to deceive their fathers to overthrow their place of control wanting to feel more appreciated. We have Edmund who wants to get rid of his father, Earl of Gloucester because of the way that Gloucester has been treating him differently than Edgar who is Gloucester legitimate son. Goneril is just like Edmund that wants to have control over her father’s power. She would do anything to get to King Lear place, going through deceiving her allies around her and even trying to kill her husband so she could be with Edmund. In the play, Edmund and Goneril are seen as the main villains since they were the ones who caused many problems for our main protagonist. They both seem to share the same similarities together that they even end up having romantic feelings for each other but they don’t end with a happy ending especially with Goneril’s sister; Regan who interferes with their affair. They play the role of the greedy antagonist that would get rid of anyone in their way of being Queen or the new Earl of Gloucester ,making the protagonist struggling with the challenges, causing destruction like a tornado obliterating
In King Lear, Shakespeare portrays a society whose emphasis on social class results in a strict social hierarchy fueled by the unceasing desire to improve one’s social status. It is this desire for improved social status that led to the unintentional deterioration of the social hierarchy in King Lear. This desire becomes so great that Edmund, Goneril, Reagan and Cornwall were willing to act contrary to the authority of the social hierarchy for the betterment of their own position within it. As the plot unfolds, the actions of the aforementioned characters get progressively more desperate and destructive as they realize their lack of success in attaining their personal goals. The goals vary, however the selfish motivation does not. With Edmund, Goneril, Reagan and Cornwall as examples, Shakespeare portrays the social hierarchy as a self-defeating system because it fosters desires in its members that motivate them to act against the authority of the hierarchy to benefit themselves. A consideration of each characters actions in chronological order and the reasons behind such actions reveals a common theme among the goals for which morality is abandoned.
The first stage of Lear’s transformation is resentment. At the start of the play it is made quite clear that Lear is a proud, impulsive, hot-tempered old man. He is so self-centered that he simply cannot fathom being criticized. The strength of Lear’s ego becomes evident in the brutal images with which he expresses his anger towards Cordelia: “The barbarous Scythian,/Or he that makes his generation messes/To gorge his appetite, shall to my bosom/Be as well neighboured, pitied, and relieved,/As thou may sometime daughter.” (1.1.118-122). The powerful language that Lear uses to describe his intense hatred towards Cordelia is so incommensurable to the cause, that there can be only one explanation: Lear is so passionately wrapped up in his own particular self-image, that he simply cannot comprehend any viewpoint (regarding himself) that differs from his own (no matter how politely framed). It is this anger and resentment that sets Lear’s suffering and ultimate purification in motion.
Hatred and desire fueled Goneril, Regan, and Edmund to lie in order to obtain their parents’ power leading to destruction within their family. Edmund’s hatred was continued by the reminder that he was only the bastard son of Gloucester driving him to lie to both of them ultimately ruining his father’s eyesight and his brother’s identity. Goneril and Regan got rid of their father while retained his power by lying about who loved him the most and took away his knights. From King Lear, Shakespeare concluded that greed and power are capable of ruining a family.
The tragic collapse of King Lear was initiated within the first act, where he demonstrated a lack of insight into who his daughters genuinely were. To start, Lear decided that it was time for him to divide his kingdom among his three daughters, and the criteria he used was who every flattered him the most with kind and lovely words, would obtain the greatest share. This idea that whoever showed the most affection for him under this rationale would prove who loves him the most, and therefore would they would receive a great share of the kingdom, was his tragic mistake. Regan and Goneril, the two villains throughout the play, put together an act in order to achieve the greatest share of the kingdom, and both excelled in this regard, despite
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...
King Lear 's eldest daughters take on the role as being "the ideal villains" ("Role of Women") who strives to embrace the power of the stronger "sex" from being to end. The deviant siblings only had an appetite for greed and were willing to crush anyone who steps in their way. Goneril is a ‘monster ' through the eyes of her own husband Albany( Lind ) because of her actions towards her father, while her own father compares her to an animal by stating she is nothing more than a "Detested kite" (Shakespeare 1.4.253 ), a vulture who preys on its victims. Her evil behavior and actions speak volume to her role and certainly reinforces Lear 's idea that greed turns people into animals. Lear sees Goneril as being nothing more than an ungratefully child with a beastly attitude (Lind). Shakespeare shows how money and power are usually the root of all evil and can affect a person ethical values and moral judgment. Albany must have been blind by love when he married that witch! As for Lear, a father by blood has no choice but love her and her evil sister.
Lear's relationship with his three daughters, Goneril, Regan and Cordelia, is, from the beginning, very uncharacteristic of the typical father-daughter relationship. It's clear that the king is more interested in words than true feelings, as he begins by asking which of his daughters loves him most. Goneril and Regan's answers are descriptive and sound somewhat phony, but Lear is flattered by them. Cordelia's response of nothing is honest; but her father misunderstands the plea and banishes her. Lear's basic flaw at the beginning of the play is that he values appearances above reality. He wants to be treated as a king and to enjoy the title, but he doesn't want to fulfill a king's obligations. Similarly, his test of his daughters demonstrates that he values a flattering public display of love over real love. He doesn't ask "which of you doth love us most," but rather, "which of you shall we say doth love us most?" (I.i.49). It would be simple to conclude that Lear is simply blind to the truth, but Cordelia is already his favorite daughter at the beginning of the play, so presumably he knows that she loves him the most. Nevertheless, Lear values Goneril and Regan's fawning over Cordelia's sincere sense of filial duty.
Lear's vision is marred by lack of direction in life, poor foresight and his inability to predict the consequences of his actions. He cannot look far enough into the future to see the consequences of his actions. This, in addition to his lack of insight into other people, condemns his relationship with his most beloved daughter, Cordelia. When Lear asks his daughters, who loves him most, he already thinks that Cordelia has the most love for him. However, when Cordelia says: "I love your Majesty according to my bond, no more nor less." (I, i, 94-95) Lear cannot see what these words really mean. Goneril and Regan are only putting on an act. They do not truly love Lear as much as they should. When Cordelia says these words, she has seen her sister's facade, and she does not want to associate her true love with their false love. Lear, however, is fooled by Goneril and Regan into thinking that they love him, while Cordelia does not. This is when Lear first shows a sign of becoming blind to those around him. He snaps and disowns her: