In the tragedy “King Lear”, Shakespeare incorporates the superfluous usage of emotion as a general indication of irrationality and naiveness, whereas the usage of reason signals maturity, intelligence, and reality. Tired of the endless duties accompanied with the title of King, Lear planned to divide his empire into three sections, one section for each daughter. Dominated by a need for sentimental flattery, Lear simple-mindedly decides to give his largest realms to the daughter whose proclamation of love is the most embellished and honeyed. From the merging of emotion and reason, Shakespeare is able to center his play on the torments accompanied by the appearances betrayal, madness, and chaos. Though goodness is interwoven within the play, evil and the flaws of human nature are also included. In the end, it is hard to determine which triumphs. Henceforth, Lear's mirage of love proves be inaccurate. His eldest daughters Goneril and Regan, in the attempt to inherit the largest portions of land, deliver long-winded descriptions of their affection towards their father, which prove to be false as the play progresses. Goneril ironically claims that she loves her father "more than words can wield the matter; dearer than eyesight, space, and liberty; beyond what can be valued." Although she claims that words are not sufficient in describing her love for her father, her plethora of words that follow seems to contradict this proclamation. Regan, the middle sister, adopts her sister's usage of pathos as she competes for the largest area of land. However, when it is Cordelia's turn, her words are startlingly different from her sisters. In her declaration of love, Cordelia uses reason. Cordelia questions the sincerity of her sisters’ words. "W... ... middle of paper ... ...become nothing but a competitor, an impediment blocking Goneril from reaching her own satisfaction and vice versa. Shakespeare has the ability to illustrate emotion as a force so powerful that it becomes a raging fire, relentless and unsympathetic towards all in its path. In essence, Shakespeare incorporates both emotion and reason in his play “King Lear”. Revolving around a theme of blindness and insight, Shakespeare uses a character’s emotions to blind them mentally. This makes them act foolishly, guided only by their selfishness and yearning for self-pleasure, also prompting them to lash out against the people closest to them. Only those who retain their insight have the ability to think clearly, with virtue and integrity. Few are able to use their mind and heart together equally in their actions for a good head and a loving heart is always a strong combination.
Cordelia is the only one who sees the ridiculousness of such a task and unlike her sisters does not fully participate in the competition for her father's inheritance. She describes her love for her father honestly, as important but not consuming of her entire being as her sisters do. Her father sees this as direct and personal insult and banishes her as well as taking her dowry. Cordelia demonstrates through her genuine expression of love for her father that she in fact loves him the most and is not just taking advantage of the situation like her sisters. Cordelia emerges from this twist moral depravity exploitation of famil...
Gonorill. Regan. Cordelia. Those names should ring a bell if you have ever read or seen “The Tragedy of King Lear.” The plot behind this play revolves around King Lear’s relationships with each of these three characters; his daughters. King Lear has a different relationship with each of them. Gonorill, Regan and Cordelia all have very distinct personalities. In this play, King Lear decided it was time to give up and divide his kingdom amongst Gonorill, Regan and Cordelia. He determined who got what based off of their love for him. Each daughter was asked to express their love for their father but, only Gonorill and Regan end up with portions of King Lear’s kingdom.
It is noteworthy that none of the truly evil characters in the drama have yet taken a conscious initiative. Up to this point everything centers around the interaction of Lear, Cordelia and Kent and all the terrible sufferings which follow have their source in this encounter. To rightly comprehend King Lear, we must see the true significance of the court and the direct relationship between it and the tragedy that follows. We must discover the source of the great intensity and direction which finds expression in the action of the drama, and carries it to its inexorable conclusion.
He seems to suggest, however, that it is not impossible for one to move from one end of the spectrum of human nature to the other, as multiple characters go through somewhat of a metamorphosis where their nature is changed. In this paper, I analyze and present Shakespeare’s account of human nature in King Lear in comparison with other authors that we have read throughout our year in the Aquinas program. Let us begin by looking at the role of human nature in King Lear more closely. It is clear from the beginning of King Lear that Cordelia has an entirely good nature, she remains constant throughout the play, never wavering in her morals. The play begins with Lear deciding that he will have his daughters compete for their divisions of his kingdoms based on which of them can impress him the most with their proclamations of love.
In King Lear by William Shakespeare, Shakespeare recounts the tragedy of King Lear as he fails to acknowledge his tragic flaw and thus falls into tragedy and unintentionally brings others with him. Throughout the play, tragedy befalls undeserving people and they suffer greatly even though they have not done anything to deserve their suffering. Although Gloucester, Edgar, and Cordelia all live happy lives at the beginning of the play, they experience great suffering despite their inner goodness, a fact that highlights Shakespeare’s belief about the blindness of a justice that does not necessarily strike only the wicked.
Peter Brook’s film production of King Lear was followed by diverse critical opinion. W. Chaplin (1973) deemed the production as a dramatic failure due to its violent nature; however, W. Johnson (1972) conversely praises the “bursts of exaggerated violence” which he claims, leads successfully to the establishment of the production’s atmosphere. Through both these views we see violence as being central to interpreting Brook’s King Lear. In a similar fashion, Anne Bradby (2004) described Shakespeare’s Lear as having an “atmosphere of unparalleled rapine, cruelty, and bodily pain” as central to its plots and themes (a theme also touched on by other critics such as G. Orwell (1947), and W. Knight (1949)). From this, we see that interpreta-tions of King Lear benefit from an examination of violence. In order to show how Brook estab-lishes his distinguishing atmosphere of violence, I am going to explore the presentation of vio-lence, the destruction of compassion, and the reactions to both of these key aspects of the pro-duction.
The theme of reason versus emotion can be found by analyzing individual character’s actions in William Shakespeare’s Othello. However, the line between to the two decision-making mindsets is not always very apparent. Three characters – Iago, Desdemona, and Othello – will be analyzed to show that Shakespeare wanted to blur the line between reason and emotion and demonstrate that individuals do not necessarily operate with only one or the other.
"Unhappy that I am I cannot heave My heart into my mouth. I love your Majesty According to my bond; nor more nor less. " I.i.87-89 Cordelia's refusal to flatter her father during the love test may suggest to the audience that she is not only disobeying her father, but also committing political sui... ... middle of paper ... ..., is one of great pain and sorrow. It eventually leads Lear to madness and it is only then that he sees the true reasons behind his treatment.
In Shakespeare's “King Lear”, the tragic hero is brought down, like all tragic heroes, by one fatal flaw; in this case it is pride, as well as foolishness. It is the King's arrogant demand for absolute love and, what's more, protestations of such from the daughter who truly loves him the most, that sets the stage for his downfall. Cordelia, can be seen as Lear’s one true love, and her love and loyalty go not only beyond that of her sisters but beyond words, thus enraging the proud King Lear whose response is: "Let pride, which she calls plainness, marry her". Here, Lear's pride is emphasized as he indulges in the common trend of despising in others what one is most embarrassed of oneself.
King Lear, the protagonist of the play, is a truly tragic figure. He is driven by greed and arrogance and is known for his stubbornness and imperious temper, he often acts upon emotions and whims. 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 of governing for the good of his subjects.
No tragedy of Shakespeare moves us more deeply that we can hardly look upon the bitter ending than King Lear. Though, in reality, Lear is far from like us. He himself is not an everyday man but a powerful king. Could it be that recognize in Lear the matter of dying? Each of us is, in some sense, a king who must eventually give up his kingdom. To illustrate the process of dying, Shakespeare has given Lear a picture of old age in great detail. Lear’s habit to slip out of a conversation (Shakespeare I. v. 19-33), his brash banishment of his most beloved and honest daughter, and his bitter resentment towards his own loss of function and control, highlighted as he ironically curses Goneril specifically on her functions of youth and prays that her
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:
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.
Shakespeare, William, and Russell A. Fraser. King Lear. New York: New American Library, 1998. Print.