The Unaccommodated Man in King Lear
In William Shakespeare's King Lear, betrayal is a common event that leads to the downfall of some of the characters. In today's society, there are two main attitudes that are generally taken towards these fallen individuals or unaccommodated men. The first attitude is more of a pessimistic, judgmental attitude. This attitude puts the majority of the blame on the individuals themselves. The individuals are portrayed as being responsible either due to ignorance or laziness, and it is thought that the individuals got themselves into their deprived situation and they can also find their way out. The second view is more optimistic and is usually more merciful and accepting. People taking this stance generally would take pity on the individuals thinking that their unfortunate situation was due to a simple case of bad luck, or that these individuals were taken advantage of or betrayed by others ultimately leaving them accommodated. In King Lear, the characters Lear, Gloucester, and Edgar were all betrayed by family members leading to their unaccommodated lives. Once again you can take the pessimistic, judgmental attitude or the optimistic, merciful attitude. When applied to the characters in King Lear, I choose to take the optimistic, merciful attitude.
King Lear was betrayed by his two daughters Goneril and Regan. King Lear wanted to distribute his land according to the amount of love that this daughters had for him. Granted this was an illogical method, his intentions were not to destruct the family and himself. He was also very harsh to Cordelia, but the ultimate event that took place to leave him unaccommodated was the betrayal by Goneril and Regan. Lear put his trust in the wrong people, and it ended up placing him in a horrible situation. Now Lear did not make the smartest decisions, but what wrong did he commit in trusting his two daughters who professed their love for him to provide for his basic needs. "How sharper than a serpent's tooth it is to have a thankless child." ( I, iv,57). Lear voices his frustration with not being able to trust his own family members.
Gloucester's downfall was also a case of betrayal. His illegitimate son, Edmond, betrayed him into thinking that Edgar, his legitimate son, was plotting against him. One might say that Gloucester was ignorant in believing Edmond, and that he was illogical in not confronting Edgar.
...dge. King uses his knowledge by gathering people with the same beliefs, to try to better the situations they were in. Douglass did not use his knowledge to the degree that was possible. He absorbed more knowledge instead of releasing it. So although the two readings look fairly similar when glanced over, there are many different aspects of both papers, that give them capability to give out knowledge and background on a subject that was very important to the authors.
There are many similarities in plot and theme in Langston Hughes’ "Father and Son" and D. H. Lawrence’s "The Prussian Officer." While each story is told in a very different style, the general tone is similar in each. The focal point in each story is a relationship between one man in power, and another man who is a subordinate. The dominant man has generally benevolent feelings towards his subordinate, information which is related to the reader through an omniscient narrator. Due to societal influences, the man in power suppresses this emotion not only from others, but from himself. This suppression later erupts into violence. Colonel Tom ("Father and Son") feels affection for his illegitimate black son, whereas the Prussian officer ("The Prussian Officer") harbors a homoerotic attraction to his orderly. These feelings are socially unacceptable to the point that neither man is capable of admitting this attraction even to himself. A description of oppressive heat occurs in both, increasing the feeling of futility of the younger man’s struggle. The characters seem locked into their situation, and just as the heat is unavoidable, so is the conflict.
...ough dishonesty that Lear finally has an epiphany and acknowledges to himself that he is “old and foolish” when he banished Cordelia but the tragedy is that the errors of his ways comes too late. In the play, Shakespeare’s message to the audience is that being dishonest is a human trait but can lead to tragic consequences. In both Williams’ plays, the playwright uses symbolism such as a Chinese lantern and the “old dress” to present the issues of dishonesty and its aftermath. However, in contrast to Shakespeare, Williams does not give his characters an opportunity to redeem themselves of their falsifications and the audience is aware of dishonesty having a negative impact on others. Therefore, the authorial intention in all three texts is relevant today as it was in their time and presents the idea that in the long run, dishonesty does not lead to any gratification.
... 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.
In Chapter 4 of a book titled Escape from Freedom, the famous American psychologist Erich Fromm wrote that "Greed is a bottomless pit which exhausts the person in an endless effort to satisfy the need without ever reaching satisfaction" (Fromm 98). Fromm realized that avarice is one of the most powerful emotions that a person can feel, but, by its very nature, is an emotion or driving force that can never be satisfied. For, once someone obtains a certain goal, that person is not satisfied and continues to strive for more and more until that quest leads to their ultimate destruction. For this reason, authors have embraced the idea of greed in the creation of hundreds of characters in thousands of novels. Almost every author has written a work centered around a character full of avarice. Ian Fleming's Mr. Goldfinger, Charles Dickens' Scrooge, and Thomas Hardy's John D'Urberville are only a few examples of this attraction. But, perhaps one of the best examples of this is found in William Shakespeare's King Lear. Edmund, through his speech, actions, and relationships with other characters, becomes a character consumed with greed to the point that nothing else matters except for the never-ending quest for status and material possessions.
In Shakespeare story King Lear, two of the women were portrayed as emasculating and disloyal while the third was honest and truthful. Showing, that most women who have power can’t be trusted. The story told of a king named Lear who had three daughters named Goneril, Regan, and Cordelia. Lear had given his two oldest daughters Goneril, and Regan a piece of land even though they had lied to their father telling him feelings that they didn’t really have. Then there was his youngest daughter she was as honest and truthful as any other child could be.
King Lear, who as a divine-right king derives his power from God, betrays God's will when he transfers his kingdom to his daughters, Reagan and Goneril. When Lear states that his purpose in doing so is "To shake all cares and business from our age, / Conferring them on younger strengths while we / Unburdened crawl toward death." (Shakespeare 2) he declares his intention to delegate his power so that he is no longer bothered with great responsibilities. In this self-serving act, Lear is unfaithful to God, whose wish it was for Lear to rule for a lifetime. Later, God's wrath is apparent in Act III Scene II when Lear speaks to a tempest, a manifestation of God's anger at the strife within the kingdom, and tells it to "Rumble thy bellyful! Spit, fire! Spout rain! / Nor rain, wind, thunder, fire are my daughters" (Shakespeare 60). Evidently, upon seeing the tempest, Lear is aware that he made a mistake and betrayed God's trust. In speaking to the tempest, he asks for God to correct the situation by causing Reagan and Goneril to fall from power. As a result of his unfaithfulness to God, Lear dies of a broken heart in the end of ...
Two powerful characters in the play, aging King Lear and the gullible Earl of Gloucester, both betrayed their children unintentionally. Firstly, characters are betrayed due to family assumption. Lear banished his youngest daughter Cordelia because he over estimated how much she loved him. When questioned by her father, she responds with, "I love your Majesty / According to my bond, no more nor less." (I,i, 94-95) Lear assumed that since Cordelia was his daughter, she had to love him in a certain way, but he took this new knowledge and banished her without further thought. Secondly, characters were betrayed because of class. Edmund, the first-born son in the Gloucester family, should have been his father's next of kin. He would have been able to take over the position of Earl upon his father's death if he did not hold the title of a legitimate bastard. In his first soliloquy he says, "Why Bastard? Wherefore base? / When my dimensions are as well compact/ my mind as generous, and my shape as true " (I,ii, 6-8) Edmund believes he is at least equal, if not more, to his father in body and in mind, but the title that his father regrettably gave to him still lingers. Lastly, characters were betrayed because of family trust. Gloucester trusted his son Edmund when he was told that his other son was trying to kill him. Upon reading the forged letter written by Edmund, he responded with, "O villain, villain! His very opinion in the letter! Go, sirrah, seek him." (I,ii,75-77) Gloucester inadvertently betrayed Edgar because he held so much trust in his one son that he was easily persuaded to lose all trust in his other one. These blind characters were unfortunately betrayed there children, but they did it unintentionally and will eventually see there wrong doings.
Throughout The Prince, Machiavelli justifies when and how a ruler should lie and deceive his people, claiming that such a trait is valuable and fundamental to rulers and leaders if they wish to continue ruling; they should fear not breaking morals as morals are not always the practical option. If a leader can convince his followers he will follow through with his
Throughout The Prince Machiavelli gives definite instructions as to how a prince should and should not behave which often conforms to the traditional image of men as being tough
So what makes a serial killer? Levin points out that contrary to popular belief, serial killers don't just 'snap'; or 'go crazy'; (Douglas, p. 137). Many of the serial killers have been the victims of childhood abuse. Jack Levin stated 'Research shows many serial killers suffered abuse, incest or neglect as children and develop poor self images'; (Douglas, p. 137). Serial killers often have a childhood marked by the absence of any nurturing relationship. 'They often come from families where the parents were absent or ineffective, where authority was not defined, and where they could engage in destructive behavior undeterred-violent play, cruelty to animals, and incidents of arson being some of the childhood behavior patterns noted among many serial killers'; (Clark, p. 206).
Shakespeare’s treatment of illegitimacy in the play King Lear can be interpreted in many ways depending on the audience. The situation of illegitimacy is portrayed through the relationships of the characters the Earl Of Gloucester and his two sons Edgar and Edmund. Edmund is the illegitimate son while Edgar was born within the law. We learn of Edmund’s illegitimacy in the opening scene in the first act where The Earl of Gloucester is holding a conversation with Kent while Edmund is nearby. Gloucester speaks flippantly and lightly of the way his illegitimate son came into the world while introducing him to Kent saying, “ Though this knave came something saucily into the world before he was sent for, yet his mother was fair, there was good sport at his making, and the whoreson must be acknowledged” (Act I, Scene I, Lines 19-24). There are several peculiar things about this dialogue. One of the interesting aspects of Gloucester and Kent’s discussion is the readiness of Gloucester to admit he has fathered a child out of wedlock. This may be influenced by the fact that Edmund had obviously grown into a son that a father would be proud to have. At first meeting he seems polite, courteous, and loyal. Perhaps these admirable character traits are cause for Gloucester’s willingness to publicly claim Edmund as his own. Another unusual occurrence in the opening dialogue is that Gloucester calls Edmund a whoreson and a knave while he is close by and probably in hearing distance. This seems odd because Gloucester professes to feel only love for his son and no shame but he seems to almost mock him in this situation. One explanation for this behavior may be that deep down Gloucester still harbors some discomfort about the relationship between himself and his son despite his verbal proclamations of shamelessness. This could be inferred from Gloucester’s statement, “ His breeding, sir, hath been at my charge. I have so often blushed to acknowledge him that now I am brazed to ‘t.” (Act I, Scene I, Line 9). Again, depending on the audience the attitudes displayed in the play by the characters and Shakespeare himself by his writing can be interpreted in a variety of ways depending on the observer.
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...
..., but the most important thing is how you learn from making that bad decision and using that experience to better yourself as a person. Although they both start off the story seeming very selfish and irresponsible, they turn out to show that they truly do have a good heart and show sympathy towards the people that they initially abandoned. My impressions of them change dramatically during the course of the play. In the beginning of the play I have no remorse for Lear or Gloucester. I am against them in the beginning simply because they were blind to the fact that they were pushing away the people that meant the most to them. When I began seeing how badly Lear and Gloucester were being treated by their “evil” children, I couldn’t help but feel sympathy for them. It made me realize that people do make mistakes and all we can do from that point on is learn from them.
In King Lear William Shakespeare gives king Lear a very kind personality and a very caring father towards his daughters. King Lear possesses traits that make him a soft person one that is very, calm and gentle hearted. His softness comes out in the beginning when he exclaims he tells his daughters she who loves him the most will get all the land. Lear falls victim to the lies of Reagan and Goneril while he casts out Cordila his only daughter that did not sweet talk him and loves him truly. You learn that his daughters Goneril and Reagan want to betray him so they get the kingdom to themselves. The two evil sisters plot to kill Lear seeing that he is blinded by his love for them and his willingness to help them in times of need. The author betrays lear as king but the reader knows the plot from the beginning on to the end on what his daughters plans are for their father and how it leads into the later parts of the story.