Emily Newman
Ms. Healy
AP Literature
Period 5- E7
21 January 2014
Edmund’s Natural Prophecy
As once noted by Karl Marx: “Religion is the opiate of the masses”. In the case of King Lear, a tragedy by Shakespeare, it is not religion, but a fervent belief in nature that serves as the opiate for Edmund, the “illegitimate” bastard son of Gloucester. In Act 1 Scene 2, Edmund proclaims that Mother Nature, a force to which he feels increasingly loyal, has deemed all bastards vile and dishonest. Edmund therefore feels inclined to seize upon this stereotype and frame his brother, Edgar, in order to seize Edgar’s inheritance. He attributes this disloyal act to nature, which has characterized all bastards to act in this manner. In this way, he takes his own views and ethics out of the picture, making himself completely subservient to nature. Nature becomes Edmund’s opiate, for he numbs himself of all personal emotions and devotes himself to following nature and its standards, depriving himself of his own free will. Edmund feels “cued” by nature to be rough and lecherous, as a bastard ought to be, and therefore acts villainously not on his own account, but in order to abide by the rules that he feels nature has set for him.
Edmund identifies strongly with being a bastard; he feels that it is a part of who he is and therefore claims that nature is beckoning him to act dishonestly in order to avenge his social mistreatment, in accordance with the stereotype of being a bastard. Edmund first establishes that he feels a strong loyalty towards nature: “Thou, Nature, art my goddess” (Shakespeare 1.2.1). In employing the possessive pronoun, “my”, Edmund implies that he has a uniquely intimate relationship with nature, nature being his personal goddess. Edmund expands on this relationship, stating that nature has made him to be the younger and illegitimate brother, consequently depriving him of his father’s land: “… for that I am … lag of a brother” (Shakespeare 1.2.2-6). As a result, Edmund vows to overthrow his legitimate brother, deducing that his “… cue is villainous melancholy” (Shakespeare 1.2.42). Edmund feels that it is his destiny to fulfill the stereotypical role of being a villainous bastard. Edmund ironically basks in the very stereotype that has given him his lowly status; he uses nature’s deeming of bastards as “rough” and “lecherous” as pretense for his unethical framing of Edgar. Therefore, Edmund’s intimate relationship with nature is the impetus for his dishonest act, for Edmund feels that since nature has made him a bastard, and nature has labeled bastards as villainous and lecherous, that he must subsequently act this way. In Edmund’s eyes, he is not a betrayer but a follower of nature, for nature is his goddess and he must abide by “her” rules. In fact, Race Capet, a scholar, boldly states that Edmund is not only a follower of nature, but “…outside the reach of customary law and of human morality…by virtue of his birth and of his sworn allegiance, a force of Nature.” Capet takes Edmund’s subservience to a different level, claiming that in being a bastard, he is in fact a force of nature, completely lacking of free will, exclusively the result of nature’s nuances. Edmund is therefore separated from the rest of society in two ways: in his superficial status of being a bastard, and in his intimate relationship with nature, which deprives him of his own morals and free will. It is henceforth not a result of Edmund’s personal hatred for his brother, but of Edmund’s subservience to nature that causes him to commit disloyal acts.
Nature functions as the opiate for Edmund, for his attributes his brutally dishonest act to nature and its view on bastards. His fervent belief in nature therefore impedes his ability to realize the magnitude of his dishonest act. Edmund takes on a villainous persona that is not truly his because he feels destined to becoming bastard stereotype and act cruelly. Thus, Edmund fails to acknowledge his own ethics and motives and instead separates himself as an individual completely through his actions. In this way, Edmund is arguably a force of nature, a puppet created to fill a certain void in society, lacking of his own views and morals.
Works Cited
Capet, Race. “IT’S NEW MOTHER NATURE TAKING OVER.” The Montreal Review. N.p., Feb. 2012. Web. 21 Jan. 2014.
Shakespeare, William, and Phillipa Kelly. King Lear. Rushcutters Bay, N.S.W.: Halstead, 2002. Print.
Danielle Hill
Ms. Healy
AP Literature, Period 5
22 January 2014
The Wise Fool
Ignorance – how can it be falsely identified in an individual? In William Shakespeare’s tragedy King Lear, it is often falsely illustrated. This is shown primarily by the role of the fool as seen in Act 1. The fool, a seemingly innocuous character whose main purpose appears to be to provide senseless rambling does not behave in a type cast manner. Of all the characters introduced in the plot of the play as a whole, the fool is the most knowledgeable and understanding of the current situation at hand. He observes the events and boldly states them in a matter-of-fact fashion, using various riddles and odd forms of speech to play down the true meaning of his words. It is interesting that the figure thought of to have the least mental capacity due to his title as “fool,” proves to be the clearest thinker in the tragedy.
In the beginning of the play, Shakespeare sets up a tragedy consisting of the unfair banishment of Lear’s good hearted daughter, Cordelia, coupled with the backstabbing actions of his other two daughters against him. Cordelia, unlike her sisters, refused to speak flowery words of love to her father when asked how much she loved her father, and simply replied that she loved him according to her filial bond. Her two sisters spoke glorious, but false words of love and adoration to their father, which pleased him immensely. In this way, Cordelia was out cast, while her two elder sisters rose to power. Although, the character of King Lear was portrayed as a strong and knowledgeable figure in the beginning of the play, this once great and fearsome ruler later becomes reduced to being considered a fool.. In Act 1, Scene 4, during one of their main dialogues, King Lear asks his fool if he has indeed just called him – the King, a fool himself, to which the fool replies “All thy other titles thou hast given away. That thou wast born with”(1,4,153-154). In this simple remark, the fool is saying that the King has been stripped of all his former glory and power by his so-called true and loving daughters. This is due to the King’s own foolish actions, therefore making King Lear the real fool. Here, the Fool demonstrates his abilities to pinpoint the main issue and use his “foolish” banter to mask it. Through this comment, the fool has practically insulted the king to his face, however Lear’s following comments/actions show that he has not fully comprehended the fools meaning, and is therefore not aghast and outraged by the criticism. This serves as an example for the raw intelligence that the fool possesses and is hiding. The fool is skilled at insulting the King discretely, which is how he is able to remain unnoticed and untouched by the King’s wrath. Additionally, in Act 1, Scene 4 the fool shows that his seemingly ignorant character is actually quite quick-minded when he comments on King Lear’s decision of casting out Cordelia. Cordelia, the youngest of the Kings three daughters and the most good-hearted of them was unfairly banished when she declared that she would not put her heart on her tongue, and that she “…love your Majesty according to my bond, no more nor less”(1,1,101-102). The fool chastises his master in this decision by stating “Thou hardy little wit in thy bald crown when thou gav’st thy golden one away”(1,4,166-167). Here, the fool is questioning the logic of the King when he went along with his decision. He is able to make his offensive comments in an indirect manner that does not arouse the Kings temper and rage. He is able to escape the king’s detection when he makes his bold comments in a jovial, somewhat nonsensical manner. The fact that he acknowledges that he must tread carefully when criticizing the king puts his mental processes far ahead of many of the other characters. When in Act 1, Scene 1, the Earl of Kent openly challenges the king’s decision of banishing Cordelia, he was also shunned for his impudence. Though both the Earl of Kent and the fool spoke boldly to the king regarding his daughters punishment, however, the fool was the only one to come out unscathed. This is because the Fool uses his wit and ingenuity to stay a few steps ahead of the King and remain impervious. This allows him to continue his speeches and challenging talks without any fear of consequences. This clearly shows how the fool’s “ignorance” is misconstrued, often by King Lear himself. He does not think much of the fool’s talks, as he is mainly caught up in his own thoughts of his rapidly unwinding situation. Lear is not quite aware that the Fool is one of the most loyal, aware and sensical characters in Shakespeare’s play.
The fool’s existence in the tragedy serves many purposes. With his witty remarks and odd analogies he offers the reader comic relief from the otherwise dreary plot of King Lear. According to Dr. Janie Caves McCauley, in her online article, the role of the Fool can also be seen as “…Lear’s alter ego, the voice of his master’s psyche”. This can be proven by the way the Fool offers a much clearer and simplified analysis of the plot. He critiques his hot-tempered master, yet he is never rebuked for such actions. This may be fully attributed to the fact that the fool speaks in an indirect manner, or partially because the King knows the words of his fool to be true. The character of the Fool appears in the play when the King is distraught after discovering too late the ill will of his two eldest wicked daughters. This is when the Lear has gone nearly mad, and the Fool acts as a subtle conscience chastising the King for his misguided actions. The Fool also behaves like a conscience in that he disappears out of the story towards the end of the play. He appears to leave when King Lear goes insane, similar to how a conscience only serves its duty when the host is under direct inner turmoil.
Evidently, ignorance can sometimes be misconstrued when the approach taken is not commonly used. The fool is deemed ignorant due to his title, and in the way he presents his arguments. He does so in a witty, comical manner that detracts some attention to the harsh truth behind his words. Due to this, the fool is actually one of the smartest characters, whereas, the opposite is usually thought.
Work Cited
Dr., McCauley, Janie Caves. “Shakespeare’s King Lear: Clowns, Fools, and Jesters in Shakespeare.” Smart Sharing Masterworks Of Art: An Educational Outreach of Bob Jones University n.d. (2005) : pag. 12. Web. 22 January 2014.
Shakespeare, William. King Lear Washington: 2005. n. d. Folgers Edition. Print.
Rena Daniel
Ms. Healy
English 7 – Period 5
18 January 2014
Shakespeare’s Tips on Parenting
In the play King Lear, Shakespeare introduces two father figures whose actions and decisions towards their children create family tensions throughout Act 1. King Lear, king of Britain, is one of the father figures Shakespeare introduces in Act 1. Lear has three daughters, of which he holds his youngest daughter, Cordelia, most dearly. Similarly, the Earl of Gloucester has two sons, of which he has expressed favoritism towards his youngest son, Edmund, in Act 1, although he is Gloucester’s bastard, adopted son. Yet, by the end of this Act, both Cordelia and Edmund had betrayed their loving fathers with actions that caused great pain and anger for both Lear and Gloucester. However, both of these fathers were easily turned against their children due to the fact that they did not understand their children as well as they should have. Therefore, through the conflicts that unfold in Act I, Shakespeare illustrates his opinion that parents should take time to truly understand their children before blindly trusting their words of allegiance and love.
Within the first Scene of Act 1, it is clear that King Lear had never fully understood his daughters, as he never took the time to get to know them. In the beginning of Act 1 Scene 1, for example, Lear decided to split up his wealth amongst his three daughters, offering the largest bounty to the daughter that loved him the most. This, of course, tempted the crafty elder sisters, Goneril and Regan, to lie to their father, and convince him that they loved him more than they really did. In fact, Goneril announced to Lear that “I love you more than word can wield the matter, dearer than eyesight, space, and liberty… A love that makes breath poor, and speech unable. Beyond all manner of so much I love you;” which was echoed by her younger sister, Regan (1.1.60-67). Despite the fact that the sisters’ words were insincere, the credulous King Lear foolishly bestows a large portion of his kingdom’s wealth upon them in reward for their supposed love and affection towards him. Although Lear made this decision without factoring in the characters of his daughters, he quickly learns of his mistake when Goneril, the daughter he believed to love him enough to take care of him in his old age, rejects him and his men from her house, sending them running to Regan, who once again echoed her sister’s decision and rejected her father as well. Together, the sisters’ decision to treat Lear as if he were more of an unwanted old man than their King and father, was an act that Lear found too painful to bear. However, in Shakespeare Examinations, Maggie Williams raised the question “what good could we expect from …” daughters like Goneril and Regan? Considering the facts that they were raised without the nurturing presence of a mother, were placed in the deceitful environment of the court since they were children, and had only their strong willed father to look up to as children; it’s a small wonder that Goneril and Regan grew up to be the owners of wicked, independent spirits that lack the area of filial piety. King Lear had never taken the time to know his daughters. He did not know their characters, nor did he know if they loved him; so it was a shock to Lear to realize that the daughters he believed to be so loving and faithful were really only after his wealth and money. Although it is not a trait fit for a ruling king, Lear’s naïve personality is made plain to the viewer as the mistake that transformed the residing king to a poor, insane, unwanted, and forsaken old man.
Above all, the mistakes King Lear could have made regarding his children, his rejection of Cordelia, the only daughter that truly loved him, over a small misunderstanding, is perhaps the most tragic action that he soon came to regret. When her father asked her how much she loved him, unlike her treacherous siblings, Cordelia claimed that she did not love King Lear in excess. By blindly trusting her modest declaration, “I love your Majesty/According to my bond, no more nor less,” (1.1.101-102) Lear rashly decided to disown Cordelia as his daughter. Later on in Act 1, however, when both Goneril and Regan abandoned him, refused to house him, and quite rudely tossed him into a raging storm, Lear finally realized his mistake in trusting the lying tongues of Goneril and Regan. His time wandering in the merciless wilderness also gave him time to figure out that only Cordelia had truly loved him. In fact, in Act 4, when Cordelia is finally reunited with her father, she cared for him although he was mentally ill and delusional; she nursed him back to sanity and health. It was only after he saw Cordelia’s love for him that King Lear recognized the loving character of Cordelia, the daughter he had wrongly disowned. If he had taken the time to get to know her earlier on, he would have known to trust Cordelia instead of her conspiring sisters.
Similarly, Gloucester’s relationship with his sons, Edmund and Edgar, prove that fathers such as Gloucester should know more about their children before blindly believing their words and taking action against them. In Act 1 Scene 1, Gloucester never took the time to speak with Edmund about his feelings about a having the life of a bastard, so he didn’t truly know his son. Edmund illustrates his feelings in Act I Scene II, Lines 9-11 and 16-23 when he says: “why ‘bastard’? Wherefore ‘base,’ when my dimensions are as well compact, my mind as generous and my shape as true as honest madam’s issue? Why brand they us with ‘base,’ with ‘baseness,’ ‘bastardy,’ ‘base,’ ‘base,’ …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.’ … Edmund the base shall th’ legitimate. I grow, I prosper. Now, gods, stand up for bastards!” Feeling downcast for being Gloucester’s illegitimate bastard son, Edmund does not consider himself on the same level as that of his brother but on the level of lowly bastards, as he addresses himself as ‘us’ when he asks himself “why brand they us with ‘base.’” Therefore, in order to show his father (and society) that he is not the shameful, useless, bastard that they believe him to be, the fiery Edmund resolves to unseat his brother in order to acquire his title and status, no matter what the cost. Thus, Edmund produces a fake letter of conspiracy that he claimed Edgar had written, detailing a plan to murder their father, and gives it to Gloucester. Instantly, Edgar changed from being Gloucester’s pride and joy as a legitimate son, to being an “Abhorred villain!”(1.2.50) In a moment of spontaneity and fury, Gloucester played right into Edmund’s plans and transferred all of the wealth destined for the innocent Edgar to Edmund’s name, as well as his title as Gloucester’s heir, and set out to kill the innocent Edgar.
Evidently, Edmund was not the only son that Gloucester had never taken the time to get to know. Edgar had always been the faithful son that cared for his father, and proved to be Gloucester’s only caring son towards the end of the play. However, Gloucester had never put aside time to listen to Edgar as much as he did for Edmund, therefore, Gloucester blindly believed Edmund, his favorite son, to be loyal to him even though Edmund really meant to kill his father. As Mark R. Scwehn had noticed, Edgar had felt rejected, and nearly insane upon hearing his father’s command to have him executed, for he said: “Whiles I may ’scape, I will preserve myself, and am bethought to take the basest and most poorest shape that ever penury in contempt of man brought near to beast. My face I’ll grime with filth, blanket my loins, elf all my hairs in knots,” ( 2.3.5-10). Edgar thus physically cast himself to the lowest level possible to illustrate how he truly felt by his father’s rejection in his wounded heart. Ultimately, it can be inferred by his rash actions that Gloucester did not know who to believe or which side to choose when Edmund presented the problem that Edgar planned to kill his father. Since he did not know his children’s true characters, Gloucester believed Edmund’s lies and set out to kill Edgar, the child he had greatly misunderstood.
All of the before mentioned examples all revolve around one of the many reoccurring themes in Shakespeare’s play: blindness. Blindness is expressed in several forms throughout the play: physical, mental, and emotional. However, the emotional blindness of King Lear and Gloucester towards their children is what truly crippled their lives and triggered their downfalls. King Lear was blind to the wickedness of Goneril and Regan, as they has sugar-coated their words to him to convince Lear of their love to him. Lear was also blind to Cordelia’s obvious love for him, love that he had stubbornly refused to acknowledge in Scene 1, Act 1 unless she could appease him with an exaggeration of her love. By being blind to the true personalities of his daughters, Lear cast himself into poverty and insanity, and came to regret his decisions when he learned the true characters of his daughters. Gloucester, on the other hand, was blind to the loyalty, innocence, and love of his eldest son, Edgar, and was easily persuaded (or, rather, deceived) by the envious Edmund to set a hunt to kill Edgar for conspiring against his father. Thereby, Gloucester was also blind to the evil growing within his favored son, Edmund, as he did not know his son well enough to recognize that Edmund’s words of loyalty to Gloucester were lies. Gloucester’s blindness also sent him to his demise, as he was rejected from his own house and thrust into a world of blindness and poverty by his son Edmund, while he regretted ever distrusting Edgar. Therefore, through the conflicts that unfold in Act 1, Shakespeare demonstrates the importance of parents truly understanding their children’s personalities before blindly trusting their words of love and allegiance.
Works Cited
Scwehn, Mark R.. “King Lear Beyond Reason: Love and Justice in the Family.” Leadreru.com
Oct. 1993. Web. 20 Jan. 2014. www.leaderu.com/ftissues/ft9310/articles/schwehn.html Shakespeare, William. King Lear. New York: Washington Square Press, 1993. Print.
Williams, Maggie. Shakespeare Examinations. Ed. William Taylor Thom, M. A. Boston: Ginn
and Co., 1888. Shakespeare Online. 10 Aug. 2010. Web. 20 Jan. 2014.
http://www.shakespeare-online.com/plays/kinglear/examq/mten.html
Gloria Mendez
Ms. Healy
AP Literature & Composition
19 January 2014
Is King Lear Senile?
“I have full cause of weeping; but this heart shall break into a hundred thousand flaws or ere I’ll weep. O Fool, I shall go mad!”(Act 2, Scene 4, 326-328). At this moment, King Lear is devastated with anguish and has lost sight of humanity. He can no longer manage life’s adversities. King Lear is a tragic play by William Shakespeare where deceit is ubiquitous. The play opens with Lear distributing his kingdom and wealth amongst his three daughters in return for their love. His youngest daughter, Cordelia, refuses to proclaim her love, since there is no way for her to truly articulate it other than saying that she loves him like any daughter would love her father. At the start of the play, Lear desires praise from his daughters, and when Cordelia does not fulfill his wish, he banishes and disowns her. Lear’s unethical action began the spiraling of his life. Along with his poor decisions, he blindly believes that his other daughters love him. Meanwhile, Goneril and Regan are only taking advantage of him because they believe he is senile. Although King Lear is old and his actions seem out of place, he is not senile, but merely overwhelmed by his deceitful daughters, leading to his decline in power. When one’s vision is but a lie, he/she no longer knows what is real or not and loses touch with his/her sanity. Taken as a whole, King Lear is not senile, but was driven to insanity by his misfortunes.
Lear’s perspective is impaired by the arrogance of his regal character. Though he is deceived and disrespected by most throughout the course of the play, his insanity ties back to his perception of himself. For instance, he banishes his most loved child because she would not flatter him. In his position, Lear believes that those who are deserving of his power should love and worship him. Not only is Cordelia’s banishment done by lack of judgment but also insecurity that Lear possesses. According to Maggie William’s Shakespeare Examinations, “The trial [is] but a trick to entrap his daughters into a profession of attachment to him.” To have imperfection within the noble process discomforts Lear and causes him to act irrationally. Cordelia’s frankness is a blow to Lear’s self-importance. Another example of Lear’s obsession with his rank is when his daughter, Goneril, forces him to get rid of some of his knights. Lear becomes outraged and in response yells, “Darkness and Devils!-Saddle my horses. Call my train together. Degenerate bastard, I’ll not trouble thee. Yet have I left a daughter.”(Act 1, Scene 4, 260-264). Lear gathers his knights and declares that Goneril cannot be considered his daughter anymore. A daughter of Lear would not disobey him and treat him less than a king. Although we discover that Goneril is a devious character who anticipates Lear’s death or complete loss of power for her own gain, she is solely asking Lear to do away with his knights because they are disruptive. However, it is her insulting way of explaining this which causes Lear to act madly. At first she refers to Lear’s knights as “Men so disordered, so debauched and bold that this our court, infected with their manners shows like a riotous inn.”(Act 1, Scene 4, 249-251). A king’s knights are representative of his power and to have them be called vulgar and obnoxious is as if she were insulting Lear as well. Her demand of decreasing Lear’s amount of knights is parallel to her demanding him to give up his power. Overall his hubris guides him through each scene until he is left naked and powerless after he encounters the storm. It is during the storm that he breaks down and transitions to an absolutely delusion state. Lear is very dependant on his power that any sabotage against his rule and status angers him, and makes him insecure. One cannot blame Lear for this mind-set; in fact, Shakespeare may have created him to portray the actual monarchy at his time. In her final paragraph, Williams explains that “King Lear’s actions send the mind back to the time when a vigorous, comprehensive intellect was held in strict subjection to the noble impulses of an upright heart. We see him gradually yielding to the influences to which nature and political station have subjected him, until all the nobler qualities generosity, sympathy, disinterested affection, all that makes a man lovable have degenerated into mere selfishness.”
King Lear is constantly in denial of the betrayal that lies before his eyes; leading him to madness. When the truth of his daughters’ disloyalty and his loss of authority simultaneously hit him, he becomes overwhelmed with anger and grief. In scene 4 of Act 2, Lear is finally exposed to Goneril and Regan’s wickedness and lack of respect towards their father. When Lear asks for shelter in what used to be his castles, both his daughters deny him. Regan claims, “This house is little. The old man and’s people cannot be well bestowed.”(330-331). Regan and Goneril do not want Lear around because they believe he is senile and will interfere with their gain of power. After recognizing how evil his two daughters are, he reaches a psychological breakdown where he can no longer fathom his misfortunes. He cannot seem to understand the course of nature and how it can be possible for his blood to act against him. “O Fool, I shall go mad!”(328) he cries as he exits into a storm. He does not enter the storm purely out of madness and old age, but that he’d rather run into a dangerous storm than remain disrespected and looked down in the presence of those who he thought worshipped and loved him. Without his family’s support, love, and position of authority he can no longer identify himself, like any other hopeless human in the world. Through his course of reaching a psychological breakdown, Lear says, “Does anyone here know me? This is not Lear.”(Act 1, Scene 4, 231). King Lear is a powerful and loving king who becomes a weak, helpless victim of nature who is unfamiliar to his previous royal stature.
Even though William’s article is focused on the beginning of the play where Lear makes his first mistake, her claims still coincide with the rest of the play. She brings up the concept of faith and discusses how Lear’s faith in his daughters and in his reign is challenged and defeated. Williams says, “When that faith is lost and anarchy sets in, the elements which have been before buried, are thrown up again in the wild convulsion…Lear’s purposes were right, but he lacked the judgment and the strength of will to carry them out.” His incapacity to accept imperfection, the deceit from multiple characters, and his constant internal worry over his rank has led Lear into insanity.
King Lear may have been reaching the final days of his life, but it is his denial of the ugly truth that overwhelms him to the point that he loses his sanity. After having his daughters strip him of his authority, Lear no longer knows his worth and becomes hopeless. He becomes lost in a sea of deceit and treachery and sinks until he reaches true madness. One cannot say Lear is senile when he is finally able to recognize the corruption of his two eldest daughters. Instead, grief overcomes him and life no longer makes sense.
Work Cited
Shakespeare, William. King Lear. New York,NY: Pocket, 1993. Print.
Williams, Maggie. Shakespeare Examinations. Ed. William Taylor Thom, M. A. Boston: Ginn and
Co., 1888. Shakespeare Online. 10 Aug. 2010. (17 Jan. 2014) <http://www.shakespeare-online.com/plays/kinglear/examq/mtwelve.html >.