Animal Imagery in

1
Animal Imagery in
KING LEAR
2

Each jealous of the other as the stung / Are of
the adder. Which of them shall I take?(V.1.57-58)
REGAN AND GONERIL

• to Goneril Detested kite, thou
  liest.(I.4.254)

O, Regan, she hath tied Sharp-tooth unkindness,
like a vulture, here(II.2.323-324)
LEAR
Those pelican daughters. (III.4.72)
EDMUND
Like monsters of the deep.
Tigers, not daughters. (IV.5.41 and 51)
The sisters are continuously associated with
aggressive animals and, in the end, they are
destroyed by their own animal instincts.
(Albany IV.5.41 and 51)
3

Lears vulnerability is emphasised by his
comparison to passive animals, like the
edge-sparrow.
Lear
TAME
We two alone will sing like birds Ithe
cage(V.3.9)
Rhetorical question
Common nouns (animals)
Is man no more than this? Consider him
well.Thou owst the worm no silk, the beast no
hide, the sheep no wool, the cat no perfume. Ha?
Heres three ons us are sophisticated thou art
the thing itself. Unaccommodated man is no more
but such a poor, bare, forked animal as thou art.
Off, off, you lendings come, unbutton here.
(III.4.101-107)
The edge-sparrow fed the cuckoo so long / That
its had it head bit off by it young.
(I.4.206-207)
Listing
Prefix of negation
Adjectives
Prose
This whole passage includes negative terms, such
as the repetition of the negative, the prefix and
the preposition. This reinforces Lears
vulnerability and his negative stream of
consciousness, corroborated by the use of caesura
and enjambment.
4
Suffering and Madnessin
KING LEAR
5
Human Suffering

• In Odyssey, Zeus says
• Ah how shameless - the way these mortals blame
  the gods. From us alone, they say, come all their
  miseries, yes, but they themselves, with their
  own reckless ways, compound their pains beyond
  their proper share.

6

King Lear
You see me here, you gods, a poor old man, As
full of grief as age, wretched in both If it be
you that stirs these daughters hearts Against
their father, fool me not so much To bear it
tamely touch me with noble anger, And let not
womens weapons, water-drops, Stain my mans
cheeks. No, you unnatural hags, I will have such
revenges on you both That all the world shall I
will do such things What they are yet I know
not, but they shall be The terrors of the earth!
You think Ill weep, No, Ill not weep. Storm and
Tempest. I have full cause of weeping, but this
heart Shall break into a hundred thousand
flaws Or eer Ill weep. O fool, I shall go
mad. (II.2.461-475)
Evocation

Contrast
Parenthesis and metaphor
Conditional
Prefix / negative connotation adj. and noun
Hyperbole
Parenthesis
Contrasts with poor old man
Pathetic Fallacy
Abstract noun
Hyperbole and metaphor
This passage is full of contradictions. On the
one hand, Lear says he is a poor old man, but
seems to think he has divine powers. On the other
hand, he underestimates womens power, but seems
to forget that his daughters put him in this
situation.
7
The Storm

• In part, the storm echoes Lears inner turmoil
  and mounting madness it is a physical, turbulent
  natural reflection of Lears internal confusion.
  At the same time, the storm embodies the awesome
  power of nature, which forces the powerless king
  to recognize his own mortality and human frailty
  and to cultivate a sense of humility for the
  first time. The storm may also symbolize some
  kind of divine justice, as if nature itself is
  angry about the events in the play.

8
The Greek Take on Suffering

• According to the Greeks, the role of suffering in
  human life is clear mathos pathei
• (learning new self-awareness knowledge
  through suffering)
• In King Lear, most of the characters suffer.
  They react to suffering in different ways
• Some harden their hearts
• Some indulge in violence
• Some try to alleviate others suffering

9
King Lear Suffering the sadness of old age

• Lear makes a big mistake - he gives up his
  throne, but still expects to be treated as
  powerful.
• He rages against his own pain until his sanity
  cracks.
• He dies without being able to profit from his
  learning through suffering.

10
Madness
Madness / insanity occupies a central place in
the play and is associated with both disorder and
hidden wisdom.
Edgars feigned insanity also contains nuggets of
wisdom for the king to mine. Meanwhile, Edgars
time as a supposedly insane beggar hardens him
and prepares him to defeat Edmund at the close of
the play. He childed as I fathered.
(III.6.107)

The Fool, who offers Lear insight in the early
sections of the play, offers his counsel in a
seemingly mad babble. Thou hadst little wit in
thy bald crown when thou gavst thy golden one
away. (I.4.155-6)
When Lear himself goes mad, the turmoil in his
mind mirrors the chaos that has descended upon
his kingdom. At the same time, however, it also
provides him with important wisdom by reducing
him to his bare humanity, stripped of all royal
pretensions. Lear learns humility. man is no
more but such a poor, bare, forked animal
(III.4.105-6)
11
Nature in KING LEAR

• Most savage and unnatural
• Human nature
• Nature (the elements earth, sea, wind and fire,
  which can be associated to the gods)
• Natural order (divine order)
• Thou, Nature, art my goddess

12
Law and order

• Take away order from things, what then should
  remain?
• Tudor England is obsessed with the idea of order
  and hierarchy, and terrified of anarchy and
  change.
• People believed the world was made of a great
  chain of being, which stretched down from the
  angels to humans, and from humans to the beasts
  and plants.
• In this pyramid, society is unequal but everyone
  and everything has their divinely ordained place.
  The metaphors used to describe society body
  politic or tree of the commonwealth
  emphasise the organic unity of life.

13
Gentlemen - Everyone from nobles to professionals

• In 1577, William Harrison,
• a country parson begins his
• account of society

Poor Day labourers, servants and vagrants (who
have no voice or authority).
14
Malign and Misread Nature
The dominance of evil characters might lead us to
feel that nature is a cruel force in King Lear.
Cruelty seems to come naturally to Regan, Goneril
and Edmund, who seem to delight in it. For these
characters, there is no natural order, they seek
to create their own selfish universe.
Lear transgresses against natural order when he
fails to recognise Cordelias honesty.
CHARACTERS TRUE NATURES ARE MISREAD. EDMUND gt
Loyal and natural boy CORDELIA gt a wretch
whom nature is ashamed almost tacknowledge
15
Benign Nature
Kent, Fool, Edgar and Cordelia are all good
natured characters. This group believe in NATURAL
ORDER, which they struggle to restore.
CORDELIA
All blest secrets,All you unpublished virtues
of the earth,Spring with my tears. Be aidant and
remediateIn the good man's distress. Seek, seek
for him,Lest his ungoverned rage dissolve the
lifeThat wants the means to lead it.
(IV.4.15-20)
Lears unnatural dealings leads to unnatural
dealings in others.
BUT
16
Malign Nature
The dominance of evil characters might lead us to
feel that nature is a cruel force in King Lear.
EDMUND suggests that nature is malevolent
Thou, Nature, art my goddess to thy law My
services are bound. Wherefore should I Stand in
the plague of custom, and permit The curiosity of
nations deprive me? For that I am some twelve or
fourteen moonshines Lag of a brother? Why
bastard? Wherefore base? When my dimensions are
as well compact, My mind as generous and my shape
as true As honest madams issue? (I.2.1-9)
This soliloquy suggests that if nature was
against Edmunds intentions, it would have made
him very different and inferior to his brother
Edgar.
17
Malign Nature

• Interprets natural phenomena as a sign of bad
  times ahead

These late eclipses in the sun and moon Portend
no good to us. Though the wisdom of Nature Can
reason it thus and thus, yet nature finds
itself scourged by the sequent effects. Love
cools friendship Falls off, brothers divide in
cities, mutinies in Countries, discord in
palaces, treason and the bond Cracked twixt son
and father. This villain of mine Comes under the
prediction theres son against father . The
king falls from bias of nature theres
father Against child. We have seen the best of
our time. Machinations, hollowness, treachery and
all ruinous Disorders follow us disquietly to our
graves.(I.2.103-114)
GLOUCESTER
18
Religion

• Protestants (Calvinists)
• Salvation is accomplished by the almighty power
  of the Triune God. The Father chose a people, the
  Son died for them, the Holy Spirit makes Christ's
  death effective by bringing the elect to faith
  and repentance, thereby causing them to willingly
  obey the gospel. The entire process (election,
  redemption, regeneration) is the work of God and
  is by grace alone. Thus God, not man, determines
  who will be the recipients of the gift of
  salvation.

I am only doing what He wants! This is Gods will!
19
Religion

• Protestants (Arminianists).
• Salvation is accomplished through the combined
  efforts of God (who takes the initiative) and man
  (who must respond) - man's response being the
  determining factor. God has provided salvation
  for everyone, but His provision becomes effective
  only for those who, of their own free will,
  "choose" to cooperate with Him and accept His
  offer of grace. At the crucial point, man's will
  plays a decisive role thus man, not God,
  determines who will be recipients of the gift of
  salvation.

Where is that whore of Babylon? Time to hunt!
20
Religion

• Seven Deadly Sins
• Gluttony
• Lust
• Sloth
• Envy
• Greed
• Pride
• Wrath

Which one is Lears sin?
21
Malign Nature?
EDMUND
when we are sick in fortune, often the surfeits
of our own behaviour, we make guilty of our
disasters the sun, the moon and the stars, as if
we were villains on Necessity, fools by heavenly
compulsion, knaves, thieves and treachers by
spherical predominance drunkards, liars and
adulterers by an enforced obedience of planetary
influence and all that are evil in by a divine
thrusting on. An admirable evasion of whoremaster
man, to lay his goatish disposition on the
charge of a star. (I.2.119-130)
ARMINIANISM
Nature only reflects mens mistakes!
22
Malign Nature?
O most small fault, How ugly didst thou in
Cordelia show, Which like an engine wrenched my
frame of nature From the fixed place
(I.4.258-261)
LEAR
This shows the seriousness of Lears crimes
against nature and natural order.
Look at Act 1.4.267-281.
23
LEARS PRAYER
Evocation
Hear, Nature, hear, dear goddess, hear Suspend
thy purpose if thou didst intend To make this
creature fruitful. Into her womb convey
sterility, Dry up in her the organs of
increase, And from her derogate body never
spring A babe to honour her. If she must
teem, Create her child of spleen, that it may
live, And be a thwart disnatured torment to
her. Let it stamp wrinkles in her brow of
youth, With cadent tears fret channels in her
cheeks, Turn all her mother's pains and
benefits To laughter and contempt, that she may
feel How sharper than a serpent's tooth it is To
have a thankless child. Away, away!
Female body often associated with mystery and
evil.
Conditional
Imperatives
Caesura
Prefix of negation
Adjectives
Mother Effect on child
Nouns
Metaphor
24
LEAR
In his madness, Lear sees Regan and Gonerils
true nature.
Ha! Goneril, with a white beard? They
flattered me like a dog and told me I had white
hairs in my beard ere the black ones were there.
To say 'ay and 'no' to every thing that I said
'Ay' and 'no to was no good divinity. When the
rain came to wet me once, and the wind to make
me chatter when the thunder would not peace at
my bidding, there I found 'em, there I smelt 'em
out. Go to, they are not men o' their words
they told me I was everything 'tis a lie, I am
not ague-proof. (IV.6.96-104)