King Lear

1
King Lear

• Themes

2
Nothingness

• Cordelia has nothing to say to her father when he
  requests she praise him with her love.
• King Lear has nothing to give Cordelia because
  she has no words for him.
• Kent has no job because he disagreed with King
  Lear.
• Burgundy has no wife because Cordelia comes with
  no dowry.

3
Nothingness

• Edmund has no title and will do anything to get
  one
• Goneril, Regan, Edmund have no morals
• Gloucester has no eyes
• Edgar has nobody he can trust

4
Blindness

• When many characters can literally see, they are
  figuratively blind BUT when they are literally
  blind, they can, for the first time, figuratively
  see
• King Lear is figuratively blind to the fact that
  Goneril and Regan are lying to him about how much
  they love him
• King Lear is figuratively blind to the fact that
  Cordelia truly loves him
• King Lear is figuratively blind to the fact that
  Kent only has his best interest at heart.
• Gloucester is figuratively blind to the fact that
  Edmund is dishonest and the fact that Edgar is
  always faithful

5
Blindness

• Albany is figuratively blind to the fact that
  Goneril is an evil woman because of his great
  devotion to her.
• Gloucester is literally blinded because Cornwall,
  Regan, and Goneril consider him a traitor for
  helping King Lear after they threw Lear out into
  the tempest.

6
Ingratitude of Others

• Goneril Reagan are ungrateful for all their
  father has given them
• King Lear is ungrateful for being taken care of
  by his daughters
• Burgundy is ungrateful for the gift of Cordelia
  which he was offered
• Edmund is ungrateful for the fact that his father
  loves him and accepts him as a legitimate son

7
Appearances vs Reality

• At the beginning of the play, the Lears and other
  characters are presented as normal and caring.
  But as Shakespeare rubs away the pretty veneers
  of the characters, we find greed, betrayal, lust
  for power, and cruelty. In other words, they are
  anything but normal and caring.  

8
Loyality

• King Lear is disloyal to Cordelia, yet she is
  loyal to King Lear
• King Lear is disloyal to Kent, yet he is loyal to
  King Lear
• Goneril Regan are disloyal to King Lear and he
  treats them poorly too.
• Goneril is disloyal to Albany, yet he is loyal to
  her until he discovers her attempt on his life.
• Gloucester is disloyal to Edgar, yet Edgar
  remains loyal to Gloucester
• Edmund is disloyal to Gloucester, yet Gloucester
  is loyal to Gloucester

9
Justice

• Greed and lust result in the characters downfall
• Duke of Cornwall has Kent placed in the stocks
  and Gloucesters eyes plucked out so towards the
  end of the play, he is killed.
• Lear banishes Cordelia and Kent then so Lear
  driven out into the storm by his own wicked
  daughters
• Q How is justice served for Cordelia?

10
Hospitality

• Being a good host is essential during the
  Elizabethan era.
• Goneril and Regan are not gracious hosts
• King Lear is not a good guest
• Cornwall and Regan are not good guests whilst in
  Gloucesters home.

11
Madness and Insanity

• The inclusion of madness and insanity in the play
  is Shakespeares comment on Elizabethan society
  and the clear lack of morality during this era.
• It is especially significant that those
  characters who go mad are of great nobility.
  Thus, a comment on the ignorance of the monarchy
  and the lack of concern the monarchy has for
  lower class society.
• Also, note that characters such as Mad Tom and
  the Fool are representative of the unrecognized
  wisdom of the lower class.

12
Nature

• The storms act as pathetic fallacy. When the
  tempest is in full force, it is a reflection of
  the inner turmoil/torment that King Lear is
  forced to suffer.
• The nature of the stars, under which Edmund is
  conceived, dictates that illegitimate children
  will be as evil as the Elizabethans believed
  astrology and witchcraft to be.

13
Guilt

• Both King Lear and Gloucester live rich lives,
  with no understanding of the suffering those
  living in poverty experience on a daily basis.
  It is only after all has been taken from these
  two men that they finally feel guilty for
  ignoring the plight of the poor and forgotten.
• Once King Lear and Gloucester recognize the error
  of their ways, they feel such great grief and
  guilt for what they have done to their honorable
  children.

14
Age Wisdom

• Advanced age and wisdom do not go hand-in-hand.
• Lear is probably about 80, but he is often
  childish in his judgments until suffering reforms
  him. Shakespeare's depiction of Lear may have
  been, in part, an attempt to discredit or
  satirize the tendency of people in Elizabethan
  England automatically to revere elders and
  authority figures. 

15
The truth

• Telling the truth can deeply wound the listener
  as well as the speaker.
• Cordelia wins our admiration because she is
  forthright and sincere. However, her honesty
  offends her father, and he disowns her.
• The Earl of Kent, a loyal subject of Lear,
  suffers banishment for speaking up for Cordelia.