cool_as_ice14
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- 2006
I was wondering if anyone could comment on my essay, cause I have to improve it and I am not sure how. Thanks.
King Lear is a text that presents a number of opportunities for interpretation and valuing throughout. In adapting the play for a more modern setting, the themes and issues have been changes affecting the meaning of the play. My own interpretation agrees with both the feminist and political criticism. I understand that they are both views which help you understand the full meaning of the play. The feminist reading says that the male power in the play in dominating and by the males having premiere roles in it and the political reading suggests that the partition of the kingdom highlights the repercussions of Lear’s actions. The Peter Brook film, (1971) emphasizes the absurdist notion in the play. Through the themes of madness and justice are the audiences fully able to understand King Lear as it was intended.
My interpretation was very much influenced by the feminist reading. In the feminist reading, Lear becomes the implementation of patriarchy and misogyny. Women must perform roles demarcated or chaos and tragedy results. It also suggests that male power is the only thing to stop them and the centre of this power is lust. Kathleen Mc Kluskie describes Lear as an ‘anti feminine’ and the ‘misogyny’ of Lear (of the hero and play) presents women as a source of lust and a threat posed by female insubordination. ‘Nor rain, wind, thunder, fire are my daughters,/ tax not you, you elements with unkindness. I never gave you kingdom, called you children’. For the audience to feel sorry for Lear we have to accept that his daughters owed him duties and she Kathleen also points out the play forces us to sympathize with Gloucester and Lear (who are the male patriarchs) and the power they represent. The audience is forced to acknowledge the evil women in the play ( Gonerill and Regan), they create a chaotic world and challenge the myth that women are weak. ‘Let not a women’s weapons stain my man’s cheeks’.
The political reading also has influenced my own interpretation. This reading suggests that the play shows the repercussions of the division of the kingdom. It addresses some of the concerns of Elizabethan England who believed in the divine right of kings and queens and the importance of the social order. Critic, Jonathan Dollimore argues that the centre of the play should be on society, ‘Class, sexuality, imperialist and colonial exploitation’. Shakespeare questions and destabilizes political power and ideology by making the struggles visible in society. This reading emphasizes and values the poor political decision Lear makes by diving his property amongst his daughters.
There is universality of themes which can be applicable in any time period and anyone. The theme of madness acts as a catalyst for change. Lear’s madness is seen in scene 1 as renouncing and dividing a kingdom would be seen as politically mad in Shakespeare’s time. ‘Oh fool. I shall go mad. Lear’s improvement takes him from being blind and arrogant through madness and suffering which leads to insight and acceptance. Shakespeare suggests that to acquire a balanced perspective you must go mad and be stripped of all your material goods. In Lear’s madness, he lives like a beggar and is witness to the cruelty of the world; only through this does Lear gain insight into society thus, making him a good king. Through Lear’s madness is he able to understand the love that Cordelia possesses of him. He is healed by Cordelia’s unconditional love which escalates his agony and grief over her death and pressurizes Lear’s sanity.
Justice refers to the subversion of sovereign power by upsetting the values instilled in Shakespeare’s times. The hierarchy was valued by the Elizabethan people and the gendered and familial hierarchy was embedded in the social and political context of the Elizabethan era. The play values the monarchy seen by the return of Kent though he has been banished and knows that Lear has made a horrific error. When Lear relinquishes his throne he is destroying the political hierarchy and is not acting in accordance to the social values. By Lear destabilizing the monarchy he is punished for not fulfilling his role as a ruler and the divine right says that he should be punished for this. He takes on punishment is the form of his and his treasured Cordelia’s death. This is a play on how not to rule a kingdom.
Peter Brook’s 1971 version of King Lear is classified as an absurdist reading. This type of reading draws an apparent distinction between a world of tragedy where suffering is real but heroic and enables the meaning of the world to be monstrous. In the opening scene the view is captured by Lear (Paul Schofield) changeable voice which shows his volatile character. Lear displays a straight face when saying, ‘Which one of you, shall say doth love us most’. Gonerill and Regan’s replies are absurdist ( as emphasized by their excessive reactions). Their realistic language is in contrast to their despairing body language. The plot of the play (from order to disorder) is designed similarly with the set and as the stage wore out during the play, it reflected upon the atmosphere of the play. Lear’s costume symbolically deteriorates as the same time as his character. He begins the play in a rich robe which differentiates him as a king but as the play progresses, it is changed to leather boots and towards the end of the play, he is dressed in rags. The attribution of Lear’s appearance conveys his quick emotional breakdown and his facial expression are more suggestive to the audiences own explanation. In the storm scene, Shakespeare gives the storm a personality and it echoes Lear’s inner confusion. This allows Lear to grow a sense a frailty and humility. Some of the symbols that are used are the trembling boards which signify thunder and lightning. Brook focuses more on the use of language and the acting skills of the actor to convey Lear’s inner confusion. Neutral colors on Brook’s set emphasize the deathly nature of Lear’s belief and he was dramatizing Shakespeare’s language to reveal Lear’s decline into humility. This is palpable with his body language as she shouts. “Here I stand your slave”.
Scene 1 refers to the feminist criticism as it is the arrogance that Lear displays which leads to his ultimate downfall. As Lear arrives he talks in a self pitying fashion, he wishes to pass his kingdom ‘to younger strengths’ so that he may ‘unburden his crawl toward death’. Lear is anxious that his actions may create future strife. ‘Future strife maybe prevented now’ this is ironic as Lear’s actions do create future tribulation. Lear’s pride and arrogance causes him to cast aside his role in the natural order which inevitably cause his downfall. Gonerill’s speech features very prominent hyperboles and she claims that Lear is ‘Dearer than eyesight, space and liberty’, he love for Lear is so minimally apparent it leaves the audience to question the sincerity of her words. Lear’s pride and arrogance causes him to cast aside his role in the natural order which in evidently causes his downfall ‘Here I disclaim all paternal care, propinquity and property of blood’. The alliteration of the p sounds illustrates this.
In the Storm scene (act 3, scene 4), Lear is ‘tempest in mind’. This is a metaphor for the parallel between the rampant storm and the state of Lear’s mind. Lear reprimands himself for fathering Gonerill and Regan, saying. ‘twas this flesh begot those pelican daughters.’ In reference to animal imagery, as he is comparing his daughters to animals who are at the bottom of the life chain. Shakespeare emphasizes the basic nature of a man through the motif of madness. He says, ‘Poor, naked wretches’ as Lear realizes his failure as a monarchy. He brings himself to the level of wretches by removing his clothing which serves as a segment of his past. At the end of the scene, Lear has brought himself down to the most basic of elements, and his redemption has begun.
King Lear has many different ways of interpreting and valuing the texts and this is very apparent by the different historical contexts and their approach of interpreting and remodeling of the text. The text uses universally known themes which justify its textual integrity and has relevant themes and ideas presented in the text to justify its value. The various amounts of interpretations and staging techniques constitute multiple different valuing and receptions of the play. These different techniques may highlight different ideas and can give the text a new meaning. Therefore, the readers valuing and interpreting of the play make its reception more widely and wholly valued
King Lear is a text that presents a number of opportunities for interpretation and valuing throughout. In adapting the play for a more modern setting, the themes and issues have been changes affecting the meaning of the play. My own interpretation agrees with both the feminist and political criticism. I understand that they are both views which help you understand the full meaning of the play. The feminist reading says that the male power in the play in dominating and by the males having premiere roles in it and the political reading suggests that the partition of the kingdom highlights the repercussions of Lear’s actions. The Peter Brook film, (1971) emphasizes the absurdist notion in the play. Through the themes of madness and justice are the audiences fully able to understand King Lear as it was intended.
My interpretation was very much influenced by the feminist reading. In the feminist reading, Lear becomes the implementation of patriarchy and misogyny. Women must perform roles demarcated or chaos and tragedy results. It also suggests that male power is the only thing to stop them and the centre of this power is lust. Kathleen Mc Kluskie describes Lear as an ‘anti feminine’ and the ‘misogyny’ of Lear (of the hero and play) presents women as a source of lust and a threat posed by female insubordination. ‘Nor rain, wind, thunder, fire are my daughters,/ tax not you, you elements with unkindness. I never gave you kingdom, called you children’. For the audience to feel sorry for Lear we have to accept that his daughters owed him duties and she Kathleen also points out the play forces us to sympathize with Gloucester and Lear (who are the male patriarchs) and the power they represent. The audience is forced to acknowledge the evil women in the play ( Gonerill and Regan), they create a chaotic world and challenge the myth that women are weak. ‘Let not a women’s weapons stain my man’s cheeks’.
The political reading also has influenced my own interpretation. This reading suggests that the play shows the repercussions of the division of the kingdom. It addresses some of the concerns of Elizabethan England who believed in the divine right of kings and queens and the importance of the social order. Critic, Jonathan Dollimore argues that the centre of the play should be on society, ‘Class, sexuality, imperialist and colonial exploitation’. Shakespeare questions and destabilizes political power and ideology by making the struggles visible in society. This reading emphasizes and values the poor political decision Lear makes by diving his property amongst his daughters.
There is universality of themes which can be applicable in any time period and anyone. The theme of madness acts as a catalyst for change. Lear’s madness is seen in scene 1 as renouncing and dividing a kingdom would be seen as politically mad in Shakespeare’s time. ‘Oh fool. I shall go mad. Lear’s improvement takes him from being blind and arrogant through madness and suffering which leads to insight and acceptance. Shakespeare suggests that to acquire a balanced perspective you must go mad and be stripped of all your material goods. In Lear’s madness, he lives like a beggar and is witness to the cruelty of the world; only through this does Lear gain insight into society thus, making him a good king. Through Lear’s madness is he able to understand the love that Cordelia possesses of him. He is healed by Cordelia’s unconditional love which escalates his agony and grief over her death and pressurizes Lear’s sanity.
Justice refers to the subversion of sovereign power by upsetting the values instilled in Shakespeare’s times. The hierarchy was valued by the Elizabethan people and the gendered and familial hierarchy was embedded in the social and political context of the Elizabethan era. The play values the monarchy seen by the return of Kent though he has been banished and knows that Lear has made a horrific error. When Lear relinquishes his throne he is destroying the political hierarchy and is not acting in accordance to the social values. By Lear destabilizing the monarchy he is punished for not fulfilling his role as a ruler and the divine right says that he should be punished for this. He takes on punishment is the form of his and his treasured Cordelia’s death. This is a play on how not to rule a kingdom.
Peter Brook’s 1971 version of King Lear is classified as an absurdist reading. This type of reading draws an apparent distinction between a world of tragedy where suffering is real but heroic and enables the meaning of the world to be monstrous. In the opening scene the view is captured by Lear (Paul Schofield) changeable voice which shows his volatile character. Lear displays a straight face when saying, ‘Which one of you, shall say doth love us most’. Gonerill and Regan’s replies are absurdist ( as emphasized by their excessive reactions). Their realistic language is in contrast to their despairing body language. The plot of the play (from order to disorder) is designed similarly with the set and as the stage wore out during the play, it reflected upon the atmosphere of the play. Lear’s costume symbolically deteriorates as the same time as his character. He begins the play in a rich robe which differentiates him as a king but as the play progresses, it is changed to leather boots and towards the end of the play, he is dressed in rags. The attribution of Lear’s appearance conveys his quick emotional breakdown and his facial expression are more suggestive to the audiences own explanation. In the storm scene, Shakespeare gives the storm a personality and it echoes Lear’s inner confusion. This allows Lear to grow a sense a frailty and humility. Some of the symbols that are used are the trembling boards which signify thunder and lightning. Brook focuses more on the use of language and the acting skills of the actor to convey Lear’s inner confusion. Neutral colors on Brook’s set emphasize the deathly nature of Lear’s belief and he was dramatizing Shakespeare’s language to reveal Lear’s decline into humility. This is palpable with his body language as she shouts. “Here I stand your slave”.
Scene 1 refers to the feminist criticism as it is the arrogance that Lear displays which leads to his ultimate downfall. As Lear arrives he talks in a self pitying fashion, he wishes to pass his kingdom ‘to younger strengths’ so that he may ‘unburden his crawl toward death’. Lear is anxious that his actions may create future strife. ‘Future strife maybe prevented now’ this is ironic as Lear’s actions do create future tribulation. Lear’s pride and arrogance causes him to cast aside his role in the natural order which inevitably cause his downfall. Gonerill’s speech features very prominent hyperboles and she claims that Lear is ‘Dearer than eyesight, space and liberty’, he love for Lear is so minimally apparent it leaves the audience to question the sincerity of her words. Lear’s pride and arrogance causes him to cast aside his role in the natural order which in evidently causes his downfall ‘Here I disclaim all paternal care, propinquity and property of blood’. The alliteration of the p sounds illustrates this.
In the Storm scene (act 3, scene 4), Lear is ‘tempest in mind’. This is a metaphor for the parallel between the rampant storm and the state of Lear’s mind. Lear reprimands himself for fathering Gonerill and Regan, saying. ‘twas this flesh begot those pelican daughters.’ In reference to animal imagery, as he is comparing his daughters to animals who are at the bottom of the life chain. Shakespeare emphasizes the basic nature of a man through the motif of madness. He says, ‘Poor, naked wretches’ as Lear realizes his failure as a monarchy. He brings himself to the level of wretches by removing his clothing which serves as a segment of his past. At the end of the scene, Lear has brought himself down to the most basic of elements, and his redemption has begun.
King Lear has many different ways of interpreting and valuing the texts and this is very apparent by the different historical contexts and their approach of interpreting and remodeling of the text. The text uses universally known themes which justify its textual integrity and has relevant themes and ideas presented in the text to justify its value. The various amounts of interpretations and staging techniques constitute multiple different valuing and receptions of the play. These different techniques may highlight different ideas and can give the text a new meaning. Therefore, the readers valuing and interpreting of the play make its reception more widely and wholly valued
