king lear + feminism (1 Viewer)

[kieransgirl]

can anyone help me out with some dramatic techniques to show a feminist interpretation? i am focusing on Act 1 Scene 1 and Act 1 Scene 4.....

 

[study budd[Y]]

hey!
im doing a feminist interpretation too!

One way is essentially through the delivery of the speeched by the daughters...use assertive, domineering and strong tones.....

Also, costuming...dress lear in less jewlery and regal attire, and contrast him to the elegantly dressed daughters!

Finally, use staging/casting....make sure that the persons hired to play the daughters are taller, better built and more confident looking tha whoever is hired to play lear!

HEY...do u have any anaylses of ACTUAL feminist productions!?....pls email me if u do!

 

[Lundy]

I would have thought that in act I scene I you wouldn't dress Lear down, but you would actually make him look superior, because a feminist reading talks about a patriarchal society, where men have power. In the later scenes, when Goneril and Regan have taken over power, then I would dress them up to look more powerful, because they've gained control and turned the patriarchy into a matriarchy

 

[Gregor Samsa]

A feminist adaption would also involve manipulation of language, possibly with some of the text's more explicitly misogynistic dialogue being edited, such as that of Albany (Although this is seen in almost all modern interpretations, in relation to changing context.) Additionally, the behaviour of Goneril and Regan may be depicted in a (somewhat) more positive light, or shown alongside the behaviour of other characters..

 

[anti]

Perhaps shy away from using the terms 'positive' and 'negative' or 'good' and 'bad'. It's too easy to confuse expressing feminism with condoning it. It could be more beneficial to state (perhaps as part of your argument) that the interpretation of feminism isn't necessarily meant to show that it's a GOOD thing but rather that it is an obvious element of a more modern context. Note of course that both they and Lear die, leaving Edmund in charge and thus an unsatisfactory ending by feminist standards.

That's nothing to do with dramatic techniques, of course, I just felt like mentioning it...

 

[iambored]

you can take it so many ways but one thing is that is portrays feminism as bad(sorry anti!)

and remember cordelia standing up for her beliefs in act 1 scene1

 

[anti]

Sorry huh? I guess you could show negative is bad with my argument. I'm just so anti-radical-feminist, having being swamped with it over my last few years of high school

On topic, Cordelia is one of those characters who could be seen as a negative of feminism as well. She does stand up for her beliefs, but then she does wander off to France with her new husband, and she does screw everything up. Or maybe that's my interpretation... I guess it depends how she is portrayed in costume and attitude - as a brat, as a virgin, as a whore, as a loser kid, etc etc.

 

[salpal]

a feminist can either be viewed in one of two ways:

*the audience can be made to feel sorry for lear (as said by critic kathleen mcluskie)
OR
*the audience can be made to feel sorry for goneril, regan and cordelia (as said by critic coppelia khan)

 

[kieransgirl]

thanks guys u are all legends!!