KING LEAR
CONTEXT
THE PRODIGAL SON The parable of the Prodigal Son tells the story of forgiveness and mercy between a father and his two sons. The youngest prematurely begs his father for his
inheritance, leaves home to carelessly spend the money, and is forced to reflect on what he has done after a famine reaches him. Instead of disowning him for
carelessly spending his inheritance, the father forgives all his wrongdoings and celebrates his return with a feast
King Lear is a prodigal father to Cordelia’s forgiving character. He falls for the lies of his eldest daughters and rebukes the one child who loved him unconditionally.
Characteristic of a prodigal, Lear expects each of his selfish desires to be accommodated as he travels between Goneril and Regan’s respective kingdoms. He then
goes on a physical journey which leads him back to Cordelia, ending in a plea for her forgiveness
Lear realises that the amendment of life he was expecting from Cordelia did not exist because he was the one that needed to make a change. He misused the love
he received and comes to an understanding that he morally must ask for her forgiveness.
THE BOOK OF JOB This story concerns Job, a prosperous man of outstanding piety. Satan acts as an agent provocateur to test whether or not Job’s piety is rooted merely in his
prosperity.
Faced with the appalling loss of his possessions, his children, and finally his own health, Job still refuses to curse God.
During a conversation with friends, job disputes with them. He proclaims his innocence and the injustice of his suffering, while his friends argue that Job is being
punished for his sins.
Eventually, Job trusts in the purposeful activity of God in the affairs of the world, even though God’s ways with man remain mysterious and inscrutable
The Book of Job was supposed to be an actual historical account designed by God to facilitate the acceptance of suffering as a necessary means for a later
reward with God
EARLY MORALITY PLAYS Morality plays are a genre of plays from the fourteenth through sixteenth centuries that feature personified concepts (such as virtues and vices) alongside angels
and demons, who are engaged in a struggle to persuade a protagonist who represents generic human character toward either good or evil
The common story arch follows the temptation, fall, and redemption of the protagonist
The clashes between the supporting characters often catalyse a process of experiential learning for the protagonist, and, as a result, provide audience members
and/or readers with moral guidance, reminding them to mediate and think upon their relationship to God, as well as their social and/or religious community
Everyman - famous morality play
Everyman illustrates a central doctrine of mediaeval Christianity: only bt leading a good life can one earn salvation
In this play, Everyman learns that he will die and seeks out company for his final days. He comes into contact with characters such as fellowship, kindred, and
, goods. Each of these personified forces eventually abandons him when they find out that he’s dying or as he approaches death. Finally, good-deeds comes to his
side and accompanies him to the end
Lear, like everyman, finds himself hurtling towards his death with nothing and no one by his side
- Lear is progressively stripped of everything he values: his values, his authority, his daughters’ care, the roof over his head, and finally his sanity. Lear
also learns which of his possessions he ought to have valued all along: the love for his daughter Cordelia
As he comes closer to death, he learns more about his choices and the mistakes he’s made in the past
Shakespeare’s “morality” plays are nihilistic in a way that mediaeval morality plays would never have been. There is no redemption for the characters in King
Lear.
Although the scenes in which Lear is reconciled with Cordelia suggest a partial redemption for Lear, in the end he loses his daughter as well, and unlike the
Christian Everyman, the pagan Lear goes to his death alone. Shakespeare's version of a morality play is far bleaker than its mediaeval antecedents, as it suggests
there is no reward, either in this world or the next, for leading a moral life
JACOBEAN DRAMA - THE The malcontent is a staple figure of late Elizabethan and Jacobean drama. The world-weary cynic who tries to stand outside the ugliness of the world, while
MALCONTENT expressing his contempt for it, but gets sucked into it eventually (often to enact some revenge).
The malcontent is a character type that often appeared in early modern drama. The character is disconnected with the social structure and other characters in
the play and is often an outsider who observes and comments on the action, and may even acknowledge that they are in the play
Edmund is established as a malcontent, placed outside the normal boundaries of society and denied its rewards.
Edmund is a typical malcontent. Through his use of soliloquy, Shakespeare brings us perhaps to a point of near empathy with his deceitful character
MACHIEVEL MACHIAVELLI’S POLITICAL WORLD
There is no place for morality in this political world. In fact, it is detrimental. Goneril illustrates the same point that Machiavelli makes: possessing morality can
hinder political action
The successful political actors in this world recognise this fact.
- Edmund, who is the ultimate Machiavellian prince, swears himself to this amoral, chaotic world: ‘Thou, nature art my goddess, to thy law / My services
are bound.’
In King Lear, the Gods play no role in the fate of characters. Thus, the world of King lear is the ultimate Machiavellian fantasy of a political world (one without a
merciful God guiding justice, where amorality is the norm)
- After hearing that Cordelia is to be hung, Albany cries out ‘the Gods defend her!’. Immediately afterward, Cordelia is carried in by lear, dead
- When Lear first encounters the storm, he is convinced it is a tool of divine justice, a punishment for his disloyal daughters. However, this is not the case,
it is rather a violent force of nature that plagues the weak far more than those who have power
THE MACHIAVEL
The Machiavel uses his cunning to manipulate others and ensure that he gets what he wants, being driven entirely by self-interest. Edmund takes advantage of
the credulous natures of both Gloucester and Edgar, and revels in the fact that he is able to do so. Significantly, Edmund is fully aware of his unscrupulous nature,
and sees it not as a result of his illegitimacy but simply as who he is
, The Machiavellian principles relating to politics, ethics, and virtues are exemplified throughout King Lear by Edmund, Goneril, and Regan
- Machiavellian politics deal with acquiring power and forming very strong governments
NAHUM TATE 1681 For much of the play’s history, audiences found the ending of King Lear too shocking to watch: a version of the play was rewritten by Nahum Tate that ended
AMENDMENT VERSION happily was more popular in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, and more closely resembled earlier renditions of the story Shakespeare borrowed from
when writing his version
In Tate’s ending, the leading characters survive, and Edgar and Cordelia are married
DIVINE RIGHTS OF KINGS / It is a political and religious doctrine of political legitimacy of a monarchy
NATURAL ORDER The doctrine asserts that a monarch is not accountable to any earthly authority because their right to role is derived from divine authority. Thus, the monarch is
not subject to the will of the people, of the aristocracy, or of any other estate of the realm
Only divine authority can judge a monarch, and that any attempts to depose, dethrone, resist, or restrict their powers runs contrary to God’s will and may constitute
a sacrilegious act
By surrendering the responsibilities of the throne, Lear rejects the gift from God of the divine right to be king. In the established norms of a king in ‘Basilikon
Doron’, written in 1599 by King James I of England, asserted that the king has ultimate authority, which Lear disrupts when he technically hands over the authority
of his land and people during the love trial but still wants to remain in full control.
Furthermore, it asserted that to ensure stability, the kingdom should be left to the eldest son, and not divided among the children. Lear’s decision goes directly
against this, perhaps signifying that the instability that he causes, to both the system of the state and to his own mental state stem from his mistake in dividing up
his land and avoiding responsibility.
ILLEGITIMACY No bastard can inherit the lands and honours of his supposed father
Because society has no place for illegitimates, they are outside the power structures that restrict legitimate member of society. This lack of restriction results in
the frequent dramatic association of illegitimacy and lawlessness
As a living symbol of social irregularity, an illegitimate was problematic for the rigid early modern social structure, having no place in the order of people in the
commonwealth
Illegitimates, so often conceived as on the fringes of society and traditionally represented as counterfeiters, are in a perfect position to act as commentators.
VIEWS OF WOMEN IN THE Women were expected to be silent, chaste, and more or less confined to the household, their identity submerged in that of a husband, father, or master
1600S Women often acted as counsellors in the home, tempering their husband’s words and actions
Women were discouraged from directly expressing political views counter to their husbands’ or to broadly condemn established systems
In the marriage contract the wife must obey the husband. This obedience or submission extends not only to the performance of duties required by the husband,
but also to the abstinence from those activities which are displeasing to him. Women who chose to become wives, which is the majority of the female
population, agree to submit themselves to total control by their husbands
CONTEXT
THE PRODIGAL SON The parable of the Prodigal Son tells the story of forgiveness and mercy between a father and his two sons. The youngest prematurely begs his father for his
inheritance, leaves home to carelessly spend the money, and is forced to reflect on what he has done after a famine reaches him. Instead of disowning him for
carelessly spending his inheritance, the father forgives all his wrongdoings and celebrates his return with a feast
King Lear is a prodigal father to Cordelia’s forgiving character. He falls for the lies of his eldest daughters and rebukes the one child who loved him unconditionally.
Characteristic of a prodigal, Lear expects each of his selfish desires to be accommodated as he travels between Goneril and Regan’s respective kingdoms. He then
goes on a physical journey which leads him back to Cordelia, ending in a plea for her forgiveness
Lear realises that the amendment of life he was expecting from Cordelia did not exist because he was the one that needed to make a change. He misused the love
he received and comes to an understanding that he morally must ask for her forgiveness.
THE BOOK OF JOB This story concerns Job, a prosperous man of outstanding piety. Satan acts as an agent provocateur to test whether or not Job’s piety is rooted merely in his
prosperity.
Faced with the appalling loss of his possessions, his children, and finally his own health, Job still refuses to curse God.
During a conversation with friends, job disputes with them. He proclaims his innocence and the injustice of his suffering, while his friends argue that Job is being
punished for his sins.
Eventually, Job trusts in the purposeful activity of God in the affairs of the world, even though God’s ways with man remain mysterious and inscrutable
The Book of Job was supposed to be an actual historical account designed by God to facilitate the acceptance of suffering as a necessary means for a later
reward with God
EARLY MORALITY PLAYS Morality plays are a genre of plays from the fourteenth through sixteenth centuries that feature personified concepts (such as virtues and vices) alongside angels
and demons, who are engaged in a struggle to persuade a protagonist who represents generic human character toward either good or evil
The common story arch follows the temptation, fall, and redemption of the protagonist
The clashes between the supporting characters often catalyse a process of experiential learning for the protagonist, and, as a result, provide audience members
and/or readers with moral guidance, reminding them to mediate and think upon their relationship to God, as well as their social and/or religious community
Everyman - famous morality play
Everyman illustrates a central doctrine of mediaeval Christianity: only bt leading a good life can one earn salvation
In this play, Everyman learns that he will die and seeks out company for his final days. He comes into contact with characters such as fellowship, kindred, and
, goods. Each of these personified forces eventually abandons him when they find out that he’s dying or as he approaches death. Finally, good-deeds comes to his
side and accompanies him to the end
Lear, like everyman, finds himself hurtling towards his death with nothing and no one by his side
- Lear is progressively stripped of everything he values: his values, his authority, his daughters’ care, the roof over his head, and finally his sanity. Lear
also learns which of his possessions he ought to have valued all along: the love for his daughter Cordelia
As he comes closer to death, he learns more about his choices and the mistakes he’s made in the past
Shakespeare’s “morality” plays are nihilistic in a way that mediaeval morality plays would never have been. There is no redemption for the characters in King
Lear.
Although the scenes in which Lear is reconciled with Cordelia suggest a partial redemption for Lear, in the end he loses his daughter as well, and unlike the
Christian Everyman, the pagan Lear goes to his death alone. Shakespeare's version of a morality play is far bleaker than its mediaeval antecedents, as it suggests
there is no reward, either in this world or the next, for leading a moral life
JACOBEAN DRAMA - THE The malcontent is a staple figure of late Elizabethan and Jacobean drama. The world-weary cynic who tries to stand outside the ugliness of the world, while
MALCONTENT expressing his contempt for it, but gets sucked into it eventually (often to enact some revenge).
The malcontent is a character type that often appeared in early modern drama. The character is disconnected with the social structure and other characters in
the play and is often an outsider who observes and comments on the action, and may even acknowledge that they are in the play
Edmund is established as a malcontent, placed outside the normal boundaries of society and denied its rewards.
Edmund is a typical malcontent. Through his use of soliloquy, Shakespeare brings us perhaps to a point of near empathy with his deceitful character
MACHIEVEL MACHIAVELLI’S POLITICAL WORLD
There is no place for morality in this political world. In fact, it is detrimental. Goneril illustrates the same point that Machiavelli makes: possessing morality can
hinder political action
The successful political actors in this world recognise this fact.
- Edmund, who is the ultimate Machiavellian prince, swears himself to this amoral, chaotic world: ‘Thou, nature art my goddess, to thy law / My services
are bound.’
In King Lear, the Gods play no role in the fate of characters. Thus, the world of King lear is the ultimate Machiavellian fantasy of a political world (one without a
merciful God guiding justice, where amorality is the norm)
- After hearing that Cordelia is to be hung, Albany cries out ‘the Gods defend her!’. Immediately afterward, Cordelia is carried in by lear, dead
- When Lear first encounters the storm, he is convinced it is a tool of divine justice, a punishment for his disloyal daughters. However, this is not the case,
it is rather a violent force of nature that plagues the weak far more than those who have power
THE MACHIAVEL
The Machiavel uses his cunning to manipulate others and ensure that he gets what he wants, being driven entirely by self-interest. Edmund takes advantage of
the credulous natures of both Gloucester and Edgar, and revels in the fact that he is able to do so. Significantly, Edmund is fully aware of his unscrupulous nature,
and sees it not as a result of his illegitimacy but simply as who he is
, The Machiavellian principles relating to politics, ethics, and virtues are exemplified throughout King Lear by Edmund, Goneril, and Regan
- Machiavellian politics deal with acquiring power and forming very strong governments
NAHUM TATE 1681 For much of the play’s history, audiences found the ending of King Lear too shocking to watch: a version of the play was rewritten by Nahum Tate that ended
AMENDMENT VERSION happily was more popular in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, and more closely resembled earlier renditions of the story Shakespeare borrowed from
when writing his version
In Tate’s ending, the leading characters survive, and Edgar and Cordelia are married
DIVINE RIGHTS OF KINGS / It is a political and religious doctrine of political legitimacy of a monarchy
NATURAL ORDER The doctrine asserts that a monarch is not accountable to any earthly authority because their right to role is derived from divine authority. Thus, the monarch is
not subject to the will of the people, of the aristocracy, or of any other estate of the realm
Only divine authority can judge a monarch, and that any attempts to depose, dethrone, resist, or restrict their powers runs contrary to God’s will and may constitute
a sacrilegious act
By surrendering the responsibilities of the throne, Lear rejects the gift from God of the divine right to be king. In the established norms of a king in ‘Basilikon
Doron’, written in 1599 by King James I of England, asserted that the king has ultimate authority, which Lear disrupts when he technically hands over the authority
of his land and people during the love trial but still wants to remain in full control.
Furthermore, it asserted that to ensure stability, the kingdom should be left to the eldest son, and not divided among the children. Lear’s decision goes directly
against this, perhaps signifying that the instability that he causes, to both the system of the state and to his own mental state stem from his mistake in dividing up
his land and avoiding responsibility.
ILLEGITIMACY No bastard can inherit the lands and honours of his supposed father
Because society has no place for illegitimates, they are outside the power structures that restrict legitimate member of society. This lack of restriction results in
the frequent dramatic association of illegitimacy and lawlessness
As a living symbol of social irregularity, an illegitimate was problematic for the rigid early modern social structure, having no place in the order of people in the
commonwealth
Illegitimates, so often conceived as on the fringes of society and traditionally represented as counterfeiters, are in a perfect position to act as commentators.
VIEWS OF WOMEN IN THE Women were expected to be silent, chaste, and more or less confined to the household, their identity submerged in that of a husband, father, or master
1600S Women often acted as counsellors in the home, tempering their husband’s words and actions
Women were discouraged from directly expressing political views counter to their husbands’ or to broadly condemn established systems
In the marriage contract the wife must obey the husband. This obedience or submission extends not only to the performance of duties required by the husband,
but also to the abstinence from those activities which are displeasing to him. Women who chose to become wives, which is the majority of the female
population, agree to submit themselves to total control by their husbands
