RE LEAR

Course Inglese

Confidence Not Confident

Day @November 29, 2023

Last Edited @November 29, 2023 5:11 PM

King Lear is a tragedy in five acts, in verse and prose, written

in 1605-1606 by William Shakespeare.
The story that forms the main plot has roots in ancient British
mythology.
King Lear (King Lear) is a tragedy in five acts, in verse and
prose, written in 1605-1606 by William Shakespeare.
The story that provides its main plot has its roots in ancient
British mythology.

Justice

King Lear is a brutal play, filled with human cruelty and awful.
The play’s succession of terrible events raises an obvious
question for the characters—namely, whether there is any
possibility of justice in the world, or whether the world is
fundamentally indifferent or even hostile to humankind. But, in
the end, we are left with only a terrifying uncertainty—although
the wicked die, the good die along with them, culminating in the
awful image of Lear cradling Cordelia’s body in his arms. There
is goodness in the world of the play, but there is also madness
and death, and it is difficult to tell which triumphs in the
end.

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 Authority versus Chaos
King Lear is about political authority as much as it is about
family dynamics. Lear is not only a father but also a king, and
when he gives away his authority to the evil Goneril and Regan,
he delivers not only himself and his family but all of Britain
into chaos and cruelty. As the two sisters indulge their
appetite for power and Edmund begins his own ascension, the
kingdom descends into civil strife, and we realize that Lear has
destroyed not only his own authority but all authority in
Britain. The stable, hierarchal order that Lear initially
represents falls apart and disorder engulfs the kingdom.
The failure of authority in the face of chaos recurs in Lear’s
wanderings on the heath during the storm. Witnessing the
powerful forces of the natural world, Lear comes to understand
that he is insignificant in the world. This realization proves
much more important than the realization of his loss of
political control, as it compels him to re-prioritize his values
and become humble and caring. Lear hopes to be able to confront
the chaos in the political kingdom as well.

Reconciliation
Darkness and unhappiness pervade King Lear, and the devastating
Act 5 represents one of the most tragic endings in all of
literature. Nevertheless, the play presents the central
relationship—that between Lear and Cordelia—as a dramatic
embodiment of true, self-sacrificing love. Rather than despising
Lear for banishing her, Cordelia remains devoted, even from
afar, and eventually brings an army from a foreign country to
rescue him from his tormentors. Lear, meanwhile, learns a
tremendously cruel lesson in humility and eventually reaches the
point where he can reunite joyfully with Cordelia and experience
the balm of her forgiving love. Lear’s recognition of the error
of his ways is an ingredient vital to reconciliation with

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 Cordelia, not because Cordelia feels wronged by him but because
he has understood the sincerity and depth of her love for him.
His maturation enables him to bring Cordelia back into his good
graces, a testament to love’s ability to flourish, even if only
fleetingly, amid the horror and chaos that engulf the rest of
the play.

Nihilism
King Lear presents a bleak vision of a world without meaning.
Lear begins the play valuing justice, the social order, and the
value of kingship, but his values are undermined by his
experiences. Lear ends up believing that justice, order and
kingship are just flattering names for raw, brutal power.
Cornwall confirms Lear’s view when he admits that even though
punishing Gloucester without a trial is unjust, his power gives
him the freedom to act as he wants. Gloucester, too, comes to
see life as random, violent and cruel, claiming the gods treat
people with the same level of care as schoolboys with flies.
Nowhere does King Lear suggest life offers meaning or the
possibility of redemption. The play’s tragic ending offers no
lesson. Cordelia dies for no reason; the order for her execution
has been reversed. The few characters left alive express despair
at what they have seen.

Self-knowledge
King Lear shows that a lack of self-knowledge can cause chaos
and tragedy, but the play also suggests that self-knowledge is
painful, and perhaps not worth the effort it takes to achieve
it. Lear’s tragic flaw is a lack of self-knowledge. His daughter
Regan identifies this flaw in the play’s opening scene. Lear
achieves self-knowledge, but at the cost of his wealth, power
and sanity. What he learns about himself is not a pleasant
discovery Achieving self-knowledge does not allow Lear to escape
his tragic fate. In fact, self-knowledge makes his suffering

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 worse. He realizes that his daughter Cordelia loves him after
all, which only makes her death more painful. Edmund’s story
also suggests that self-knowledge is of limited value. Unlike
Lear, Edmund sees himself clearly from the beginning of the
play, but his self-knowledge doesn’t do him much good: he dies
before Lear does.
Nihilism
Lear begins the play valuing justice, the social order, and the
value of kingship, but his values are undermined by his
experiences. Lear ends up believing that justice, order and
kingship are just flattering names for raw, brutal power.
Cornwall confirms Lear’s view when he admits that even though
punishing Gloucester without a trial is unjust, his power gives
him the freedom to act as he wants. Gloucester, too, comes to
see life as random, violent and cruel, claiming the gods treat
people with the same level of care as schoolboys with flies.
Nowhere does King Lear suggest life offers meaning or the
possibility of redemption. The play’s tragic ending offers no
lesson. Cordelia dies for no reason; the order for her execution
has been reversed. The few characters left alive express despair
at what they have seen.

Self-knowledge
King Lear shows that a lack of self-knowledge can cause chaos
and tragedy, but the play also suggests that self-knowledge is
painful, and perhaps not worth the effort it takes to achieve
it. Lear’s tragic flaw is a lack of self-knowledge. Lear
achieves self-knowledge, but at the cost of his wealth, power
and sanity. What he learns about himself is not a pleasant
discovery. Achieving self-knowledge does not allow Lear to
escape his tragic fate. In fact, self-knowledge makes his
suffering worse. He realizes that his daughter Cordelia loves
him after all, which only makes her death more painful. Edmund’s
story also suggests that self-knowledge is of limited value.
Unlike Lear, Edmund sees himself clearly from the beginning of

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 the play, but his self-knowledge doesn’t do him much good: he
dies before Lear does.

The Unreliability of Speech

King Lear suggests that people’s speeches and words are not
always reliable and trustworthy. The tragic events of King Lear
are set in motion because Lear believes the loving speeches
Goneril and Regan make, even though they are obviously
deceitful. Goneril claims her love makes “speech unable” which
is emptied of meaning because she is in the middle of a long
speech. Kent argues that simple speech, like Cordelia’s, is
trustworthy, but Cornwall argues that simple speech can be just
as unreliable as elaborate flattery. Edgar suggests that
language can never reliably express suffering. At the end of the
play, Lear’s behavior suggests that Edgar is correct. When he
finds his daughter Cordelia dead, Lear abandons language
altogether.

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