Post by umbrus on Jan 31, 2010 16:00:32 GMT -5
King Lear is a tragic story of an old man's descent into madness as his world crumbles around him. It is also a tale of Lear's pride and his blindness to the truth about his three daughters and others around him. A subplot of the play involves another family (that of the Earl of Gloucester) torn apart by a scheming child (Edmund plots against his half-brother, Edgar). Both fathers suffer a great deal for their inability to see the truth about their children.
As the play opens, Lear has ruled well and is regarded highly in his kingdom. However, he has reigned for a long time and wants someone to take over his duties as he moves toward his last years. He announces that he will divide his kingdom among his three daughters on the basis of how much they can gush about how much they love him.
The two eldest, Goneril and Regan, know exactly what they are to say in order to win over their father and a big share of his wealth and power. The youngest daughter, Cordelia, is the most sincere and true to her father. She knows what her sisters are doing and decides not to flatter her father with overwhelming complements, but instead to tell him that she "loves his majesty according to her duty, neither more or less." Angered by what he sees as ingratitude and Cordelia's refusal to play the game of flattery, Lear gives her none of his wealth and cuts her off entirely. Lear even banishes his faithful friend Kent, who tries to intervene on Cordelia's behalf. The King of France comes to Cordelia's rescue by offering to marry her.
According to the arrangement with his daughters, Lear will divide his time equally between them, living with each daughter and her husband for a month at a time. He also will bring along a retinue of one hundred knights. Lear lives first with Goneril and her husband, the Duke of Albany. However, Goneril soon tires of the burden and argues with Lear, sending him off to her sister, Regan. Regan, too, wants no part of caring for her father, and she and her husband, the Duke of Cornwall, leave home to stay at the castle of the Earl of Gloucester.
Eventually, Goneril and Albany , Lear and his Fool, and Kent (now in disguise but determined to help Lear) all arrive at Gloucester's castle,where the sisters and Lear engage in a bitter confrontation. Infuriated by Goneril and Regan's repeated attempts to strip him of his knights and his dignity, Lear realizes that Cordelia was the only daughter who actually loved him, and he runs out into a violent thunderstorm. Cornwall, Goneril, and Regan shut the doors of Gloucester's castle against the frail old man, leaving him to fend for himself against the elements of the storm. Cornwall and Goneril show the true extent of their awful cruelty when, in the next act, they pluck out Gloucester's eyes and leave him for dead because he has confessed (to Edmund, who has then immediately reported it to Cornwall) his sympathy towards Lear and Cordelia. Cornwall is mortally wounded in this scene, stabbed by a servant who tries to stop his cruel attack on Gloucester.
In the midst of the storm, Lear rails against the elements, but he begins to become aware of the suffering of mankind in general, as well as his own. He also loses his sanity, but he is lovingly cared for by Kent, the Fool, and Edgar (Gloucester's exiled son who, like Cordelia, has been tricked by his unscrupulous sibling and now is posing as a lunatic, "Poor Tom" as he waits for an opportunity to put things to rights). The four take refuge from the storm in a hovel on the heath. Later, the blinded Gloucester is reunited with Lear, as well.
Hearing that her father is in trouble, Cordelia comes from France with an army to fight against Goneril and Regan and their husbands. With the help of Kent, she is reunited with Lear, though in the battle between England and France, the forces of Albany and Cornwall are victorious, and Lear and Cordelia are taken prisoner. Edmund, who has allied himself with both Goneril and Regan and has led each to believe he will marry her, secretly orders that Cordelia and Lear be killed in their prison cells.
Albany reveals his true nobility when he turns against his scheming wife, Goneril, and accuses her of treason, along with Regan and Edmund. Edmund refutes the charge, and his guilt is to be determined by duel, with an unknown warrior representing Albany and his charge. The "agent" is Edgar, who has come into possession of a letter from Goneril to Edmund and has given it to Albany; in the letter, Goneril outlines their plot to overthrow Albany once the battle with Cordelia is over. The trumpet is sounded, and Edgar appears to fight Edmund. His true identity is not revealed until he has won the fight and Edmund lies dying.
Edgar then tells Albany his account of the period of exile with Lear and of his own reunion with Gloucester. Edmund appears to be moved by Edgar's story of compassion and suffering, and when Kent arrives on the scene, Edmund suddenly remembers his order for the deaths of Lear and Cordelia. At almost the same moment, Albany is informed that Goneril has taken her own life and has also poisoned her sister as a result of their bitter rivalry for Edmund's affections.
Tragically, Edmund's "recollection" is too late--Lear enters carrying Cordelia's body. He is a pitiful picture--a frail old man who has suffered terrible losses, in part because of his own pride and blindness, and in part because of the evil of Cornwall, Edmund, and his two daughters. Lear himself dies in the final moments of the play, heartbroken and beaten by the bitter and cruel storms he has endured.
Although the main characters of these tragedies possess different traits, they all can be described as tragic Shakespearean heroes: they are basically good and noble men whose tragic flaw leads to their destruction.
As the play opens, Lear has ruled well and is regarded highly in his kingdom. However, he has reigned for a long time and wants someone to take over his duties as he moves toward his last years. He announces that he will divide his kingdom among his three daughters on the basis of how much they can gush about how much they love him.
The two eldest, Goneril and Regan, know exactly what they are to say in order to win over their father and a big share of his wealth and power. The youngest daughter, Cordelia, is the most sincere and true to her father. She knows what her sisters are doing and decides not to flatter her father with overwhelming complements, but instead to tell him that she "loves his majesty according to her duty, neither more or less." Angered by what he sees as ingratitude and Cordelia's refusal to play the game of flattery, Lear gives her none of his wealth and cuts her off entirely. Lear even banishes his faithful friend Kent, who tries to intervene on Cordelia's behalf. The King of France comes to Cordelia's rescue by offering to marry her.
According to the arrangement with his daughters, Lear will divide his time equally between them, living with each daughter and her husband for a month at a time. He also will bring along a retinue of one hundred knights. Lear lives first with Goneril and her husband, the Duke of Albany. However, Goneril soon tires of the burden and argues with Lear, sending him off to her sister, Regan. Regan, too, wants no part of caring for her father, and she and her husband, the Duke of Cornwall, leave home to stay at the castle of the Earl of Gloucester.
Eventually, Goneril and Albany , Lear and his Fool, and Kent (now in disguise but determined to help Lear) all arrive at Gloucester's castle,where the sisters and Lear engage in a bitter confrontation. Infuriated by Goneril and Regan's repeated attempts to strip him of his knights and his dignity, Lear realizes that Cordelia was the only daughter who actually loved him, and he runs out into a violent thunderstorm. Cornwall, Goneril, and Regan shut the doors of Gloucester's castle against the frail old man, leaving him to fend for himself against the elements of the storm. Cornwall and Goneril show the true extent of their awful cruelty when, in the next act, they pluck out Gloucester's eyes and leave him for dead because he has confessed (to Edmund, who has then immediately reported it to Cornwall) his sympathy towards Lear and Cordelia. Cornwall is mortally wounded in this scene, stabbed by a servant who tries to stop his cruel attack on Gloucester.
In the midst of the storm, Lear rails against the elements, but he begins to become aware of the suffering of mankind in general, as well as his own. He also loses his sanity, but he is lovingly cared for by Kent, the Fool, and Edgar (Gloucester's exiled son who, like Cordelia, has been tricked by his unscrupulous sibling and now is posing as a lunatic, "Poor Tom" as he waits for an opportunity to put things to rights). The four take refuge from the storm in a hovel on the heath. Later, the blinded Gloucester is reunited with Lear, as well.
Hearing that her father is in trouble, Cordelia comes from France with an army to fight against Goneril and Regan and their husbands. With the help of Kent, she is reunited with Lear, though in the battle between England and France, the forces of Albany and Cornwall are victorious, and Lear and Cordelia are taken prisoner. Edmund, who has allied himself with both Goneril and Regan and has led each to believe he will marry her, secretly orders that Cordelia and Lear be killed in their prison cells.
Albany reveals his true nobility when he turns against his scheming wife, Goneril, and accuses her of treason, along with Regan and Edmund. Edmund refutes the charge, and his guilt is to be determined by duel, with an unknown warrior representing Albany and his charge. The "agent" is Edgar, who has come into possession of a letter from Goneril to Edmund and has given it to Albany; in the letter, Goneril outlines their plot to overthrow Albany once the battle with Cordelia is over. The trumpet is sounded, and Edgar appears to fight Edmund. His true identity is not revealed until he has won the fight and Edmund lies dying.
Edgar then tells Albany his account of the period of exile with Lear and of his own reunion with Gloucester. Edmund appears to be moved by Edgar's story of compassion and suffering, and when Kent arrives on the scene, Edmund suddenly remembers his order for the deaths of Lear and Cordelia. At almost the same moment, Albany is informed that Goneril has taken her own life and has also poisoned her sister as a result of their bitter rivalry for Edmund's affections.
Tragically, Edmund's "recollection" is too late--Lear enters carrying Cordelia's body. He is a pitiful picture--a frail old man who has suffered terrible losses, in part because of his own pride and blindness, and in part because of the evil of Cornwall, Edmund, and his two daughters. Lear himself dies in the final moments of the play, heartbroken and beaten by the bitter and cruel storms he has endured.
Although the main characters of these tragedies possess different traits, they all can be described as tragic Shakespearean heroes: they are basically good and noble men whose tragic flaw leads to their destruction.