King Lear
By Shakespeare
When we are born, we cry that we are come to
this great stage of fools.
- Lear, Act IV Scene 4
What does that mean?
William Shakespeare
William Shakespeare's Life
► Greatest
writer in the English language
► Greatest play writer of all time
► Few known facts about Shakespeare’s life
► Renaissance period: renewed interest in
Science, philosophy, and the arts
► A new way of life: focus on the individual and
freedom of choice
William Shakespeare's Life
► Shakespeare
was baptized on
April 26, 1564
► Stratford-onAvon: a small
town about 90
miles northwest
of London
William Shakespeare’s Life
• Shakespeare lived on Henley Street.
• Father was a glove maker and town’s mayor
• Mother was a distant relative of a wealthy family
William Shakespeare’s life
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At 18, Shakespeare married Anne Hathaway, a local
farmer’s daughter
At the time of marriage Anne was three months
pregnant with their first daughter Susanna
Two years later, they had twins Hamnet and Judith
Hamnet dies at the age of 11
William Shakespeare’s life
►
►
►
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The next seven years are the “lost years”
Shakespeare and London
Joined a theater company as a traveling actor
Shakespeare as a great play writer
William Shakespeare’s Life
► In
(The Late Years)
1609, Shakespeare published his sonnets and
a series of poems about love and friendship
► In 1613, Shakespeare retires
back in his hometown of Stratford
► Shakespeare’s death is unknown
► Shakespeare dies on
April 23, 1616
“Good Friend, for Jesus’ sake forbear
To dig the dust enclosed here:
Blessed be the man that spares these stones,
And curst be he that moves my bones.”
Shakespeare’s Impact on
Language
► Shakespeare's
play have
influenced literary works
for hundreds of years
► Playing on words and their
meanings, creating
metaphors and images
► Contributed more words to
the English language than
any other writer
Words that First Appeared in
Shakespeare’s Works
► Accommodation
► Assassination
► Dislocate
► Obscene
► Lonely
► Gloomy
► Suspicious
► Hurry
Our story begins a long, long time ago,
in a place far, far away…
► Setting:
► Time:
??
England
Where did the story come from?
►
The story of King Lear originated 400
years before Shakespeare wrote his
version.
►
Lear was a British King who reigned
before the birth of Christ allowing
Shakespeare to implement some elements
into the plot.
►
British mythology refers to a “Lyr” or
“Ler” who was the basis of a King Lear
story by Geoffrey of Monmouth in 1137
which Shakespeare used as a source as
well as Raphael Holinshed’s “Chronicle
of England, Scotland and Ireland”.
► Shakespeare
also “borrowed”
 Edmund Spencer’s “The Faerie Queen”
 John Higgins’ “A Mirror for
Magistrates”
 Gentleman of the court of Elizabeth I
named Sir Brian Annesley
► Scholars
believe the play was written after
“Othello” but before
“Macbeth” assigning it a
creation date of 1604-05.
► King
James I had come from Scotland to
take the throne of England
► “divine right of kings”
► Worry about the times
King Lear Overview
Characters
Lear – king of Britain
► Goneril – his eldest daughter
► Regan – his second daughter
► Cordelia – his youngest and favorite daughter
► Albany – Goneril’s husband
► Cornwall – Regan’s husband
► Kent – a faithful nobleman
► Gloucester – another loyal nobleman
► Edgar – Gloucester’s rightful son
► Edmund – a bastard of Gloucester
► Fool – a loyal clown who entertains Lear
►
Lear and his three daughters
At Lear’s castle…
►
Lear decides to give up his throne and divide his kingdom among
his three daughters
► Goneril, wife to the duke of Albany
► Regan, wife to the duke of Cornwall
► His daughter, Cordelia, has two suitors – the king of France and
duke of Burgundy
► Lear asks his daughters how much they love him
► Goneril and Regan flatter, but Cordelia
says that she loves him no more than a
daughter loves her father
“Unhappy that I am, I cannot heave my heart into my mouth: I love your majesty
according to my bond; nor more nor less.”
► Angered,
Lear disowns Cordelia and divides his
kingdom between Goneril and Regan
► Lear gives Cordelia to the king of France, and though
Cordelia is not happy about leaving her father with
her sisters, she leaves England with her husband
And this is the beginning of King Lear…
Foils
►A
foil is a
character who can
be compared and
contrasted to
another character
►Used to clarify
character traits
and issues in the
play
King Lear and Gloucester
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Old friends
Both are betrayed by their
children
Neither has the wisdom to see
through duplicious love
Lear’s insanity leads him to
clear perception; Gloucester’s
loss of his eyes leads him to
clear vision
Both die after having been
reunited with their faithful
children
Goneril and Regan
Equal in evil
► Neither sister has love for good
beings
► Both sisters are attracted to
Edmund
► Neither sister possesses
compassion for love
► Exclusive thoughts of themselves
► Actively feed on the wickedness of
the other
►
Edgar and Edmund
► Brothers;
Edgar is
legitimate; Edmund is
illegitimate
► Clear opposition of good
and evil, with good
prevailing in the end
► As Edmund tries to push
his father away; Edgar
tries to protect his
father from a distance
Kent and the fool
► Both
try to speak the
truth to King Lear; he is
deaf to both characters
► Kent is part of the
action until Lear’s
death; the Fool exits the
play as soon as his
usefulness is exhausted
► Although they belong to
different classes, they
both show equal honor and
loyalty
Major Themes
Blindness vs Sight
(or The Foolish vs the Wise)
►
Some characters are described as “blind” to the realities of
the world around them due to their ignorance, poor
judgement or lack of insight.
Major Themes (continued)
Order vs. Chaos -- the question of Justice
a. Lear (and we) learn that
--life is awful
--there is not always a
happy ending
--there’s nothing we can
do about it
b. Job’s question: why do
bad things happen to good people
Order vs. Chaos-the question of
Justice
a. Can anything redeem this injustice / violence /
suffering / meaninglessness of the world?
1. wisdom – this is the great gift of time and
suffering (Lear finds wisdom when
sees truth
and stops valuing
superficial (he seems
mad but is wise
the new Fool
2. Lear’s journey
Prideragesuffering/humiliationmadnesswisdomdeath
Major Themes – Good vs. Evil
►the
real answer is goodness and
honesty are rewards in themselves –
that is what redeems/ justifies life
Major Themes
For example: Cordelia
Cordelia chooses not to participate
in a ridiculous and dishonest
spectacle—this was not a flimsy
decision when you realize what love means to
Cordelia
honesty
duty
loyalty
II. Major Themes (continued)
► Good
vs. Evil
Good (the moral) is directly
related to love, compassion,
the soul
Evil (the immoral) is directly
realted to selfishness, the
id, violence, the physical
Major Themes (continued)
Order vs. Chaos
a. Chaos results from DIVISION (the kingdom,
families, brothers, sisters, etc.)
b. Woman must be obedient to man.
Motif
► is
any recurring element that has symbolic
significance in a story.
Motifs
Clothing and Nakedness – A recurring image
which may represent the following:
-loss of status or identity
-Clothing in disarray or nakedness can
symbolize insanity
-Nakedness can represent the discovery of one’s
humanity, liberated from the trappings of
civilization.
► Bird and Animal Imagery - A recurring use of
birds and animals to symbolize human conditions
and behaviors. Often the animals to which
humans are compared are dark and violent to
denote the bestiality within human beings who
give way to evil impulses.
►
Symbols
►a
thing that represents or stands for
something else, especially a material object
representing something abstract
Symbols
The Storm
2. Blindness and
sight
3. The Fool
4. Nothingness
5. Nakedness and clothing
1.
Other Important Literary
Devices
Aside
► Brief
speech in which a character turns from
the person he is addressing to speak
directly to the audience
Soliloquy
►A
speech in which a character, alone on
stage, addresses himself; dramatic means
of letting an audience know a character’s
thought and feelings
Dramatic Irony
►A
discrepancy between what a character
says or thinks and what the reader knows to
be true