“Lear’s words are monstrously unjust” | A C Bradley |
“Women are either made to submit or be destroyed” | Kathleen Maurice- submit |
“Cordelia’s return is the restoration of the patriarchy” | Kathleen Maurice – cordelia’s return |
“Lear goes mad because he is unable to accept his dependence on the feminine” | Coppelia Khan- unable to accept |
“Cordelia is an exalted example of pure filial devotion” | Henrietta Palmer- filial devotion |
“There must be consequences for this type of oppression” | Cathy Cupitt |
“Humanity here is shown as kin to the earth and winds and animals” | Wilson Knight |
“Edmund’s goddess is lion hearted” | John Danby- lion |
“King Lear is a play about the disintegration of the world” | Jan Kott- disintergration |
“King Lear can be seen as a play dramatizing the meaning of the single word nature” | John Danby- nature |
“A play in which the wicked prosper and the virtuous miscarry” | Johnson |
PowerNatures LawPatriarchyMadnessMonarchyJusticeCompassionDeceptionAppearance vs realityBlindnessPaternal relationshipAbsent mother | THEME LIST |
The armada and invasion of the spanish would still be relevant to the audienceThe invasion of the french is a harsh reminder of the importance of unity | Spanish Armada 1588 |
Matriarchy of Queen Elizabeth 1 – Strong female ruler- respected- led in times of great prosperity- renaissance thinking- emancipation | Female Monarchs |
– men did not retire or relinquish power- being born outside of wedlock denied you your rights- heir order followed primogeniture – daughters expected to be subservient despite female monarchs- the audience were visibly shocked by Cordelia’s defiance of the patriarchy | Family Patriarchy |
The monarch was God’s lieutenant on earthJames 1 created this law which ensures that monarchs have a greater social influence | Divine right of the monarchy |
natural – mortal body of the kingpolitic – cannot be seen or managed, immortal representation of the government | Body Politic and Body Natural |
The play is a personal pilgrimage of suffering generalized into the suffering of man which could be redeemed through the agency of a Christlike figure (Cordelia) | Quasi allegorical interpretation |
Ancient Greek literature – tragic hero who was tortured by having liver plucked out by vultures | Prometheus |
Ancient Greek theory that madness = self awareness | Mathos Pathei |
man is motivated by animal instinct knowledge comes from inner contemplation wisdom acquired through sensory learning | Charles de Bovelle |
large amounts of people with different mental illnesses were left untreated and and nicknamed in the community as Tom o’Bedlam. They were a common figure in Britain | Tom o’Bedlam |
Medieval science claims that the eyes are the most important sensory organ windows to the soulWithout eyes you will inevitably stray from God’s pathBlindness was punishment for adultery | Sight |
strict barriers of society that we begin to see the break down of e.g. Edmund | Feudal system |
Times of great political and religious uncertainty due to ongoing church reformations | 16th and 17th centuries |
Italian diplomat whose behavior was manipulative and decptive | Machiavelli |
“Goneril is driven by her appetites, she is void of innocence, cruel, cunning and Machiavellian” | M. D Faber- G driven by her appetites… |
Praised the subdued nature of Cordelia after Act 1 women expected to be home keepers and nurturers | Victorian audience |
King Lear Context and Critics
July 13, 2019