Deception, secrecy, manipulation, Appearence VS Reality, Perception, sight and blindness Flashcards
Gloucester introduced as a father not understanding his children
Calls Edmund (illegitimate) his ‘whoreson’ and says he has ‘so often blushed to acknowledge him’ whilst Edmund stands beside him.
Oblivious to Edmund’s resentment of his father
What will Lear express quote
first allusion to sight and blindness
‘meanwhile we shall express our darker purpose’
- abdication
- ‘darker’ suggests something wicked and refers to motif of sight and perception
- perhaps he enjoys knowing that asking his daughters to battle their love will cause conflict
- power erodes in darkness
Lear asking which loves him most quote
‘which doth love us most’
deceiving himself - thinks love is a test
Goneril’s love speech
polyptoton
chiasmus
isocolon - two words:two words
metadiegetic narrator -
language used for exchange rather than communication
clever
sycophantic
suffocating love
sensory imagery hyperbole virtues - familial imagery 'more than words can wield the matter' - alliteration, inexpressibility topos to exacerbate hyperbolic listing (asyndeton) of her love for her father cylical as much as child ever loved - simile intensifier - so much her volubility juxtaposes the lack of depth to her words
Structurally the long length of Goneril’s declaration juxtaposes the lack of depth to her words
dramatic irony - Goneril’s volubility exposes her facarde to the audience as it is indicative of her superficiality
4 main quotes from Goneril’s love speech
I love you more …
dearer than…
a love that makes…
beyond…
‘I love you more than words can wield the matter’
‘Dearer than eyesight, space and liberty, beyond what can be valued’
a love that makes ‘breath poor’ and ‘speech unable’
she loves him ‘beyond all manner’
Lear blinded by truth; can’t see Cordelia is the only truthful one
he sees her as ‘young and untender’
She says she is ‘young and true’
