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A2 DRAMA > King lear > Flashcards

King lear Flashcards

1
Q

Lear’s kingdom based on nepotism

A

'’I thought the King had more affected the Duke of Albany than Cornwall’’ - Kent

Commentary on the ruling of King James I and foreshadows the oncoming disorder.

Reputation for giving excessively generous gifts; he was an outrageous spender. The historian ‘Smith’ says James was a ‘weak king of England’ who ‘wasted money’.

Associated with drunkenness (symbol of breaking tradition).

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2
Q

Stage directions Lear’s entrance in act 1

A

‘enter one bearing a coronet, then Lear’
Foakes suggests that Lear should have worn a crown throughout the whole scene as a visual highlight of the irony of his actions in giving away his power and yet seeking to retain his royal perogatives, ‘the name and all th’addition to a king’.
However perhaps if Lear was crowned and robed like a king the Jacobean audience would have been more likely to detect analogies between James I.

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3
Q

Lear dividing kingdom

A

‘we have divided in three our kingdom’

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4
Q

What will Lear express quote

A

‘meanwhile we shall express our darker purpose’

  • abdication
  • perhaps he enjoys knowing that asking his daughters to battle their love will cause conflict
  • ‘darker’ suggests something wicked and refers to motif of sight and perception
  • power erodes in darkness
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5
Q

Childish Lear at very start quote

A

His children with their ‘younger strengths’ whilst we ‘unburdened crawl toward death’

  • childish connotations of ‘crawl’, Lear wants to become dependent on others, opposite of how a king should be
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6
Q

Lear asking which loves him most quote

A

‘which doth love us most’

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7
Q

‘we’
‘divest us’

(When Lear says he is going to give his land away)

A

pronoun, identifying himself as king whilst giving away kingship
clothing imagery foreshadows stripping off of garments on the heath

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8
Q

Lear’s reponse to Goneril’s love speech

A

Goneril can have
‘shadowy forests’ - botanical imagery
‘plenteous rivers’
‘wide-skirted meads’

body politic - he’s losing his holistic identity

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9
Q

Lear’s response to Regan’s speech

A

‘no less in space, validity and pleasure’

‘a third more opulent’

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10
Q

Lear’s immediate response to Cordelia’s love speech

monosyllabic quotes
type of dialogue
echo
how does Lear speak
XXX vulnerability?
A

'’nothing’’
‘‘nothing will come of nothing’’ - language of exchange
‘‘speak again’’

stichomythic dialogue - indicates lines are not shared and there is a pause and disconnect between the two.

echo of dialogue - emphasises Lear’s inability to believe anyone would speak to him in this way

imperative speak again - Lear shocked Cordelia has opposed him

‘But goes thy heart with this?’ - honesty and vulnerability - perhaps sympathy is created here. ????

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11
Q

Lear’s angry response to Cordelia’s speech quote (dragon)

A

“Come not between the dragon and his wrath.”

Hamartia evident - shows his irrational temper and anger
Hubris evident: dragon emblematic of power he thinks he has emphasising his arrogance
Hyperbolic
Beastial imagery - dragon

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12
Q

Lear’s response to Cordelia’s love speech (planets speech)

For by the... (meaning)
By all...
Type of imagery (two)
I disclaim...
Barbarous Scythian... (type of figurative language?) (meaning?)
Cannibals
A

Symbolism: allusion to Hecate symbolises evil

Astrological imagery: By all operation of the orbs - swear by the planets that rule our lives

For by the sacred radiance of the Sun - I swear by the sun

Paternal imagery: I disclaim all my paternal care

Simile: ‘Barbarous Scythian’ shall be as ‘well neighboured’ to my ‘bosom’ as thou my ‘sometime daughter’ (savages who eat their children are as close to my heart as you my ex daughter)

Hyperbole: Theme of children as cannibals

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13
Q

Lear’s response to Kent after ‘Good my liege —‘

Peace... (type of word)
avoid... (irony and effect on audience)
I love... (type of word)
Set my rest.... (Subversion)
Microcosm 
H&H

XXX

A

Imperative: Peace, Kent (retain control)
Avoid my sight (to Cordelia)
Irony: he has no sight; he is metaphorically blind to Cordelia’s integrity.
Foreboding: audience fear as they are aware Lear is discarding those with an insight who can help him
AO3 - commentary on wilful ignorance of monarchs/courtiers influenced by James I

Superlative: I loved her most (creates brief sympathy for sisters)

Subversion: Lear was going to ‘set my rest on her kind nursery’ - subversion of natural order, he should be the one parenting her.

Microcosm: Family is a microcosm for the country thus this disorder foreshadows the coming disorder of the kingdom.

Lear’s hamartia and hubris evident HOW?

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14
Q

What is Lear’s hamartia?

A

Temper?

Sense of superiority?

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15
Q

Lear seeking to retain his royal prerogatives despite ridding his land quote

A

We shall retain the name, and all the’addition to a king

Loss of signifier
Drawn to aesthetic quality of being a king
Unanimous ‘all’ suggesting Lear’s corrupted desire to retain his royal prerogatives despite ridding his land.

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16
Q

What does this passage actually MEAN?

With my two daughters’ dowers digest this third.
Let pride, which she calls plainness, marry her.
I do invest you jointly with my power,
Preeminence, and all the large effects
That troop with majesty. Ourself, by monthly course,
With reservation of an hundred knights
By you to be sustained, shall our abode
Make with you by due turns. Only shall we retain
The name, and all th’ additions to a king.
The sway, revenue, execution of the rest,
Belovèd sons, be yours; which to confirm,
This coronet part between you.

A

I’ll split the last third between Regan and Goneril

If she wants to be honest as she calls it she can marry her own pride

I grant u the crown but I’ll keep the name king

I’ll live with u one month then u the other

Take the crown (gives to Albany and Cornwall)

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17
Q

Relationship between Kent and Lear quote

XX

A

The bow is bent and drawn, Make from the shaft (Lear)

Let it fall rather (Kent)

What is the relationship like??
Similarity to the way Cordelia let’s whatever Lear says run over her?? (Connection between Kent and Lear)

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18
Q

Be Kent….

Quote

A

Be Kent unmannerly when Lear is mad

Meaning: Kent can speak rudely when Lear goes mad
Significance of third person - detaching himself from character??

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19
Q

Power flatter quote

A

When power bows to flattery

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20
Q

Presentation of Lear

A

Corrupt figure
Cannot appreciate meaning of true value
Intemperate and foolish

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21
Q

How is pathos creates for Lear?

A

Sporadic depictions of his loneliness and clarity

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22
Q

What type of protagonist is Lear?

A

Lear is a complex tragic protagonist

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23
Q

The division of Lear’s kingdom is…

A

Arguably the catalyst of his tragedy

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24
Q

Majestic king starts acting silly quote

XX

A

Majesty falls to folly, reserve thy state - Kent

Alliteration
Kent as vehicle for truth

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25
Q

Lear Response to Kent quote

Then Kent response to that

A

Out of my sight!

‘See better Lear’
‘Let me remain the true blank of thine eye’

26
Q

King Lear calling gods after he tells Kent to ‘out of my sight’ quote

And then calling on the gods again as he banished Kent completely

A

‘Now, by Apollo’
Apollo - god of prophecy, sum archery (because of his good sight)

‘Away’
‘By, Jupiter’ (king of gods in Roman mythology)
Lear summoning highest power
AO3 - after time of Brutus, ancient Britons worshipped Apollo and Jupiter. Lear was the ninth ruler to follow Brutus.

27
Q

Lear angry and insulting Kent when Kent says he’s swearing on the gods ‘in vain’

A

Miscreant! (Scum)

28
Q

Lear switch to anger at Kent in A1S1

Speech

XXX

A

‘Miscreant’ (scum)

‘Recreant’ (traitor)

29
Q

Better thou had’st…

A

Better thou hadst not been born

(Wishing this upon Cordelia after she says her love speech…)

Berating Cordelia
Entitlement - feels he can wish away her existence 
Cruel
Inhumane
Cutting of his dynasty

AO3
Dutiful daughter
Females as cruel monster

30
Q

What does Lear say final words to Cordelia when France takes her

‘we have no…’

A

we
Have no such daughter, nor shall ever see
That face of hers again.

then a ‘flourish’ (stage direction) reinforces sense of finality, Lear will not revoke his actions.

31
Q

Who is it that can…

A

Who is it that can tell me who I am?

Fool - ‘Lear’s shadow’

Anticipation of the bleak isolation to come, when he loses everything but his own shadow
Suggests Lear strays far from his former greatness.

AO3
In the Quarto Lear says ‘Lear’s shadow’ however in the Folio, by giving these words to the Fool
Lear I’m Quarto immediately aware of a split within himself
But in Folio this split is only observed through the Fool’s acerbic comments

Who am I and which individual can tell me who I am? Relying on others. His identity is built on others’ opinions.

Echo of profound human search for identity
Desperation tone

Juxtaposition of weak linguistic strength in two words with the depth to the Fool’s meaning makes it more impactful.

Two words indicates simplicity of truth

AO3
Tragic origins
Origin of form was a search for self
Body politic
Seeks identity in people (shows nature of the court)
Regression of status bound up with sense of self
Birth of tragedy - search for self shows tragic arc of Lear
Guidance by others rather than def much like court and king (flattery and syxhophantic dependence) the king relies on this in his own court to such an extent that its second nature to seek confirmation and gratification from others

The face that identity is bound up so extensively in social status shows the rigidity of the feudal system values that manifest themselves in Lear

But the fact that status and identity go hand in hand show the strength of social ties and hierarchy

Status becomes intrinsic sense of self worth and selfhood is reliant on your place in social hierarchy

So I could say Lear’s identity is made up of only his status as king and hierarchy in the feudal system. Social hierarchy has a firm hold over Lear’s sense of worth thus this is reflective of the remaining strength of the feudal system in the midst of its collapse

32
Q

Nature, hear, dear goddess…

A

Nature, hear dear goddess…into her womb convey sterility

Lear’s use of asterismos through the command ‘hear’ both reinforces his calling of the goddess of nature as well as acting as a cue to Goneril and the audience to pay attention to his next lines.

Recalls Edmund’s call to nature - ‘thou nature art my goddess’

Lear invokes nature as. A creative force, his curse would make nature unnatural which aligns him with Edmund

Own lineage sterile ?

So solipsism because one slight to him means he suddenly feels entitled to control his daughters future and also cut off the dynasty. Reflective of his temperate manner and the fact his emotions cloud his vision

Just make sure you mention explicitly that it means his own emotional whims in his own mind dictate what happens in the wider world, therefore showing how for Lear, the world centers around him

AO3
Male control over women, fertility, patriarchy, lineage, importance of childbirth to a woman’s value, preoccupation with female form.

Horrifying to a contemporary audience; a woman’s role was to reproduce - he’s stripping her of her purpose.

AO3 nature

Monotheism vs polytheism, natural order, survival of the fittest, solipsism, imperative - degree of command (could link to loads of thing), divine right of kings, social order

33
Q

I am ashamed that…

A

I am ashamed that thou hast the power to shake my manhood thus
(About how Goneril has pissed him off and upset him by saying he is too rowdy and now he is leaving to go to Regan’s)

Selfhood and masculinity are interlinked
Emasculation by women - unusual portrayal of women

Shame at being submissive to a women/patriarchy

Shake - reference to great chain of being and upheaval of social order

Shake suggests fragility

Shame suggests vulnerability

Insanity

34
Q

I will forget…

A

I will forget my nature
(Fool is rambling jokes about why snails have shells etc and Lear says this in the middle)

Reference to incipient madness

35
Q

Nothing can…

X

A

Nothing can be made out of nothing

(After a fool asks Lear if you can make any use of nothing)

Mirrors words of Cordelia

36
Q

Hysterica passio!…

A

Hysterica passio! Down, thou climbing sorrow, thy element’s below
(I’m getting hysterical and can feel my stomach squeezing against my heart, calm down, you belong lower down!)

Notably Shakespeare uses the feminised term ‘hysterica passio’ to describe Lear.
Potential commentary on Lear’s maternal role
Passio - a disease of women thought to arise in the womb.
Only scene where Lear mentions the mother of his children and sees them as part of his flesh.

AO3
Women as weak and hysterical
Feminist reading of the play suggest this passage shows the place of the repressed mother as Lear discovers the origin in the suffocating maternal womb

37
Q

We are not ourselves…

A

We are not ourselves when nature, being oppressed, commands the mind to suffer with the body
(When our bodies are out of order, our minds can’t function properly)

Irony

AO3
Body politic

38
Q

(To Regan) Thou better know’st…

A

Thou better know’st the offices of nature, bond of childhood…dues of gratitude

(Regan, you know better than Goneril how important the duties of a child to parent are and the responsibilities that come from gratitude)

‘Offices of nature’ - Natural order and natural obligations
Irony Lear feels society must adhere to the natural order of children remaining dutiful to their parents when this is a societal constraint not natural??
Modern audience juxtaposition of ‘office’ and ‘nature’
Dramatic irony - We know Regan is just as bad as Goneril and DOESN’t know the bond of childhood
Lear speaking as though he abides by the ‘offices of nature’ when clearly he doesn’t

Echoes - the bond between child and son crack quote and according to my bond quote

AO3
Dutiful daughter
Views of women

39
Q

Lear to Regan

I prithee…

A

I prithee, daughter, do not make me mad

Implies Lear has a notion his mental health is already frail and fading
However more likely Lear’s disordered mind and later chaotic state on the Heath is a manifestation of the irrationality and fading mental health that he has been experiencing since the very beginning of the play.
Reinforces Lear is heavily influenced by others
Pleading tone?
Peripetaia - begging daughter and desperation
Audience pities him
Symbolic of rise of younger generations over older generations

AO3
Presentation of women - women have the power to emasculate
Contrasting dutiful daughter she is meant to be

40
Q

To Regan

Thou art my flesh…

A

Thou art my flesh, my blood, my daughter, or rather a disease that’s in my flesh

Tragic inevitability - unable to escape his own body. Reinforces the tragedy lies within King Lear thus the play’s full title ‘The tragedie of King Lear’

41
Q

Lear and Regan

I gave…

A

Lear - I gave you all

Regan - and in good time you gave it

AO2
Alliteration

42
Q

O…

A

O, reason not the need

Lear raging after being driven to the end by Goneril and Regan

43
Q

Let not women’s…

A

Let not women’s weapons…stain my man’s cheeks
(Regan just said do you really need all those knights and Lear has gone all made saying everyone has stuff they don’t need and goes on to talk about how he needs patience w his daughters cos they are driving him mad)

AO2
Alliteration
Antithesis

AO3
Presentation of female
Emasculating him
Patriarchy

44
Q

You unnatural…

A

You unnatural hags, I shall have such revenges on you both that all the world shall…the terrors of the earth

AO2
‘I will have such reneges on you both that all the world shall - I will do such things’
Anacoluthon - the sudden shift in sentence structure is reminiscent of the confused and chaotic state of Lear’s mind amidst his fury and desire for revenge.
Apsiopesis (sudden loss of words) suggests Lear’s irrational anger as he says everything that comes to mind, and as quickly as it comes to mind hence changing his words quickly.

45
Q

O fool…

A

O fool, I shall go mad (storm and tempest)

46
Q

Blow winds…

A

Blow winds and crack your cheeks…crack nature’s moulds

AO2
Apostrophe

47
Q

Here I stand…

A

Here I stand your slave, a poor, infirm, weak and despised old man

48
Q

Thou has within three undivulged…

A

Thou hast within thee undivulged crimes I whipped of justice

49
Q

I am a man more…

A

I am a man more sinned against than sinning

AO2
Paradox

50
Q

Poor naked…

A

Poor naked wretches..O I have ta’en too little care of this

51
Q

Twas this flesh…

A

Twas this flesh begot those pelican daughters

52
Q

Is man no more…

A

Is man no more than this?…Unaccommodated man is…such a poor, bare, forked animal

53
Q

Off…

A

Off, off you lendings!

54
Q

When Lear comes back (after hiring disguised Kent) and G has said to say she is ill what does he say about feeling neglected?

A

‘I have perceived a most faint neglect of late’

He has however blamed feeling neglected on

His own ‘jealous curiosity than as a very prétende and purpose of unkindness’

55
Q

Lear massively hyperbolic speech when he says he is ‘ashamed’ Goneril ‘has the power to shake my manhood thus’

Blast and…
Woundings…
Old fond eyes…

A

Blast and fogs upon thee
Wishes her to feel the ‘woundings a Father’s curse’ can bring

Links to broken bond between Gloucester and Edgar

‘Old fond eyes..I’ll pluck ye out’ - foreshadows what happens to Gloucester

56
Q

What does Goneril say about Lear not being able to think straight

A

This man hath had good counsel

57
Q

Lear fear of going mad and losing himself quote

O let me…
Not mad…
I would not be…
Keep me…

A

O let me not be mad
Not mad sweet heaven
I would not be mad
Keep me in temper

Repetition
Isn’t he already mad?

58
Q

Lit crit

Lear is mentally…

A

Lear is mentally a child; in passion a Titan. - Rineheart

59
Q

Lit crit

Lear understands the…

A

Lear understands the nature of none of his children, demanding an unreal and impossible love from all three- Knight

60
Q

Lit crit

About what caused Lear’s insanity

A

It is not his daughters’ ingratitude but Lear’s reaction to the ingratitude which produces the insanity - Bennett

A2 DRAMA (25 decks)

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