King Lear Context

Question 1

What is primogeniture?

Answer 1

The idea that a 1st born male takes precedent and inherits any estate

Question 2

When was King Lear first performed?

Answer 2

26th December 1606

Question 3

What is a natural son?

Answer 3

Another word for bastard

Question 4

Why are bastards evil to a 17th century audience?

Answer 4

They are half connected with aristocratic society, and half a product of another society so have a clear motive to contest the dominant ideology

Question 5

When was legislation introduced that allowed a first born daughter to inherit the British throne even if she had a younger brother?

Answer 5

2012

Question 6

How was suicide viewed?

Answer 6

Suicide was the worst sin possible, and therefore the character’s achieve a status of ultimate evil

Question 7

What was the punishment for suicide?

Answer 7

Goods, money and debts were forfeited to the Crown.
A person who committed suicide was denied a Christian burial. Instead, the night after the inquest, churchmen would carry the corpse to crossroads and throw the naked body into the pit. A wooden stake was driven through the victim’s heart, pinning them to the dirt.

Question 8

Who was Susanna?

Answer 8

She was Shakespeare’s daughter, and was named a recusant for not attending the Easter day church service

Question 9

Who developed the concept of The Great Chain of Being?

Answer 9

Plato in Ancient Greece

Question 10

What was one of Shakespeare’s brothers called?

Answer 10

Edmund

Question 11

When did he marry Anne Hathaway?

Answer 11

November 1582
She was four months pregnant, ensuring that his children were not considered illegitimate

Question 12

What was Shakespeare’s religion?

Answer 12

His parents were both Catholic

Question 13

What was Shakespeare influenced by?

Answer 13

The play King Leir in 1590, but he totally invents the whole Gloucester sub-plot and the eventual deaths of Lear and Cordelia

Question 14

Who rewrote King Lear?

Answer 14

Nahum Tate in 1681.
This invented a love theme between Cordelia and Edgar, and changed the ending so Lear and Cordelia lived happily ever after

Question 15

Who was Brian Annesley?

Answer 15

His eldest daughters tried to get him declared insane so they could annex their father’s property in 1603. His youngest daughter Cordell protested her sister’s actions

Question 16

Context around King James?

Answer 16

He sought the political union of England and Scotland.
He published a book on witchcraft, Demonology in 1597
He held the title of Duke of Albany

Question 17

What book did James write for his son?

Answer 17

1599 - he wrote a political handbook, the Basilikon Doran for his eldest son writing about the dangers of dividing territory among children.
The unite coin minted in 1604 had engraved on it ‘I will make them one nation’

Question 18

The Earl of Essex?

Answer 18

He was a favourite of Elizabeth and led a political coup against her government in 1601. His followers had to be neutralised in order to forestall the division of the kingdom.

Question 19

The succession?

Answer 19

Concerns about the succession in King Lear could reflect the concerns around Elizabeth’s succession.
1559 - parliament raised issue of marriage but Elizabeth deflected it
1563 - Elizabeth opposed discussion of succession when it was thought that she might die of smallpox
1566 - Parliament pushed Elizabeth to marry

Question 20

When was the first permanent colony founded?

Answer 20

In December 1606 ships sailed from London’s docks to found the first permanent colony in America, at Jamestown.
It was also the year in which the Union Jack was designed and first flown.

Question 21

How old was Shakespeare when King Lear was performed?

Answer 21

42 - he knew he may not have long to live

Question 22

Effects of the plague?

Answer 22

Winter 1603 - a third of the population had been struck by the plague with over 30,000 Londoners dies (around three thousand deaths a week).
They were convinced that dogs spread the plague so the London authorities had them rounded up and slaughtered

Question 23

When was the gunpowder plot?

Answer 23

1605 - revealed through the Monteagle letter

Question 24

What was the Monteagle letter?

Answer 24

One of the people involved, Francis Tresham, was worried that the explosion would kill his brother in law, Lord Monteagle. 26th October, he sent a letter warning him not to attend parliament on 5th November.

Question 25

What was the History of King Leir?

Answer 25

Published 1590
Nobody dies in King Leir and all that is lost is restored
The elder sister’s jealousy is directed against Cordelia, who they fear will marry before them.

Question 25

When did Joan of Arc live?

Answer 25

1412 - 1431

Question 26

What was the Arcadia?

Answer 26

Published in 1590 by Philip Sidney
Contains an image of a blind and suicidal man being led to the edge of a cliff by his good son, both of whom were in rags.

Question 27

Who was the fool originally played by?

Answer 27

Robert Armin

Question 28

Who was Edgar the Peaceful?

Answer 28

He was king from 959 - 975 and was celebrated for reuniting the kingdoms of England

Question 29

What was Harsnett’s declaration?

Answer 29

1603 - Samuel Harsnett wrote a pamphlet about people who feigned madness to gain money or sympathy.
Harsnett was a sceptic; he didn’t believe in demonic possession.
Shakespeare used Harsnett’s pamphlet in creating Edgar’s disguise as Poor Tom.
There are many links to Harsnett’s pamphlet in the play, such as Poor Tom’s words ‘the Foul Fiend’

Question 30

What modern divided nations does this reflect?

Answer 30

Syria or Bosnia in the 1980s

Question 31

Who was the court jester for James I?

Answer 31

Archie Armstrong

Question 32

What does Gloucester’s story reflect?

Answer 32

The Book of Job - you can go through lots of suffering and still be godly

Question 33

The Great Chain of being?

Answer 33

Developed by Plato