King Lear Context and critic Flashcards

(31 cards)

1
Q

when was the gunpowder plot?

A

1605

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2
Q

the gunpowder plot caused: ‘a maelstrom of fear, horror, a desire for revenge…

A

an all too brief sense of national unity and a struggle to understand where such evil came from.’ (Shapiro)

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3
Q

‘in 1599 King James wrote a political handbook, Basilikon Doron, for his eldest born, Prince Henry…

A

warning about the dangers of dividing territory among children.’ (Shapiro)

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4
Q

‘Shakespeare turned forty-two in 1606…

A

In an era which people lived on average until their mid-forties’ (Shapiro)

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5
Q

how many in the Winter of 1603 died of the plague

A

thirty thousand Londoners died

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6
Q

what was the plague blamed on and what did the London authorities do?

A

dogs were blamed, they were rounded up and slaughtered

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7
Q

Shakespeare was primarily inspired by?

A

King Leir

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8
Q

the scene where Edgar leads his father to a cliff was inspired by?

A

Arcadia (1590) by Philip Sidney

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9
Q

‘A noble heart, like the sun…

A

showeth its greatest countenance in its lowest estate’ (Philip Sidney, Arcadia, 1590)

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10
Q

Declaration (1603)
by Samuel Harsnett - ‘a brutal world in which young people are abandoned and mistreated…

A

the physically or psychologically ill are abused, and those who give the ‘wrong’ answers are punished’ (Shapiro)

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11
Q

Give two ideas of how Micheal de Montaigne (1533 – 1592) that influenced Lear

A
  • attempts to detach from worldly things to prepare for death
  • the great volatility (unpredictable) of human nature is its most basic feature
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12
Q

what was poignant about the date King Lear was first performed? 26th Dec 1606

A

a day associated with hospitality of the homeless

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13
Q

what is primogeniture

A

law claiming that all property is passed onto the eldest male heir

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14
Q

James I had three kingdoms to pass to his one heir, why did he find it important to follow primogeniture

A

believed it essential to the strength and stability of social order

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15
Q

define Machiavellian villain

A

cunning, self-serving, manipulative character

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16
Q

define pathos

A

moments that evoke great pity

17
Q

who is the malcontent in king lear and when is this established

A

Edmund is discontent with his position in life, is is disgusted by society particular in his soliloquy in 1.2

18
Q

what is poetic justice and where is it in king lear

A

when virtues are rewarded and vices punished - Regan and Gonreil’s deaths (no poetic justice for Cordelia)

19
Q

define the denouncement of a play

A

when the fates of the characters are all shown - there is a lack of closure

20
Q

define sadomasochism

A

enjoying or welcoming pain

21
Q

define gerontocracy

A

old people have power

22
Q

When was James I executed (English civil war)

23
Q

Edmund ‘he obeys natures

A

law of selfishness.’
- Knight

24
Q

“The play destabilises our theological and…

A

moral assurances.”
-Sisson

25
"Shakespeare uses the beings that his world deems lowly and foolish to destabilize...
conventional wisdom about class and to subvert the hierarchal expectations." - Halvorson
26
"One must be poor to be rich, a fool to be...
wise and blind to see." - Hare
27
"Humans are capable of unspeakably...
animal behaviour towards each other." - Nunn
28
“Developing from nature magic...
to God” - Knight
29
'These are not only personal sins, but...
an upsetting of civilised values.' - Norris
30
‘Women are made either to submit...
or must be destroyed’ - Mcluskie
31
“Under the fine clothes, there is nothing...
but greed and lust” - Kermode