King Lear Context and critic Flashcards

1
Q

when was the gunpowder plot?

A

1605

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
2
Q

when was king lear published?

A

1606

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
3
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)

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
4
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)

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
5
Q

‘Shakespeare turned forty-two in 1606…

A

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

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
6
Q

‘Winter 1603, a third of the population had been struck by the plague:…

A

over thirty thousand Londoners died – three thousand deaths a week.’ (Shapiro)

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
7
Q

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

A

dogs were blamed, they were rounded up and slaughtered

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
8
Q

Shakespeare was primarily inspired by?

A

King Leir

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
9
Q

compared to Leir, King Lear had: ‘little interest in…

A

in keeping any of the old play’s Christian piety’ (Shapiro)

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
10
Q

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

A

Arcadia (1590) by Philip Sidney

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
11
Q

‘A noble heart, like the sun…

A

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

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
12
Q

(Fool and Lear) ‘he would force them together…

A

creating an unusually intimate and endearing bond’ (Shapiro)

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
13
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)

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
14
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
How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
15
Q

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

A

a day associated with hospitality of the homeless

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
16
Q

what is primogeniture

A

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

17
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

18
Q

define Machiavellian villain

A

cunning, self-serving, manipulative character

19
Q

define pathos

A

moments that evoke great pity

20
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

21
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)

22
Q

define the denouncement of a play

A

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

23
Q

Cordelia “The epitome of graceful…

A

Chrsitain femininity” - Warren

24
Q

define sadomasochism

A

enjoying or welcoming pain

25
define gerontocracy
old people have power
26
‘you can be an angel (Cordelia), or you can be a monster (Gonreil and Regan)...
There is no middle ground.’ - bruce
27
‘The education and...
purification of Lear’ (Lamar)
28
'there is no supernatural justice...
only human natural justice.' -Goldberg
29
Edmund 'he obeys natures
law of selfishness.' - Knight
30
"Shakespeare uses the beings that his world deems lowly and foolish to destabilize...
conventional wisdom about class and to subvert the hierarchal expectations." - Halvorson
31
"an order collapsing because...
of its own internal contradictions" - Turner
32
"human beings are entirely responsible for their own actions...
the tragedy is absolute" - Muir
33
"The play destabilises our theological and...
moral assurances." -Sisson
34
"One must be poor to be rich, a fool to be...
wise and blind to see." - Hare
35
When was James I executed (English civil war)
1625
36
When was James I rule
1603