King Lear: Scene one Flashcards
Paragraph one
Madness is worked through the faculty of sight
Paragraph one: point one
Names “Lear/leer”
Regan is an anagram for anger
Appearance vs reality – personifies the characters as 2D and contradictory
Paragraph one: point two
Goneril “dearer than sight”
Furthers pretence, symbolic “sight” – how Lear is blinded by his hubristic self-satisfaction and egocentrism
Foreshadows loss of eyesight later physically portrayed in Gloucester and mentally in Lear with lack of self
Paragraph one: point three
C – definitive statement “I love according to my bond”
Speaks honesty – symbolic “bond” complex as prefix for ‘bondage’ – shackles / loving affection of child
Tumult in religion as after Reformation unclear who was the head of church and whether protestants were truly devout to God
Paragraph one: point four
Leer cannot accept this – ‘nothing’ Lawrence Oliver hold his hands up to his ears as if he misheard
Paragraph two
Madness – Lear has a lack of connection with the ‘self’ after Goneril refuses to no longer obey him both in his paternal/patriarch roles
Paragraph two: point one
Disintegration began when Lear expected falsity over honesty
“Nothing comes from nothing” to C
Ironic when C gave him the truth which was something Goneril gave nothing in her dishonesty which he accepted as fact
Catastrophic consequences of dividing a kingdom – emphasises positivity in James intention of unity, which parliament disputed
Paragraph two: point two
G – “I will not speak with him”
Definitive statement – she has the power
Perversion of the GchainofB – can only lead to anarchy as goes against Gods order
Paragraph three
Sub-plot: The madness of Edmund and his abstinence from religion reflect how in the Renaissance “truths” of God were challenged by “New Learning” in science
Edmund – Machiavellian / Malcontent
Paragraph three: point one
Hold the GchainofBeing as inferiority and regression of society
“Plague of custom”
Hyperbole – how challenges social view of legitimacy and hierarchy
Bubonic plague – sickness
Paragraph three: point two
“Gods stand up for bastards” –
Aligns with paganism - aligned morals
Also symbolic “bastards” - depicts how his contradictory beliefs may be due to his illegitimacy and having no place in society
Unacceptance by father “good sport at his making”
Paragraph three: point three
“Excellent foppery of the world”
No beliefs – believes he can play the system and has no values
-only has materialistic desires of money and wealth
How there is only one God which would reconcile Christians at a time when their were divisions in the Church
