Lear

Question 1

Lear allowing new establishment to take over

cannibalistic nature of meritocratic new order
Does not give primogeniture to eldest + male = usurping natural order
Mary Tudor as G+R || Cord. as Elizabeth I

Answer 1

‘digest the third’

‘we unburdened crawl towards death’

Question 2

Lear banishing Cordelia

Doesn’t allow Cord. to explain herself - feels better about banishment this way and can avoid having metaphorical sight and seeing she is right

Answer 2

‘avoid my sight’

Question 3

Lear at division of lands

plosive and monosyllabic word highlight Divine Right of Kings which JI believed in BUT assc. with absolutist monarchy and thus catholicism - warning to James?

Answer 3

‘speak’

Question 4

Lear when Kent tries to intervene

Compares himself to a dragon - mythical beast which shows old order is already a myth
Also knows deep down he has no right to be angry - mythical anger

Answer 4

‘come not between the dragon and his wrath’

Question 5

Lear reacting to Cordelia’s refusal to profess her love to him

This has 3 forms - maiden, mother and crone (Cord. is maiden whilst G+R are mother and crone - Lear’s mother)
Goddess of witchcraft from ancient Greece = Shakesbae criticising JI’s belief in witchcraft as archaic
Splitting not sanctioned by christian Gods so uses ancient Gods

Answer 5

‘Hecate’

Question 6

Lear when addressing everyone at the land split

Calls Cornwall and Albany this which is dangerous bc men own woman and their possessions and women take name = dangerous to succession

Answer 6

‘sons’

Question 7

Lear knows his actions are wrong - duality between public and private spheres reflected in duality between plot and subplot and Lear is in public sphere = social unrest

Answer 7

‘darker purpose’

Question 8

Lear when Goneril tells him to get rid of his men

Lear thinks he can control and dictate his will to nature bc she’s a woman - just like Edmund, has nature as his goddess but Edm. does bc he’s not legitimate through God…

Answer 8

‘hear nature, hear… into her womb convey sterility’

‘a wretch whom nature is ashamed almost t’acknowledge’

Question 9

Lear in the tempest

Lear attempts to gain control over nature but his unnatural acts forbid this
If Strom is rep. of Lear’s inner turmoil, then Lear is analogous to a woman

Answer 9

‘bids the wind blow’

Question 10

Lear in the tempest

Lear destroys himself bc he cannot adapt to new machiavellian order
‘hair’ is on a separate line and that line is not continued - usually rhyming couplets contains moral overtones, but incomplete nature of it presents immorality of Lear’s hate (blame) towards others

Answer 10

‘that things might change or cease; tears his white hair’

Question 11

Lear when Goneril tells him to get rid of his men

archaic syntax presents lear seeing according to old chivalric order and his inability to adapt to new order bc of value he places on emotion

Answer 11

‘old fond eyes beweep this cause again, I’ll pluck ye out’

Question 12

Lear when Regan denies him accommodation

Alliteration of ‘w’ shows how machiavellian new order is securely in place
highlights female duplicity as he even cites them as reason for new order

Answer 12

‘let not women’s weapons, water-drops, stain my man’s cheeks!’

Question 13

Lear in the tempest

Lear has lost his metaphorical sight of what’s right and wrong thus is unfounded in his anger
Lack of metaphorical sight of new order as well, parallels its fall - everything will fall - nihilism

Answer 13

‘blasts with eyeless rage in their fury and make nothing of’

Question 14

Lear is infantilised by Goneril and Regan as they become like his mothers
Lear becomes more desperate and returns to nothing, relinquishing power to new order

Answer 14

‘this night in which the cub-drawn bear would crouch… bids what will take all’

Question 15

Lear in the tempest

Tries to destroy nature too bc she’s a woman and this is only way he can prevent subversion to patriarchal hierarchy bc he is weaker than G+R
Face puffing on maps = mirrors Lear breaking kingdom up - attempting to blame nature
Machiavellian order rep by wind (female) and the depth of their spirituality and faith and shallow self serving nature bc face cracks - nothing below

Answer 15

‘blow winds, and crack your cheeks!’

Question 16

Lear in the tempest

Blames women for his lapse in thought in splitting his kingdom and subverting the natural order - women as a disease

Answer 16

‘you sulphurous and thought executing fires’

Question 17

Lear in the tempest

Trying to maintain patriarchal dominance that’s already gone and say that power of women only singes his crown, and doesn’t break it like fool suggests

Answer 17

‘singe my white head’

Question 18

Lear in the tempest

Antithesis of fire and rain - they neutralise and result in nothing = nihilistic and suggests powerlessness of Lear and reversion to his natural state
Anger and bitterness of plosive + sibilant sounds AND words w m than one syllable v. monosyllabic sounds presents instability of Lear’s emotions - like a woman

Answer 18

‘rumble thy bellyful! Spit fire, spout rain!’

Question 19

Lear in the tempest

Lear realises the error of his ways as his mind breaks from the boundaries of the old order and into insanity (sublime roots)
Shared line with Kent portrays Lear’s dependence on him to uphold the old order but Lear sent him away

Answer 19

‘my wits begin to turn’

Question 20

Lear in the tempest

Tells fool to go in first = anagnoresis (realisation) of his wrongs and of the sufferings of the lower classes

Answer 20

‘go first, you houseless poverty’

Question 21

Trial scene

Parody of justice and mockery of justice system bc madmen direct trial - presents how justice is done better here than in proper courts
Ineffectual nature of the legal system - old order trying new order but justice is not done

Answer 21

‘Arraign her first, ‘tis Goneril… kicked the poor king, her father’
‘[to Edgar] Thou robed man of justice, take thy place.
[to the fool] And thou his yoke-fellow of equity, bench by his side’

Question 22

Trial scene

Trey = betray = Goneril
Blanch = to make pale with fear = Regan
Sweetheart = Cordelia
Misogynistic - compares woman to dogs - either aggressive like G+R or eternally loyal and submissive to their owner = polarisation

Answer 22

‘Trey, Blanch and Sweetheart, see, they bark at me’

Question 23

Trial scene

Regan’s heart is cold and therefore she cannot feel emotion - polarisation - allusions to infertility
Hardness of heart in Christianity is a punishment for the wicked - presents new order as sinful and faithless - Shakesbae suggesting JI’s Catholic sympathies will lead to a Catholic takeover - Gunpowder Plot 1605

Answer 23

‘Let them anatomise Regan; see what breeds about her heart’

Question 24

Lear when Gloucester and the ‘Fisherman’ find him

‘Coining’ can also mean ‘counterfeiting’ - perhaps ‘they’ = the Gods - counterfeiting regards goods of inferior value - perhaps G+R? Still professing supreme power as king?

Edgar’s reply confirms this and presents Lear as still partially blind

Answer 24

‘no they cannot touch me for coining. I am the king himself’

‘O thou side-piercing sight!’

Question 25

Lear when Gloucester and the ‘Fisherman’ find him

Gloucester and Goneril make the same mistakes - Glouc has Edmund illegitimately and it leads to betrayal and disaster and Goneril later pursues Edmund sexually
Thus Lear is insane here (seen through prose) but remarkably insightful - like the fool

Answer 25

‘Ha! Goneril with a white beard?’

Question 26

Lear when Gloucester and the ‘Fisherman’ find him

Lear pardons Glouc bc he recognises Lear as king - Goneril doesn’t so is not forgiven
Also ‘man’s’ - alludes to fact that female infidelity is worse than male infidelity bc of expectations of chastity and succession - echoes God’s language and thus natural order

Answer 26

‘I pardon man’s life. What was thy cause? Adultery? Thou shalt not die - die for adultery? No!’

Question 27

Lear when Gloucester and the ‘Fisherman’ find him

Irony - G+R are the real animalistic ones through their usurpation of power
Links to the fool’s earlier words - ‘to keep one’s eyes on either side’s nose that what a man cannot smell out he may spy into’ - shows that Lear had no metaphorical sense - he was like a child - reflects machiavellian belief that old men should give their lands to their sons and be their wards
When Lear realised he had no power over nature and as king he realised their machiavellian nature and their deception
Lear realises he is just a man now - he renounced his position as God’s representative

Answer 27

‘they flattered me like a dog’
‘when the thunder would not peace at my bidding, there I found ‘em, there I smelt ‘em out.’
‘They are not men of their words: they told me I was everything; ‘tis a lie, I am not ague-proof’

Question 28

Lear when Gloucester and the ‘Fisherman’ find him

Lecherous = more sinful version of lust
‘gilded’ = gold coloured - fly metaphor for G+R and if it’s gold coloured it shows the difference between appearance and reality of machiavellian order - looks noble but is lecherous in nature
In Lears sight - he saw it before but was metaphorical blind

Answer 28

‘the small gilded fly does lecher in my sight’

Question 29

Lear when Gloucester and the ‘Fisherman’ find him

G+R are partially beast - appearance and reality differ - beast-like sexuality but the guise of chastity - presents illegitimate power through appearance bc they attempt to control husbands to whom kingdom belongs

Answer 29

‘down from the waist they are centaurs, though women all above’

Question 30

Lear when Gloucester and the ‘Fisherman’ find him

Ambiguity like the fool (‘that’s a wise man and a fool’) - who is Lear talking about? Gluon or himself?
Himself - his fall from being God’s representative to just a man

Answer 30

‘let me wipe it first, it smells of mortality’

Question 31

Lear when Gloucester and the ‘Fisherman’ find him

‘Blind Cupid’ = reference to brothel - reiterates Glouc’s sinfulness of lust that produced Edmund
Suggests that lust is a lapse in metaphorical judgement (cupid is blind) bc goes against natural order
Cupid is the God of erotic love, attraction and affection - presents both Lear and Glouc’s metaphorical blindness as coming from their lust and affection - both sinful

Answer 31

‘do thy worst, blind Cupid, I’ll not love’

Question 32

Lear when Gloucester and the ‘Fisherman’ find him

Lucidity is clear through Lear’s madness - mirroring the fool
Glouc and Lear now have metaphorical sight - hindered by their other senses that clouded this (fool - ‘she’s as like this as a crab’s like an apple’) but now Glouc is blind and Lear has no sense - mad

Answer 32

‘no eyes in your head… Yet you see how this world goes’

Question 33

Lear when Gloucester and the ‘Fisherman’ find him

Egalitarian quality - everyone is a fool in the world/everyone’s acting - difference between appearance and reality - this is the new order and babies cry to be born to such a world that doesn’t uphold God’s divine order
Beneath it all are we just animalistic? Or simply nothing?
Mirrors the fool - ‘they will not let me have all the fool to myself, they’ll be snatching’ - irony - competition of who’s the biggest fool

Answer 33

‘when we are born, we cry that we are come to this great stage of fools’

Question 34

Lear when he wakes up to Cordelia

Lead - toxic metal is connected to death and transformation - represents impurities in oneself and burning of it reps cleansing of impurities - anagnorisis
Lear being on a wheel and lead burning from his tears suggests he has had his anagnorisis and realises his errors and the necessity of his dying - symbolised by fire

Answer 34

‘I am bound upon a wheel of fire that mine own tears do scald like molten lead’

Question 35

Lear when he and Cordelia are imprisoned by Edmund

Presents Lear and Cordelia as birds in a cage - it’s unnatural for them to be trapped so new order (unnaturalness) is the cage
Recognition of their natural state as animals under appearance
Together he and Cordelia are symbol of hope so must be contained

Answer 35

‘sing like birds i’th cage’

Question 36

Lear when he and Cordelia are imprisoned by Edmund

Lear and Cordelia are sent to report on corruption on Earth as they uphold God’s natural order now
Alludes to theme of disguise - appearance v reality
Presents need for old order to adopt elements of the new order in order to survive - Lear realises this too late - has already been taken adv. of
Links to JI who accepted sycophantic behaviour as loyalty like Lear - needs to adopt parts of new order to combat this

Answer 36

‘God’s spies’

Question 37

Lear when he and Cordelia are imprisoned by Edmund

Links to JI’s fickle nature - favoured one faction at one point then another with no continuity or stability (like women - moon) = allowed factions to become more machiavellian by vying for power

Answer 37

‘walled prison packs and sects of great ones that ebb and flow with the moon’