Lear Flashcards
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
‘digest the third’
‘we unburdened crawl towards death’
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
‘avoid my sight’
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?
‘speak’
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
‘come not between the dragon and his wrath’
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
‘Hecate’
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
‘sons’
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
‘darker purpose’
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…
‘hear nature, hear… into her womb convey sterility’
‘a wretch whom nature is ashamed almost t’acknowledge’
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
‘bids the wind blow’
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
‘that things might change or cease; tears his white hair’
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
‘old fond eyes beweep this cause again, I’ll pluck ye out’
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
‘let not women’s weapons, water-drops, stain my man’s cheeks!’
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
‘blasts with eyeless rage in their fury and make nothing of’
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
‘this night in which the cub-drawn bear would crouch… bids what will take all’
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
‘blow winds, and crack your cheeks!’
Lear in the tempest
Blames women for his lapse in thought in splitting his kingdom and subverting the natural order - women as a disease
‘you sulphurous and thought executing fires’
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
‘singe my white head’
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
‘rumble thy bellyful! Spit fire, spout rain!’
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
‘my wits begin to turn’
Lear in the tempest
Tells fool to go in first = anagnoresis (realisation) of his wrongs and of the sufferings of the lower classes
‘go first, you houseless poverty’
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
‘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’
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
‘Trey, Blanch and Sweetheart, see, they bark at me’
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
‘Let them anatomise Regan; see what breeds about her heart’
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
‘no they cannot touch me for coining. I am the king himself’
‘O thou side-piercing sight!’