Theme: Power Flashcards
Topic sentences
The presentation of power as ephemeral and fragile is explored in King Lear, evident in the developing portrayal of Lear.
Shakespeare perceivably employs allusion to the divine justice system and ultimate power of the Gods in the fate of Gloucester.
The preponderance of the youth in the play are presented as materialistic and power-hungry.
The presentation of power as ephemeral and fragile is explored in King Lear, evident in the developing portrayal of Lear.
Quotations
“Which of you shall we say doth love us most, that we our largest bounty may extend”
“Who am I, sir?” Oswald;” My Lady’s father”
“Here I stand your slave, a poor, infirm, weak and despised old man”
“Thou mights behold the great image of authority a dog’s obeyed in office”
“Kneels”
Shakespeare perceivably employs allusion to the divine justice system and ultimate power of the Gods in the fate of Gloucester.
Quotations
“There was good sport at his making, and the whoreson must be acknowledged”
“Out, vile jelly, where is thy lustre now?”
“As flies to wanton boys are we to the Gods, they kill us for their sport”
“The dark and vicious place where thee he got cost him his eyes”
The preponderance of the youth in the play are presented as materialistic and power-hungry.
Quotations
“That which my father loses, no less than all. The younger rises when the old doth fall”
“Sir, I love you more than words can wield the matter; dearer than eyesight space and liberty”
“Those pelican daughters”
The presentation of power as ephemeral and fragile is explored in King Lear, evident in the developing portrayal of Lear.
Context
Can be read not just as a historical narrative featuring kings, but also as mediations of monarchical rule, we see Shakespeare tackle the issue of patriarchal monarchy, where the king is figured as head of both his own family and of the state, a staple of Jacobean understandings of the relationship between monarch and country that saw in it an analogy to the relationship between a patriarch and his household. While Lear may have been a ruler of almost mythical status from ancient Britain, King Lear articulates pressing contemporary concerns about the power of early modern kings. The divine right of kings: 1. King- God’s representative on Earth. God is responsible for deciding who kings and queens should be.
2. Abdicating was not an option since the king had been chosen by God.
James, I planned to unite Scotland and England, the previous ruler of Scotland he now ruled both. The play colourfully portrays the consequences of dividing a kingdom. So wouldn’t it be a great act of wisdom to unite a kingdom?
England and Scotland were made into one kingdom by King James (James VI of Scotland, or equivalently, James I of England).
The play was presented to the King, who became the patron of Shakespeare’s acting company.
Shakespeare perceivably employs allusion to the divine justice system and ultimate power of the Gods in the fate of Gloucester.
Context
Because he committed adultery- you can’t escape justice.
The surviving characters are all virtuous.
The lack of morality by many characters in the play and the terrible consequences of this indirectly promotes Christian values since we are shown the disastrous reality of a world without Christianity. The 10 commandments were the foundation for morality, 7 you shall not commit adultery
The preponderance of the youth in the play are presented as materialistic and power-hungry.
Queen Elizabeth famously made a speech in which she compared herself to a pelican, they believed pelicans would wound themselves to feed their young.
- Brian Annesley- whose daughters had tried to declare him insane in order to gain his property
- William Allen- whose daughters tried to swindle their own father and gain his money by improper means.
