Violence Theme Flashcards
Introduction point
Natural order was set by the Divine Right of Kings
- the king abdicating would be unheard of; further emphasised by the distribution of his kingdom to his draughts due to the position of women in what was approximately 1605.
- contextually superstitious audiences wouldve predicted violent consequences of these actions
What are the 5 points explored?
Psychological violence Natural violence Lear's rejection of Cordelia Blinding of Gloucester Inevitability of violence
What two quotes go with Psychological violence (AO1+AO3) ?
‘Into her womb convey sterility’ [Lear]
‘We must accept that fathers are owed particular duties from their daughters and be appalled by the chaos that ensues when these primal links are broken’ Kate McLuskie (1985) feminist critic
What was Kate McLuskie’s quote? (1985)
‘We must accept that fathers are owed particular duties from their daughters and be appalled by the chaos that ensues when these primal links are broken’
Who said, ‘We must accept that fathers are owed particular duties from their daughters and be appalled by the chaos that ensues when these primal links are broken’
Kate McLuskie (1985)
Talk through the psychological violence point
Not all violence is physical - there is emotional trauma also; e.g. Lear curses Goneril barren: as she has removed his purpose as king and respected father, he retaliated by removing her purpose as a mother.
Inappropriate response to her instructing him to reduce his following.
‘Into her womb convey sterility’
Conflict in interpretations: Lear is victimised and disrespected in his vulnerability vs. Lear’s selfishness: he only wants all followers to retain power- a power which he divided up and revoked ownership of. (Contextualise illegality of private armies- justifies Goneril’s position)
> For AO3 contextualise Goneril’s actions as a woman in society - running the home and Kingdom - potential sympathy for Goneril.
A feminist criticism would appreciate more the realistic position of the women.
McLuskie ‘we must accept that fathers are owed particular duties by their daughters and be appalled by the chaos which ensues when this primal links are broken’.
What 4 quotes can be used to describe the natural violence of the storm?
(2 AO1s and 2 AO3s)
‘Singe my white head’
‘Your horrible pleasures’
‘Nature’s revenge is absolute ‘ (Mellor)
‘The Heath is both a real place and a place in the mind.’ (Michael Ignatieff, 1984)
Who said, ‘The Heath is both a real place and a place in the mind.’ (Natural violence, the storm) ?
Michael Ignatieff (1984)
The Natural Violence / the storm, point:
The Storm acts as a symbiosis of Lear and the elements: portrays the internal, psychological conflict that Lear is subject to (Act 3 Scene 2),
‘Singe my white head’
Permitting the violence - links to finding a perverse pleasure, brutality of his psychology, ‘your horrible pleasures’ - calming element, sacrificial lexis proves a symbiosis of Lear and nature, unifying them to portray the violence in Lear’s mind = psychological instability.
STORM IS AN EXTERNAL MANIFESTATION OF INTERNAL VIOLENCE - he argues with a believed consciousness, Mellor ‘Nature’s revenge is absolute’ - applying a consciousness to nature
What quotes go with Lear’s rejection of Cordelia? (AO1+AO3)
‘Come not between the dragon and his wrath’
‘Cordelia blends largesse and limitation in her first appearance in the play’ Terry Eagleton
What does Terry Eagleton say about Cordelia?
Lear’s rejection of Cordelia
‘Cordelia blends largesse and limitation in her first appearance in the play’
Lear’s rejection of Cordelia point:
Lear fails to see through the deception of Regan and Goneril and responds to Cordelia’s refusal to conform in a verbally violent way,
‘Come not between the dragon an his wrath’
Metaphor for his own anger mirroring the legendary destruction of a dragon; although it is not a response of physical violence, the lexical choices prove he is using his constitutional power to express his violent feelings
- interpretations: Lear is blind to the truth and self absorbed, fails to see te manipulation
- Lear is disappointed in Cordelia, youngest/favourite, and doesn’t know how to express his heartbreak- King would not be used to being told ‘no.’
The quote used for the blinding of Gloucester
Cornwall ‘Blind him, I say’
Regan ‘Hard, hard! Oh filthy traitor!’
Blinding of Gloucester point:
Regan, Goneril, Cornwall and Oswald all had a part to play in terrible mistreatment - believed to be a ‘traitor’
> instruction from Cornwall is a definite action of unjustified violence. Contemporaneously, treason was worthy of the highest punishment. Further emphasised by Regan’s declaration of exclamatives show not only her commitment and passion, but the brutality of the act.
Could potentially be her directing her overwhelmed emotions to appear in support of her husband
The two quotes for the inevitability of violence (AO1+AO3)
‘The wheel has come full circle’
‘His madness marked the end of the wistful, egotistical monarch.’ Barbara Everett (1960)