Act 3 Scene 7 Flashcards
(10 cards)
G and R teameork
🗣 Quote: “Hang him instantly.” / “Pluck out his eyes.” – Goneril & Regan
📖 AO1 (Meaning): These brutal imperatives from Lear’s daughters demonstrate their descent into unchecked cruelty, flipping traditional notions of femininity.
🔍 AO2 (Method): Imperative verbs show their thirst for violent retribution. The graphic command “pluck out his eyes” foreshadows the blinding.
🏛 AO3 (Context): A shocking inversion of expected Jacobean gender roles; women were seen as merciful, yet here they become the play’s most vicious figures.
🧠 AO4 (Interpretation): Regan and Goneril echo the savagery of unnatural children, fulfilling Lear’s fears from earlier scenes.
🗣 AO5 (Critics): Feminist critics may see their violence as a rebellion against patriarchy; others may argue it reveals unchecked ambition in the new world order.
Edmund close your eyes
🗣 Quote: “The revenges are not fit for your beholding.” – Cornwall (to Edmund)
📖 AO1: Cornwall shields Edmund from the violence, symbolically handing down power and responsibility.
🔍 AO2: Formal diction and euphemistic “revenges” create a chilling contrast with the physical brutality.
🏛 AO3: This line echoes the older generation passing the torch to the newer, corrupted heirs.
🧠 AO4: Juxtaposes Edmund’s outward refinement with inner ambition.
🗣 AO5: Some critics argue Cornwall enables evil by allowing Edmund to remain uninvolved but complicit.
Gloucester like santa
🗣 Quote: “Tis most ignorantly done, to pluck me by the beard.” – Gloucester
📖 AO1: Gloucester appeals to respect and tradition even in the face of cruelty.
🔍 AO2: The phrase “pluck me by the beard” signifies the humiliation of old age and dignity.
🏛 AO3: Beards were symbols of wisdom; violating this symbol is a metaphor for the collapse of moral order.
🧠 AO4: Reflects the old world’s values being discarded by the new.
🗣 AO5: Humanist critics may view this moment as the death of decency in the political sphere.
Cornwall on eye
🗣 Quote: “Upon these eyes of thine I’ll set my foot.” – Cornwall
📖 AO1: Cornwall’s shocking violence enacts literal and symbolic blindness.
🔍 AO2: The monosyllabic brutality of “set my foot” emphasises dominance and cruelty.
🏛 AO3: The physical mutilation reflects spiritual and moral blindness pervading the kingdom.
🧠 AO4: Reinforces Gloucester’s earlier misjudgements and Lear’s own symbolic loss of sight.
🗣 AO5: Psychoanalytic critics may read this as an Oedipal assertion of power over a father figure.
ew guii
🗣 Quote: “Out, vile jelly!” – Cornwall
📖 AO1: A grotesque comment during Gloucester’s blinding, dehumanising his body.
🔍 AO2: “Vile jelly” uses tactile imagery to horrify the audience.
🏛 AO3: Jacobean audiences would find this disturbingly literal; the stagecraft here is brutally theatrical.
🧠 AO4: Heightens the grotesque nature of the scene, pushing tragedy into physical horror.
🗣 AO5: Some see this moment as the climax of the play’s cruelty; others read it as necessary punishment in a retributive tragedy.
why would u say that
🗣 Quote: “My lord, you have one eye left.” – Servant 1
📖 AO1: A painfully ironic reminder of Gloucester’s suffering.
🔍 AO2: Black humour or unconscious cruelty; tragic irony in its bluntness.
🏛 AO3: Even those trying to help fail to comprehend the depth of the trauma.
🧠 AO4: Adds to the scene’s unbearable tension and grotesque tone.
🗣 AO5: Seen as an indictment of the inhumanity bred by power dynamics.
Regan on yingings
🗣 Quote: Stage direction: [Regan kills Servant from behind]
📖 AO1: This silent action speaks volumes about Regan’s viciousness.
🔍 AO2: Cowardly and cruel – an ambush rather than fair conflict.
🏛 AO3: Gender expectations inverted – the woman is the killer.
🧠 AO4: Reinforces Regan’s moral decay.
🗣 AO5: Some critics argue Regan surpasses Goneril in villainy due to her willingness to physically kill.
Gloucester realisation
🗣 Quote: “O my follies! Then Edgar was abused.” – Gloucester
📖 AO1: A moving moment of anagnorisis: Gloucester finally realises his mistake.
🔍 AO2: Exclamatory interjection “O my follies!” reveals pain and regret.
🏛 AO3: Aligns with Aristotle’s tragic arc – recognition after irreversible error.
🧠 AO4: Ironically, he cannot see the truth until he’s blinded.
🗣 AO5: Many critics see this as one of the most human moments in the play.
smell his way
🗣 Quote: “Let him smell his way to Dover.” – Regan
📖 AO1: A cruel mockery of Gloucester’s blindness.
🔍 AO2: Verbal cruelty reinforces physical suffering.
🏛 AO3: Inversion of hospitality — Regan continues to strip him of dignity.
🧠 AO4: Reinforces her inhumanity; mockery in tragedy deepens catharsis.
🗣 AO5: Some critics argue this moment fully reveals the dehumanisation at the heart of Lear’s world.
hope in humanity
🗣 Quote: “Now, heavens, help him!” – Servant 3
📖 AO1: A spark of hope and humanity in the darkest scene.
🔍 AO2: The religious appeal “heavens” suggests moral conscience still exists.
🏛 AO3: Reinforces the role of the anonymous as agents of justice.
🧠 AO4: The servant becomes a mouthpiece for the audience’s compassion.
🗣 AO5: Marxist critics may view these nameless characters as true moral agents in a corrupted aristocracy.
