King Lear; Power Flashcards
(5 cards)
Discuss Lear and Power in the Opening scene
King Lear is a man defined by power. When we first meet him it’s obvious he is used to weilding great power and expects to be treated as such. However Lear doesn’t appreciate the responsability that comes with power. As a result, he is high-handed and arrogant, demanding praise raging when he perceives disrespect. Nothing highlights this notion more than the “Love test”, when he divides his kingdom so “that future strife may be prevented now”.
When he perceievs disrespect from Cordelia, he goes barbaric calling her “a wretch whom nature is ashamed . Almost t’achknowledge hers”. Similarly when Kent defends her he warns him to “not come between a dragon and his wrath” and promptly banishes him for coming between “our sentence and our power”.
The word “our” is interesting, when Lear says “our kingdom” or “our dominions”, he is refering to him and britain itself as one in the same, showing how powerful he’s used to being, despite not technically posessing any real power anymore. This highlights how corrupted Lear power has made him, particularly since it’s implied he wasn’t always like this. This is indicated by Kent’s loyalty and Goneril saying that he’s gotten worse: “You see how full of changes…“
Discuss The Power of Women in King Lear, In General
The role of women in Shakesperean England was not an enviable one in general. Their social status declined and they were viewed as weak, sinful and incapable of reasoning. Therefore women who behaved like men and excercised power were viewed in a negative light.
The duty of a woman at the time the play was written was to be obedient to god, to her father, then her husband. A woman could use what power they had to disobey her husband and father, if only appealing to a male authority higher on the rung or to set them on the path of virtue. This is what Cordelia does during the love test.
Discuss The Power of Women in reference to Cordelia.
Cordelia posesses great moral power. She is right to stand up to Lear’s love test and she is right to tell Burgandy she doesn’t wish to be his wife if she’s only a dowry. She also later posesses great military power. It’s important though to recognise she only invades Dover to help her father, not for any political reasons “No blown amnition doth arms incite… aged father’s right”.
By the end of the play, Cordelia has lost the feistiness and independance of the woman who originally stood up to her father. Now she’s a dutiful, obedient, saintly woman. She has become a more powerless, Jacobean woman than she was at the start. Consider Lear’s praise of her when she died: “Her voice was ever soft, / Gentle and low, an excellent thing in woman”. That isn’t the powerful, feminist Cordelia we percieved a the start of the play.
Dissuss Lear’s reaction to the Loss of Power.
Lear makes a terrible mistake in handing his power over to Goneril, Regan and their husbands. He has no appreciation for how little control he genuinely has, including his own life. His attitude at Gonerils castle demanding for dinner immediately indicates he still believes he is in charge. “Let me not stay for a jot of dinner; go get it ready”. When Oswald simply referes to him as “my lady’s father”, he is outraged even though Oswald it correct in his depiction.
The Fool tries to show Lear the reality of the situation through a series of riddels and jokes comparing him to a fool: “All thy other titles thou hast given away; that thou wast born with”. The fool even thinks he’s better off than Lear: “I am a fool, thou art nothing”.
It’s only when Lear no longer has power but also realises so, that he learns what the true duties of a ruler should be. As he wanders the storm he realises he hadn’t taken sufficient care of his people, referring to them accurately as “poor naked wretches”.
Discuss The Power of Women in reference to Goneril & Regan.
Goneril and Regan have none of Cordelias moral fibre or what Shakespearean audiences would have called appropriately feminine attributes. They are motivated by selfish desires and driven to acts of great cruelty and violence.
Unlike Cordelia, Regan and Goneril don’t respect their husbands. When Cornwall dies, Regan is quick to make moves for Edmund. Meanwhile Goneril openly despises her husband, calling him a “Milk-livered man” suggesting to him to “Marry, your manhood, mew”. It’s clear Regan and Goneril didn’t follow the typical obedience of male authority observed in the time of shakespeare which further plays into their roles as villians.
They become ever more unwomanly as the play profresses. Despite the fact women weren’t meant to wield weapons, Regan strikes down the servent that wounded Cornwall. Goneril then when approached by Albany says scornfully that “the laws are mine, not thine”. Power, in Goneril’s eyes is a liscence to do as she pleases, it’s clear why an audience would celebrate Lear’s denunciation of the sisters as “unnatural hags”
