Quotations Flashcards
(31 cards)
Lear: Love test (scene 1)
‘Which of you shall we say doth love us most?’
-provides insight into Lear’s character (vanity and insecurity)
-values flattery
-exaggerations of the daughters foreshadow future deception
-sets up the chaos of the play
Cordelia: love test (scene 1)
‘I cannot heave My heart into my mouth’
-values honesty
-contrasts her sisters
-not willing to compromise her principles
-failure to articulate suggests she can’t find the words unlike G
-metaphorical block on her love
Lear threatening Goneril (scene 4)
‘How sharper than a serpent’s tooth it is to have a thankless child’
-vivid metaphor
-idea of betrayal and pain from family
-biblical imagery (aligns Goneril’s betrayal with the treachery of Eden’s serpent)
-sibilance ‘sharper’ + ‘serpent’
-biblical allusion to the Great fall (betrayal of Lear = treachery + deception)
-personal nature of suffering
-turning point
Lear: nothing (scene 1)
‘Nothing will come of nothing: speak again’
-motif of nothing
-imperatives
-feels that he is owned flattery
-sets in motion his tragic downfall
Fool: truthfulness (scene 4)
‘Dost thou call me fool, boy?’
‘all thy other titles thou hast given away that thou wast born with’
-juxtaposition between honesty and flattery
-perceptive
-criticises hierarchical strucutre of society
Lear in storm
‘Blow, winds, and crack your cheeks! Rage, blow!’
-desire to chaos and destruction
-metaphor for Lear’s inner turmoil being a reflection of wider society
-moment where he needs to confront his actions
-Imperatives: still demanding and feeling the need to be in control
-mirrors the even greater chaos that will unfold
Lear: sinning
‘I am a man more sinned against that sinning’
-self reflection
-moment where he recognises his own flaws
-tragic irony
-victim mentality
Fool: Irony
‘This cold night will turn us all to fools and madmen’
-imagery of foolishness and madness
-natural world is at fault (blames the natural)
-imagery of madness
Edgar: compassion
‘When we our betters see bearing our woes, we scarcely think our miseries our foes’
-moment of insight from Edgar into human nature
-empathetic
-feels less along in misery that he did in the world
-Edgar: disguised as ‘Poor Tom’
-shared suffering
-when people of higher status are suffering, we tend to feel less isolated in our own problems
Gloucester: vulnerability
‘As flies to wanton boys are we to the gods; They kill us for their sport’
-similie
-expresses the idea that man’s are insignificant and vulnerable to the whims of the universe
-imagery of the gods
-‘They kill us for their sport’: gods (or fate) are indifferent to human suffering and are cruel
-nihilistic moment of despair
-insignificance of humanity + emphasises the fragility of human life
Lear: madness
‘Come, let’s away to prison. We two alone will sing like bird i’th’ cage’
‘So we’ll live, And pray, and sing, and tell old tales, and laugh At gilded butterflies’
-expresses desire to accept fate
-newfound freedom with his power
-symbolises a journey from arrogance to wisdom (metaphorical)
Lear: old
‘I am a very foolish fond old man…I fear I am not in my perfect mind’
-come full circle moment
-moment where Lear accepts his fate
-no longer insecure
Lear: Cordelia’s death
‘Howl Howl Howl Howl!’
-animal imagery
-through the strength of emotion Lear loses the ability to talk
-powerful moment of the death of Cordelia
-expressive, visceral expression of his overwhelming grief
Kent: Lear’s blindness
‘See better, Lear’
-Lear’s inability to detect his daughters’ falseness- this undermines Lear’s original impression as a wise ruler, stepping back before he is too old to effectively rule
-Kent, like Cordelia, is presented as wise because he too can see the falseness of G+R
-he expects better of Lear, and encourages him to see his folly, whilst remaining loyal
-he doesn’t want him to fail
-First reference to sight and blindness.
Lear: still trying to hold on to power
‘I think the world’s asleep’
-Lear expects to command the same power and respect as before he retired from his position as king
-he soon finds this is not the case, but continues to expect such
-his questions and commands remain unanswered
-Sees himself as the authority figure who demands respect- this is no longer the case.
Regan: cruelty in relation to the punishment of Kent (stocks)
‘Till night…and all night too’
-Regan suggests that Kent should stay in the stocks for longer (all night> daytime)
-showing she lacks remorse and seeks to punish Kent for being loyal to Lear
Lear: cruelty in relation to his daughters
‘Into her womb convey sterility’
-Lear’s quick temper and cruelness are presented here- he has already renounced all parental responsibility to Cordelia and now curses Goneril’s fertility
-as a woman, Goneril’s role in society is to bear children and continue the royal lineage
-Lear is so angry at his treatment that he doesn’t want his royal name to be passed down
Kent: wheel of fortune
‘fortune, goodnight, once more, turn thy wheel’
-reference to Rota Fortunae- greek goddess Fortunae spins her wheel and the people once at the top with good fortune are humbled-those who are at one time in a favorable position have no choice but to accept their misfortune at the hands of the wheel
-Kent hopes his fortune will improve- fatalistic in relying on Rota Fortunae
Lear: old age, madness, weakness
‘Here I stand, your slave, a poor, infirm, weak and despised old man’
-Lear continues to wallow in self-pity as he labels himself “A poor, infirm, weak, and despis’d old man” (III.2.20)
-Lear willingly submits to the strength of the storm rather than seek shelter or fight for his sanity
-He has fallen so far from the strong monarch who began the play that he has strength only to wish for utter destruction
-His punishment far exceeds his foolish errors, and thus, Lear is deserving of the audience’s sympathy.
Regan: cruelty towards Gloucester (plucking his beard)
‘Hard, hard. O filthy traitor’
-Regan’s cruelty towards Gloucester challenges the contemporary role of women -the disrespect shown not only to a man but also to a man of high social stature would have been seriously frowned upon
-She enjoys punishing Gloucester and is eager to physically harm him- unlike Goneril, she has an active role in his harm
-Regan’s plucking of Gloucester’s beard reinforces the point that she has no basic respect for age or rank
-Gloucester is an earl and an elderly statesman, and Regan’s pulling of his beard further rejects the structure of nature, which provides that the older members of a society be revered for their age and wisdom
Albany: speaks cruelly of the making them out to be monstrous
‘Humanity must perforce prey on itself, Like monsters of the deep’ + ‘Tigers not daughters’
-Albany finally stands up to Goneril-too late though, so much suffering as already happened which he watched
-if heaven does not punish these crimes, the end will come and humanity will inevitably turn to cannibalism. By saying that her actions will bring about cannibalism shows just how unnatural her actions truly are- so completely against natural order.
-‘monsters’, ‘tigers’- they are not human, or capable of human emotion and do not understand what they have done. they lurk in the deep, the evil under the surface of society and prey on humanity. self serving.
-Goneril is too wretched of a person to be an actual woman.
Goneril: belittles manhood of Albany
‘Milk-livered man’ + ‘Marry your manhood mew!’
-Goneril belittles Albany and questions his masculinity- again challenges traditional female role in standing up to husband (authority)
-She believes that Albany is cowardly and does not know how to fight for his country or his wife.
-she doesn’t try to defend herself or convince Albany that she is justified, showing she is self-serving and is not interested in the lives or opinions of others
Lear: descent through stage directions as the play goes on
‘Enter Lear frantically dressed with wild flowers’
-lowered position- confined to king of nature as he has lost all power over humanity.
-he professes himself as king of nature- he is not made king of nature by divine law, suggesting he too doesn’t follow it (this is already clear due to the ‘love test’ evading natural order)
-‘frantically’ reinforces his madness, which he has been driven to due to his suffering at the hands of his daughters.
Demise of Goneril and Regan
‘bloody knife’ + Gentleman: ‘her sister…is poisoned’
- we learn that Goneril is unable to restrain her jealousy for Regan and poisons her, envious that she loves Edmund and that Regan has been widowed
-inevitable that their own villainy consumes them. 2 self serving people cannot live peacefully in the same society
