King Lear (1606)

(Click image to enlarge) James Barry 1741-1806: King Lear Weeping over the Dead Body of Cordelia at the Tate Gallery, London.

Characterization:

Auden says that "in the later plays, with people like Iago and Lear, you say, no, I don't think this is a person I might meet, but this is a state which in the life of man everybody at one time or another experiences. Nobody's Iago all the time.... A certain universality is gained. We get a picture of a human heart and of every human heart together.

"Lear, in the opening scene, divides up his kingdom like a birthday cake. It's not historical, but it's the way we can all feel at certain times" (Auden 225).

Differences between the 2 plots

The Gloucester plot is moralistic. Edgar speaks in abstractions. Edgar at the beginning of Act 4 is happy that he has hit rock bottom. 4.1.2-9, 25-26. After Edgar demonstrates to Gloucester the mercy of the gods, Edgar says, "Bear free and patient thoughts." 4.5.80 [4.6].

Lear's plot resists moralizing: moments of happiness and insight are brief, the fool's insights are bitter.

The division of the kingdom

Cordelia's silence at the beginning of the play is loving / headstrong / deserving of punishment / deserving of reward / deserving of punishment. Argue for one (or an interpretation of your own) and argue against other positions.

Is there justice in the world?

The play raises questions that challenge our belief in justice, fairness, and meaning. In Act 3 scene 2, Lear exclaims, "I am a man more sinned against than sinning." Is he?

Some see this play as the most Christian of the tragedies, while others see this play as the most pagan of the tragedies. Which do you think it is? How would you think this through?

Lear asks, when he sees Cordelia dead, "Why should a dog, a horse, a rat have life, /And thou no breath at all?" How does this question fit into the questioning of the play?

King Lear Study Questions

1. Cordelia's silence at the beginning of the play is loving / headstrong / deserving of punishment / deserving of reward. Argue for one (or an interpretation of your own) and argue against other positions.

2. The Gloucester subplot makes the same point as the Lear plot / The Gloucester subplot makes a much different point than the Lear plot: argue for the way you see it.

3. Act 3 scene 2: "I am a man more sinned against than sinning." Argue whether you think Lear is deluded instead of realizing that he is responsible for having made his two daughters monsters or not.

4. This play is the most Christian of the tragedies / this play is the most pagan of the tragedies: argue for your view.

5. Why does Edgar maintain his disguise for so long and not reveal his identity to his father?

6. Lear's last words are:

Do you see this? Look on her. Look, her lips.

Look there, look there.

What do the addition of these lines in the First Folio do to the play?

7. "Why should a dog, a horse, a rat have life, /And thou no breath at all?" -- 5.3.281-82. How can an audience bear to think about such a question?

8. "Unaccommodated man is no more but such a poor, bare, forked animal as thou art" (3.4.95-97). Why are there so many naked, stripped, or suffering bodies in this play?

9. The Fool provides "comic relief." Argue whether this is true or does the fool play a much more important role.

10. How can an old fool like Lear have tragic stature?

11. Only an old person can appreciate King Lear. Argue.