1. Passio: womanish pain. -Text definition.
Act II, Scene IV, Page 49: "KING LEAR: O, how this mother swells up toward my heart!
Hysterica passio, down, thou climbing sorrow,
Thy element's below! Where is this daughter?"
2. Edgar, on the run because of the lies planted by his brother, decides to disguise himself. He covers himself in dirt and dresses in rags, creating the "Poor Tom" persona. He plans to act like a madman escaped from an insane asylum as he wanders the land. Lear arrives at Gloucester's castle and asked to speak to Regan and Cornwall, who refuse. Eventually they comply and Lear complains to Regan about her sister's unfairness, but Regan sides with Goneril, telling Lear that he is going mad with age and should apologize to his daughter. Goneril shows up, much to Lear's dismay, and the sisters strengthen their alliance. They tell Lear that they will not allow him to bring any knights to either of their homes, and in a fit of rage, he leaves the castle in the midst of a storm. Gloucester begs the girls to let him back in but they refuse, arguing that he should do what he wants.
3. This Act is where King Lear clearly begins to lose his mind. It does not come suddenly, however; his madness is a gradual process, beginning in Act I but escalating in Act II. The incident that arguably pushes him over the "edge" is the betrayal by his two daughters. When Goneril and Regan join together to undermine his remaining power, he cannot take it. By refusing to allow him his knights and declaring him senile, the girls show Lear how little they truly care for him. He quickly transitions from astonishment to anger to madness. Lear runs from the shelter of Gloucester's castle into a storm, claiming wildly that he would rather live in nature's fury than with his traitorous daughters. I'm not sure if he actually wanted to be alone in the storm or if he hoped that someone would come after him, but either way, when nobody did it must have only added to his madness. His daughters once against demonstrated their lack of feeling toward their father by telling Gloucester to leave him alone.
While at first I did not understand what Edgar was doing in disguising himself as "Poor Tom," now that I understand, my respect for him has heightened greatly. Although I believe he first disguised himself simply as a form of protection, when he came upon his father he did not flee. Most people would have found an excuse to run away because of the risk of exposure, but Edgar did not. I think this proves how much he loved his father. He would rather stay in constant danger but help his dad than be safe but have no contact. At this point in the play I started to really like Edgar, and I think he may be my favorite character in the entire work.
4. My first question is whether Lear would have gone mad had his daughters not done so much to convince him that he was. There are multiple occasions where they tell him he is becoming senile with age, and I wonder if it influenced his mental decay or if it was just a coincidence.
My second question is whether Edgar would have looked for his father or not if he had not come across him. I know it's probably not very relevant in the context of the play, but I'm curious nonetheless. Would he have ever made contact?
My third question is why Gloucester did not go after Lear. I know that the daughters told him not to, but he is a grown man. If he wanted to help Lear he could have followed him or invited him back into his castle. After all, it wasn't Goneril or Regan's house, it was Gloucester's.
Sunday, January 24, 2010
King Lear, Act I
1. Sectary: a member of a sect. -Merriam-Webster Online
Act I, Scene II, Page 25: "EDGAR: How long have you been a sectary astronomical?"
2. The play begins with Gloucester telling Kent about his sons, Edgar and Edmund. Edmund is a bastard, but Gloucester claims to love them both. The attention then turns to King Lear, who is planning to divide his kingdom between his three daughters. He asks them to prove how much they love him, and his eldest two daughters, Goneril and Regan, who both eloquently flatter their father into appeasement. Cordelia, however, refuses to answer a question that she sees as so foolish, infuriating Lear. He disowns Cordelia and she leaves to marry the king of France without a dowry. Lear's loyal follower, Kent, stands up for Cordelia, causing Lear to banish him as well. Edmund then talks about how his brother, being a legitimate child, will inherit all of their father's wealth. Edmund schemes to plant a false letter hinting of a murder plot "written" by his brother, trying to pit his father and brother against each other. The scene then switches to Lear staying with Goneril along with the terms of his abdication. Goneril complains that her father's knights are rambunctious. Kent shows up in disguise to serve Lear, proving his faithfulness. Goneril finally snaps and tells Lear that his knights must leave the castle, and Lear is livid. Both Lear and Goneril write letters to Regan, the former asking for pity, the latter warning of trouble coming her way in the form of Lear's caravan.
3. At this point in the play, I was still very unsure of whether to side with Lear or his eldest daughters. Many of the situations in the play could be interpreted multiple ways, leading to different sympathy points. Lear appeared to be very childish and selfish. He wanted to give up the difficult parts of his job but retain the power, which is clearly very unfair. When his daughter, Cordelia, was honest and said that she loved him "according to my bond; nor more nor less," (Act I, Scene I, Page 15) Lear responded in an incredibly immature way by essentially disowning her. Ironically, Cordelia is probably the only daughter who actually loves her father. Lear, however, blinded by his foolish pride, threw a temper tantrum. On the other side of the issue, however, are the greedy daughters, Goneril and Regan. Their father gave them each half of his kingdom, and in return they plotted ways to control him completely. They refused to allow his knights to stay in their homes and in doing so demonstrated their lack of respect and his loss of power. It was especially difficult to determine which party was in the right because of Shakespeare's vagueness. One cannot be certain whether the knights are in fact rowdy and inappropriate, or whether the knights are well-behaved and the sisters simply looking for excuses.
I also thought the parallel between Gloucester and Lear was very cool. Both have multiple children, one of whom is loyal, one (or two) who is certainly not. Edgar and Cordelia both love their fathers very much, but do not show it as extravagantly as their fathers would like. Because of this, the other siblings are able to inspire doubt in the fathers, ultimately leading to the complete disownment of the honest siblings. As of this Act it was too soon to see whether Gloucester and Lear were meant to be completely parallel or if one was supposed to contrast the other.
4. My first question from this Act was whether Edmund would actually murder Gloucester, framing Edgar, or whether he was just planning to threaten Gloucester away from favoring Edgar. He is obviously very manipulative, but it was too soon to see how far he would go for the wealth that he views as rightfully his.
My second question was whether Lear or Goneril and Regan would be shown to be deserving of pity, or whether it would be up to interpretation throughout the entire play. As I mentioned in my analysis, many of the situations could be taken multiple ways, leading either to sympathy toward King Lear or toward his oldest daughters.
My third and final question from Act I was whether Cordelia would ever reunite with Lear, and if so, whether he would apologize or maintain his belief that she had mistreated him. I had heard that Lear lost his mind by the end of the play, but I was really curious as to whether he lost it believing that Cordelia wronged him or whether he came to terms with the truth.
Act I, Scene II, Page 25: "EDGAR: How long have you been a sectary astronomical?"
2. The play begins with Gloucester telling Kent about his sons, Edgar and Edmund. Edmund is a bastard, but Gloucester claims to love them both. The attention then turns to King Lear, who is planning to divide his kingdom between his three daughters. He asks them to prove how much they love him, and his eldest two daughters, Goneril and Regan, who both eloquently flatter their father into appeasement. Cordelia, however, refuses to answer a question that she sees as so foolish, infuriating Lear. He disowns Cordelia and she leaves to marry the king of France without a dowry. Lear's loyal follower, Kent, stands up for Cordelia, causing Lear to banish him as well. Edmund then talks about how his brother, being a legitimate child, will inherit all of their father's wealth. Edmund schemes to plant a false letter hinting of a murder plot "written" by his brother, trying to pit his father and brother against each other. The scene then switches to Lear staying with Goneril along with the terms of his abdication. Goneril complains that her father's knights are rambunctious. Kent shows up in disguise to serve Lear, proving his faithfulness. Goneril finally snaps and tells Lear that his knights must leave the castle, and Lear is livid. Both Lear and Goneril write letters to Regan, the former asking for pity, the latter warning of trouble coming her way in the form of Lear's caravan.
3. At this point in the play, I was still very unsure of whether to side with Lear or his eldest daughters. Many of the situations in the play could be interpreted multiple ways, leading to different sympathy points. Lear appeared to be very childish and selfish. He wanted to give up the difficult parts of his job but retain the power, which is clearly very unfair. When his daughter, Cordelia, was honest and said that she loved him "according to my bond; nor more nor less," (Act I, Scene I, Page 15) Lear responded in an incredibly immature way by essentially disowning her. Ironically, Cordelia is probably the only daughter who actually loves her father. Lear, however, blinded by his foolish pride, threw a temper tantrum. On the other side of the issue, however, are the greedy daughters, Goneril and Regan. Their father gave them each half of his kingdom, and in return they plotted ways to control him completely. They refused to allow his knights to stay in their homes and in doing so demonstrated their lack of respect and his loss of power. It was especially difficult to determine which party was in the right because of Shakespeare's vagueness. One cannot be certain whether the knights are in fact rowdy and inappropriate, or whether the knights are well-behaved and the sisters simply looking for excuses.
I also thought the parallel between Gloucester and Lear was very cool. Both have multiple children, one of whom is loyal, one (or two) who is certainly not. Edgar and Cordelia both love their fathers very much, but do not show it as extravagantly as their fathers would like. Because of this, the other siblings are able to inspire doubt in the fathers, ultimately leading to the complete disownment of the honest siblings. As of this Act it was too soon to see whether Gloucester and Lear were meant to be completely parallel or if one was supposed to contrast the other.
4. My first question from this Act was whether Edmund would actually murder Gloucester, framing Edgar, or whether he was just planning to threaten Gloucester away from favoring Edgar. He is obviously very manipulative, but it was too soon to see how far he would go for the wealth that he views as rightfully his.
My second question was whether Lear or Goneril and Regan would be shown to be deserving of pity, or whether it would be up to interpretation throughout the entire play. As I mentioned in my analysis, many of the situations could be taken multiple ways, leading either to sympathy toward King Lear or toward his oldest daughters.
My third and final question from Act I was whether Cordelia would ever reunite with Lear, and if so, whether he would apologize or maintain his belief that she had mistreated him. I had heard that Lear lost his mind by the end of the play, but I was really curious as to whether he lost it believing that Cordelia wronged him or whether he came to terms with the truth.
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