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Shakespeare's King Leare
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ESSAY CRITICAL STUDY – “King Lear has meant different things to different people depending on the time and place” King Lear is widely regarded by many scholars as Shakespeare’s greatest tragedy. Shakespeare took his main plot line of an aged monarch abused by his children from a folk tale that appeared first in written form in the 12th century and was based on spoken stories that originated much further into the Middle Ages. In several written version of the story, the king does not go mad, his "good" daughter does not die, and the tale has a happy ending. This is not the case with Shakespeare's Lear, a tragedy of such consuming force that audiences and readers are left to wonder whether there is any meaning to the physical and moral carnage with which King Lear concludes. Since Shakespeare first created The Tragedy of King Lear in 1604, the play has been reproduced countless times in many modern and contemporary productions. Because the themes of family, justice, chaos vs. authority, gender roles, love and forgiveness, redemption & retribution are relevant even today, the play can be interpreted to raise issues and present morals to a modern audience. How the play is ‘read’ or understood is dependant on the ‘lens’ it is viewed through. This is affected by the political and social values of the time and place. Different people present different interpretations, which vary drastically according to circumstance. For Example some common readings of Lear include Marxist, Feminist, Gender Roles, Christian and Absurdist readings of the play. Different productions of King Lear are used to convey meaning to an audience within the relevant context of the time and place. To a director different directorial approaches imply different social and moral values. For a production of Lear to be critically analysed we need to understand the intent of the director displayed through various devices in stage and film. The traditional or Elizabethan reading of King Lear focuses on how Lear’s actions upset the natural order. His folly in banishing Cordelia and dividing his kingdom is the cause of a situation where chaos reigns and nature is violently disrupted – “Kings turned paupers; daughters and sons rule, abuse and betray fathers; truth is spoken only in riddles or in disguise and evil, madness, violence and blindness supplant good order and stable government.” “Unhappy that I am, I cannot heave My heart into my mouth. I love your majesty According to my bond; no more nor less.” Cordelia speaks these words when she address her father, King Lear, who has demanded that his daughters tell him how much they love him before he divides his kingdom among them (I.i.90–92). In contrast to her the empty flattery of Goneril and Regan, Cordelia offers her father a truthful evaluation of her love for him: she loves him "according to my bond"; that is, she understands and accepts without question her duty to love him as a father and king. Although Cordelia truly loves Lear more than her sisters do, she is unable to "heave" her heart into her mouth, as her integrity prevents her from making a false declaration in order to gain his wealth.
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