King lear
William Shakespeare tragedy king Lear is a detailed description of the consequences of one mans decisions. The play is about the king of England (Lear) whose decisions alter his life and the lives of those around him. As king he is expected to be a man of great wisdom and power but in this case he foolishly surrenders all of his power to his daughters as a reward for their demonstration of love towards him .His retierment of his throne results in a reaction of events that send Lear through a journey of pain.As the play opens king Lear allows his ego to come between him and those who truly love him the most, which in the end cost him dearly. Lear has his daughters compete for their inheritance by judging who can proclaim their love for him in the most flattering manner. Both Goneril and Regan have no problems competing for his love, as they are aware of his foolishness, futher more they adapt to his design and play up to his increasing insecurity. Nevertheless Cordelia whom is the youngest and favourite daughter of king Lear refuses to compete because she feels that she can not express the way she feels through words, she replies saying " I love your majesty according to my bond and nothing less" (act 1). This refusal anger
Despite this the audience also would have been concerned at the way Shakespeare portrayed women in this play. Renaissance models of femininity required women to be quite and submissive but Lear's evil daughters Goneril and Regan subvert all excepted codes of feminine behaviour. s Lear and makes him foolishly get rid of Cordelia and he banishes her saying "for we have no such a daughter nor shall we ever see that face again" (act 1). Knowing that she cannot save him she takes her own life to cover up treacherous deeds. Comparatively an indirect result of all of this is that eventually king Lear would have died because of old age and the kingdom would have had to be split among the three daughters to begin with. Know rejected by the very daughters he thought that loved him and on his own expect for a faithful jester Lear embarks on an epic journey through hell. Because of this Lear believes that Goneril and Regan care for him, in the same way at least, and that they are good people . He also sought to portray that with time people change and that with change comes a different view to viewing the way people lived no matter what their status in life. The play was a great success as it had an impact on both genders. Nevertheless as Edmund is dying he requests one final order of evilness, which is to have cordelia captured and hanged. As of this the kingdom is divided between Goneril and Regan . Mean while Regan is poisoned by her sister Goneril who killed her as an act of jealousy. Nevertheless times were changing and so were people. In conclusion and in my opinion I believe that Shakespeare wanted people to see the play and acknowledge that the world did not operate according to what society believed or see. Consequently, his test of his daughters demonstrates that Lear values flattering public displays of love over real love.
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