King Lear
"Lear King" is a drama created by Shakespeare and one of its four tragedies. The story comes from an ancient legend in Britain, and the story itself happened around the 8th century. Later, many dramas were compiled in Britain. Existing dramas include Shakespeare and an earlier anonymous work. It is generally believed that King Lear of Shakespeare was created by adapting this play.
Creative background
Creative process
The story of "King Lear" comes from ancient British legends. There are many poems and essays on this theme. Shakespeare added original content such as the tragedy ending and King Lear's madness on the basis of the story. .
When Shakespeare wrote "Lear King", it was at the peak of his artistic career. His views on life and the world are clearer and more thorough, and he is more concerned with the speculation of human nature, morality and philosophy.
Synopsis
There are two parallel story clues throughout the play.
The main clue is that the ancient British king Lear was old and faint, and he wanted to divide his country into his three daughters according to his love. The eldest daughter Goneril and the second daughter Regan tricked the old man with sweet words. Only the youngest daughter Cordelia told the truth, saying, "I love you just by my name, not much, not much." Lear scolded the younger daughter, marrying her far away to France, and divided the country between the two hypocritical daughters, but he was ruthlessly neglected by the two daughters. Angrily, he ran into the wilderness of the storm, and joined Edgar, who pretended to be a beggar. Later, the younger daughter came from France to fight, and finally the father and daughter met. However, the British and French armies fought, the French defeated, Cordelia was captured, and was hanged by Edmund's secret order soon.Lear held her body and died madly in anger.
Another minor clue is that Earl Gloucester listened to the elder son Edmund's remarks and banished his eldest son Edgar. Later, because he sympathized with Lear, he was dug out of his eyes and met Edgar, the son of a beggar, while he was wandering in the wild. He helped him to move forward, but he didn't know that he was the one who was kicked out by him. After her son Edmund succeeded the knighthood, he also hooked up with Lear's eldest daughter and second daughter, causing them to fight for jealousy and kill each other. Finally, the second daughter was poisoned, after the eldest daughter of his plot to murder her husband committed suicide. Edmond was challenged by Edgar and killed in a duel.
Character introduction
The main characters
King Lear - The aging king of Britain and the protagonist of the play. Lear is used to enjoying absolute power and to being flattered, and he does not respond well to being contradicted or challenged. At the beginning of the play, his values are notably hollow—he prioritizes the appearance of love over actual devotion and wishes to maintain the power of a king while unburdening himself of the responsibility. Nevertheless, he inspires loyalty in subjects such as Gloucester, Kent, Cordelia, and Edgar, all of whom risk their lives for him.
Cordelia - Lear’s youngest daughter, disowned by her father for refusing to flatter him. Cordelia is held in extremely high regard by all of the good characters in the play—the king of France marries her for her virtue alone, overlooking her lack of dowry. She remains loyal to Lear despite his cruelty toward her, forgives him, and displays a mild and forbearing temperament even toward her evil sisters, Goneril and Regan. Despite her obvious virtues, Cordelia’s reticence makes her motivations difficult to read, as in her refusal to declare her love for her father at the beginning of the play.
Goneril - Lear’s ruthless oldest daughter and the wife of the duke of Albany. Goneril is jealous, treacherous, and amoral. Shakespeare’s audience would have been particularly shocked at Goneril’s aggressiveness, a quality that it would not have expected in a female character. She challenges Lear’s authority, boldly initiates an affair with Edmund, and wrests military power away from her husband.
Regan - Lear’s middle daughter and the wife of the duke of Cornwall. Regan is as ruthless as Goneril and as aggressive in all the same ways. In fact, it is difficult to think of any quality that distinguishes her from her sister. When they are not egging each other on to further acts of cruelty, they jealously compete for the same man, Edmund.
Gloucester - A nobleman loyal to King Lear whose rank, earl, is below that of duke. The first thing we learn about Gloucester is that he is an adulterer, having fathered a bastard son, Edmund. His fate is in many ways parallel to that of Lear: he misjudges which of his children to trust. He appears weak and ineffectual in the early acts, when he is unable to prevent Lear from being turned out of his own house, but he later demonstrates that he is also capable of great bravery.
Edgar - Gloucester’s older, legitimate son. Edgar plays many different roles, starting out as a gullible fool easily tricked by his brother, then assuming a disguise as a mad beggar to evade his father’s men, then carrying his impersonation further to aid Lear and Gloucester, and finally appearing as an armored champion to avenge his brother’s treason. Edgar’s propensity for disguises and impersonations makes it difficult to characterize him effectively.
Edmund - Gloucester’s younger, illegitimate son. Edmund resents his status as a bastard and schemes to usurp Gloucester’s title and possessions from Edgar. He is a formidable character, succeeding in almost all of his schemes and wreaking destruction upon virtually all of the other characters.
Fool -The fool in King Lear is the one with the most appearances and the number of harlequin appearances in the four tragedies. Compared with other characters in the play, especially the protagonist, the fool is only a small character, but he is very prominent and distinctive in the play. The image of the image plays an indispensable role.
During the Renaissance, people's views on a series of propositions such as natural human nature, power, and destiny have changed and developed greatly; in "Lear King", Shakespeare used the image of a fool to make all this clear and reflected.
Appreciation of works
1.Main point
Ethics
From the perspective of the ethics of power "King Lear" in, move to King Lear feudal land can not be given complete denial. In previous studies, it was often believed that King Lear's plot to seal his country was not credible, but he ignored the fact that Chinese and foreign rulers paid special attention to the issue of inheritance rights.
Under no son to inherit the throne of the situation, consider the power of his own succession after a century is a natural thing. From a family point of view, it is his only choice to prepare to distribute the land to his three daughters.
Under the rule of the monarchy in the world, such a seal is blameless, and it is also the only best choice for the king to seek the rule of his family for thousands of generations, that is, to ensure the continuation of the ruler ’s inheritance through the dual role of fathership and kingship.
Desire for power
From possession to loss, deprivation, to final abandonment, Lear completed his transformation from a supreme king to a desperate trader. In this process, he survived because he believed that he still had the possibility and hope of "owning". He ruthlessly deprived Cordilla of the right of reprieve. He believed he also had the loyalty and love of the other two daughters. He believes that he still has the love of Goneril , and after being driven out of the castle by Goneril , he screamed and shouted in the stormy wilderness. He believes he also has the power to call nature to avenge the power of this ruthless world.
However, when he finally realized that he had nothing, the pillars supporting his spirit and soul collapsed, and madness also became the inevitable fate of Lear.
2.Artistic features
Imagery
In the play "King Lear", many natural images are included, greatly expanding the scope of the text in terms of breadth and depth. The use of natural intentions not only makes the structure of the whole work more relaxed and more magnificent, but also makes nature itself transcend its materiality and is endowed with rich symbolic meaning.
paradox
Shakespeare designed many paradoxes of character dialogue in King Lear. These paradoxes hide the social order, the emotions of the characters, and even the author's emotional tendency towards the characters in the play or the society at the time.
Inspirational quotes
“I have no way and therefore want no eyes
I stumbled when I saw. Full oft 'tis seen
our means secure us, and our mere defects
prove our commodities.”
“When we our betters see bearing our woes,
We scarcely think our miseries our foes.”
“Love's not love
When it is mingled with regards that stand
Aloof from th' entire point.”
“Men must endure
Their going hence, even as their coming hither.
Ripeness is all.”
“Mark it, nuncle.
Have more than thou showest,
Speak less than thou knowest,
Lend less than thou owest,
Ride more than thou goest,
Learn more than thou trowest,
Set less than thou throwest,
Leave thy drink and thy whore
And keep in-a-door,
And thou shalt have more
Than two tens to a score.”
Impact
Works influence
After the Elizabethan era, various countries and regions have been performing various reproductions of "King Lear"
In Russia, Turgenev published "A Lear of the Steppes"
In Japan, Kurosawa Akira directed the film "RAN" known as "King of the East Lear".