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King Lear: critical context - Coggle Diagram
King Lear: critical context
Robert B. Heilman "The Unity of King Lear" (1948)
Lear's confusion between flattery and love is a failure of the imagination- imaginative apprehension of symbols is difficult so he seeks the easy way out
Lear's errors are those of a man whose action is a public action
Gloucester's tendency towards conformity is summarized through his astrological habit of mind- object of manipulation
Lear imposes his will upon others; Gloucester accepts the will of others- they are complements which is one key to the unity of King Lear
the two groups of children represents the different elements which are in conflict in the fathers
Goneril and Regan show what happens when an element of Lear is set freed from the restraint imposed by the rest of his personality
Goneril and Regan dispose of their enemies and ultimately of each other- a magnificent symbol of the self- destructiveness of their world
in Act 1 Scene 1 Lear is a victim of inappropriate calculation by the very daughters wo have profited from his own misapplied arithmetic
we look for simple villains and heroes- but we forget they are all within us
King Lear moves from melodrama to tragedy where externalized conflicts exactly corresponds to the war within the soul
Alan Hager "Lear's Fool"
the purpose is to be an anti-flatterer for the ruler and court
Fool's critiques are generally directed at the King's oddly egoistical naiveté in giving up his kingdom
rails at cosmic and social disorder from a utopian position
the Jud Head like coxcomb-shaped hat parodies the crown and the outfit of patchwork (sewn together hand-me-downs) symbolise poverty
Shakespeare's fools generally evolve into figures of greater wisdom and emotional control
Dr Robert Smallwood "Kinds of Madness in King Lear"
Lear's disintegration begins with rejection of all his previous mental bearings and leads to a fundamental questioning of every system of human hierarchy and dependence
the Fool's insanities allow him to offer a constantly needling commentary on Lear's behaviour
Edgar's kind of Madness opens up all sorts of issues about the way societies deal with those "poor naked wretches"
blinded Gloucester is a man who thought he saw everything, arriving at last at genuine perception
the plays victims are going mad and blind of their journey to self discovery
coldly destructive rationalists (G, R +E) remain clear sighted in their single minded pursuit of power and self gratification
when the apparently sanest characters die "in an instant" the terrible madness of destruction and self destruction they have unleashed is appallingly clear
Cristina León Alfar "Fantasies of Female Evil" (2003)
Lear's demands and the behaviour of his knights manifest themselves as a political threat in Goneril's mind
Goneril's attempt at negotiation is veiled none too subtly in a warning- like her father Goneril tinges her request with shades of threat
Lear granting Goneril respect yields her power
Lear's curse debases Goneril's nature, making her devoid of femininity, reproductive and nurturing abilities because Goneril herself lacks conventional feminine feeling
Lear's disfigurement of his daughter's body is symptomatic of his fear of the female body which in his mind is a site of pollution and disease
renders her valueless in the patrilineal order that marks a women's worth through her patrimony and function as child bearers
Lear having threated to resume to monarchical authority shows their rule is a as transitory as his love for Cordelia
their rule exposes the violence of the patrilineal structure because women rule in patrilineal fashion they don't accord to naturalised gender distinctions