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King Lear - character - Coggle Diagram
King Lear - character
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A LEARNING PROCESS?
Many critics see Lear's breakdown as a learning process. Lear needs to suffer to improve his understanding of himself and the society in which he lives
He considers a number of topics he had previously paid little attention to: the wretched condition of the poor, the corrupt justice system, true necessity.
He learns to distinguish between appearances and reality and considers the sufferings of those close to him. Lear also becomes much more self-critical. He emerges from his torment a more humble, loving and appealing character
However, other commentators suggest that Lear remains self obsessed and vengeful. His reflections on the heath are punctuated by thoughts of punishing Goneril and Regan. He struggles to accept responsibility for his elder daughters' cruel natures and never fully acknowledges the folly of his earlier actions
AO3 - Today, more people are living into old age than ever before. Because of this, it seems likely that a modern audience will be particularly fascinated by Lear's struggle to make sense of his life in his declining years and by apparent symptoms of dementia with which he seems to struggle with in the process
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Reconciliation
Shakespeare doesn't allow us to remain too critical of Lear. We see the king in his best light in his reconciliation with Cordelia. Ashamed of his former unkindness, he humbles himself before his youngest daughter
By the end of the play he seems almost to move beyond himself. He has certainly accepted his powerless, diminished status and now sees himself primarily as Cordelia's father
His language reflects his progress. Gone is the royal 'we'. Now Lear uses first person when he speaks of himself and his feelings. Cordelia is reclaimed lovingly as 'my Cordelia'. In Act 5 Lear clings to his 'best object' protectively.
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In all of his speeches in Act 5 scene 3, the dying king focuses on Cordelia and the overwhelming grief he feels at her passing. Lear's love for and defence of Cordelia go a long way to redeeming him from charges of egotism. He has clearly learned the value of true emotion. His recognition of the injustice of Cordelia's death suggests that his judgement has been restored. But wisdom comes too late. Watching the final bleak moments of the play, it is easy to feel that Lear's sufferings have been in vain
Who is King Lear?
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In a moment of anger he exiles his loving daughter Cordelia and his loyal adviser Kent and puts the kingdom into the hands of his two evil daughters
Humiliated by Goneril and Regan, he suffers a mental breakdown, but through his 'madness' he begins to see life more clearly
Key quotation
Exposed to the storm in Act 3, Lear's feelings of abandonment and vulnerability lead him to sympathise with the poor and outcast, and to feel anger at powerful people who exploit others. At first he tries to exempt himself claiming:
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The writer Charles Lamb believed the part of King Lear could not be brought fully to life in the theatre, complaining in 1811 that 'an old man tottering about the stage with a walking stick' was inadequate to the great and complex vision that Shakespeare's words created
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