“Some people will only ‘love you’ as long as they can use you. Their ‘loyalty’ ends where the benefits stop.” Written between the years 1604 and 1606, Shakespeare’s tragedy, King Lear, centers on an aging king who decides to divvy up his kingdom between his three daughters (Gonerill, Regan, and Cordelia) in order to avoid any conflict after his death. This tragedy provides no cushions of happiness for the viewer, and the society is ultimately responsible for the course of this play. King Lear symbolizes the Elizabethan society around Shakespeare’s time. In 1603, Queen Elizabeth I died leaving neither husband nor heir to seize her throne, causing strong competition for her regency. In writing the play, Shakespeare broached this uneasy topic
…show more content…
This line basically means that “so much love equals so much land” (Hawkes 178), and that who ever tells Lear that they love him the most will receive the largest gift, for they are the most deserving. This also serves as the basis for the actions of the three daughters, and their motives behind their so-called love. Gonerill, the eldest daughter of Lear, speaks with such precision, constantly referring to money and wealth: “Sir, I love you more than words can wield the matter, /Dearer than eyesight, space, and liberty; /Beyond what can be valued rich or rare, /No less life, with grace, health, beauty, honour; /As much as child e’er loved, or father found; /A love that makes breath poor, and speech unable; /Beyond all manner of so much I love you.” (1.1.53-59). The constant reference to amount and value, psychologically refers to the “subliminal desire for her father’s fortune” (Schafer 1517). Regan does this as well, when she …show more content…
Lear’s wrath and shame prevent him from accepting help at her hands. “Kent says that the king ‘‘by no means / Will yield to see his daughter’’ because ‘‘his own unkindness, / That stripp’d her from his benediction’’ stings ‘‘His mind so venomously that burning shame / Detains him from Cordelia’’ (4.3.42–47)” (McCoy 50). Lear’s struggle is more wrenching than any other character’s, but, when he is finally reunited with Cordelia, their reconciliation achieves a harmony rendered all the more astonishing by the anguish surrounding it. At first he succumbs to despair even deeper than Gloucester’s. In Act 4 Scene 6, when he wakes up and sees her, he is convinced that he has died and gone to hell, telling her ‘‘You do me wrong to take me out o’ the grave / Thou art a soul in bliss, but I am bound / Upon a wheel of fire, that mine own tears / Do scald like molten lead’’ (4.6.42–45). Cordelia urges her father to ‘‘look upon me, Sir, / And hold your hand in benediction o’er me,’’ insisting that ‘‘you must not kneel’’ (4.6.54–56). The pain caused by such recognition still proves intense, and Lear relapses into a characteristic evasive maneuver in a desperate effort to regain some control “If you have poison for me, I will drink it, I know you do not love me; for your sisters Have, as I do remember, done me wrong: You have some cause, they have not.” (4.7.70–73) . Lear
This line basically means that “so much love equals so much land” (Hawkes 178), and that who ever tells Lear that they love him the most will receive the largest gift, for they are the most deserving. This also serves as the basis for the actions of the three daughters, and their motives behind their so-called love. Gonerill, the eldest daughter of Lear, speaks with such precision, constantly referring to money and wealth: “Sir, I love you more than words can wield the matter, /Dearer than eyesight, space, and liberty; /Beyond what can be valued rich or rare, /No less life, with grace, health, beauty, honour; /As much as child e’er loved, or father found; /A love that makes breath poor, and speech unable; /Beyond all manner of so much I love you.” (1.1.53-59). The constant reference to amount and value, psychologically refers to the “subliminal desire for her father’s fortune” (Schafer 1517). Regan does this as well, when she …show more content…
Lear’s wrath and shame prevent him from accepting help at her hands. “Kent says that the king ‘‘by no means / Will yield to see his daughter’’ because ‘‘his own unkindness, / That stripp’d her from his benediction’’ stings ‘‘His mind so venomously that burning shame / Detains him from Cordelia’’ (4.3.42–47)” (McCoy 50). Lear’s struggle is more wrenching than any other character’s, but, when he is finally reunited with Cordelia, their reconciliation achieves a harmony rendered all the more astonishing by the anguish surrounding it. At first he succumbs to despair even deeper than Gloucester’s. In Act 4 Scene 6, when he wakes up and sees her, he is convinced that he has died and gone to hell, telling her ‘‘You do me wrong to take me out o’ the grave / Thou art a soul in bliss, but I am bound / Upon a wheel of fire, that mine own tears / Do scald like molten lead’’ (4.6.42–45). Cordelia urges her father to ‘‘look upon me, Sir, / And hold your hand in benediction o’er me,’’ insisting that ‘‘you must not kneel’’ (4.6.54–56). The pain caused by such recognition still proves intense, and Lear relapses into a characteristic evasive maneuver in a desperate effort to regain some control “If you have poison for me, I will drink it, I know you do not love me; for your sisters Have, as I do remember, done me wrong: You have some cause, they have not.” (4.7.70–73) . Lear