The importance of Mother in King Lear
“O, how this mother swells up toward my heart!”
~Lear, from King Lear, 2.2
This line goes when Lear arrives at Gloucester’s house to look for his second daughter, Regan after he is expelled by Cornwall, his first daughter. In depth of his heart, Lear still holds the hope that Regan will be kind to her according to what she has said in the love test. He later finds that his messenger who carries the letter to Regan is in the stock, which he thinks is a humiliation to himself as he says “this shame”. Though Kent, the messenger, arrives at Regan’s place a little bit earlier than Cornwall’s post, Regan reads the letter from the latter first. To this point, Lear isn’t able to hold up all the feelings, depression, anger, loss, anymore and thus he speaks the sentence above. He goes on: “Hysterica [?]passio, down, thou climbing sorrow: Thy element’s below! …”
The words “Hysterica passio” is the Latin term for hysteria, which is usually taken as a female affliction thought to arise from the womb. The last word “below” also indicates this is from the lower part of human body. We can see that Lear uses these three words: mother, Hysterica, and below, which are very feminine when he is near breakdown. …show more content…
Though he has decided which part of his kingdom belongs to which person, he still holds a love test to fulfill his pride since he thinks that Cordelia loves him the most and would say the most touching words to him. We can tell the voice and tone are different from the first and the second time. He expects Cordelia so much that when Cordelia didn’t meet his expectation, he abandons her. But Cordelia accepts him when Lear arrives her place. Lear can’t believe it, because he doesn’t think he deserve it. He even begs for Cordelia’s forgiveness: “Pray, do not mock me: I am a very foolish fond old me…”[?] just like a child who made little mistakes and wants to make up and then Cordelia is like a mother now. In conclusion, mother figures take turns show up in the play. Cordelia can be a daughter and a mother at the same time and Lear just suppresses his emotional part.
Work Cited
Kahn, Coppèlia. "The Absent Mother in King Lear". Rewriting the Renaissance: The Discourses of Sexual Difference in Early Modern Europe. Eds. Margaret Ferguson, Maureen Quilligan, and Nancy Vickers. Chicago and London: The University of Chicago Press, 1986. p. 33-49
Bate, Jonathan, and Eric Rasmussen, eds. William Shakespeare Complete Works. Basingstoke: Macmillan, 2007. Print.
[1] King Lear 2.2, 229-223
[i] King Lear 4.6,
“O, how this mother swells up toward my heart!”
~Lear, from King Lear, 2.2
This line goes when Lear arrives at Gloucester’s house to look for his second daughter, Regan after he is expelled by Cornwall, his first daughter. In depth of his heart, Lear still holds the hope that Regan will be kind to her according to what she has said in the love test. He later finds that his messenger who carries the letter to Regan is in the stock, which he thinks is a humiliation to himself as he says “this shame”. Though Kent, the messenger, arrives at Regan’s place a little bit earlier than Cornwall’s post, Regan reads the letter from the latter first. To this point, Lear isn’t able to hold up all the feelings, depression, anger, loss, anymore and thus he speaks the sentence above. He goes on: “Hysterica [?]passio, down, thou climbing sorrow: Thy element’s below! …”
The words “Hysterica passio” is the Latin term for hysteria, which is usually taken as a female affliction thought to arise from the womb. The last word “below” also indicates this is from the lower part of human body. We can see that Lear uses these three words: mother, Hysterica, and below, which are very feminine when he is near breakdown. …show more content…
Though he has decided which part of his kingdom belongs to which person, he still holds a love test to fulfill his pride since he thinks that Cordelia loves him the most and would say the most touching words to him. We can tell the voice and tone are different from the first and the second time. He expects Cordelia so much that when Cordelia didn’t meet his expectation, he abandons her. But Cordelia accepts him when Lear arrives her place. Lear can’t believe it, because he doesn’t think he deserve it. He even begs for Cordelia’s forgiveness: “Pray, do not mock me: I am a very foolish fond old me…”[?] just like a child who made little mistakes and wants to make up and then Cordelia is like a mother now. In conclusion, mother figures take turns show up in the play. Cordelia can be a daughter and a mother at the same time and Lear just suppresses his emotional part.
Work Cited
Kahn, Coppèlia. "The Absent Mother in King Lear". Rewriting the Renaissance: The Discourses of Sexual Difference in Early Modern Europe. Eds. Margaret Ferguson, Maureen Quilligan, and Nancy Vickers. Chicago and London: The University of Chicago Press, 1986. p. 33-49
Bate, Jonathan, and Eric Rasmussen, eds. William Shakespeare Complete Works. Basingstoke: Macmillan, 2007. Print.
[1] King Lear 2.2, 229-223
[i] King Lear 4.6,