This play was first performed in court in 1605, but it was written not before 1603, shortly after Othello and after Macbeth. This tragedy was written in Shakespeare’s dark period, influenced by the deaths of his parents, his son and Queen Elizabeth. We can find two parallel plots.
The main plot talks about King Lear’s situation. As he is getting old, he wants to divide his reign between his three daughters, Goneril, Regan and Cordelia. To decide it, he asks them a question “Which of you shall we say doth love us most?” (Act I, Scene I), Goneril and Regan lie in order to obtain a greater part, whereas Cordelia tells him “Wretched as I am, I can’t express in words what’s in my heart. I love your majesty, according to my duty as a daughter. No more, no less.” (Act I, Scene I). Cordelia is disinherited and marries the King of France. Goneril and Regan behaved in a bad way with his father what makes him being about to get mad. Cordelia tries to save him by bringing the French army to defeat Goneril and Regan. Lear and Cordelia are imprisoned, Cordelia dies executed and Lear dies because of the pain produced by Cordelia’s death.
The three daughters grow up, like the rest of the women in this century, with the idea of deep respect towards men. Their life is full of luxury due to the high social class they belong to. As the King’s daughters, they should be an example of obedience, beauty and intelligence. They should act as good daughters and wives, following a patriarchal system, keep out of politics and take care of their father.
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With the character of Cordelia, Shakespeare tries to prove that trust is the key to maintaining a healthy relationship. Although her father disinherits her Cordelia continues supporting her father “Oh my dear father, restoration hang thy medicine on my lips, and let this kiss repair those violent harms that my two sisters have in thy reverence made” (Act IV, Scene VII).
Sigmund Freud in his book The Theme Of The Three Casket said that Cordelia symbolizes death, therefore, when the play starts with Lear rejecting his daughter it may be interpreted as him rejecting death. Lear is not ready to face the end of his existence.
The subplot has to do with the Earl of Gloucester and his two sons. Edgar, which is the elder son and the pure one; and Edmund, which is the illegitimate one. Edmund knows he will not inherit his father’s possessions, so he makes Gloucester think that Edgar wants to kill him. When Edgar discovers his father is searching for him, he escapes. While Edgar is trying to survive disguised as a beggar, Edmund starts to court Goneril and Regan. At the same time, Gloucester notices the new situation of Lear and decides to inform Cordelia, but he is betrayed by Edmund. Regan and her husband punish Gloucester.
Edgar finds his father about to commit suicide, then he forgives his father for his mistake, but he now wants to kill Edmund. In the resolution, Gloucester finally dies when he realises his old condition; and Edgar lastly murders Edmund.
In King Lear’s era, society does not regard Edmund and Edgar as equals, and their father neither. Taking into account, nature’s law, they both have the same right to the heir, but according to man’s law of primogeniture, Edmund is the one who has the privilege. When Gloucester becomes blind because his eyes were taken off, we can find a metaphor because only when he goes blind he can “see” the true reality, that Edgar was the good son.
The matter of family is a really interesting topic to analyze in this play, as Shakespeare is trying to give us a message. This aspect has special significance in this work: how children treat their parents and vice versa, and even how siblings treat each other. But these families are part of a kingdom so have a special power, and power can sometimes lead to desire.
There are several similarities between Cordelia and Edgar, because of the way in which they are treated by their parents, Lear and Gloucester respectively. These similarities can be shown throughout the play, as both fathers feel betrayed by their children while actually, they have received their support. Moreover, Cordelia and Edgar remain loyal and devoted to their fathers although their fathers betrayed them.
On the one hand, Edgar remains loyal to Gloucester by pretending to be a beggar and helping him at the end, when Gloucester is blind and alone. On the other hand, when Cordelia realizes what happened to her father, she does whatever she can and uses everything she has in her control, to save her father and defeat her sisters.
In addition, we can also appreciate some similarities between the characters. We can notice this aspect in two powerful men, King Lear and the Earl of Gloucester. They both are blinded and fooled by their offsprings, and their stories end up tragically because of their pride and ambition which leads them to repentance and to pay a price which is their own lives. Their stories take place at a paralel time. They express how treating children in different ways can lead to a dark outcome. Goneril, Regan and Edmund are regarded as the villains of the tragedy. They all have some characteristics in common, such as self-interest, which can be seen especially in Act 1, Scene 3, rivalry between children of the different families, jealous and self-seeking. Violence and cruelty are extremely represented, and it must be taken into account the lack of mother in each family and perhaps the lack of love by the figure of a woman.
There is absence of the maternal figure in King Lear. The story starts with Lear crying the death of his “dearest Queen”. This work expresses a patriarchal conception of the family where the children owe their life only to their fathers; so we realise that the mother’s role shades the father’s. This confirms male power. We can differentiate two patriarchal families, which are leaded by Gloucester and Lear.
Due to the absence of legitimates mothers in King Lear, Coppélia Kahn thinks of a psychoanalytic interpretation of the maternal subtext that is found in the play. Kahn says that the old age of Lear make him return to a childish aptitude and now he searches for a love traditionally satisfied by a mother but in the absence of an actual mother, his daughters become the maternal figures. In the love contest between Goneril, Regan and Cordelia serves as a binding agreement; his daughters will get his legacy as long as they take care of him, especially Cordelia, whose “tender care” he will depend to a large extend on.
Historical studies of the Elizabethan family provide a backdrop against which Lear’s family drama takes on new meaning as a tragedy of masculinity. The literary resource, hamartia, which is the main internal force and which pushes him to have an inaccurate judgment, is found in Lear’s attitude of superiority. His insistence on his rash decisions leads him to destruction and downfall. According to Aristotle’s perception, Lear, as a tragic character, does not deserve the punishment and that is why there is a sense of pity and fear in the audience. Since he is the King, he has a huge responsibility, but arrogance is his weakness and he can not resist it.
In conclusion, in King Lear, Shakespeare tries to show the thin line that distinguish wisdom, morality and foolishness. The fool plays an important role in Lear’s transformation. Lear is not an ignorant man anymore and becomes a wise and humble one, being able to see wisdom by his own. With this work Shakespeare wants to show a reversal in the hierarchy of Fool and King, as we can appreciate in the wisdom of the Fool and the ignorant decisions of Lear.
References
- https://owlcation.com/humanities/King-Lears-Foolishness
- https://www.scipress.com/ILSHS.74.16.pdf
- https://studymoose.com/the-importance-of-a-parent-child-bond-in-king-lear-essay
- https://www.bl.uk/shakespeare/articles/character-analysis-the-villains-in-king-lear-edmund-goneril-and-regan
- Sigmund Freud, The Theme Of The Three Caskets https://www.cliffsnotes.com/literature/k/king-lear/critical-essays/parentchild-relationships-the-neglect-of-natural-law
- https://freebooksummary.com/relationship-between-cordelia-and-king-lear-and-edgar-and-gloucester-70582
