King Lear Theatre History

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the two sisters. Words of endearment, which Regan and Goneril used to flatter their father, were very common to Queen Elizabeth and James I. Many sonnets in the 1590’s were constructed in order to curry favors and ask for the patronage of Queen Elizabeth. Unlike Elizabeth, however, James was famous for his promotion of his favorites and belief that a monarch’s chief advisor should be himself. This difference in behavior and openness to advice, as seen in the play, can be the difference between the downfall or prosperity of a country. Although the sisters were related to Lear by blood, two of them were not qualified or well suited to be leaders. The emphasis here is that in addition to being a blood relative of the predecessor, the successor should be someone that embodies justice, compassion, and accountability to the people in order to properly rule and continue the good work of the previous monarch (in this case Elizabeth I). What makes a good king is gaining the respect and love of his people even when he knows he has power over them, another warning to James I. King Lear didn’t accept his humanity in the first part of the plot (before climax) and thus was careless with his power.

The manner in which Lear treats Cordelia at the beginning of the play proves that he is so concerned about being treated as a king and someone of great importance that he doesn’t value sincerity and honesty as much as keeping up appearances, even if it means succumbing to the cheap trick of flattery employed by his daughters. Shakespeare points to the shallow behavior of the nobility in requiring the praise of others to boost their self-worth and importance. Although the plan of Regan and Goneril to use flattery on their father shows their cunning and opportunistic natures, it resembles not only the immoral character of the sisters but the primitive governmental system which allows flattery to be a means through which one can gain influence and power. In contrast, Cordelia represents the moral standard in the play and exemplifies the person who should be the rightful ruler of the country. I believe this is so because Shakespeare portrays her in such a way, that one thinks she embodies all that is good and gentle in this world. She sincerely lover her father and even after he abuses and discards her love, she still tries to help him by attempting to invade Britain with the armies of the French king. While it is easy to dismiss Regan and Goneril’s actions as evil and morally wrong, it needs to be pointed out that Lear did make it abundantly clear at the beginning of the play that Cordelia was his favorite daughter and that if she joined her sisters in flattering the king, she would’ve received the largest portion of the inheritance. Such preferential treatment must’ve shown and come out in the way Lear treated his daughters, and just like Edmund, the two sisters became bitter and planned sweet revenge. Gloucester and King Lear allowed the rules of men (bastards are outcasts) to overrule the natural law of a parent taking care of a child and providing them with the necessary love and attention for a healthy growth. Even though in the end the forces of good triumph over the evil caused by parental neglect, Shakespeare poses the question if it is worth taking a stand and being on either side if characters on both sides met a tragic death.

Present for only half the play, the Fool, despite the meaning of his name, plays as one of King Lear’s most dependable and wise advisors. Back in the sixteenth century, kings employed the services of jesters and fools to amuse them and say things to them that wouldn’t be permissible of other people otherwise. While at first glance, one may think the Fool is an expendable character in this story, he is actually very vital to not only the themes of the play but its performance on stage as well. For example, when King Lear had to whittle down his one hundred knights because his daughters deemed them loud and repulsive, Shakespeare couldn’t possibly employ the services of a hundred knights on stage, so it would have been the Fool’s job to demonstrate the ruckus they were causing. In addition, when the Fool states that there is no need for kings to have fools when all wise men are fools, referring to Lear’s blatant mistake of giving his entire kingdom to the evil sisters, he pokes fun at the nobility who think they are above all but still make mistakes whether they like it or not. For the majority of the play King Lear didn’t see himself at fault for his reduced state in society and the chaos around the country, but instead blamed his two daughters for deceiving him! The Fool and Cordelia act as “protectors” for Lear for the entire play, but the Fool takes his leave as soon as King Lear goes mad because at that point the king had recognized his folly and didn’t need to be reminded of it anymore. Finding himself outside facing the elements made it perfectly clear he had chosen the wrong successors and lost all authority he previously enjoyed as sovereign. Falling from the mountain top down to the valley must be a humbling experience that drove Lear to madness, but that is the only time he could actually “see” clearly. Shakespeare illustrates that in a world where people will flatter us to get what they want, we all need a fool that is willing to tell us the explicit truth and make us realize that we are not as perfect or great as those flatteries make us out to be. A good king is a person who can discern between flatteries and the truth without being deceived by them.

In conclusion, the play King Lear is a unique Shakespearean play that is considered one of the playwrights’ best works. Being his only play to include graphic violence on stage (Gloucester’s eyes get taken out), coupled with the political and religious symbolism at work throughout the entire play, King Lear is a tragic masterpiece that is still relevant to today’s society in many ways.

Bibliography

Bowers, Fredson. "The Structure of King Lear." Shakespeare Quarterly 31, no. 1 (1980): 7-9.

Bullough, Geoffrey. In Narrative and Dramatic Sources of Shakespeare. Hamlet, Othello, King Lear, Macbeth, 309-334. Vol. Vii. London: Routledge and Kegan Paul, 1973.

Cannon, John Ashton., and Ralph A. Griffiths. The Oxford Illustrated History of the British Monarchy. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1998. 340-371.

Durston, Christopher. James I. London: Routledge, 1993. 53-60.

Hadfield, A. "The Power and Rights of the Crown in Hamlet and King Lear: ’The King--The King’s to Blame’" The Review of English Studies 54, no. 217 (2003). .

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