Explain How Far Act 1 of ‘King Lear’ Exhibits Features of the Tragedy Genre.
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Explain how far Act 1 of ‘King Lear’ exhibits features of the tragedy genre.
King Lear is among the most complex and contradictory of Shakespeare’s works. While the play has no single character with the intellectual or sensual appeal of a Hamlet, Falstaff, Cleopatra, Richard III or even a Rosalind, it treats in the most vivid and dense language a vast array of problems. The tragedy’s cumulative effect is deeply troubling and, in its own fashion, subversive.
One way in which Shakespeare exhibits features of the tragedy genre within King Lear, is through the characterisation of Lear himself. Lear is an elderly king on the brink of madness. The tragic features kick in right from the off when Lear has set up a private competition in which his daughters have to praise him for his own egotistical ways; however it seems that Lear already has decided who has won. An example of this would be in Lear’s first speech, on lines 47-52; ‘Tell me, my daughters, since now we will divest us both of rule, interest of territory, cares of state, which of you shall we say doth love us most, that we our largest bounty may extend where nature doth with merit challenge’. By analysing this, it’s almost as if Lear has to bribe his daughters to show affection towards him. Goneril and Regan are the first of his kin to take to the stage praising their father in such exaggerating ways. There’s almost a sense of naivety in Lear, which is an unusual characteristic for a King, as he believes what his daughters Gonerill and Regan say about him, which becomes apparent later on in the play that they are prevaricating their father. His youngest daughter, Cordelia, goes last. It is clear that she is the most honest and truthful of the three. Lear again shows his desperation for affection, from lines 91-95; Cordelia: ‘Unhappy that I am, I cannot heave my heart into my mouth. I love your majesty according to my bond, no more nor less’. Lear: ‘How, how, Cordelia! Mend your speech a little lest you may...
King Lear is among the most complex and contradictory of Shakespeare’s works. While the play has no single character with the intellectual or sensual appeal of a Hamlet, Falstaff, Cleopatra, Richard III or even a Rosalind, it treats in the most vivid and dense language a vast array of problems. The tragedy’s cumulative effect is deeply troubling and, in its own fashion, subversive.
One way in which Shakespeare exhibits features of the tragedy genre within King Lear, is through the characterisation of Lear himself. Lear is an elderly king on the brink of madness. The tragic features kick in right from the off when Lear has set up a private competition in which his daughters have to praise him for his own egotistical ways; however it seems that Lear already has decided who has won. An example of this would be in Lear’s first speech, on lines 47-52; ‘Tell me, my daughters, since now we will divest us both of rule, interest of territory, cares of state, which of you shall we say doth love us most, that we our largest bounty may extend where nature doth with merit challenge’. By analysing this, it’s almost as if Lear has to bribe his daughters to show affection towards him. Goneril and Regan are the first of his kin to take to the stage praising their father in such exaggerating ways. There’s almost a sense of naivety in Lear, which is an unusual characteristic for a King, as he believes what his daughters Gonerill and Regan say about him, which becomes apparent later on in the play that they are prevaricating their father. His youngest daughter, Cordelia, goes last. It is clear that she is the most honest and truthful of the three. Lear again shows his desperation for affection, from lines 91-95; Cordelia: ‘Unhappy that I am, I cannot heave my heart into my mouth. I love your majesty according to my bond, no more nor less’. Lear: ‘How, how, Cordelia! Mend your speech a little lest you may...