Let me first start off saying... I love King Lear. I haven't ever really read Shakespeare with enjoyment (except for A Midsummer Night's Dream) and usually bash him with every chance I get. I typically have no trouble telling people that although an English major, I do not like Shakespeare...but maybe I've been changed :p
Oh...I would definitely agree with Kahn's theory on King Lear. Although rare for the time period, the play explores how one parent must be present for mother and father. It's what makes King Lear so unique, I think. I am not sure that's what Shakespeare was going for...his point may not have been "let's explore single-parent families."
One could argue that towards the end of the play King Lear becomes more acquainted with his feminine side. I'm not the only one who has noticed that this seems to mean going bonkers. Sbove, you noticed this too.
I would like to have a cut- to, very silly exploration here, just for a minute: never once could I feel sorry for Regan and Goneril, especially Goneril. Her name sounds far too much that a common Sexually Transmitted Disease. There. I’ve said it. Anyway…
King Lear is all about finding balance and how it is necessary as a parent. To be the ruthless, distant parent who puts his career before his children or to be the doting, affectionate parent? (To be or not to be...? Sorry, I had to.) Towards the end of the play it certainly seems as if King Lear softens up a bit (to me, everything seemed in vain as they all died in the end...others could argue that it wasn't... either way this is a tragedy!) Also, I think another point explored in the play is whether one is willing to change in order to not lose everything he or she has. King Lear seemed to want to change so he didn’t lose Cordelia, even if it was too late for Regan and Goneril.
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Ha ha ha. I love that you actually put to words what everyone has been thinking about Goneril. I didn’t want to be the one to make the reference so thank you. Normally, I would totally agree with you on the aspect of bashing Shakespeare. But whereas you enjoy A Midsummer’s Night Dream, I hate it. For some reason I’ve never been able to really get into it and every time I try I usually end up reading something else. I know what you mean about telling people that you don’t like Shakespeare. Every time I tell someone that I’m an English major and I don’t care for Shakespeare they get this look in their eyes like they want to burn me at the stake.
ReplyDeleteOverall I agree with what you said about the transitions that Lear undergoes over the course of the play. The part at the end where you put the two classic parenting styles works really well with your overall scheme. (Nice tie in with Hamlet by the way) You made another good point about how none of this really even matters seeing as how they all die in the end anyway. It does kind of seem like Lear doesn’t really care about Regan and Gonorrhea…I mean Goneril and that he only really cares about patching things up with Cordelia.
I agree with your comments about King Lear. We don't know what happened to the mother but I am assuming that maybe she died while giving birth to Cordelia??? It could be why King Lear gets along so well with Cordelia and not with the other two. Maybe he feels sorry that she never knew her mother.
ReplyDeleteI do think that Shakespeare is tough to read and understand also. He wrote about life in a very different time from ours. We do find similarities though to single parent families of today. I imagine that it would be very difficult to be a single parent in any time period. It did seem to be more acceptable for King Lear to be a single parent than it would have been for a woman...she would have been expected to marry again so she would have someone to care for her.
I do like the play on words with the names too...STDs....
I'm with you on being "just not that into" Shakespeare and also on this one helping that along a bit. I am not sure how much this has to do with getting in touch with his feminine side or just the perilous path of the single parent. To me it seemed more along the line of the distant-single-father on a career path too busy to give nurturing and affectionate care to his evil daughters who then become murderous villains motif.
ReplyDeleteAs for who I felt sorry for I'm with you there too. I never from the beginning could find any empathy for Goneril and Regan. Lear seemed quite cold-hearted towards them from the start but who could blame him. He surely knew what kind of people they were and though he may have been somewhat cold himself there is no indication that he was a treacherous cold-blooded power-hungry killer like they were. His dealings with Cordelia are a cause for judgement but even in that it seemed that at its base was true love, though badly misguided. Lear was transformed in the end, having lost all pride and dignity he was able to express openly his emotional love for Cordelia.
...but I disagree that it was all for naught. In the end, not everyone is dead. England is defended from France's advance, and the honorables Edgar, Albany and Kent remain in power with respect for the aged Lear.
ReplyDeleteI completely agree with you regarding your feelings on Shakespeare. I, too, am an English major, and I am not a big fan of his by any means! I use to feel that all English majors were supposed to love him because he made such a huge contribution to English literature; however, I have never been ashamed of saying he’s not my favorite. My recent change in attitude towards him came during my student teaching process. I had to teach Romeo and Juliet. It was a BLAST! So I now have a little more respect for his writing.
ReplyDeleteIn my blog, I also mentioned the question of single parent households. Although many children are raised with only one parent, or perhaps no parent at all, I do believe that both parents need to be present in the house. I believe both parents offer something that every child, regardless of its sex, needs in order to get the full care that it needs. I agree with Kahn, and with you, that it was perhaps the absence of a parent that caused Lear to have the mentalities that he did.
I love your “to be or not to be” in the last paragraph! I agree that Lear had to question which type of parent he wanted to be. I think it was at the end that Lear finally became transparent; he finally became human. It was this “change” that helped him to keep the affection of his beloved Cordelia.
Well, as most of my classmates obviously agreed, I too associated Goneril's name with a STD. Ha-ha, good stuff; but now to business. Although I enjoy the way you write--very fun and humorous--I must admit that you didn't make much of an argument toward your claim. In fact, I'm not even sure you made a claim. You agreed with Kahn, but why? What was it about King Lear's inner woman that you agreed with? You spoke of this being a tragedy and everyone dying, but what would a tragedy have to do with the topic, unless you felt that Lear's fatal flaw--which all tragic heroes such as Lear possess--was the revelation and the acceptance of his feminine side. Would have like to have read more, especially with your unique and fun style of writing.
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