My Thoughts after Reading King Lear
I read King Lear in my Renaissance and Shakespeare class;
so far, it's one of the most powerful tragedy that I've
ever pored over. For me, it's only second to Oedipus
the King, which is attributed to Sophocles, one of the
most important ancient Greek tragedians.
The play begins as Lear, the old and abdicating king,
decides to divide his kingdom into three portions for
his daughters- Goneril, Regan, and Cordelia, the beloved one.
He asks them to express/say how much they love him, which
Cordelia refuses to do as she says "Nothing." Being vexed,
Lear disowns Cordelia and gives his kingdom to the other
two daughters who think Lear's really gone too far this time.
It's a commonplace that parents have preference to one
child over the others. Nonetheless, Lear wants to be flattered,
and cannot stand that Cordelia touches his pride not only of a king
but also a father.
For me, it's weird that as a father, Lear fails to see the nature
of his children, which results in his tragedy in the end.
Well, I also find it hard to agree with Cordelia while
she says something like "How can you say you love father when you
two all have husbands?" to her sisters. It's false for me 'cause
I believe that individuals can still love their parents even when
they have their own family.
Another thing is that Lear's conceit makes him tough for his daughters.
Of course, the true selves of Goneril and Regan are instantly unmasked
after they get the lands/power with their spouses- Albany and Cornwall.
They did not welcome Lear to their houses, and insult him by asking
him to cut down the number of his one hundred knights.
To be frank, I don't think Lear needs so many "body-guards",
yet his defense is quite reasonable as he debates with his daughter.
It's of no doubt that part of the responsibility shall be
allocated to Lear. He still acts like a king even though he's
given up his power, making himself an unpleasant houseguest.
Before long, Cordelia leads the French army fight Britain after she
knows that her father is mistreated. Well, I forget to say that she
is married to King of France after Lear "disowns" her. Cordelia is
a very interesting character in this play. She only appears at the
beginning and the end of the play, yet she plays a vital role to
render this play more tragic.
Meanwhile, Goneril and Regan, who has been bereaved of his husband,
make attempt to win over the love of Edmund, another antigonist
and the bastard son of Gloucestor, who is on Lear's side.
This part again emphasizes the ugliness and hypocrisy
of the sisters, and most importantly, it reiterates an
issue revolving around this play: the disorder of family.
At the end of the play, Cornwall, Gloucestor, Goneril, Regan,
Edmund, Cordelia, and Lear all die. As readers/audience, we
might expect Cordelia would survive with his father after they
eventually reunite with each other.
"No cause, no cause." The Bard tells us how much Cordelia loves
Lear even though she does not express it, and how her love
transcends everything, in such a clever way.
Well, in case someone does not know,
"The Bard" refers to William Shakespeare.
However, Cordelia must die.
I consider King Lear to be one of the best tragedies I've read
because I do have "catharsis" as Aristotle, the Greek philosopher
defines in his Poetics: a sense of pity or fear that reaches
the purification of one's soul after reading a tragedy.
I empathize with Lear for the twists and turns of his life.
At the end, Edgar, the legal son of Gloucestor, and the expectedly
ascending king, has a very intriguing speech-
"The weight of this sad time we must obey,
Speak what we feel not what we ought to say,
The oldest hath borne most, we that are young
Shall never see so much nor live so long."
Those lines apparently echo back to the plot, or, it could be seen
as the summary of the whole play, which makes me admire Shakespeare
once again. On top of that, it's amazing that Shakespeare could give
us such in-depth aspects of the characters within the Acts.