Hi Everyone: Please respond to your chosen passage in the comment section below. See the previous motif assignment for directions or clarification. Thanks, Mr. Telles.
Like father, like daughter: Regan and Goneril act in many ways very similar to King Lear; they act in greed and fail to recognize the care that’s been devoted to them over the years. Instead of appreciating the gift of half of his kingdom to each, they want more, they want power and control. Regan and Goneril don’t just want land and money and guards, they want Lear resorted to the state of an old man, so that there is no person higher in command than them; no one to bring them down or defy them. Regan and Goneril are succeeding where Lear could not in his greed, they have separated their mind from their hearts and do not allow any emotions to interfere with their clever scheme. Lear cannot control his anger. What is interesting about this monologue of Lear’s is that most, if not all, of the characters play with the truth, and while other characters recognize the falsity, nothing is said or done. And yet, in this monologue Lear accuses Regan and Goneril of how they are playing him, this poor old man. He goes throughout the play thus far commanding everyone and hanging onto his power, and now he is admitting that he is weak and vulnerable. Lear has moved from daughter’s house to daughter’s house because he wants to trust someone, or at least have the ability to feel secure in usurping from his daughters. But he cannot even trust his daughters, and that’s where the deceit starts to go too far. He admits to the many sins that everyone commits, which before this monologue had been committed but unspoken; he says that life without superfluous needs is unnecessary itself? It’s a natural need and want in human nature to be extravagant. But Regan and Goneril? They are going beyond, the “unnatural hags”; they aren’t just posing, they are writing the next steps in their lives. They have moved from being greedy to power hungry. It’s as if before they started on their scheme, anyone could lie and twist the truth and life was fine, but with Regan and Goneril twisting truth for everyone, it’s interfering with other’s lives and now deceit is an issue for everyone.
KENT Fellow, I know thee. OSWALD What dost thou know me for? KENT A knave; a rascal; an eater of broken meats; a base, proud, shallow, beggarly, three-suited, hundred-pound, filthy, worsted-stocking knave; a lily-livered, action-taking knave, a whoreson, glass-gazing, super-serviceable finical rogue; one-trunk-inheriting slave; one that wouldst be a bawd, in way of good service, and art nothing but the composition of a knave, beggar, coward, pandar, and the son and heir of a mongrel bitch: one whom I will beat into clamorous whining, if thou deniest the least syllable of thy addition. OSWALD Why, what a monstrous fellow art thou, thus to rail on one that is neither known of thee nor knows thee!
In this passage, Kent and Oswald meet for the second time. Although Kent is in disguise and Oswald doesn’t recognize him, Kent definitely remembers Oswald as the man who insulted King Lear, who Kent is immensely loyal to. Oswald is extremely confused by the fact that Kent is so cold towards him, since, as far as he knows, they have never met. When Oswald asks about it, Kent goes into a long, detailed, and passionate speech about how terrible Oswald is, focusing mostly on the fact that Oswald is a servant but strives to be higher in rank. He describes him as poor and cowardly and makes it clear that he has no respect for Oswald. Oswald, on the other hand, is completely baffled by the man.
Two motifs in this passage are loyalty and honesty, of which Kent has both--for better or for worse. The reason that he’s so cold towards Oswald in the first place is because he insulted Kent’s king. Kent feels the need to defend Lear’s honor, and does so passionately and aggressively. Kent’s loyalty is unlike any others’ in the book. He is willing to do just about anything for Lear, and unlike the Fool, who is aware of the king’s faults and tries to get him to realize the error of his ways, Kent will defend him regardless. Even Cordelia, who is loyal to her father and clearly cares about his well-being, isn’t as aggressive about such devotion. She, like the fool, is aware of his flaws and doesn’t defend them, but Kent almost sees Lear as faultless. And he defends the king by verbally (and also physically, after this passage) attacking the man who insulted him. The motif of honesty also comes into play here. In his passion, Kent is not monitoring or carefully and glibby choosing his words. This long insult seems to be spur of the moment, right from the heart, and Kent isn’t at all ashamed of them. Unlike other characters in the book, such as the King’s other daughters Regan and Goneril, he isn’t twisting the truth and lying in order to make himself appear better. Even when others, including Regan and Edmund, appear, Kent doesn’t change his approach. He remains just as aggressive as he had before. He doesn’t feel the need to defend or be ashamed of his honesty and is punished because of it. While others, such as Regan and Edmund themselves, are benefiting from their lies, Kent is found at fault for speaking what he believes is the truth.
EDGAR I heard myself proclaimed, And by the happy hollow of a tree Escaped the hunt. No port is free, no place That guard and most unusual vigilance Does not attend my taking. Whiles I may ’scape, I will preserve myself, and am bethought To take the basest and most poorest shape That ever penury in contempt of man Brought near to beast. My face I’ll grime with filth, Blanket my loins, elf all my hair in knots, And with presented nakedness outface The winds and persecutions of the sky. The country gives me proof and precedent Of Bedlam beggars, who with roaring voices Strike in their numbed and mortified bare arms Pins, wooden pricks, nails, sprigs of rosemary, And with this horrible object from low farms, Poor pelting villages, sheepcotes, and mills, Sometime with lunatic bans, sometime with prayers, Enforce their charity. “Poor Turlygod!” “Poor Tom!”— That’s something yet. Edgar I nothing am.
As the character of Edgar is developed, it seems that there are more and more parallels between him and King Lear. Not only were they both betrayed by their kin, but their present situations are also very similar. Edgar is presently cast out from his father’s house, just as King Lear has been cast out from the houses of his daughters. Edgar seems to dive into a sort of desperation upon his banishment. He covers himself with dirt as a disguise, and decides to “take the basest and most poorest shape.” King Lear acts in a similar way later on in the play during act III. The King forces himself to face the rain and wind of a fierce storm, comparing himself with the poor who have no choice but to brave the elements, and upon heightened emotion, he tarts to stip himself of his clothes. If find it interesting that, when in distress, it seems to be many of the characters’automatic reaction to remove their garbs. I feel like this pattern is Shakespeare trying to point something out to the reader. I believe that the clothes that both Edgar and King Lear stip off/ alter are symbolic of their roles in life. Both of them have experienced a steep drop in social status, and hatred from the ones they love. In an attempt to remove themselves from their present situations, they remove the clothing that signifies their positions, as if by appearing a different person they can actually be a different person. In this passage, Edgar attempts to hide his true identity, because as Edgar, he is now nothing. King Lear, on the other hand, is not so much interested in disguise as a complete lack of identity. While edgar alters his clothing to appear different, King Lear seems to be trapped by his garbs, and simply wants to be released altogether. It is almost as if his role as king is constraining him, and by taking off his clothes he tries to find some kind of relief. At the end of this passage we also see the motif of “nothing” brought up. The idea of nothing is constantly present throughout the play, and also creates another parallel between Edgar and King Lear. King Lear is undoubtedly the character that pines over nothingness the most, but now Edgar has started to ponder the term too. I am interested to see if these similarities between these two characters continue, or whether or not Edgar and King Lear grow in opposite directions.
Thee o'er to harshness. Her eyes are fierce, but thine
Do comfort and not burn. 'Tis not in thee
To grudge my pleasures, to cut off my train,
To band hasty words, to scant my sizes,
And in conclusion, to oppose the bolt
Against my coming in. Thou better know'st
The offices of nature, bond of childhood,
Effects of courtesy, dues of gratitude,
Thy half o' th' kingdom hast thou not forgot,
Wherein I thee endowed.
In this passage from King Lear, Lear s addressing his daughter Regan in reference to his youngest daughter Cordelia. He is expressing that Regan cannot possibly understand what it's like to be Cordelia, as the are both very different. The two motifs used in this passage are nature and eyes. There is much implied about the character of Lear in this passage as well. Shakespeare uses language to reveal things about his novel that are hidden to those who are not looking hard enough.
The idea of nature being used as something either conflicting or comforting is consistent throughout the book. Regan seems to be the daughter with the most logic, while Cordelia has the most passion and integrity. Goneril just seems to follow authority, not really ever taking a stand. Lear's nature is self obsessed and esteemed. Other places the reader sees the motif of nature in King Leer is 2.1.59, where Kent talks of the nature of the bastard. Every character in this book seems to have either a good or bad nature.
Eyes are also a very prominent motif in this play. They are often used to express perspective or closed-mindedness. In this passage, Lear compared Regan's calm eyes to Cordelia's burning eyes. The imagery in that suggests that Lear thinks Cordelia to be a sort of evil and Regan to be innocent. He does not let himself listen to others because he thinks too highly of himself. What he says is the truth, in his eyes. Eyes are used throughout the play to show internal personality and perspective. Eyes are also described as flaming in 2.3.187. This consistent theme reveals each character's inner turmoil.
Both the nature and eyes motif bring parts together in Shakespeare's King Lear. Each motif acts as a sort of glue, putting the plot together with purpose. Expression and attitude are conveyed with both these motifs, as well as perspective being put into place.
Christina Sargent Motifs: nature & nakedness, madness (2.3.1-21)
EDGAR I heard myself proclaimed, And by the happy hollow of a tree Escaped the hunt. No port is free; no place That guard and most unusual vigilance Does not attend my taking. Whiles I may ‘scape, I will preserve myself, and am bethought To take the basest and most poorest shape That ever penury in contempt of man Brought near to beast. My face I’ll grime with filth, Blanket my loins, elf all my hairs in knots, And with presented nakedness outface The winds and persecutions of the sky. The country gives me proof and precedent Of Bedlam beggars who with roaring voices Strike in their numbed and mortifièd arms Pins, wooden pricks, nails, sprigs of rosemary, And, with this horrible object, from low farms, Poor pelting villages, sheepcotes, and mills, Sometime with lunatic bans, sometime with prayers, Enforce their charity. “Poor Turlygod! Poor Tom!” That’s something yet. “Edgar” I nothing am.
In this passage, Edgar has fled Gloucester’s castle after being accused of plotting to murder his father. He knows that no matter where he goes, Gloucester will have people looking for him. Edgar decides that he will disguise himself as a crazy beggar in order to survive.
Edgar makes a connection with nature during this monologue. He smears dirt on his face and knots his hair. He also compares being poor to being similar to a beast, and says that he will now face the world with presented nakedness. In this sense, nature and nakedness symbolize vulnerability. It’s interesting that Edgar is the one encountering this motif, since in Act I his brother Edmund was the one who connected with nature. Edgar also describes the Bedlam beggars and how they act so crazily that people are frightened into giving them charity. Edgar resolves to act as mad as them in order to hide from his father. The motif of madness comes up in other parts of the play as well. Perhaps Edgar will become more like the Fool. The Fool says a lot of things to King Lear that are dismissed as nonsense, but he actually understands more about Lear’s situation than even Lear realizes. Since Edgar is only pretending to be crazy, he may offer some disguised wisdom to the other characters.
Hannah Ellis Motifs: craziness and nothing 2.3.1-21 I heard myself proclaim'd; And by the happy hollow of a tree Escaped the hunt. No port is free; no place, That guard, and most unusual vigilance, Does not attend my taking. Whiles I may 'scape, I will preserve myself: and am bethought To take the basest and most poorest shape That ever penury, in contempt of man, Brought near to beast: my face I'll grime with filth; Blanket my loins: elf all my hair in knots; And with presented nakedness out-face The winds and persecutions of the sky. The country gives me proof and precedent Of Bedlam beggars, who, with roaring voices, Strike in their numb'd and mortified bare arms Pins, wooden pricks, nails, sprigs of rosemary; And with this horrible object, from low farms, Poor pelting villages, sheep-cotes, and mills, Sometime with lunatic bans, sometime with prayers, Enforce their charity. Poor Turlygod! poor Tom! That's something yet: Edgar I nothing am.
In this passage Edgar is discussing his plan to evade being arrested. He decides that he will pretend to be a beggar who has gone crazy and he will call himself Tom. He plans to cover himself with dirt and dress himself as a beggar so nobody will question who he really is. This passage deals with the motifs of insanity and nothingness. Insanity ties in with the theme of nonsense throughout the play. Many times the Fool’s lines are thought of as nonsense by Lear even though they actually have a deeper meaning. Further in the book when Edgar is pretending to be Poor Tom, he speaks nonsense while he pretends to be crazy, but what he is saying has motifs within it. Craziness and nonsense seem to be ignored by the characters in the play, but the readers can usually make more out of it. Nothingness comes up often with the Fool as well, but in this passage Edgar says, “Edgar I nothing am”. He refers to himself as nothing, because the person he once was will no longer exist. In previous passages the Fool speaks of nothing and Lear does not quite understand what he is speaking of. The Fool and Edgar as Poor Tom, are both held highly by King Lear as the play goes on, while they both take part in the same motifs. Shakespeare seems to be using this two characters, who previously were not connected, to sharpen his emphasis on these motifs of craziness and nothingness.
KENT: A knave; a rascal; an eater of broken meats; a base, proud, shallow, beggarly, three-suited, hundred-pound, filthy, worsted-stocking knave; a lily-livered, action-taking knave, a whoreson, glass-gazing, super-serviceable finical rogue; one-trunk-inheriting slave; one that wouldst be a bawd, in way of good service, and art nothing but the composition of a knave, beggar, coward, pandar, and the son and heir of a mongrel bitch: one whom I will beat into clamorous whining, if thou deniest the least syllable of thy addition.
Kent is using a wide variety of insults, attacking many aspects of Oswald’s life in order to really get under his skin. He focuses mainly on breeding and status. He is taking out his anger because he feels that Oswald has betrayed Lear by serving Goneril (which is true but I believe Oswald is on the side demonstrating the lesser of two evils: trying to overthrow the king versus the king who is abusing his power and acting rashly).
Fool. We’ll set thee to school to an ant, to teach thee there’s no labouring i’ the winter. All that follow their noses are led by their eyes but blind men; and there’s not a nose among twenty but can smell him that’s stinking. Let go thy hold when a great wheel runs down a hill, lest it break thy neck with following it; but the great one that goes up the hill, let him draw thee after. When a wise man gives thee better counsel, give me mine again: I would have none but knaves follow it, since a Fool gives it. That sir which serves and seeks for gain, And follows but for form, Will pack when it begins to rain, And leave thee in the storm. But I will tarry; the Fool will stay, And let the wise man fly: The knave turns fool that runs away; The Fool no knave, perdy. Kent. Where learn’d you this, Fool? Fool. Not i’ the stocks, fool.
When Kent asks why Lear has less servants with him, the Fool mocks him. This scene compares wisdom to foolishness with Kent being the foppish one. It is strange that Lear has less numbers with him, because at Goneril’s he got upset and left when she asked him to halve his knights. But apparently the half that departed actually left without leave, and the all-knowing Fool cites three reasons why they should depart. In his speech, that begins with a disclaimer “When a wise man gives thee better counsel, give me mine again,” the Fool (with a capital F) questions if blind loyalty is prudent when it is unprofitable and may lead one to death by fortune’s wheel. I believe this is a reference to that specific wheel because the Fool is saying if you stay where you are i.e.-don’t let go (of your position) then Fate has a certain doom prepared for you. Those that flee should hitch a ride on Edmund’s wheel which is rolling uphill. Also, the mystical wheel appears again toward the climax. Anyways, he goes on to make a pun on fool and Fool, saying those that run are fools in the literal sense but a real Fool, the one that is loyal, is anything but a traitor. Then Kent is like who told you that and the Fool’s like you’re an idiot.
Motifs: madness, status/rank Act II, scene iii, lines 1-21
EDGAR I heard myself proclaim'd, And by the happy hollow of a tree Escap'd the hunt. No port is free, no place That guard and most unusual vigilance Does not attend my taking. Whiles I may scape, I will preserve myself; and am bethought To take the basest and most poorest shape That ever penury, in contempt of man, Brought near to beast. My face I'll grime with filth, Blanket my loins, elf all my hair in knots, And with presented nakedness outface The winds and persecutions of the sky. The country gives me proof and precedent Of Bedlam beggars, who, with roaring voices, Strike in their numb'd and mortified bare arms Pins, wooden pricks, nails, sprigs of rosemary; And with this horrible object, from low farms, Poor pelting villages, sheepcotes, and mills, Sometime with lunatic bans, sometime with prayers, Enforce their charity. 'Poor Turlygod! poor Tom!' That's something yet! Edgar I nothing am. [Exit]
1. Edgar’s monologue in the third scene represents a significant individual conflict that is shifted away from the bigger conflicts happening at Lear’s castle. The play centers around the betrayal of King Lear by his two daughters, yet Edgar too has been betrayed by a family member, no other than his half-brother Edmund. Now that a fake letter plotting his father’s death has been forged in his name, Edgar must abandon the self that he once was and disguise himself as a dirty transient in order to escape his own manhunt. Edgar goes into full detail about how he will disguise himself, “I will preserve myself; and am bethought/To take the basest and most poorest shape/That ever penury, in contempt of man/Brought near to beast.” While he simply states that he is going in disguise, the desperation and need to escape the chaos is clearly evident within his words. Edgar, being the legitimate son of Gloucester, is more highly respected and noble then Edmund, especially since he is to inherit his father’s estate. However, in this scene, his true identity (along with his dignity) dissipates and he is forced to become the exact opposite of what he once was, losing all of his nobility. Edgar admits that he’ll be someone, but “Edgar nothing I am.”
2. Madness and status are two of the most prominent and connecting motifs within this passage. Edgar makes an extreme sacrifice pertaining to his identity, because disguising himself as a lowlife beggar entails losing his status as the noble son of an earl. Rank and status are sought after and tampered with by several of the characters in the play, and as status is lost a certain madness surfaces and the chaotic conditions amplify. It is evident that Lear goes mad as his daughters try to gain higher status over him, and Edgar’s situation in this scene mirrors that. Edgar, too, has lost his rank because of a family member, and within his words are hints of desperation to escape the lunacy, yet lunacy is already impending on him and on others, too. And while justice is a major theme of the play, it is not rightly served, and Edgar, aside from Lear, is the best example of a man who does not deserve the injustices of which Edmund has imposed on him.
3. As mentioned in the first response, the conflict that Edgar faces has gone from that of a group to an individual conflict. The individuality of his conflict also portrays the madness as purely psychological, differing from the madness that exists through combat and character interaction. For example, earlier in the play madness is seen as Lear yells at his daughters or asks the Fool to help him stay sane. For Edgar, the madness is becoming purely psychological and this sets an eerie yet chaotic mood for the rest of the play. Edgar’s status decline also foreshadows a decline of true identity versus the identity of those who deceive and how ingenuity conquers in King Lear.
LEAR Now, I prithee, daughter, do not make me mad. I will not trouble thee, my child. Farewell. We’ll no more meet, no more see one another. But yet thou art my flesh, my blood, my daughter— Or rather a disease that’s in my flesh, Which I must needs call mine. Thou art a boil, A plague-sore or embossèd carbuncle In my corrupted blood. But I’ll not chide thee. Let shame come when it will. I do not call it. I do not bid the thunder-bearer shoot, Nor tell tales of thee to high-judging Jove. Mend when thou canst. Be better at thy leisure. I can be patient. I can stay with Regan, I and my hundred knights.
1. There is a lot of emotion behind what King Lear is saying. His daughter, Goneril, is finally choose to stand up for what she believes in. The King is basically shutting her out, due to the fact she is not letting him be right in her eyes. He is being a father by saying she will always be part of him no matter how much he does not agree with her decisions and beliefs, but he can still let go when it comes down to it. The king is upset enough to let go, but to still hold on. Towards the end he says, “Mend when thou canst. Be better at thy leisure. I can be patient. I can stay with Regan, I and my hundred knights.” Honestly my translation was, “ I will wait for you to fix yourself. There is nothing wrong with Regan, my knights, or myself. Until you fix your beliefs, there is no more of us.” I took this as a father picking over his children and even favoring his knights over his own daughter. I know that King Lear is upset and has high standings, but even back then didn’t parents stand up for their children 100%. Goneril is not free to be herself; she has to choose between her family and herself. 2. The two motifs I found here were parents and children and rank and status. These two concepts are totally different but they blend perfectly. King Lear is torn between being embarrassed by giving into his daughter because of love, and his true title as king. I believe the king is worried if he shows to much love and actually acts like a father, his knights and people will lose some type of respect for him. The king is in as much as a predicament as his daughter. They have to decide what is more important to them, and frankly the king is brainwashed, believing that the most important is his job is more important than family. 3. I remember in the beginning of the play, one of the first scenes, Goneril fighting with her father. They were going off at each other, and hysterically in front of others. This fight was not kept quiet. Women in this age were not known for speaking their minds, and that’s what Goneril did. Her father reacted horribly, due to being embarrassed and ashamed; he never saw it coming. It seemed to me like the king never wanted to talk or see his daughter again. The thing is, in act II the kings sort of had a change of heart. King Lear still wanted her to leave, but he made sure she knew he still loved her. The act of kindness was heartwarming, even though the king was surely being unfair and not even being a true father.
I heard myself proclaimed, And by the happy hollow of a tree Escaped the hunt. No port is free; no place That guard and most unusual vigilance Does not attend my taking. Whiles I may ‘scape, I will preserve myself, and am bethought To take the basest and most poorest shape That ever penury in contempt of man Brought near to beast. My face I’ll grime with filth, Blanket my loins, elf all my hairs in knots, And with presented nakedness outface The winds and persecutions of the sky. The country gives me proof and precedent Of Bedlam beggars who with roaring voices Strike in their numbed and mortifièd arms Pins, wooden pricks, nails, sprigs of rosemary, And, with this horrible object, from low farms, Poor pelting villages, sheepcotes, and mills, Sometime with lunatic bans, sometime with prayers, Enforce their charity. “Poor Turlygod! Poor Tom!” That’s something yet. “Edgar” I nothing am.
This passage is Edgar’s monologue right after he has had to flee the city from his father. He has been able to hide himself in a hollow tree to escape the King’s men, but they have made it to every nearby town, all awaiting for Edgar’s arrival to kill him. Edgar reasons that the only way to escape this will be to disguise himself as “the basest and most poorest shape” that man has seen. He will smear dirt on his face, knot his hair, and wear a loincloth to become “Poor Tom”.
In this passage, Edgar is physically stripping himself of his rank and status. Taking off his noble clothes and putting on a loincloth is physical nakedness, but more importantly, figural nakedness. A man’s clothes are the symbol of his status, and to strip down means there’s nothing left, no status, no nobility, and no privileges. However, Shakespeare is using this nakedness it to juxtapose it with dishonesty and deception. When people think nakedness, they think stripped down, bare, and by default, completely honest, for, there can’t be any deception in nakedness? But Shakespeare is throwing that away. He’s emphasizing that that may not always be the case. As Edgar strips down, he is building up deception and is becoming this “Poor Tom” character. Shakespeare does this to emphasize the complete mentality of deception and lack of physical qualities is truly must have.
This passage is also playing with the madness motif. To disguise himself, Edgar chooses to be an insane poor man. In madness, Edgar will find hiding. I find this to be a very interesting topic. Edgar is showing that it is madness that is able to completely swallow his whole self up, becoming unrecognizable both physically and mentally: as quoted ““Edgar” I nothing am”. This concept is used as an indication and foreshadow of King Lear. He has already started on the path of losing his mind, with people already having a hard time seeing the King Lear they knew to him currently. And Shakespeare uses Edgar to foreshadow that Kin Lear will continue farther and farther into madness until he becomes essentially unrecognizable.
Kent: “A knave, a rascal, an eater of broken meats; a base, proud, shallow, beggarly, three-suited, hundred-pound, filthy, worsted-stocking knave; a lily-liver’d, action-taking knave; a whoreson, glass-gazing, superserviceable, finical rogue; one-trunk-inheriting slave; one that wouldst be a bawd, in way of good service, and art nothing but the composition of a knave, beggar, coward, pandar, and the son and heir of a mongrel bitch: one whom I will beat into clamorous whining if thou deniest the least syllable of thy addition.”
This passage is spoken by Kent, directed towards Oswald. In summary, this quote is mainly one extensive insult to Oswald. Kent is calling him “a knave, a rascal...,” and continues with this language, which are all different words that are insulting and degrading towards Oswald. This comes after Oswald asks Kent a question about the horse stables, and Kent responds in rude and uninviting ways. I feel like this argument is a big moment of the book. Kent, one of the only loyal and honest characters in the play, is trying to defend his boss, Goneril. Oswald is almost a complete opposite of Kent, in that he is very self-centered and is always trying to assure things go his way. One motif found in this passage is the power and meaning of insults. Between Kent, Goneril, the Fool, and several other characters, there are many powerful insults directed towards others in this play. In this particular one, Oswald does not fight back, he just lets Kent insult, and subsequently attack him. Later, we learn that Kent may have attacked Oswald because of the way Goneril is treating King Lear. Kent uses a very harsh insult on Oswald, and Oswald does not fight back. This leads me to believe that Oswald is not scared of Kent, but rather he is smart and knows that Kent won’t hurt him too badly, and by not fighting, he will be more faithful, which he does not usually show. Another motif present in this passage is the reference to social classes and class structure. Kent is insulting oswald, and in order to convey his point, Kent compares Oswald to people of the poorer and lower class. He calls him a “beggar,” a “knave,” and a “slave.” Using these terms are degrading to Oswald, and makes the insult even more powerful. Oswald and Kent are both in the middle to upper class, so these terms are not typically associated with them. Social class and structure are present all throughout the play. They end up being a very important motif throughout the play in that they are what influence the thoughts and actions of the characters. Nobody wants to be in the lower class, and as you can see here, it seems like a form of humiliation and punishment. This passage refers to social classes in Kent’s insult towards Oswald, and both the classes and insults are common throughout this play. Oswald refrains from fighting back, showing a side of him that is not often present. Kent, one of the only loyal and honest characters in the play, is being rude to him in order to portray his loyalty towards Goneril.
Kirsten L. Salo (2.iv.305-329) Motifs: animals/humans and parents/children
King Lear is in conversation with two of his daughters, Regan and Goneril, whom want Lear to dismiss his knights and attendants. Lear is in enraged at what his daughters are saying and responds by saying that the only difference between humans and animals is the desire and need for more things, things of a luxurious matter. Therefore dismissing his knights would make Lear more of an animal. This brings up the animal/human motif, “Why nature needs not what thou gorgeous wear'st,/Which scarcely keeps thee warm. But, for true/need--”. I think that Lear is trying to say that his daughters are animals, untamed and vicious beings. Whereas he is viewing himself as tame, although being “human” is greedy and brings a lust for power. King Lear then goes on to say he will seek revenge on his daughters for being so untrue to him. At this point he is acting quite insane. Earlier in the play the parents/children motif seemed extreme in a way, but this passage demonstrates how wicked it can be, although once again Lear is overdramatizing the roles being played. Being a good daughter or father doesn't mean pledging your life to being faithful to one another, and Lear is drawing it out in such a ridiculous manner. Lear doesn't want to stop at anything to get his revenge.
Lear: Blow winds, and crack your cheeks! Rage, Blow! You cataracts and hurricanoes, spout till you have drenched our steeples, (drowned) the cocks. You sulph'rous and thought-executing fires, vaunt-couriers of oak-cleaving thunderbolts, singe my white head. And thou, all-shaking thunder, strike flat the thick rotundity o' th' world. Crack nature's molds, all germens spill at once that makes ingrateful man. Fool: O nuncle, court holy water in a dry house is better than this rainwater out o' door. Good nuncle, in. Ask thy daughters' blessing. Heres a night pities neither wise men nor fools. Lear: Rumble thy bellyful! Spit, fire! Spout, rain! Nor rain, wind, thunder, fire are my daughters. I tax not you, you elements, with unkindness. I never gave you kingdom, called you children; You owe me no subscription. Then let fall your horrible pleasure. Here I stand your slave, a poor, infirm, weak, and despised old man. But yet I call you servile ministers, that will with two pernicious daughters join your high-engendered battles 'gainst a head so old and white as this. O, ho, 'tis foul!
Act 3, Scene 2, Lines 1-26
Storms and calms Kindness and cruelty
After Lear has been refused hospitality by both of his daughters, Goneril and Reagan, he is locked out of the castle and sent out into a terrible storm with only his Fool for company. Lear switches between extreme anger and something like self pity. He is outraged at his situation for multiple reasons. He feels betrayed and disrespected by his daughters, angry because of the horrible conditions, and appalled that he, a king, would be left alone in such conditions in the first place. The storm we see here seems appropriate considering the mental state of most of the characters. They are agitated. Not only is the storm a sign of anger, but also cruelty. A lot of the actions of the characters, especially Lear's daughters, are incredibly cruel. Personally, I feel that sending your own old father into a storm is one of the cruelest things you can do. This storm is a representation of the harsh conditions Lear is facing, and how they evoke his extreme emotions, which will eventually send him into madness. Ironically, this cruelty seems to root Lear to his ability to think. I noticed that throughout his ramblings and cursing of the storm, he always brings himself back to the source of his emotion. While yelling at the weather, Lear mentions his "two pernicious daughters." As Lear's state of mind deteriorates, so does the outside world. Leadership is becoming corrupt, war is eventually going to happen, and now the weather is awful. Lear's world is a direct representation of his state of mind.
In the beginning of the play, I saw the Fool as a servant to the king who enjoyed making fun of him in ways that the king could not pick up. I figured that he was bound to his job and respected the king only out of obligation, as many workers do in monarchies. However, as the play got rolling, I saw that the Fool made fun of King Lear in an endearing way that often showed that he cared. From what I can see, Cordelia and the Fool are the only two characters that genuinely care for King Lear. However, Cordelia has been banished, and the Fool always speaks in vague ways that King Lear fails to pick up. In my perspective, to the audience, there is an inversion in the way that the Fool interacts with King Lear. Cruelty turns into kindness. The harsh words that portray Lear as stupid are actually concerned warnings. The Fool wants the best for Lear, and out of respect, does not challenge his choices up front. After all, the Fool is the one that is still with Lear, even out in this storm. Perhaps that is a foreshadowing that the Fool will remain loyal throughout the play.
Kent: “Sir, 'tis my occupation to be plain. I have seen better faces in my time Than stands on any shoulder that I see Before me at this instant.”
Cornwall: “This is some fellow Who, having been prais'd for bluntness, doth affect A saucy roughness, and constrains the garb Quite from his nature. He cannot flatter, he! An honest mind and plain- he must speak truth! An they will take it, so; if not, he's plain. These kind of knaves I know which in this plainness Harbour more craft and more corrupter ends Than twenty silly-ducking observants That stretch their duties nicely.”
Kent. “Sir, in good faith, in sincere verity, Under th' allowance of your great aspect, Whose influence, like the wreath of radiant fire On flickering Phoebus' front-”
Cornwall: “What mean'st by this?”
Kent: “To go out of my dialect, which you discommend so much. I know, sir, I am no flatterer. He that beguil'd you in a plain accent was a plain knave, which, for my part, I will not be, though I should win your displeasure to entreat me to't.”
This passage takes place after Cornwall confronts Kent about his reasoning for assaulting Oswald. Kent says that he is a plain speaker, and that telling the truth is part of his very nature. He then states that he doesn’t like the people standing around him. Cornwall then says that the reason for Kent’s bluntness is that he has praised for it, and then goes on to say that he believes that those who speak so bluntly are untrustworthy, more so than flatterers. Kent then mockingly flatters Cornwall as a response to this.
The themes most prominent in this passage are truth, loyalty, and what is natural. Kent parodies the use of flattery by the other characters through his conversation with Cornwall. The unnaturalness of this flattery highlights his earlier reference to truthfulness being in his nature. Cornwall’s reaction to to Kent’s speech mirrors the general attitude to the truth throughout the play. Cornwall’s distrust of the truthful is connected to the idea that truthfulness in itself is unnatural. Cornwall’s statement that Kent must have been praised for his truthfulness demonstrates the idea that flattery is natural, while being truthful is unnatural. This overall attitude is seen throughout the play, with Cordelia and Edmund. Cordelia is seen as disloyal due to her bluntness, while Edmund is deemed trustworthy due to his word weaving. Flattery and deceit are used as ways of gaining power and protecting oneself, which are natural instincts.
James King D Block Motifs: Loyalty vs. Disloyalty Act 2, Scene 2, Lines 138-144
Sir, I am too old to learn. Call not your stocks for me. I serve the king, On whose employment I was sent to you. You shall do small respect, show too bold malice Against the grace and person of my master, Stocking his messenger.
In this passage Kent is defending himself because he is being put into the stocks as a result of attacking Oswald. Kent had attacked Oswald as a result of Oswald’s disloyalty to Lear and demanded that he be released for acting on behalf of the king. Kent claims that dishonoring him in turn dishonors the king. However dishonoring the King is exactly what Cornwall, the one persecuting him, desires. From this passage it appears that Kent is loyal and Oswald and Cornwall are both disloyal however when you examine the scene as whole you realize there loyalties lie in different places. Oswald and Cornwall are loyal to the sister where as Kent is loyal to Lear so in this regard they both have there own loyalty and honor but they believe in different people. As a result disloyalty is not truly present in the passage and the only ones who are truly disloyal are Gonreil, Regan, and Edmund (the bastard). All the disloyalty in the play stems from theses characters everyone else is just cling on to those they are loyal to.
OSWALD I never gave him any. It pleased the king his master very late To strike at me upon his misconstruction When he, conjunct and flattering his displeasure, Tripped me behind; being down, insulted, railed, And put upon him such a deal of man That worthied him, got praises of the king For him attempting who was self-subdued. And in the fleshment of this dread exploit Drew on me here again. 2.2.91
At this part in scene two, Oswald and Kent had just had a brief dispute over a past encounter. Kent is enraged with Oswald, and although Oswald appears to have left any bad remarks behind them, Kent is still beyond greedy for revenge. Supposedly the King had given Oswald trouble over a misunderstanding, and Kent sided with the King. Although Kent had nothing to do with the happenings between King Lear and Oswald, he felt the need to defend the King, in which he did so by giving Oswald a hard time. While reading this part of the text, I noticed two motifs that were displayed: loyalty and faithfulness as well as rank and status. Both distinctly shown by Kent himself. Because Kent went out of his way to make sure that he stood behind the King, he was representing his loyalty towards him. As well as the fact that because of the King’s rank and status, Kent felt the need to stand beside him, versus defending Oswald, a poor man. This can be seen throughout Act 1 and 2, because of King Lear’s rank and status, people are more prone to respect him, and stay loyal to him. It also appears that each character within the book has a specific dedication to a certain person. Even an influential figure such as King Lear, is devoted and loyal to his daughters in which he shared much of his land with.
Arly Macario Loyalty and faithfulness Betrayal and unfaithfulness Kindness and cruelty Parents and Children
2.4.1-21
Edgar
I heard myself proclaimed, And by the happy hollow of a tree Escaped the hunt. No port is free; no place That guard and most unusual vigilance Does not attend my taking. Whiles I may ‘scape. To takes the basest and most poorest shape That ever penury in contempt of man Brought near to beast. My face I’ll grime with filth, Blanket my loins, elf all my hairs in knots, And with presented nakedness outface The winds and persecutions of the sky. The country gives me proof and precedent Of Bedlam beggars who with roaring voices Strike in their numbed and mortified arms Pinds, wooden pricks, nails, sprigs of rosemary, Poor pelting villages, sheecotes, and mills, Sometime with lunatic bans, sometime with prayers, Enforce their charity, “Poor Turlygod! Poor Tom!” That’s something yet. “Edgar” I nothing am.
The following quote is found in Act 2 scene 3. Gloucester wants to kill his son Edgar because he believes that Edgar is going to attempt to kill him. Nonetheless, that is not true and Edmund tells Edgar otherwise. He convinces Edgar that their father, Gloucester is acting hysterically and he wishes to kill him. In other words, Edmund makes it look as if he is on his brother’s side by telling him what is taking place. Edmund tells Edgar to stab him so it looks as if Edgar was trying to defend himself. Edmund blackmailed Edgar by doing this because it makes it look as if Edgar was truly trying to escape. Thus, Gloucester confirms his suspicions.
In the eyes of Gloucester, Edmund is the loyal son and Edgar is the unfaithful son who has taken advantage of the loyalty he had for him. Although, the reader is aware that Edmund is the cruel sibling that wishes to steal Edgar’s inheritance through misdeeds. He betrays the trustworthiness that his brother had for him, yet Edgar has no idea. When Edmund told Edgar what was “taking place” he placed all of his trust in Edmund and stabbed him. Poor Edgar had to escape relying solely on his brother's unfaithful words. Edgar is acting cruelly towards his poor brother especially since Edgar becomes a man of the wild. In the above soliloquy, Edgar expresses his desolate feelings. He finds no other solution than to become “the basest and most poorest shape.” Nonetheless, he covers his face in dirt, takes off his clothing, and “elfs his hair in knots.”
All throughout King Lear, there is a mix of betrayal and loyalty. Every character either demonstrates loyalty or disloyalty to someone. In Cordelia’s case, she was viewed as unloyal to her father, which was strictly not her intent. Edmund is now viewed as the loyal son and Edgar is seen as the unworthy son of Gloucester. Moreover, there is an entire mix up and everyone has the wrong conception of each other.
Edmund 2.1.53-65 This passage touches upon the motif of children and their parents. ” This child was bound to th’ father” This is a continuing theme throughout the play and is apparent in almost every scene, so far. This passage shows Edmund’s mentality and willingness to get what he wants. He wants Edgar out of the picture, so in turn; he lies to all parties involved to get Edgar to flee. Edmund is very detailed with his description of what “Edgar asked him to do” which makes it more believable to Gloucester but is an overdramatized and obvious event to the reader. This fine detailing creates dramatic irony, having the audience understand what is happening but not the characters in the play. This passage also touches on the motif of rank and power in the play. Edmund keeps referring to Gloucester as “Your Lordship” and “Sir” Throughout the scene, which is a way of showing Gloucester’s rank over Edmund. It explains why Edmund might be lying to get what he wants and also why he would go through so much trouble, to take advantage of Gloucester’s power and rank and his closeness to Gloucester. It seems as if the motif rank and power are used a lot throughout the play, to create plots and climaxes and seem very central to all of the action and reasons for action which occur.
King Lear Motif Act 2 Scene 3 I heard myself proclaim'd; And by the happy hollow of a tree Escaped the hunt. No port is free; no place, That guard, and most unusual vigilance, Does not attend my taking. Whiles I may 'scape, I will preserve myself: and am bethought To take the basest and most poorest shape That ever penury, in contempt of man, Brought near to beast: my face I'll grime with filth; Blanket my loins: elf all my hair in knots; And with presented nakedness out-face The winds and persecutions of the sky. The country gives me proof and precedent Of Bedlam beggars, who, with roaring voices, Strike in their numb'd and mortified bare arms Pins, wooden pricks, nails, sprigs of rosemary; And with this horrible object, from low farms, Poor pelting villages, sheep-cotes, and mills, Sometime with lunatic bans, sometime with prayers, Enforce their charity. Poor Turlygod! poor Tom! That's something yet: Edgar I nothing am. This passage talks about how Edgar has fled his home and is coming to grips with the fact that he who was once a noble is nothing, he also knows he is searched for by the guard so he has to disguise himself that way people wouldn't know who he was. Which worked for everyone even his own father. This has the motifs of Loyalty and betrayal and Madness and sanity. This is found in this section because of how Edgar hears the guards calling his name trying to find him and take him in. And how he talks about being angry at his father for his disloyalty but not at the guards for being loyal to his father. He also shows his own loyalty by staying in disguise close to Gloucester almost to watch him. Madness and Sanity come into play when you see him talking angrily about what happen to him but that is turned to insanity because the he starts spewing out "nonsense" which isn't supposed to appear like it has any sense but shows a greater sense of what is happening to the play as a whole. This is like the fool with how he makes fun of everyone, or give a meaningful comment but they others around him don't notice or understand. The loyalty and Betrayal motif connects to the rest of the play because Edgar was the one sent away and betrayed but he sticks around in the shadow where Edmund was the one who would basically stay in the spotlights and be the betrayer as an actor and move from one person to the next manipulating them to his own favor.
I heard myself proclaimed, And by the happy hollow of a tree Escaped the hunt. No port is free; no place That guard and most unusual vigilance Does not attend my taking. Whiles I may ‘scape, I will preserve myself, and am bethought To take the basest and most poorest shape That ever penury in contempt of man Brought near to beast. My face I’ll grime with filth, Blanket my loins, elf my hair in knots, And with presented nakedness outface The winds and persecutions of the sky. The country gives me proof and precedent Of Bedlam beggars who with roaring voices Strike in their numbed and mortified arms Pins, wooden pricks, nails, sprigs of rosemary, And, with this horrible object, from low farms, Poor pelting villages, sheepcotes, and mills, Sometime with lunatic bans, sometime with prayers, Enforce their charity. “poor Turlygood! Poor Tom!” That’s something yet. “Edgar” I nothing am.
Edmund has framed Edgar as a traitor to their father, the Earl of Gloucester. Gloucester sent out a hunt to find Edgar and bring him to false justice but Edmund assisted Edgar in fleeing. In this scene, which only consists of Edgars monologue, Edgar reveals that he discovered while hiding in a tree there is no escape from Britain for him as all the ports are guarded and he is being hunted constantly. He decides to disguise himself as a certain type of crazy beggars, called Bedlam Beggars, who cut themselves and force their craziness on other people.
Rank and status as a motif is prevalent in consideration of Edgars descent from heir of an Earldom to the lowest of beggars from “low farms” and “poor pelting villages”. Edgar decides to become “the basest” and “poorest” of any “contemt of man”. Edgar is no longer in a position of power but of one that is hunted and despised. To hide himself to the best of his ability he must become someone no one would ever suspect. Nothingness is a motif also because of who Edgar becomes. At the end of his monologue, Edgar says that “I nothing am”. Who he once was no longer exists as he puts on the Tom o’ Bedlam mask. The motif is also present when he hears himself proclaimed as hunted in a “hollow of a tree”. An empty husk of tree, much like himself. He has become a beggar of a mask (the outer husk of the tree) to cover his true self who has become nothing (the hollow). The rank and nothingness motifs correlate well with Edgar considering his rank becomes of nothing.
King Lear’s monologue (2.4.305-328)
ReplyDeleteLike father, like daughter: Regan and Goneril act in many ways very similar to King Lear; they act in greed and fail to recognize the care that’s been devoted to them over the years. Instead of appreciating the gift of half of his kingdom to each, they want more, they want power and control. Regan and Goneril don’t just want land and money and guards, they want Lear resorted to the state of an old man, so that there is no person higher in command than them; no one to bring them down or defy them. Regan and Goneril are succeeding where Lear could not in his greed, they have separated their mind from their hearts and do not allow any emotions to interfere with their clever scheme. Lear cannot control his anger.
What is interesting about this monologue of Lear’s is that most, if not all, of the characters play with the truth, and while other characters recognize the falsity, nothing is said or done. And yet, in this monologue Lear accuses Regan and Goneril of how they are playing him, this poor old man. He goes throughout the play thus far commanding everyone and hanging onto his power, and now he is admitting that he is weak and vulnerable. Lear has moved from daughter’s house to daughter’s house because he wants to trust someone, or at least have the ability to feel secure in usurping from his daughters. But he cannot even trust his daughters, and that’s where the deceit starts to go too far.
He admits to the many sins that everyone commits, which before this monologue had been committed but unspoken; he says that life without superfluous needs is unnecessary itself? It’s a natural need and want in human nature to be extravagant. But Regan and Goneril? They are going beyond, the “unnatural hags”; they aren’t just posing, they are writing the next steps in their lives. They have moved from being greedy to power hungry. It’s as if before they started on their scheme, anyone could lie and twist the truth and life was fine, but with Regan and Goneril twisting truth for everyone, it’s interfering with other’s lives and now deceit is an issue for everyone.
KENT
ReplyDeleteFellow, I know thee.
OSWALD
What dost thou know me for?
KENT
A knave; a rascal; an eater of broken meats; a
base, proud, shallow, beggarly, three-suited,
hundred-pound, filthy, worsted-stocking knave; a
lily-livered, action-taking knave, a whoreson,
glass-gazing, super-serviceable finical rogue;
one-trunk-inheriting slave; one that wouldst be a
bawd, in way of good service, and art nothing but
the composition of a knave, beggar, coward, pandar,
and the son and heir of a mongrel bitch: one whom I
will beat into clamorous whining, if thou deniest
the least syllable of thy addition.
OSWALD
Why, what a monstrous fellow art thou, thus to rail
on one that is neither known of thee nor knows thee!
In this passage, Kent and Oswald meet for the second time. Although Kent is in disguise and Oswald doesn’t recognize him, Kent definitely remembers Oswald as the man who insulted King Lear, who Kent is immensely loyal to. Oswald is extremely confused by the fact that Kent is so cold towards him, since, as far as he knows, they have never met. When Oswald asks about it, Kent goes into a long, detailed, and passionate speech about how terrible Oswald is, focusing mostly on the fact that Oswald is a servant but strives to be higher in rank. He describes him as poor and cowardly and makes it clear that he has no respect for Oswald. Oswald, on the other hand, is completely baffled by the man.
Two motifs in this passage are loyalty and honesty, of which Kent has both--for better or for worse. The reason that he’s so cold towards Oswald in the first place is because he insulted Kent’s king. Kent feels the need to defend Lear’s honor, and does so passionately and aggressively. Kent’s loyalty is unlike any others’ in the book. He is willing to do just about anything for Lear, and unlike the Fool, who is aware of the king’s faults and tries to get him to realize the error of his ways, Kent will defend him regardless. Even Cordelia, who is loyal to her father and clearly cares about his well-being, isn’t as aggressive about such devotion. She, like the fool, is aware of his flaws and doesn’t defend them, but Kent almost sees Lear as faultless. And he defends the king by verbally (and also physically, after this passage) attacking the man who insulted him. The motif of honesty also comes into play here. In his passion, Kent is not monitoring or carefully and glibby choosing his words. This long insult seems to be spur of the moment, right from the heart, and Kent isn’t at all ashamed of them. Unlike other characters in the book, such as the King’s other daughters Regan and Goneril, he isn’t twisting the truth and lying in order to make himself appear better. Even when others, including Regan and Edmund, appear, Kent doesn’t change his approach. He remains just as aggressive as he had before. He doesn’t feel the need to defend or be ashamed of his honesty and is punished because of it. While others, such as Regan and Edmund themselves, are benefiting from their lies, Kent is found at fault for speaking what he believes is the truth.
EDGAR
ReplyDeleteI heard myself proclaimed,
And by the happy hollow of a tree
Escaped the hunt. No port is free, no place
That guard and most unusual vigilance
Does not attend my taking. Whiles I may ’scape,
I will preserve myself, and am bethought
To take the basest and most poorest shape
That ever penury in contempt of man
Brought near to beast. My face I’ll grime with filth,
Blanket my loins, elf all my hair in knots,
And with presented nakedness outface
The winds and persecutions of the sky.
The country gives me proof and precedent
Of Bedlam beggars, who with roaring voices
Strike in their numbed and mortified bare arms
Pins, wooden pricks, nails, sprigs of rosemary,
And with this horrible object from low farms,
Poor pelting villages, sheepcotes, and mills,
Sometime with lunatic bans, sometime with prayers,
Enforce their charity. “Poor Turlygod!” “Poor Tom!”—
That’s something yet. Edgar I nothing am.
As the character of Edgar is developed, it seems that there are more and more parallels between him and King Lear. Not only were they both betrayed by their kin, but their present situations are also very similar. Edgar is presently cast out from his father’s house, just as King Lear has been cast out from the houses of his daughters. Edgar seems to dive into a sort of desperation upon his banishment. He covers himself with dirt as a disguise, and decides to “take the basest and most poorest shape.” King Lear acts in a similar way later on in the play during act III. The King forces himself to face the rain and wind of a fierce storm, comparing himself with the poor who have no choice but to brave the elements, and upon heightened emotion, he tarts to stip himself of his clothes. If find it interesting that, when in distress, it seems to be many of the characters’automatic reaction to remove their garbs. I feel like this pattern is Shakespeare trying to point something out to the reader. I believe that the clothes that both Edgar and King Lear stip off/ alter are symbolic of their roles in life. Both of them have experienced a steep drop in social status, and hatred from the ones they love. In an attempt to remove themselves from their present situations, they remove the clothing that signifies their positions, as if by appearing a different person they can actually be a different person. In this passage, Edgar attempts to hide his true identity, because as Edgar, he is now nothing. King Lear, on the other hand, is not so much interested in disguise as a complete lack of identity. While edgar alters his clothing to appear different, King Lear seems to be trapped by his garbs, and simply wants to be released altogether. It is almost as if his role as king is constraining him, and by taking off his clothes he tries to find some kind of relief. At the end of this passage we also see the motif of “nothing” brought up. The idea of nothing is constantly present throughout the play, and also creates another parallel between Edgar and King Lear. King Lear is undoubtedly the character that pines over nothingness the most, but now Edgar has started to ponder the term too. I am interested to see if these similarities between these two characters continue, or whether or not Edgar and King Lear grow in opposite directions.
2.4.195 - 205
ReplyDeleteLear:
No, Regan, thou shall never have my curse.
Thy tender hefted nature shall not give
Thee o'er to harshness. Her eyes are fierce, but thine
Do comfort and not burn. 'Tis not in thee
To grudge my pleasures, to cut off my train,
To band hasty words, to scant my sizes,
And in conclusion, to oppose the bolt
Against my coming in. Thou better know'st
The offices of nature, bond of childhood,
Effects of courtesy, dues of gratitude,
Thy half o' th' kingdom hast thou not forgot,
Wherein I thee endowed.
In this passage from King Lear, Lear s addressing his daughter Regan in reference to his youngest daughter Cordelia. He is expressing that Regan cannot possibly understand what it's like to be Cordelia, as the are both very different. The two motifs used in this passage are nature and eyes. There is much implied about the character of Lear in this passage as well. Shakespeare uses language to reveal things about his novel that are hidden to those who are not looking hard enough.
The idea of nature being used as something either conflicting or comforting is consistent throughout the book. Regan seems to be the daughter with the most logic, while Cordelia has the most passion and integrity. Goneril just seems to follow authority, not really ever taking a stand. Lear's nature is self obsessed and esteemed. Other places the reader sees the motif of nature in King Leer is 2.1.59, where Kent talks of the nature of the bastard. Every character in this book seems to have either a good or bad nature.
Eyes are also a very prominent motif in this play. They are often used to express perspective or closed-mindedness. In this passage, Lear compared Regan's calm eyes to Cordelia's burning eyes. The imagery in that suggests that Lear thinks Cordelia to be a sort of evil and Regan to be innocent. He does not let himself listen to others because he thinks too highly of himself. What he says is the truth, in his eyes. Eyes are used throughout the play to show internal personality and perspective. Eyes are also described as flaming in 2.3.187. This consistent theme reveals each character's inner turmoil.
Both the nature and eyes motif bring parts together in Shakespeare's King Lear. Each motif acts as a sort of glue, putting the plot together with purpose. Expression and attitude are conveyed with both these motifs, as well as perspective being put into place.
Christina Sargent
ReplyDeleteMotifs: nature & nakedness, madness
(2.3.1-21)
EDGAR
I heard myself proclaimed,
And by the happy hollow of a tree
Escaped the hunt. No port is free; no place
That guard and most unusual vigilance
Does not attend my taking. Whiles I may ‘scape,
I will preserve myself, and am bethought
To take the basest and most poorest shape
That ever penury in contempt of man
Brought near to beast. My face I’ll grime with filth,
Blanket my loins, elf all my hairs in knots,
And with presented nakedness outface
The winds and persecutions of the sky.
The country gives me proof and precedent
Of Bedlam beggars who with roaring voices
Strike in their numbed and mortifièd arms
Pins, wooden pricks, nails, sprigs of rosemary,
And, with this horrible object, from low farms,
Poor pelting villages, sheepcotes, and mills,
Sometime with lunatic bans, sometime with prayers,
Enforce their charity. “Poor Turlygod! Poor Tom!”
That’s something yet. “Edgar” I nothing am.
In this passage, Edgar has fled Gloucester’s castle after being accused of plotting to murder his father. He knows that no matter where he goes, Gloucester will have people looking for him. Edgar decides that he will disguise himself as a crazy beggar in order to survive.
Edgar makes a connection with nature during this monologue. He smears dirt on his face and knots his hair. He also compares being poor to being similar to a beast, and says that he will now face the world with presented nakedness. In this sense, nature and nakedness symbolize vulnerability. It’s interesting that Edgar is the one encountering this motif, since in Act I his brother Edmund was the one who connected with nature. Edgar also describes the Bedlam beggars and how they act so crazily that people are frightened into giving them charity. Edgar resolves to act as mad as them in order to hide from his father. The motif of madness comes up in other parts of the play as well. Perhaps Edgar will become more like the Fool. The Fool says a lot of things to King Lear that are dismissed as nonsense, but he actually understands more about Lear’s situation than even Lear realizes. Since Edgar is only pretending to be crazy, he may offer some disguised wisdom to the other characters.
Hannah Ellis
ReplyDeleteMotifs: craziness and nothing
2.3.1-21
I heard myself proclaim'd;
And by the happy hollow of a tree
Escaped the hunt. No port is free; no place,
That guard, and most unusual vigilance,
Does not attend my taking. Whiles I may 'scape,
I will preserve myself: and am bethought
To take the basest and most poorest shape
That ever penury, in contempt of man,
Brought near to beast: my face I'll grime with filth;
Blanket my loins: elf all my hair in knots;
And with presented nakedness out-face
The winds and persecutions of the sky.
The country gives me proof and precedent
Of Bedlam beggars, who, with roaring voices,
Strike in their numb'd and mortified bare arms
Pins, wooden pricks, nails, sprigs of rosemary;
And with this horrible object, from low farms,
Poor pelting villages, sheep-cotes, and mills,
Sometime with lunatic bans, sometime with prayers,
Enforce their charity. Poor Turlygod! poor Tom!
That's something yet: Edgar I nothing am.
In this passage Edgar is discussing his plan to evade being arrested. He decides that he will pretend to be a beggar who has gone crazy and he will call himself Tom. He plans to cover himself with dirt and dress himself as a beggar so nobody will question who he really is. This passage deals with the motifs of insanity and nothingness. Insanity ties in with the theme of nonsense throughout the play. Many times the Fool’s lines are thought of as nonsense by Lear even though they actually have a deeper meaning. Further in the book when Edgar is pretending to be Poor Tom, he speaks nonsense while he pretends to be crazy, but what he is saying has motifs within it. Craziness and nonsense seem to be ignored by the characters in the play, but the readers can usually make more out of it. Nothingness comes up often with the Fool as well, but in this passage Edgar says, “Edgar I nothing am”. He refers to himself as nothing, because the person he once was will no longer exist. In previous passages the Fool speaks of nothing and Lear does not quite understand what he is speaking of. The Fool and Edgar as Poor Tom, are both held highly by King Lear as the play goes on, while they both take part in the same motifs. Shakespeare seems to be using this two characters, who previously were not connected, to sharpen his emphasis on these motifs of craziness and nothingness.
Zachary Schultz
ReplyDelete2/2/14-24
KENT: A knave; a rascal; an eater of broken meats; a
base, proud, shallow, beggarly, three-suited,
hundred-pound, filthy, worsted-stocking knave; a
lily-livered, action-taking knave, a whoreson,
glass-gazing, super-serviceable finical rogue;
one-trunk-inheriting slave; one that wouldst be a
bawd, in way of good service, and art nothing but
the composition of a knave, beggar, coward, pandar,
and the son and heir of a mongrel bitch: one whom I
will beat into clamorous whining, if thou deniest
the least syllable of thy addition.
Kent is using a wide variety of insults, attacking many aspects of Oswald’s life in order to really get under his skin. He focuses mainly on breeding and status. He is taking out his anger because he feels that Oswald has betrayed Lear by serving Goneril (which is true but I believe Oswald is on the side demonstrating the lesser of two evils: trying to overthrow the king versus the king who is abusing his power and acting rashly).
Fool. We’ll set thee to school to an ant, to teach thee there’s no labouring i’ the winter. All that follow their noses are led by their eyes but blind men; and there’s not a nose among twenty but can smell him that’s stinking. Let go thy hold when a great wheel runs down a hill, lest it break thy neck with following it; but the great one that goes up the hill, let him draw thee after. When a wise man gives thee better counsel, give me mine again: I would have none but knaves follow it, since a Fool gives it.
ReplyDeleteThat sir which serves and seeks for gain,
And follows but for form,
Will pack when it begins to rain,
And leave thee in the storm.
But I will tarry; the Fool will stay,
And let the wise man fly:
The knave turns fool that runs away;
The Fool no knave, perdy.
Kent. Where learn’d you this, Fool?
Fool. Not i’ the stocks, fool.
When Kent asks why Lear has less servants with him, the Fool mocks him. This scene compares wisdom to foolishness with Kent being the foppish one. It is strange that Lear has less numbers with him, because at Goneril’s he got upset and left when she asked him to halve his knights. But apparently the half that departed actually left without leave, and the all-knowing Fool cites three reasons why they should depart. In his speech, that begins with a disclaimer “When a wise man gives thee better counsel, give me mine again,” the Fool (with a capital F) questions if blind loyalty is prudent when it is unprofitable and may lead one to death by fortune’s wheel. I believe this is a reference to that specific wheel because the Fool is saying if you stay where you are i.e.-don’t let go (of your position) then Fate has a certain doom prepared for you. Those that flee should hitch a ride on Edmund’s wheel which is rolling uphill. Also, the mystical wheel appears again toward the climax. Anyways, he goes on to make a pun on fool and Fool, saying those that run are fools in the literal sense but a real Fool, the one that is loyal, is anything but a traitor. Then Kent is like who told you that and the Fool’s like you’re an idiot.
Leah Svensson
ReplyDeleteMotifs: madness, status/rank
Act II, scene iii, lines 1-21
EDGAR
I heard myself proclaim'd,
And by the happy hollow of a tree
Escap'd the hunt. No port is free, no place
That guard and most unusual vigilance
Does not attend my taking. Whiles I may scape,
I will preserve myself; and am bethought
To take the basest and most poorest shape
That ever penury, in contempt of man,
Brought near to beast. My face I'll grime with filth,
Blanket my loins, elf all my hair in knots,
And with presented nakedness outface
The winds and persecutions of the sky.
The country gives me proof and precedent
Of Bedlam beggars, who, with roaring voices,
Strike in their numb'd and mortified bare arms
Pins, wooden pricks, nails, sprigs of rosemary;
And with this horrible object, from low farms,
Poor pelting villages, sheepcotes, and mills,
Sometime with lunatic bans, sometime with prayers,
Enforce their charity. 'Poor Turlygod! poor Tom!'
That's something yet! Edgar I nothing am.
[Exit]
1. Edgar’s monologue in the third scene represents a significant individual conflict that is shifted away from the bigger conflicts happening at Lear’s castle. The play centers around the betrayal of King Lear by his two daughters, yet Edgar too has been betrayed by a family member, no other than his half-brother Edmund. Now that a fake letter plotting his father’s death has been forged in his name, Edgar must abandon the self that he once was and disguise himself as a dirty transient in order to escape his own manhunt. Edgar goes into full detail about how he will disguise himself, “I will preserve myself; and am bethought/To take the basest and most poorest shape/That ever penury, in contempt of man/Brought near to beast.” While he simply states that he is going in disguise, the desperation and need to escape the chaos is clearly evident within his words. Edgar, being the legitimate son of Gloucester, is more highly respected and noble then Edmund, especially since he is to inherit his father’s estate. However, in this scene, his true identity (along with his dignity) dissipates and he is forced to become the exact opposite of what he once was, losing all of his nobility. Edgar admits that he’ll be someone, but “Edgar nothing I am.”
2. Madness and status are two of the most prominent and connecting motifs within this passage. Edgar makes an extreme sacrifice pertaining to his identity, because disguising himself as a lowlife beggar entails losing his status as the noble son of an earl. Rank and status are sought after and tampered with by several of the characters in the play, and as status is lost a certain madness surfaces and the chaotic conditions amplify. It is evident that Lear goes mad as his daughters try to gain higher status over him, and Edgar’s situation in this scene mirrors that. Edgar, too, has lost his rank because of a family member, and within his words are hints of desperation to escape the lunacy, yet lunacy is already impending on him and on others, too. And while justice is a major theme of the play, it is not rightly served, and Edgar, aside from Lear, is the best example of a man who does not deserve the injustices of which Edmund has imposed on him.
3. As mentioned in the first response, the conflict that Edgar faces has gone from that of a group to an individual conflict. The individuality of his conflict also portrays the madness as purely psychological, differing from the madness that exists through combat and character interaction. For example, earlier in the play madness is seen as Lear yells at his daughters or asks the Fool to help him stay sane. For Edgar, the madness is becoming purely psychological and this sets an eerie yet chaotic mood for the rest of the play. Edgar’s status decline also foreshadows a decline of true identity versus the identity of those who deceive and how ingenuity conquers in King Lear.
Katie Manning
ReplyDelete(2.4, 252-265)
LEAR
Now, I prithee, daughter, do not make me mad.
I will not trouble thee, my child. Farewell.
We’ll no more meet, no more see one another.
But yet thou art my flesh, my blood, my daughter—
Or rather a disease that’s in my flesh,
Which I must needs call mine. Thou art a boil,
A plague-sore or embossèd carbuncle
In my corrupted blood. But I’ll not chide thee.
Let shame come when it will. I do not call it.
I do not bid the thunder-bearer shoot,
Nor tell tales of thee to high-judging Jove.
Mend when thou canst. Be better at thy leisure.
I can be patient. I can stay with Regan,
I and my hundred knights.
1. There is a lot of emotion behind what King Lear is saying. His daughter, Goneril, is finally choose to stand up for what she believes in. The King is basically shutting her out, due to the fact she is not letting him be right in her eyes. He is being a father by saying she will always be part of him no matter how much he does not agree with her decisions and beliefs, but he can still let go when it comes down to it. The king is upset enough to let go, but to still hold on. Towards the end he says, “Mend when thou canst. Be better at thy leisure. I can be patient. I can stay with Regan, I and my hundred knights.” Honestly my translation was, “ I will wait for you to fix yourself. There is nothing wrong with Regan, my knights, or myself. Until you fix your beliefs, there is no more of us.” I took this as a father picking over his children and even favoring his knights over his own daughter. I know that King Lear is upset and has high standings, but even back then didn’t parents stand up for their children 100%. Goneril is not free to be herself; she has to choose between her family and herself.
2. The two motifs I found here were parents and children and rank and status. These two concepts are totally different but they blend perfectly. King Lear is torn between being embarrassed by giving into his daughter because of love, and his true title as king. I believe the king is worried if he shows to much love and actually acts like a father, his knights and people will lose some type of respect for him. The king is in as much as a predicament as his daughter. They have to decide what is more important to them, and frankly the king is brainwashed, believing that the most important is his job is more important than family.
3. I remember in the beginning of the play, one of the first scenes, Goneril fighting with her father. They were going off at each other, and hysterically in front of others. This fight was not kept quiet. Women in this age were not known for speaking their minds, and that’s what Goneril did. Her father reacted horribly, due to being embarrassed and ashamed; he never saw it coming. It seemed to me like the king never wanted to talk or see his daughter again. The thing is, in act II the kings sort of had a change of heart. King Lear still wanted her to leave, but he made sure she knew he still loved her. The act of kindness was heartwarming, even though the king was surely being unfair and not even being a true father.
This comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteMorgan Taylor
ReplyDeleteRank and Status
Nakedness
Madness
(II.3.1-21)
EDGAR
I heard myself proclaimed,
And by the happy hollow of a tree
Escaped the hunt. No port is free; no place
That guard and most unusual vigilance
Does not attend my taking. Whiles I may ‘scape,
I will preserve myself, and am bethought
To take the basest and most poorest shape
That ever penury in contempt of man
Brought near to beast. My face I’ll grime with filth,
Blanket my loins, elf all my hairs in knots,
And with presented nakedness outface
The winds and persecutions of the sky.
The country gives me proof and precedent
Of Bedlam beggars who with roaring voices
Strike in their numbed and mortifièd arms
Pins, wooden pricks, nails, sprigs of rosemary,
And, with this horrible object, from low farms,
Poor pelting villages, sheepcotes, and mills,
Sometime with lunatic bans, sometime with prayers,
Enforce their charity. “Poor Turlygod! Poor Tom!”
That’s something yet. “Edgar” I nothing am.
This passage is Edgar’s monologue right after he has had to flee the city from his father. He has been able to hide himself in a hollow tree to escape the King’s men, but they have made it to every nearby town, all awaiting for Edgar’s arrival to kill him. Edgar reasons that the only way to escape this will be to disguise himself as “the basest and most poorest shape” that man has seen. He will smear dirt on his face, knot his hair, and wear a loincloth to become “Poor Tom”.
In this passage, Edgar is physically stripping himself of his rank and status. Taking off his noble clothes and putting on a loincloth is physical nakedness, but more importantly, figural nakedness. A man’s clothes are the symbol of his status, and to strip down means there’s nothing left, no status, no nobility, and no privileges. However, Shakespeare is using this nakedness it to juxtapose it with dishonesty and deception. When people think nakedness, they think stripped down, bare, and by default, completely honest, for, there can’t be any deception in nakedness? But Shakespeare is throwing that away. He’s emphasizing that that may not always be the case. As Edgar strips down, he is building up deception and is becoming this “Poor Tom” character. Shakespeare does this to emphasize the complete mentality of deception and lack of physical qualities is truly must have.
This passage is also playing with the madness motif. To disguise himself, Edgar chooses to be an insane poor man. In madness, Edgar will find hiding. I find this to be a very interesting topic. Edgar is showing that it is madness that is able to completely swallow his whole self up, becoming unrecognizable both physically and mentally: as quoted ““Edgar” I nothing am”. This concept is used as an indication and foreshadow of King Lear. He has already started on the path of losing his mind, with people already having a hard time seeing the King Lear they knew to him currently. And Shakespeare uses Edgar to foreshadow that Kin Lear will continue farther and farther into madness until he becomes essentially unrecognizable.
Kent:
ReplyDelete“A knave, a rascal, an eater of broken meats; a base, proud, shallow, beggarly, three-suited, hundred-pound, filthy, worsted-stocking knave; a lily-liver’d, action-taking knave; a whoreson, glass-gazing, superserviceable, finical rogue; one-trunk-inheriting slave; one that wouldst be a bawd, in way of good service, and art nothing but the composition of a knave, beggar, coward, pandar, and the son and heir of a mongrel bitch: one whom I will beat into clamorous whining if thou deniest the least syllable of thy addition.”
This passage is spoken by Kent, directed towards Oswald. In summary, this quote is mainly one extensive insult to Oswald. Kent is calling him “a knave, a rascal...,” and continues with this language, which are all different words that are insulting and degrading towards Oswald. This comes after Oswald asks Kent a question about the horse stables, and Kent responds in rude and uninviting ways. I feel like this argument is a big moment of the book. Kent, one of the only loyal and honest characters in the play, is trying to defend his boss, Goneril. Oswald is almost a complete opposite of Kent, in that he is very self-centered and is always trying to assure things go his way.
One motif found in this passage is the power and meaning of insults. Between Kent, Goneril, the Fool, and several other characters, there are many powerful insults directed towards others in this play. In this particular one, Oswald does not fight back, he just lets Kent insult, and subsequently attack him. Later, we learn that Kent may have attacked Oswald because of the way Goneril is treating King Lear. Kent uses a very harsh insult on Oswald, and Oswald does not fight back. This leads me to believe that Oswald is not scared of Kent, but rather he is smart and knows that Kent won’t hurt him too badly, and by not fighting, he will be more faithful, which he does not usually show.
Another motif present in this passage is the reference to social classes and class structure. Kent is insulting oswald, and in order to convey his point, Kent compares Oswald to people of the poorer and lower class. He calls him a “beggar,” a “knave,” and a “slave.” Using these terms are degrading to Oswald, and makes the insult even more powerful. Oswald and Kent are both in the middle to upper class, so these terms are not typically associated with them. Social class and structure are present all throughout the play. They end up being a very important motif throughout the play in that they are what influence the thoughts and actions of the characters. Nobody wants to be in the lower class, and as you can see here, it seems like a form of humiliation and punishment. This passage refers to social classes in Kent’s insult towards Oswald, and both the classes and insults are common throughout this play. Oswald refrains from fighting back, showing a side of him that is not often present. Kent, one of the only loyal and honest characters in the play, is being rude to him in order to portray his loyalty towards Goneril.
Kirsten L. Salo
ReplyDelete(2.iv.305-329)
Motifs: animals/humans and parents/children
King Lear is in conversation with two of his daughters, Regan and Goneril, whom want Lear to dismiss his knights and attendants. Lear is in enraged at what his daughters are saying and responds by saying that the only difference between humans and animals is the desire and need for more things, things of a luxurious matter. Therefore dismissing his knights would make Lear more of an animal. This brings up the animal/human motif, “Why nature needs not what thou gorgeous wear'st,/Which scarcely keeps thee warm. But, for true/need--”. I think that Lear is trying to say that his daughters are animals, untamed and vicious beings. Whereas he is viewing himself as tame, although being “human” is greedy and brings a lust for power.
King Lear then goes on to say he will seek revenge on his daughters for being so untrue to him. At this point he is acting quite insane. Earlier in the play the parents/children motif seemed extreme in a way, but this passage demonstrates how wicked it can be, although once again Lear is overdramatizing the roles being played. Being a good daughter or father doesn't mean pledging your life to being faithful to one another, and Lear is drawing it out in such a ridiculous manner. Lear doesn't want to stop at anything to get his revenge.
Lear: Blow winds, and crack your cheeks! Rage, Blow! You cataracts and hurricanoes, spout till you have drenched our steeples, (drowned) the cocks. You sulph'rous and thought-executing fires, vaunt-couriers of oak-cleaving thunderbolts, singe my white head. And thou, all-shaking thunder, strike flat the thick rotundity o' th' world. Crack nature's molds, all germens spill at once that makes ingrateful man.
ReplyDeleteFool: O nuncle, court holy water in a dry house is better than this rainwater out o' door. Good nuncle, in. Ask thy daughters' blessing. Heres a night pities neither wise men nor fools.
Lear: Rumble thy bellyful! Spit, fire! Spout, rain! Nor rain, wind, thunder, fire are my daughters. I tax not you, you elements, with unkindness. I never gave you kingdom, called you children; You owe me no subscription. Then let fall your horrible pleasure. Here I stand your slave, a poor, infirm, weak, and despised old man. But yet I call you servile ministers, that will with two pernicious daughters join your high-engendered battles 'gainst a head so old and white as this. O, ho, 'tis foul!
Act 3, Scene 2, Lines 1-26
Storms and calms
Kindness and cruelty
After Lear has been refused hospitality by both of his daughters, Goneril and Reagan, he is locked out of the castle and sent out into a terrible storm with only his Fool for company. Lear switches between extreme anger and something like self pity. He is outraged at his situation for multiple reasons. He feels betrayed and disrespected by his daughters, angry because of the horrible conditions, and appalled that he, a king, would be left alone in such conditions in the first place. The storm we see here seems appropriate considering the mental state of most of the characters. They are agitated. Not only is the storm a sign of anger, but also cruelty. A lot of the actions of the characters, especially Lear's daughters, are incredibly cruel. Personally, I feel that sending your own old father into a storm is one of the cruelest things you can do. This storm is a representation of the harsh conditions Lear is facing, and how they evoke his extreme emotions, which will eventually send him into madness. Ironically, this cruelty seems to root Lear to his ability to think. I noticed that throughout his ramblings and cursing of the storm, he always brings himself back to the source of his emotion. While yelling at the weather, Lear mentions his "two pernicious daughters." As Lear's state of mind deteriorates, so does the outside world. Leadership is becoming corrupt, war is eventually going to happen, and now the weather is awful. Lear's world is a direct representation of his state of mind.
In the beginning of the play, I saw the Fool as a servant to the king who enjoyed making fun of him in ways that the king could not pick up. I figured that he was bound to his job and respected the king only out of obligation, as many workers do in monarchies. However, as the play got rolling, I saw that the Fool made fun of King Lear in an endearing way that often showed that he cared. From what I can see, Cordelia and the Fool are the only two characters that genuinely care for King Lear. However, Cordelia has been banished, and the Fool always speaks in vague ways that King Lear fails to pick up. In my perspective, to the audience, there is an inversion in the way that the Fool interacts with King Lear. Cruelty turns into kindness. The harsh words that portray Lear as stupid are actually concerned warnings. The Fool wants the best for Lear, and out of respect, does not challenge his choices up front. After all, the Fool is the one that is still with Lear, even out in this storm. Perhaps that is a foreshadowing that the Fool will remain loyal throughout the play.
Diana DiLiberti
ReplyDeletetruth, loyalty, what is natural
Kent:
“Sir, 'tis my occupation to be plain.
I have seen better faces in my time
Than stands on any shoulder that I see
Before me at this instant.”
Cornwall:
“This is some fellow
Who, having been prais'd for bluntness, doth affect
A saucy roughness, and constrains the garb
Quite from his nature. He cannot flatter, he!
An honest mind and plain- he must speak truth!
An they will take it, so; if not, he's plain.
These kind of knaves I know which in this plainness
Harbour more craft and more corrupter ends
Than twenty silly-ducking observants
That stretch their duties nicely.”
Kent.
“Sir, in good faith, in sincere verity,
Under th' allowance of your great aspect,
Whose influence, like the wreath of radiant fire
On flickering Phoebus' front-”
Cornwall:
“What mean'st by this?”
Kent:
“To go out of my dialect, which you discommend so much. I
know, sir, I am no flatterer. He that beguil'd you in a plain
accent was a plain knave, which, for my part, I will not be,
though I should win your displeasure to entreat me to't.”
This passage takes place after Cornwall confronts Kent about his reasoning for assaulting Oswald. Kent says that he is a plain speaker, and that telling the truth is part of his very nature. He then states that he doesn’t like the people standing around him. Cornwall then says that the reason for Kent’s bluntness is that he has praised for it, and then goes on to say that he believes that those who speak so bluntly are untrustworthy, more so than flatterers. Kent then mockingly flatters Cornwall as a response to this.
The themes most prominent in this passage are truth, loyalty, and what is natural. Kent parodies the use of flattery by the other characters through his conversation with Cornwall. The unnaturalness of this flattery highlights his earlier reference to truthfulness being in his nature. Cornwall’s reaction to to Kent’s speech mirrors the general attitude to the truth throughout the play. Cornwall’s distrust of the truthful is connected to the idea that truthfulness in itself is unnatural. Cornwall’s statement that Kent must have been praised for his truthfulness demonstrates the idea that flattery is natural, while being truthful is unnatural.
This overall attitude is seen throughout the play, with Cordelia and Edmund. Cordelia is seen as disloyal due to her bluntness, while Edmund is deemed trustworthy due to his word weaving. Flattery and deceit are used as ways of gaining power and protecting oneself, which are natural instincts.
James King
ReplyDeleteD Block
Motifs: Loyalty vs. Disloyalty
Act 2, Scene 2, Lines 138-144
Sir, I am too old to learn.
Call not your stocks for me. I serve the king,
On whose employment I was sent to you.
You shall do small respect, show too bold malice
Against the grace and person of my master,
Stocking his messenger.
In this passage Kent is defending himself because he is being put into the stocks as a result of attacking Oswald. Kent had attacked Oswald as a result of Oswald’s disloyalty to Lear and demanded that he be released for acting on behalf of the king. Kent claims that dishonoring him in turn dishonors the king. However dishonoring the King is exactly what Cornwall, the one persecuting him, desires. From this passage it appears that Kent is loyal and Oswald and Cornwall are both disloyal however when you examine the scene as whole you realize there loyalties lie in different places. Oswald and Cornwall are loyal to the sister where as Kent is loyal to Lear so in this regard they both have there own loyalty and honor but they believe in different people. As a result disloyalty is not truly present in the passage and the only ones who are truly disloyal are Gonreil, Regan, and Edmund (the bastard). All the disloyalty in the play stems from theses characters everyone else is just cling on to those they are loyal to.
OSWALD
ReplyDeleteI never gave him any.
It pleased the king his master very late
To strike at me upon his misconstruction
When he, conjunct and flattering his displeasure,
Tripped me behind; being down, insulted, railed,
And put upon him such a deal of man
That worthied him, got praises of the king
For him attempting who was self-subdued.
And in the fleshment of this dread exploit
Drew on me here again. 2.2.91
At this part in scene two, Oswald and Kent had just had a brief dispute over a past encounter. Kent is enraged with Oswald, and although Oswald appears to have left any bad remarks behind them, Kent is still beyond greedy for revenge. Supposedly the King had given Oswald trouble over a misunderstanding, and Kent sided with the King. Although Kent had nothing to do with the happenings between King Lear and Oswald, he felt the need to defend the King, in which he did so by giving Oswald a hard time. While reading this part of the text, I noticed two motifs that were displayed: loyalty and faithfulness as well as rank and status. Both distinctly shown by Kent himself. Because Kent went out of his way to make sure that he stood behind the King, he was representing his loyalty towards him. As well as the fact that because of the King’s rank and status, Kent felt the need to stand beside him, versus defending Oswald, a poor man. This can be seen throughout Act 1 and 2, because of King Lear’s rank and status, people are more prone to respect him, and stay loyal to him. It also appears that each character within the book has a specific dedication to a certain person. Even an influential figure such as King Lear, is devoted and loyal to his daughters in which he shared much of his land with.
Arly Macario
ReplyDeleteLoyalty and faithfulness
Betrayal and unfaithfulness
Kindness and cruelty
Parents and Children
2.4.1-21
Edgar
I heard myself proclaimed,
And by the happy hollow of a tree
Escaped the hunt. No port is free; no place
That guard and most unusual vigilance
Does not attend my taking. Whiles I may ‘scape.
To takes the basest and most poorest shape
That ever penury in contempt of man
Brought near to beast. My face I’ll grime with filth,
Blanket my loins, elf all my hairs in knots,
And with presented nakedness outface
The winds and persecutions of the sky.
The country gives me proof and precedent
Of Bedlam beggars who with roaring voices
Strike in their numbed and mortified arms
Pinds, wooden pricks, nails, sprigs of rosemary,
Poor pelting villages, sheecotes, and mills,
Sometime with lunatic bans, sometime with prayers,
Enforce their charity, “Poor Turlygod! Poor Tom!”
That’s something yet. “Edgar” I nothing am.
The following quote is found in Act 2 scene 3. Gloucester wants to kill his son Edgar because he believes that Edgar is going to attempt to kill him. Nonetheless, that is not true and Edmund tells Edgar otherwise. He convinces Edgar that their father, Gloucester is acting hysterically and he wishes to kill him. In other words, Edmund makes it look as if he is on his brother’s side by telling him what is taking place. Edmund tells Edgar to stab him so it looks as if Edgar was trying to defend himself. Edmund blackmailed Edgar by doing this because it makes it look as if Edgar was truly trying to escape. Thus, Gloucester confirms his suspicions.
In the eyes of Gloucester, Edmund is the loyal son and Edgar is the unfaithful son who has taken advantage of the loyalty he had for him. Although, the reader is aware that Edmund is the cruel sibling that wishes to steal Edgar’s inheritance through misdeeds. He betrays the trustworthiness that his brother had for him, yet Edgar has no idea. When Edmund told Edgar what was “taking place” he placed all of his trust in Edmund and stabbed him. Poor Edgar had to escape relying solely on his brother's unfaithful words. Edgar is acting cruelly towards his poor brother especially since Edgar becomes a man of the wild. In the above soliloquy, Edgar expresses his desolate feelings. He finds no other solution than to become “the basest and most poorest shape.” Nonetheless, he covers his face in dirt, takes off his clothing, and “elfs his hair in knots.”
All throughout King Lear, there is a mix of betrayal and loyalty. Every character either demonstrates loyalty or disloyalty to someone. In Cordelia’s case, she was viewed as unloyal to her father, which was strictly not her intent. Edmund is now viewed as the loyal son and Edgar is seen as the unworthy son of Gloucester. Moreover, there is an entire mix up and everyone has the wrong conception of each other.
Edmund 2.1.53-65
ReplyDeleteThis passage touches upon the motif of children and their parents. ” This child was bound to th’ father” This is a continuing theme throughout the play and is apparent in almost every scene, so far. This passage shows Edmund’s mentality and willingness to get what he wants. He wants Edgar out of the picture, so in turn; he lies to all parties involved to get Edgar to flee. Edmund is very detailed with his description of what “Edgar asked him to do” which makes it more believable to Gloucester but is an overdramatized and obvious event to the reader. This fine detailing creates dramatic irony, having the audience understand what is happening but not the characters in the play. This passage also touches on the motif of rank and power in the play. Edmund keeps referring to Gloucester as “Your Lordship” and “Sir” Throughout the scene, which is a way of showing Gloucester’s rank over Edmund. It explains why Edmund might be lying to get what he wants and also why he would go through so much trouble, to take advantage of Gloucester’s power and rank and his closeness to Gloucester. It seems as if the motif rank and power are used a lot throughout the play, to create plots and climaxes and seem very central to all of the action and reasons for action which occur.
King Lear Motif Act 2
ReplyDeleteScene 3
I heard myself proclaim'd;
And by the happy hollow of a tree
Escaped the hunt. No port is free; no place,
That guard, and most unusual vigilance,
Does not attend my taking. Whiles I may 'scape,
I will preserve myself: and am bethought
To take the basest and most poorest shape
That ever penury, in contempt of man,
Brought near to beast: my face I'll grime with filth;
Blanket my loins: elf all my hair in knots;
And with presented nakedness out-face
The winds and persecutions of the sky.
The country gives me proof and precedent
Of Bedlam beggars, who, with roaring voices,
Strike in their numb'd and mortified bare arms
Pins, wooden pricks, nails, sprigs of rosemary;
And with this horrible object, from low farms,
Poor pelting villages, sheep-cotes, and mills,
Sometime with lunatic bans, sometime with prayers,
Enforce their charity. Poor Turlygod! poor Tom!
That's something yet: Edgar I nothing am.
This passage talks about how Edgar has fled his home and is coming to grips with the fact that he who was once a noble is nothing, he also knows he is searched for by the guard so he has to disguise himself that way people wouldn't know who he was. Which worked for everyone even his own father. This has the motifs of Loyalty and betrayal and Madness and sanity. This is found in this section because of how Edgar hears the guards calling his name trying to find him and take him in. And how he talks about being angry at his father for his disloyalty but not at the guards for being loyal to his father. He also shows his own loyalty by staying in disguise close to Gloucester almost to watch him. Madness and Sanity come into play when you see him talking angrily about what happen to him but that is turned to insanity because the he starts spewing out "nonsense" which isn't supposed to appear like it has any sense but shows a greater sense of what is happening to the play as a whole. This is like the fool with how he makes fun of everyone, or give a meaningful comment but they others around him don't notice or understand. The loyalty and Betrayal motif connects to the rest of the play because Edgar was the one sent away and betrayed but he sticks around in the shadow where Edmund was the one who would basically stay in the spotlights and be the betrayer as an actor and move from one person to the next manipulating them to his own favor.
2.3.1-21
ReplyDeleteMotifs: Rank and Status, Nothingness
I heard myself proclaimed,
And by the happy hollow of a tree
Escaped the hunt. No port is free; no place
That guard and most unusual vigilance
Does not attend my taking. Whiles I may ‘scape,
I will preserve myself, and am bethought
To take the basest and most poorest shape
That ever penury in contempt of man
Brought near to beast. My face I’ll grime with filth,
Blanket my loins, elf my hair in knots,
And with presented nakedness outface
The winds and persecutions of the sky.
The country gives me proof and precedent
Of Bedlam beggars who with roaring voices
Strike in their numbed and mortified arms
Pins, wooden pricks, nails, sprigs of rosemary,
And, with this horrible object, from low farms,
Poor pelting villages, sheepcotes, and mills,
Sometime with lunatic bans, sometime with prayers,
Enforce their charity. “poor Turlygood! Poor Tom!”
That’s something yet. “Edgar” I nothing am.
Edmund has framed Edgar as a traitor to their father, the Earl of Gloucester. Gloucester sent out a hunt to find Edgar and bring him to false justice but Edmund assisted Edgar in fleeing. In this scene, which only consists of Edgars monologue, Edgar reveals that he discovered while hiding in a tree there is no escape from Britain for him as all the ports are guarded and he is being hunted constantly. He decides to disguise himself as a certain type of crazy beggars, called Bedlam Beggars, who cut themselves and force their craziness on other people.
Rank and status as a motif is prevalent in consideration of Edgars descent from heir of an Earldom to the lowest of beggars from “low farms” and “poor pelting villages”. Edgar decides to become “the basest” and “poorest” of any “contemt of man”. Edgar is no longer in a position of power but of one that is hunted and despised. To hide himself to the best of his ability he must become someone no one would ever suspect. Nothingness is a motif also because of who Edgar becomes. At the end of his monologue, Edgar says that “I nothing am”. Who he once was no longer exists as he puts on the Tom o’ Bedlam mask. The motif is also present when he hears himself proclaimed as hunted in a “hollow of a tree”. An empty husk of tree, much like himself. He has become a beggar of a mask (the outer husk of the tree) to cover his true self who has become nothing (the hollow). The rank and nothingness motifs correlate well with Edgar considering his rank becomes of nothing.