Review “Quotations on Themes” (p. 5 in King Lear Supplement information) and select 1 theme and select 4 quotes (from different acts) and discuss how they develop the theme. 200-300 words.
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rachel
5/27/2014 08:41:40 am
The theme of love in King Lear is exhibited throughout each act. The theme of love ties into the overarching novel by displaying human flaws. The flaw connected to love is not that the characters show too little love; it is that the characters, King Lear and Gloucester do not know genuine love when they see it. In act one it is evident that Lear does not understand love when he asks, “Which of you shall we say doth love us most” (I -64). If Lear understood what affection felt like he would not have to ask his daughters to verbally explain just how much they love him. It cannot truly be measured in words alone as Lear comes to see later on in the play. Reagan, Lear’s daughter who claimed to love him dearly shows her lack of compassion in act 2 when she demands “shut up your doors,” (2.4- 18) kicking her own dad out into a terrible storm. The compassionate daughter that was cast aside by Lear in his inability to recognize love proves her true colors to her father when she leans over her father to revive him wanting as she puts it to “repair those violent harms that my two sisters have in thy reverence made” (4.7 7). Love additionally helps characters overcome hurt feelings. If Cordelia had not sincerely cared for her father she would never have forgiven his terrible behavior. Cordelia is not the only one to forgive Lear out of love; Kent who was treated miserably “follow’d his enemy king, and did him service Improper for a slave (5.3 -8). Kent’s character shows that not only is familial love present but love of an “honorable” man by a man inferior in status, even though the man who is inferior is probably more honorable.
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Georgie P
5/27/2014 06:02:32 pm
The theme of love is developed by William Shakespeare in his play ‘King Lear’ throughout his Acts. First of all, in Act 1, there is a contrast between a true, honorable love and a love based on pride and manipulation. Whilst the Duke of Burgundy seems only interested in marrying Cordelia for a dowry, the King of France claims her to be ‘most rich being poor, Most choice forsaken, and most lov’d despised’ when she is cast away by her Father for not flattering him in order to manipulate him so as to obtain his fortune. The King of France decided to ‘seize upon’ her values despite the fact that she now had no dowry after being cast aside by her Father, accentuating ‘that from their cold’st neglect [his] love should kindle to inflam’d respect’ (France, 1.1, 31). The love France feels for Cordelia stems from a mutual respect, one of the only instances of genuine affection in love in the play.
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Trey C.
5/28/2014 01:56:48 am
Throughout the play, the theme of nothingness has been an omnipresent element. In the play, the word has been mentioned several times by many characters, demonstrating how much 'nothingness' affects the world. The essence of the plot itself, in the banishment of Cordelia and Edgar, and the scheming of Edmund, Goneril, and Regan against their fathers, implies that nothing binds a child to his parent, and nothing a parent to his child. This is exemplified in a symbolic manner in the very first scene of the play when Burgundy, saying: "Royal king, /Give but that portion which yourself proposed,/ And here I take Cordelia by the hand,/ Duchess of Burgundy," receives Lear's response: "Nothing. I have sworn. I am firm," mirroring the fragile, non-material bond he has with his daughters. Another aspect of 'nothingness' is how words can be hollow and deceitful, and thus considered as nothing. This is significant in a play fraught with plots and intrigue. This is portrayed ironically when Edmund replies to Gloucester's question "What paper were you reading?" with: "Nothing my lord," which, as a forgery of a letter supposedly written by Edgar, was truly nothing. This doesn't stop Gloucester from reading it, and thus became embroiled in Edmund's plot, leading to a death that was caused by 'nothing'. Nothingness in the hollowness of words is also a factor in Goneril and Regan's flattery of their father, which had no substance of truth, and had no real use. The fool makes this apparent when he gives Lear a riddle: "Then 'tis like the breath of an unfee'd lawyer. You gave me nothing for 't. -Can you make use of nothing, nuncle?" In other words, how can use your daughters' flattery any better than had they been silent. Finally, nothingness is also inherient in kingship. The Fool again reveals this by telling the king bluntly: "Now thou art an O without a figure. I am better than thou art now. I am a Fool. Thou art nothing," essentially saying that his title of King was nothing if he didn't have the authority to back it up.
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stephen mitchell
5/29/2014 05:55:58 am
Theme: To be “known”
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Yahaira S.
6/1/2014 07:15:14 pm
The theme of appearances and sight is evident in the acts of Shakespeare’s King Lear. Nothing in the play is quite as it seems. The king becomes dethroned, the “good daughters” become the evil daughters and the disowned daughter is the loyal daughter. In Act I Scene I, Regan and Goneril both proclaim their absolute love for Lear and by the end of Scene I, Goneril says “If our father carry authority with such dispositions as he bears, this last surrender of his will but offend us.. We must do something, and i' th' heat” (29). Similarly, Edmund pretends he is the loyal son and claims innocence up until the end of the play. He betrays both his father Gloucester and his half-brother Edgar by framing them both. In Act 2, Scene 1 Edmund says “My father hath set guard to take my brother. And I have one thing, of a queasy question, which I must act. Briefness and fortune, work!” (73). Edgar also takes on a new appearance when he flees the castle and even when he runs into his father Gloucester, he doesn’t tell him it is him until the very end and his father dies. In Act 3, Scene 4, Edgar says “Do Poor Tom some charity, whom the foul fiend vexes” (139), in which he is claiming to be “Poor Tom” most likely because Lear, the Fool, and Kent, having just come from the kingdom, still think Edgar is wanted. Act 5 is the defining moment for most of the characters because their appearances are finally shed and it reveals their true intentions and character. Probably one of the more shocking ending of Act 5 is Goneril poisoning Regan when she states “If not, I’ll ne'er trust medicine” (243). This is unexpected in a way because it seemed as though the sisters would have stayed united more than anyone in order to achieve their purpose of gaining power, but all of that was cast aside when they fell for the same man and secretly turned against one another. It seems the main outcome of this theme is to never judge a book by its cover and certainly, never underestimate anyone who seems “innocent”.
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Angelique K.
6/1/2014 07:36:14 pm
The theme of love is very common throughout William Shakespeare’s play; “King Lear” love is very prominent in each act. In act 1 the theme of love appears when Lear asks his three daughters, Goneril, Regan and Cordelia how much they truly love him. Goneril tells Lear “sir, I love you more than word can wield the matter, dearer than eyesight, space and liberty” Lear wants to be loved by his daughters; he wants to be their number one priority (Goneril, 1.1, 60-62). Regan makes Lear believe that she is really in love with him as well; however, Cordelia tells him that she loves him, but she has to love her husband more than her father. Lear can’t stand the fact that Cordelia doesn't love him as much as her husband, and her decides to banish her from his kingdom. In act 2 issues with love arise, when Lear shows his affection for his loving daughters, Goneril and Regan, but in return Lear discovers that both of them don’t truly love him. Lear is really hurt by Goneril he tells Regan the following “she hath abated me of half my train, looked black upon me, struck me with her tongue, most serpentlike upon the very heart” Lear loves Goneril but it turns out that she doesn't love him and she could care less about that the fact that he is getting older which means that he will need help with certain tasks (Lear, 2.4, 180-182). As the play progresses into act 3 Lear is still showing love for Goneril and Regan, even after all of the things that have happened so far, yet again in act 3 Lear discovers their true personalities. Kent and Lear are having a conversation about whether or not Poor Tom has daughters, when Lear asks “is it the fashion that discarded fathers should have thus little mercy on their flesh” Lear is referring to the fact that he truly loved Goneril and Regan, but they didn't love him in return, he now feels alone and lost since he no longer has complete rule over his kingdom (Lear, 3.4, 78-79). Cordelia was banished by Lear right away in act 1 when she didn't confess true love to him; however, in act 4 Lear and Cordelia are finally reunited. At first it is very hard for Lear to realize that Cordelia truly loves him, this is because he isn't sure how to trust people after the betrayal of Goneril and Regan. When the doctor is with Lear, Cordelia desperately wants to talk him because she is trying to heal the wounds made by her sisters “o, look upon me, sir, and hold your hand in benediction o’er me” Cordelia wants Lear to see her and to realize that all along she has never stopped loving him, even though he didn't want anything to do with her (Cordelia, 4.7, 65-66). Love plays a large role in the play when it comes to figuring out good and bad relationships, throughout the play Lear discovers how fake Goneril and Regan are and that Cordelia, the daughter he deprived of his love, is actually the only one that truly loves him.
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daniel c.
6/1/2014 07:39:40 pm
As the play King Lear opens up, the theme of love is showed in two totally different ways. After King Lear asks his daughters to voice their love for him, Cordelia voices her honest opinion while Regan and Goneril play with Lear’s feeling. In Act 1 Scene 1, Cordelia says “Unhappy that I am, I cannot heave my heart into my mouth. I love your Majesty according to my bond, no more nor less.” Blinded by his “love” for Goneril and Regan, King Lear is baffled from the answer he gets from Cordelia. In order for King Lear to understand true affection, he has to reach rock bottom and have everything taken from him in order to realize what’s most important in his life.
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Julia
6/1/2014 07:42:49 pm
The theme of love is expressed throughout all the acts in King Lear. In Act 1 Lear doesn’t know how much his daughters love him, even though he should; so he asks “Which of you shall we say doth love us most, That we our largest bounty may extend Where nature doth with merit challenge” (1.1.53-54) before making his decision on who to give the most land to. In the end he banishes Cordelia, and gives half his land to his other two daughters, Goneril and Regan because they were the ones that showed that they ‘loved’ him the most. In Act 2 we see Regan’s true colors; “Shut up your doors: He is attended with a desperate train; And what they may incense him to, being apt To have his ear abused, wisdom bids fear” (2.4.18). This sets Lear into a fit because not only did she drive her own father away from her home into the storm and to lock the doors behind him; he finally realized that Regan prevaricated about loving him as much as she said she did. In Act 3 we see love being portrayed as loyalty and compassion in the act of Cornwall’s servant showing pity on Gloucester as he is being tortured by going against his master; “Hold your hand, my lord: I have served you ever since I was a child; But better service have I never done you Than now to bid you hold” (3.7.89-92). In Act 4, Lear realizes that he made a mistake in ostracizing Cordelia; “Be your tears wet? Yes, ‘faith. I pray, weep not: If you have poison for me, I will drink it. I know you do not love me, for your sisters Have, as I do remember, done me wrong: You have some cause, they have not” (4.7.5) this quote shows that he acknowledges the way that he hurt Cordelia and admits that she has reasons to wish him harm for what he did to her. Finally, in Act 5, we see Lear’s true love for his daughter Cordelia when he holds her dead body in her arms; “A plague upon you, murderers all! I might have saved her. Now she’s gone forever. – Cordelia, Cordelia, stay a little” (5.3.325-327).
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Darel M.
6/1/2014 07:45:29 pm
Theme: Love
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Buse D.
6/1/2014 07:47:35 pm
The theme of nothingness in King Lear appears through each act and plays a high role in the development of the characters and their relationships between them. In Act 1, when Lear asks Cordelia "What can you say to draw a third more opulent than your sisters?", and Cordelia replies, "Nothing." Lear replies “Nothing will come of nothing" (Lear,I,92). "Speak again." He wants her to speak up about how much she loves him but until than she is getting nothing from him. The word "nothing" shows up again when the Fool tells Lear he is nothing without his crown and power: "I am better than thou art now; I'm a fool, thou art nothing" (1.4.17).So according to the Fool, King Lear is a zero. In Act 2 Edgar realizes that he can no longer be who he once was, meaning he has no fortune so he decides to disguise himself as Poor Tom to keep an eye on his father which shows his loyalty towards his family: “Poor Turlygod, Poor Tom, That’s something yet: Edgar I nothing am” (Edgar,II,20-21). As Gloucester says: “Go to ; say you nothing’’ (Gloucester,III,8) nothing means everything is this case. He talks about how Goneril, Regan and Cornwall have treated Lear. So he suggest suggests that they both help the King, believing that Edmund is loyal. In Act 4 Scene 1 Edgar states “The wretch that thou has blow unto the worst/Owes nothing to thy blasts.’’ (IV,8-9). Edgar is saying that if things are at the worst they can take a turn to the better and thus he has nothing to fear as he has nothing to lose.
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Connor Brown
6/1/2014 08:29:23 pm
In the first act of King Lear, Shakespeare makes love the central theme that seems to create the tragedy that will unfold throughout the play. Shakespeare does not simply refer to love as something that we all understand already. Shakespeare calls into question what love is, what it means, and what it’s worth.
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Ryan M
6/1/2014 09:39:23 pm
The Theme of Love
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Gabrielle L
6/1/2014 09:47:57 pm
The theme of love or the lack thereof is exemplified through all the characters in Shakespeare’s tragedy, King Lear. True love, represented by Cordelia, Kent, and Edgar is clashed against selfish love, represented by (in early stages) Lear, Goneril, Regan, and Edmund. In the early events of the play, Lear does not understand the concept of true love. When Cordelia tells him she respects and loves him only as much as a daughter should, he gets angry. Her actions, however, catch the King of France’s attention, and he comes to realize what true love is not: “Love’s not love when it is/mingled with regards that stand/aloof from the entire point” (1.1.240-242). Lear comes to see Regan and Goneril’s true colors when they both team up against him. Their excuse is that the king is getting old and unreasonable so they must take power, but in reality their love for their father is selfish. Lear is confused and tries to ally with Regan: “I’ll go with thee./Thy fifty yet doth double five and twenty,/And thou are twice her love” (2.4.257-259). They strip him of his power by first limiting the number of his knights, then nothing at all. As Lear is kicked out of kingdom and left with no power, he goes through stages of madness and revives as a sane man who only cares about love. He came to understand that it was only ever Cordelia that loved him. When she is killed, he can't stand it. He loved her so much that he can't believe she died: “Lend me a looking glass/If that her breath will mist or stain the stone, /Why, then she lives” (5.3.313-3.15).
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Molly R
6/2/2014 07:57:05 am
Appearances and Sight:
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Angela B.
6/2/2014 10:53:16 am
In King Lear, the theme of “nothingness” has a big emphasis and many meanings through each character’s journey. Lear states in Act I that “Nothing will come of nothing. Speak again,” (Lear, I, I, 92) showing his need for hearing the words he is expecting and not being pleased with the “nothing,” because it doesn’t lead anywhere. When Gloucester wants to see the letter, he knows that saying “nothing” doesn’t have the meaning of what it should originally mean, but it only raises his curiosity and justifies his arguments for getting letter like “Come, if it be nothing, I shall not need spectacles” (Gloucester, I, ii, 34-36). In Act II, nothingness is given a even bigger meaning, when Edgar changes his identity because he considers himself to be “nothing,”: “Poor Turlygod, Poor Tom, That’s something yet: Edgar I nothing am” (Edgar, II, iii, 20-21). When Kent says a meaningful saying “Nothing almost sees miracles but misery,” he passes along his idea of extreme supremacy of misery’s being, stating that good can be noticed only within bad contrasting it. Similarly to that idea, Edgar, after being expelled from the community, says with the words “The wretch that thou has blow unto the worst owes nothing to thy blasts” (Edgar, IV, I, 8-9) that he has nothing to lose anymore and things can only get better from where he is now.
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beau t
6/2/2014 07:41:37 pm
In King Lear, “nothingness” is the theme that has the biggest emphasis on each character’s role. In Act 1, when Lear asks Cordelia "What can you say to draw a third more opulent than your sisters?", and Cordelia replies, "Nothing." Lear replies “Nothing will come of nothing" (Lear,I,92). "Speak again." When Gloucester wants to see the letter, he knows that saying “nothing” doesn’t have the meaning of what it should originally mean, but it only raises his curiosity and justifies his arguments for getting letter like “Come, if it be nothing, I shall not need spectacles” (Gloucester, I, ii, 34-36). He wants her to speak up about how much she loves him but until then she is getting nothing from him. When Kent says a meaningful saying “Nothing almost sees miracles but misery,” he passes along his idea of extreme supremacy of misery’s being, stating that good can be noticed only within bad contrasting it. Edgar, after being expelled from the community, says with the words “The wretch that thou has blow unto the worst owes nothing to thy blasts” (Edgar, IV, I, 8-9) that he has nothing to lose anymore and things can only get better from where he is now, thus he has nothing to fear as he has nothing to lose.
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Jurrien A.
6/2/2014 07:48:17 pm
The theme of love, or the lack thereof, is common throughout William Shakespeare's King Lear is common and is the main reason for the first sinews of strife throughout the story.
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Cj W
6/2/2014 07:49:42 pm
In Shakespeare's tragedy entitled 'King Lear', numerous themes are displayed. Perhaps, one of the most evident themes is love. Ironically enough, although genuine, true love is shown, there is also situations and scenarios where love is turned into selfishness and greed as well. For instance, when King Lear is contemplating which of his three daughters he should give his kingdom to, Gonereil and Regan, the two oldest, are able to persuade and overexaggerate their love for their father in hopes on winning Lear over. This represents the sort of "greedy love" that is also expressed through Edmund and also Lear himself. Lear's "greed" is shown whenever his youngest daughter, Cordelia actually tells Lear that she loves him as a father, stating, “I cannot heave my heart into my mouth. I love your majesty according to my bond, no more nor less” (Cordelia, I, I, 93-95). Upon hearing this, he decides to disown her and divide the kingdom between his other two daughers. However, Lear soon realizes the evil intentions that Gonereil and Regan have planned to overthrow Lear and completely banish him from his kingdom. Lear then attempts to side with one of his daughters, Regan, stating : “I’ll go with thee./Thy fifty yet doth double five and twenty,/And thou are twice her love” (2.4.257-259). He is then rejected and thrown out, and in this moment, he realizes the true, unconditional love that Cordelia had for him. Unfortuntely, by the time he realizes this truth, Cordelia is dead. In his sorrow, Lear says, " “Lend me a looking glass/If that her breath will mist or stain the stone, /Why, then she lives” (5.3.313-3.15)." Although it wasn't always positive, the theme of love and its aspects are still clearly apparent from start to finish in the play.
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Raegan C.
6/3/2014 07:26:31 am
The theme of “nothingness” in King Lear is exemplified by Lear’s struggle to relinquish his responsibilities as a king while still maintaining the status and respect demanded by his position. At the beginning of the play, Lear sets the precedent for this division of responsibilities with his address to his daughters “LEAR “In three our kingdom, and ‘tis our fast intent/To shake all cares and business from our age,/conferring them on younger strengths, [while we/Unburdened crawl toward death.”, and his rejection of Cordelia. While Lear intends to divide the kingdom to remove the responsibility of kinghood, he inadvertently removes his status. After his rejection by Goneril and Regan, Lear undergoes the ultimate removal of status in his flight into the wilderness and his descent into madness. Even more than Lear, however, Edward experiences the states of “nothingness” as he is cast out by his family and is not accompanied by loyal friends and servants. He embraces his fortune, creating a persona: EDGAR: “Brought near to beast. My face I’ll grame 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.” The motif is carried through into Gloucesters fall from “grace”, his blindness, and his wandering toward Dover (a literal “nothing” in not being able to see, and a metaphorical “nothing” in his loss of status and home). Likewise, Gloucester laments his “blindness” to the true dispositions of his sons: GLOUCESTER: “I have no way and therefore want no eyes./I stumbled when I saw. Full oft ‘tis seen/Our means secure us, and our mere defects/Prove our commodities. O dear son Edgar,/The food of they abused father’s wrath,/Might I but live to see thee in my touch,/I’d say I had eyes again.” This sense of the rejection of a previous life due to circumstances outside one’s control, and giving in to a lowly, uncouth position, is carried through by Kent’s last lines in the play, alluding to his potential suicide, the ultimate nothingness: KENT: “I have a journey, sir, shortly to go; My master calls me. I must not say no.”
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Tasha
6/4/2014 05:38:06 pm
The theme of “nothing” was developed through Shakespeare’s King Lear play through the characters fall from power and realizing a self. The theme starts with the simple quote in 1.1.92 “Nothing will come from nothing. Speak again.” This quote seems like common sense for if one gives nothing then how will something be taken? While other quotes in the same act, like “Find out the villain, Edmund; it shall lose thee nothing” (I, ii, 124-125), suggest that if something will cause you no harm then you should go for it. So if the only downside of a choice is losing time than go for it, but if not then way the benefits of the choice. In the second act Kent says that “Art nothing but the composition of a knave” (II, ii, 20-21). This is suggesting that a person is made up solely of their position in court. So if the man is a knave than that is everything he is. This kind of thinking has only slightly changed from Shakespeare’s time. Now-a-days people have money that make up a lot of a person or fame. The rich and famous are supposedly “nothing” without their rich and fame; this thinking changes. Lear in Act three asks “Couldst thou save nothing?” (III, ii, 37-38). The question speaks deep, for could one actually save nothing? No, so when they save one of the characters, even a fool or knave he is more than nothing. For Edmund goes further to state that “Y’are much deceived: in nothing am I changed/But in my garmets” (IV, vi, 223-226). This statement tells everyone that he was lying and deceiving the entire time and he was /always/ the same “bast” from the beginning but he just cleaned himself up and made people believe he was more.
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Hope
6/4/2014 07:21:23 pm
The theme of love is exemplified throughout the entirety of Shakespeare’s tragedy. True love is represented through the relationships and actions between these three key characters, Kent, Edgar and especially Cordelia. A different type of love, a more vain type of loves is exemplified through characters such as Lear, Edmund and especially Goneril and Regan. In Act 1, Lear becomes enraged by Cordelia’s response regarding how much she loves him. Cordelia said, “You have begot me, bred me, loved me. I return those duties back as are right fit: Obey you, love you, and most honor you. Why have my sisters husbands if they say they love you all? Haply, when I shall wed, that lord whose hand must take my plight shall carry half my love with him, half my care and duty.” (1.1.106-115) Cordelia is being honest; she says that her love for her father goes only as far as it is possible to. She loves him as a father and it remains within the constraints of what is appropriate. Her sisters are obviously exaggerating their love for their own selfish gain, whereas Cordelia shows a respect for her father by being truthful to him and to herself. Later on, Lear begins to partially realize his mistake and how his other daughters, Regan and Goneril, took advantage of him. He tries to rectify his mistake in order to preserve a bit of his power by attempting to take sides with Regan. He said, “I’ll go with thee./Thy fifty yet doth double five and twenty,/And thou are twice her love” (2.4.257-259). At this point in the play Lear has not fully realized how superficial his daughter’s love for him is, he is still in a state of disillusion in which he believes Regan and Goneril love him more than Cordelia, it is not until Act 4, when Lear is finally reunited with Cordelia that he understands how her love is superior. He said, “be your tears wet? Yes, faith. I pray, weep not. If you have poison for me, I will drink it. I know you do not love me, for your sisters have, as I do remember, done me wrong. You have some cause; they have not.” (4.7.217) Lear, having gained some consciousness, acknowledges Cordelia’s presence and true love for him compared to her sisters’. Although there are many other examples of the various types of love and how they are expressed throughout the novel, the relationship between Lear and his three very different daughters is central to the play. It successfully demonstrates Shakespeare’s application of the theme of love to his play, King Lear.
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Alyssa
6/15/2014 11:15:32 pm
In King Lear, Shakespeare emphasizes and contrasts the honesty and virtues of love between his characters. The story opens with King Lear demanding that his daughters proclaim their grand love for him in order to earn their inheritance. He demands, ‘“Which of you shall we say doth love us most”, expressing the beginnings of his family’s difficulty in discerning genuine and materialistic love. His daughters comply, their declarations of false love perhaps foreshadowing their trickery one of the few acts of genuine love throughout the novel. Later, when Lear discovers the truth about his daughters feelings for him, he exclaims ““she hath abated me of half my train, looked black upon me, struck me with her tongue, most serpentlike upon the very heart”. As Regan and Goneril’s plans unfold, he sees for the first time the troublesome effects of his carelessness and absent minded decisions. As the story progresses and conditions seem more and more dire for Lear, he feels great pain at his banishment of Cordelia, the only daughter who truly loved him ““Be your tears wet? Yes, ‘faith. I pray, weep not: If you have poison for me, I will drink it. I know you do not love me, for your sisters Have, as I do remember, done me wrong: You have some cause, they have not” He understands not only the consequences of his foolish actions, but that Cordelia herself has undeniable reason to wish harm upon him like her sisters.
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