ACT ONE
What is the action that Lear takes that becomes the incident that this tragedy will deal with?
The event that triggers the tragedy occurring is King Lear’s decision to split his kingdom between his daughters and then banishing Cordelia. This means he has left himself nothing to give him authority, and is now reliant on his daughters accepting him in order to have somewhere to live and ownership of any possessions.
‘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.’
Lear’s hubris being introduced
‘Which of you shall we say doth love us most?
That we our largest bounty may extend…’
This line from Lear sets off warning bells for the reader. We are exposed to his hubris in this moment. This line shows Lear’s hubris (meaning his trait that will bring his downfall), as we are shown to his pride and the way in which he regards himself as holding the authority to decide and measure how much others love him – because of course he assumes that it’s a lot. His referral to the word ‘we’ rather than himself as a singular could also show him regarding himself as more than an individual and a literal representation of the people of the kingdom.
Hamartia – Impulsivity, blindness, arrogance, pride
By having a flawed king the audience is able to relate to the character as we see them regularly even in modern day society. A less than perfect king is also required in order to create a tragedy aligning with Aristotle’s values.
‘Come not between the dragon and his wrath.’ – Lear.
‘The prince of darkness is a gentleman.’ – Lear
’Here I disclaim all my paternal care,
Propinquity and property of blood,
And as a stranger to my heart and me
Hold thee from this forever.’ – Lear.
‘Thou shouldst not have been old till thou hadst been wise.’ – Fool.
‘Why, to put’s head in; not to give it away to his daughters, and leave his horns without a case.’ – Fool. ’
The king falls from bias of nature.’ – Gloucestor.
‘Who is it that can tell me who I am.’ – Lear.
On page 63 Lear is referring to himself in third person showing that he is going crazy and does not see himself as taking responsibility for his own actions.
Dramatic irony: Shakespeare uses dramatic irony to create tension and give power to the audience. Three examples of dramatic irony in this act are:
Kent being banished and returning in disguise in order to attempt to regain his job due to his love for Lear.
Edmond stitching up Edgar to his father to make him think Edgar wrote a letter to overthrow him.
Cordelia speaking aside about her love for her father yet her desire to not say her love. ‘What shall Cordelia speak? Love, and be silent.’
Symbolic references of the eyes
People have said that eyes are the window to the soul. In the play Oedipus when he realised what he had done in his life he gauged out his eyes after his mother killed herself. This is significant to show how his ‘blindness’ had affected him.
Throughout King Lear there are a lot of references toward eyes and the idea of vision and seeing clearly – foreshadowing a metaphorical blindness of king Lear.
‘See better Lear, and let me still remain
The true blank of thine eye.’ – Kent
‘Sir, I love you more than words can wield the matter;
Dearer than eye-sight, space, and liberty;
Beyond what can be valued, rich or rare;’ – Goneril to her father about how much he loves her.
‘Peace Kent!
Come not between the dragon an his wrath.
I loved her most, and thought to set my rest
On her kind nursery. Hence, and avoid my sight!’ – Lear. Avoiding sight shows he also wants to avoid the truth that Kent speaks.
ANIMAL REFERENCES
‘Come not between the dragon and his wrath.’ Lear referring to himself as a dragon puts him in a place of strength and shows the way he idolises himself.
‘To lay his goatish disposition to the charge of a star! My father compounded with my mother under the Dragon’s Tail.’ Edmund in scene two as he speaks of what he is planning. He explains himself as the bastard son and the way his parents had done the bad act as it was under the dragon’s tail, meaning that it was dangerous and sneaky.
‘May not an ass know when the cart draws the horse.’ Was said by the fool to give the picture of how wrong and silly Lear’s decisions are right now. For a cart to draw a horse is illogical and a waste of resources.
‘She’ll flay thy wolvish visage.’ This is Lear leaving Goneril’s house angrily after she tries to tell him he has to get rid of his men. He is referring to Regan as wolvish, meaning he already knows her temper and hunger for power and in his mind justice. He leaves to go to her house, heading straight into the wolves den.
The divine rights of Kings
The divine right of kings, or divine-right theory of kingship, is a political and religious doctrine of royal and political legitimacy. It asserts that a monarch is subject to no earthly authority, deriving his right to rule directly from the will of God.
The subplot of Gloucestor
The subplot of King Lear is introduced in scene 2 of Act 1. Edmund is fed up with being the oldest child, however not being given the treatment he deserved due to his status as Gloucestor’s bastard son. Edmund decides to write a letter as if written by his brother Edgar, inviting him to plans to overthrow his father. When Gloucester sees this he is angry and sends Edmund to find Edgar and talk to him about it. Edmund successfully manipulates Gloucester into thinking that Edgar is planning to betray him.
We can see this sub plot starting to mirror the main plot as one favoured child loves their father, while the others are envious and sour and try to betray them. Similarly to Lear, Gloucestor is quick to react and believe the idea that Edgar is trying to betray him – this wrath and anger then becoming a part of his fatal flaw.
The loyal followers
Lear has both Kent and the fool remain loyal to him despite his seen anger and rash decisions around the splitting of his kingdom. Having given away his kingdom, one would expect these characters to turn to the next in power (the daughters) but instead these characters continue to try and help and stay loyal to Lear – Kent even putting his life on the line by returning to a land he is banished from. This indicates to the audience that he was once someone very worth following and despite the ‘bad’ traits the audience is seeing, there must be goof there too.
The fool speaks in songs and rhymes and jokes about the truths in the life of King Lear and bad decisions he is making. The fool is the only character with the ability to tell Lear he is wrong or make fun of Lear without being banished or punished for the act. As there is no chorus, the fool is able to take this role throughout the act in narrating and foreshadowing the truth of what is occurring and will occur throughout the play – the fools rhymes hint at the big mistake that Lear is making in splitting his kingdom and leaving nothing for himself.
‘Have more than thou showest, Speak less than thou knowest, Lend less than thou owest, Ride more than thou goest, Learn more than thou trowest, Set less than thou throwest, Leave thy drink and thy whore, And keep in-a-door, And thou shalt have more Than two tens to a score.’
‘That lord that counselled thee To give away thy land, Come place him here by me- Do thou for him stand. The sweet and bitter fool Will presently appear; The one n motley here, The other found out there.’
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