KING LEAR

KING LEAR

1. Lacks self-knowledge and moral vision

   • His spiritual/ moral growth is gradual and painful
     • "reason in madness"
       • "Oh fool, I shall go mad"
         • Lear grows through suffering, his acquisition of self-knowledge is a gradual process.
           • continues to believe that he can measure love

2. Weaknesses in characters

   • concerned for only himself
   • selfish and arrogant
     • sees himself as a fearsome "dragon" whose "wrath" is to be avoided
       • Gullible and susceptible to flattery. He is fiery and rash-
         • disowns Cordelia because she refuses to pander to hi ego

3. Tragic Hero

   • He brought about his own downfall through his own faults and flaws
     • ARCHITECT OF HIS OWN DOWNFALL
       • "More sinn'd against than sinning"
         • "A poor, infirm, weak, and despised old man"

4. Critic Quotes

   • "Lear goes mad because he is unable to accept his dependence on the feminine,
     • his daughters" -Coppelia Kahn
   • "Lear's words are monstrously unjust" - A.C Bradley

5. Lear's enduring rashness is evident in the immediate aftermath of Cordelia's death,

   • "A PLAGUE UPON YOU, MURDERERS, TRAITORS ALL"
   • When he curses all of those around him: