LOYALTY

LOYALTY

1. Feelings of friendship, support or duty towards someone or something

   • [https://www.collinsdictionary.com/dictionary/english/loyalty]

2. CHARACTERS

   • King Lear
     • He is ultimately a victim of loyalty
     • Allows his clouded judgement to make the decision of which daughters favours
     • "Tell me, my daughters,-- Since now we will divest us both of rule, Interest of territory, cares of state,-- Which of you shall we say doth love us most? That we our largest bounty may extend Where nature doth with merit challenge. Goneril, Our eldest-born, speak first." (1.1. p.2)
       • One of the actual instigators of the downfall of the characters, as he starts the argument of who loves him most
   • Cordelia
     • "Good my lord, 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. Sure, I shall never marry like my sisters, To love my father all.." (1.1.105-115)
       • Though at this moment, it doesn't seem as if this is a 'loyal' enough response to Lear's demands in comparison to her sister's,, this actually proves her undying loyalty to her father. Shes chooses not to deceive him by over exaggerating and lying about her feelings for him
     • Even after Lear disowns her, she takes him in when he come to Dover for shelter: she still respects and loves him as her King and father
       • "O my dear father! Restoration hang Thy medicine on my lips, and let this kiss Repair those violent harms that my two sisters Have in thy reverence made." (4.7 p.100)
   • Kent
     • Lear's "right hand man", never once betrayed his loyalty
     • "Reserve thy state, And in they best consideration check This hideous rashness. Answer my life my judgment, Thy youngest daughter does not love thee least, Nor are those empty-hearted whose low sound Reverb no hollowness." (1.1. 167-173)
       • Kent says this out of loyalty for his King as he tries to show Lear the faults in disowning Cordelia and entrusting the kingdom with Regan and Goneril
     • "If but as well I other accents borrow That can my speech defuse, my good intent May carry through itself to that full issue For which I razed my likeness. Now, banished Kent, If thou canst serve where thou dost stand condemned, So may it come thy master, whom thou lov'st, Shall find thee full of labors.." (1.4.1-8)
       • King Lear banishes Kent for speaking against him and his decision but yet Kent STILL remains loyal to his King, disguising himself as "Caius" in order to still do his job of serving the King
   • Earl of Gloucester
     • "I have no way, and there want no eyes; I stumbled when I saw. Full oft 'tis seen Our means secure us, and our mere defects" (4.1. 18-20)
       • The Earl of Gloucester remains loyal to his King throughout everything. Even as he tries to help him escape to Dover, he suffers the consequence of being blinded for the sake and safety of Lear.
   • Regan and Goneril
     • They completely deceive their father, the King, telling him what he wants to hear in order to prove to him that they are undoubtedly loyal
     • Loyal to their own selfish desires
     • End up losing each other's loyalty
       • Goneril's evil desires overcome the idea and connection of family
   • Edmund
     • "Here stood he in the dark, his sharp sword out, Mumbling of wicked charms, conjuring the moon To stand's auspicious mistress... Look sir, I bleed" (1.1 p.32)
       • Edmund shows false loyalty to his father, Gloucester by informing him that his brother, Edgar (Gloucester's legitimate son) is plotting to kill him. He also mentions that they fought and he was sliced with Edgar's sword, being untrue as he cut himself. Gloucester commends him for his loyalty
     • "[…] Edmund the base Shall top th' legitimate. I grow, I prosper." (1.2.21-22)
       • Edmund is saying he's going to overcome and take down the "legitimate", referring to Gloucester's legitimate son, Edgar. He is justifying his disloyalty and cations

3. PLOT

   • Tragedy
     • A play dealing with tragic events and having an unhappy ending, especially one concerning the downfall of the main character.
       • [https://en.oxforddictionaries.com/definition/tragedy]
     • King Lear, the main character tragically dies at the end of the play
       • "And my poor fool is hang'd! No, no, no life! Why should a dog, a horse, a rat, have life, And thou no breath at all? Thou'lt come no more, never, never, never, never ,never! Pray you, undo this button: thank you sir. Do you see this? Look on her, look, her lips, Look there, look there!" (5.3 p. 118)
         • These are Lear's last lines before he falls dead, of a broken heart.
   • Loyalty = suffering
   • As the play progresses, we see the loyal characters come to light
     • Regan and Goneril's faults are also highlighted, not just by their scheming and greed but how they treat their father
       • "That's a shealed peascod. Not only, sir, this your all-licensed fool, But other of tour insolent retinue Do hourly carp and quarrel breaking forth" (1.4 p.23)
         • Goneril asks her father to leave her house, where he is staying
       • "I cannot think my sister in the least Would fail her obligation: if, sir, perchance She have restrain'd the riots of your followers, 'T is on such ground and to such wholesome end As clears her from all blame. (2.4 p.47)
         • Regan is defending her sister as Lear comes to complain to her about her sister telling him to leave (out of fear of being overtaken by Lear and his knights)
   • In the end, the good and loyal prosper
     • "The weight of this sad time we must obey, Speak what we feel, not what we ought to say. The oldest hath borne most: we that are young Shall never see so much, nor live so long" (5.3) p. 118
       • Albany, Edgar and Kent's loyalty have all paid off: they now have the power to rule the kingdom

4. UNDERLYING THEMES

   • Appearance vs. Reality
     • Both Regan and Goneril make it seem to their father, Lear that they love him so dearly. To the point where he gives them the privelege of his kingdom
     • Gloucester believes that "Poor Tom" is really a poor beggar, when he turns out to really be his legitimate son Edgar looking out for him even though he'd been disowned
     • Edmund creates an image that makes him seem innocent, and Gloucester believes it. The reality is really he is loyal to his own evil desires and has no intention of honoring his father
   • Good vs. Evil
     • Edgar = good
       • V.S
         • Edmund = evil
     • Regan and Goneril = evil
       • VS.
         • Cordelia = good
     • Edmund = evil
       • VS.
         • Earl of Gloucester = good
   • Death
     • A common recurring element of the play
     • Servant dies after attacking Cornwall, killed by Regan
     • Cornwall dies after being attacked by the Gloucester's servant
     • Oswald attempts to kill Gloucester and then his "punishment" is being killed by Edgar
     • Goneril poisons Regan out of jealousy and greed for Edmund
       • "Lady, I am not well; else I should answer From a full-flowing stomach. General, Take thou my soldiers, prisoners, patrimony; Dispose of them, of me; the walls are thine. Witness the world that I create thee here 3210 My lord and master." (5.3. p.109)
     • Gloucester dies of a heart attack out of surprise after Edgar, his legitimate son reveals he's been disguised as "Poor Tom" the whole time
     • Cordelia is hanged by orders of Edmund, he was being "loyal" to the kingdom by "protecting" it from Lear and Cordelia
     • "What is't thou say'st? Her voice was ever soft, Gentle and low, an excellent thing in a woman. I ki'lld the slave that was a-hanging thee" (5.3 p.116)
       • Lear's loyalty to his true daughter is shown as he kills Cordelia's executioner
     • Finally, Lear dies of a broken heart: Cordelia and all his beloved is too much for him

Imágenes y archivos del mapa