Family in King Lear

Family in King Lear

1. Past exam questions

   • "King Lear is not only a tragedy of parents and children; it is also a tragedy of kingship." Explore this view
     • 'which of you shall we say doth love us most' - Lear p102. Equates power to love
     • Jacobeans equated role of father to the role of king
     • 'What need you five and twenty?' 'What need one?' - Gonerill and Regan p172. Power of child over father
     • 'I am a foolish, fond old man' - Lear p239. Inversion of Cordelia and Lear's roles as parent and child
   • Explore the presentation and the dramatic importance of the family relationships in King Lear
   • "Despite the title, it is better to regard King Lear as a play about country rather than an individual or family." Consider this view

2. Possible paragraph ideas

   • fragmented relationships within the family foreshadow the fall of the state
     • use of a microchosm
     • 'Nothing will come of nothing, speak again.' Lear p104. Hubris leads to division of family and state
       • ALTERNATIVE: his dominance/demand for affection implies a lack of sincere love with those he cares about most.
   • breakdown of family highlights the frailty of human nature
     • 'I have so often blushed to acknowledge him' Gloucester p99. Insults his illegitimacy
       • is family bond/human nature restored with Cordelia and Lear's reunion
   • inversion of traditional social roles, Lear's position as a 'child-changed' father
   • Lear's recognition of failure suggests he understands that his kingship has failed his children and citizens
     • 'The wheel is come full circle; I am here.' Edmund p255. Elizabethan idea of the wheel of fortune restoring order
   • Lear as an old man without power leaves traditional order vulnerable

3. Links to Oedipus Rex

   • Thebes is not challenged by an opposing force, it is all Oedipus. Order is restored with Creon
   • Oedipus always tries to do what is morally correct for his people
   • breakdown of Oedipus' family demonstrates his failure in the father role?
   • literal inversion of the father/son role causes him to go from king to an outcast
   • A better leader than Lear, but just as blind