- Backgrounding The
Tragedy of King Lear
-
- Historical Context
- 24 March 1603 Elizabeth died
- 1605 Gunpowder Plot Guy Fawkes
- 1605 "Black Year" unlimited freedom; breakdown
of court finances: 4,000
- pounds for one masque, unworthies get
knighthoods
- eclipse of 1606 and the visit of King
Christian of Denmark - great
- depravity: "ripeness is all"
- 1606 plague 30K died
- this play written in summer of
1606.
-
- Cultural Context
- Elizabethans show a movement from divine right
to "what help prosperity"
- the common good?
- a godless preChristian England - rampant
ambition, warrior King has what he
- has won, bullied wrested from
others
- his goal is his welfare so thereby his people
are secure
- Lear having to undo this warrior thinking,
careless about himself, naked in
- the storm
- unable to take shelter, unable to do the
natural instinctive thing,
- unmindful of his own welfare
-
- Metaphoric Context
- king divinely chosen defines God's social
order to maintain stability
- harmony justice
- truant king defies God's order for the world -
disharmony, division,
- our judgement on a truant, negligent king's
dereliction of his god-given duty:
- his duty to the country, his people, breaks
their trust in him
- culture v nature
- overturned in Edmund proud of bastard
nature
- art v human nature
- pathetic fallacy = nature in sympathy with
human feelings
- nature expressed Man's state, mood
- Nature almost as a character in the
play
-
- Dramatic Context
- the storm scenes Act III:
- buckets of water
- drums
- howling of winds storm
- grass in hair
- Redemption of Lear, & Gloucester and even
at end a hint of kindness /
- change in Edmund
- © G. Smith 2001
King Lear: Setting, Symbols, and Style
-
- The setting of Shakespeare's King Lear is in a
mythical England. The time
- period is an era that has never existed. This
age is similar to the time
- period of Sir Gawain and the Green Knight when
kings rule the land and
- knights fight to protect their king's
lands.
-
- There are four main symbols in King Lear. The
first symbol is the letters
- that the characters constantly circulate
between each other. These letters
- symbolize the betrayal of the characters and
the revenge that many of the
- main characters take against each
other.
-
- The second symbol is eyes. Eyes symbolize
knowledge. When the Duke of
- Cornwall gouges out the Earl of Gloucester's
eyes, he is trying to force out
- the knowledge that the Earl of Gloucester is
hiding from the Duke of
- Cornwall.
-
- The next symbol is the weather. The weather
depicts the turmoil of the
- characters. When King Lear is in self pity and
on the verge of insanity, the
- weather is stormy and threatening.
-
- The final symbol is the flowers. The
flowers emphasize the inner peace of
- the characters. After King Lear escapes from
Dover, he runs off to a field
- of flowers. In the flowers, King Lear finds
peace from the insanity that is
- taking over his mind and body.
-
- William Shakespeare utilizes many aspects of
style in his writing. In King
- Lear, Shakespeare uses many examples of
allusions and imagery. Shakespeare
- employs the use of such contemporary and
famous stories as "Jack the Giant
- Killer" and Samuel Harsnett's "Declaration."
Some images that Shakespeare
- uses are several demons of various types and
references to serpents.
-
- Irony and humor fill King Lear. One
such example of irony is the fool. A
- traditional fool is a naive comic used to
entertain the king. Yet King
- Lear's fool is intelligent and filled with
intellectual observations. In
- addition, the fool often creates a humorous
atmosphere with his satirical
- remarks toward the king.
-
- Shakespeare appears to enjoy the use of
metaphors and similes in King Lear.
- Shakespeare uses similes and metaphors as
often as possible. In one such
- case, Edgar addresses the fool as a "jolly
shepherd."
-
- Another technique of style that Shakespeare
manipulates are apostrophes.
- King Lear is constantly addressing nonhuman
objects during his period of
- insanity. In one such case, King Lear calls
upon the storm to cast a
- lightning bolt down from the heavens to kill
him.
-
- Finally, and most importantly, is
Shakespeare's writing style for his
- dramas. Shakespeare writes in a poetic style.
He uses iambic rhythms and a
- pentameter line style. This gives his dramas a
defined rhythm. In addition,
- he uses free verse, which excludes the use of
rhymes.
-
- shannon_b@4j.lane.edu
Return to King
Lear site
This is a copy of a now defunct (19/3/00) site:
http://ucs.orst.edu/~ronnej/lear/symbols.html