Shakespeare!
Our next selection for the class is King Lear by William Shakespeare.
Please find a copy of King Lear at the library, or there are several PDF documents online. Shakespeare can be challenging to read for a well-seasoned literary expert. If this is the first Shakespeare play you are attempting, here's what I recommend:
STEP 1. As you read, refer to a character chart (https://www.anoisewithin.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/02/Character-Map.pdf).
The above chart will help keep the characters (and there are many) clear in your mind. Please feel free to print out and write descriptive characteristics for each of the characters directly on the pdf. You may also refer to this study guide for helpful history, scene descriptions, and summaries: http://www.aoifesnotes.com/leaving-cert/ordinary-level/Paper-Two/docs/single-text/King%20Lear%20-%20Scene%20Summaries%20and%20Key%20Quotations%20from%20Each%20Scene.pdf
STEP 2. Once you have read Act 1, please write a summary of Act 1.
STEP 3. Listen to Act 1. Follow along with the written copy as you listen. Radio Drama https://youtu.be/1JylxvHvdtA. (NOTE: There are several audio recordings available from the library- use whatever audio recording you would prefer).
STEP 4. Repeat for all 5 Acts. Read, Summarise, Listen. (Summaries due by October 17th)
A tentative date has been set for October 30th to WATCH King Lear at my house. Unfortunately, I could not find a live play so we will watch a BBC version on my television.
****We will NOT meet on October 10th. The Biology class has a field trip planned that day, and we will not be back in time for class.
3 Assignments:
1. As stated above: Read King Lear by OCTOBER 17th! Please refer to the steps above for the complete assignment.
2. Essay Prompt: In class, I gave you a handout of statements regarding the play, King Lear. These statements should serve as potential essay prompts for you. The statements are designed for you to 'take a stand' or "argue your opinion." It is up to you to create a thesis from the statements given. For example, if the statement is, "The ending in King Lear is unbearable." Your thesis statement might be as simple as:
'The ending in King Lear is unbearable for three reasons: hopelessness, tragedy, and death.' Alternatively, you might argue the opposite: 'The tragic ending is an acceptable conclusion to this play because: the ending is realistic, reflects consequences and speaks to truth.'
Make sure you include evidence to support your arguments. While I definitely want to know the position you take on one of the statements, I need you to back up your opinion with evidence from the play or other sources.
THIS ESSAY IS DUE: October 28th! Please email me your essay!
3. Please answer one of the following BLOG Questions by October 22nd.
Discussion Questions for the blog. Please choose one to answer. Don't forget to respond to two of your classmates.
Family Structures - One of the themes in King Lear is family. There are many different family structures within the play. Can you identify the various families in the play? How does each family member relate to their other members? What are the relationships like
Deception - Another major theme in King Lear is deception. What forms does fraud take? What characters use deceit and do you consider their causes good or evil?
Tragedy – King Lear is one of Shakespeare’s Tragedies. What is tragic about the story? What elements make it a tragedy? Which characters are most tragic? What do you think is the overall, great tragedy within the story?
Due Date Summary:
September 25th-Class Discussion on Sir Gawain and introduce King Lear
October 10th- No Class (make-up class on October 30th)
October 17th- Act Summaries finished. Entire play read.
October 22nd- Blog question answered by this date
October 24th-Class Discussion
October 28th- Essay Due
October 30th- Watch King Lear at my house. 6:30 start time- The date and time are tentative!
October 31st- Class Discussion
Garrett Rea
ReplyDeleteI think the overall great tragedy of the story is that almost everyone dies at the end. The most tragic character is King Lear. I think he is the most tragic because his whole life is basically ripped apart. His daughters betray him. The one daughter who doesn't betray him, he cast aside and in the end she dies. He loses his mind, goes crazy, and rants and raves through a lot of the story. He is abandoned by most of his men. He is a very sad and tragic figure. I felt sorry for him and for how badly he was treated. The end of his life was especially sad because he had a lot of regret about how he treated his daughter, Cordelia. I think living a life that ends in lots of regrets is very tragic.
I definitely agree with you! It is very true that a life that ends in regret is extremely tragic. What did you think about Cordelia's response at the beginning of the play that prompted King Lear to disinherit her?
DeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
DeleteI don’t think there was anything wrong with how Cordelia responded. To say you love someone like a father would be the greatest show of affection under any other circumstance. When Cordelia posits “…I am sure my love’s more ponderous than my tongue” (1.1.86-87) she is saying that she loves her father just as much as her sisters. Cordelia was a woman of few words but the words she said she meant.
DeleteDo you think Cordelia was surprised by Lear's reponse to her answer? When I read a Shakespear play I find it helpful to pretend I'm the director- how would I have Cordelia respond to being banished?
DeleteI agree that Lear was a tragic character, but i disagree that he is the most tragic character in the story, Gloucester had a pretty tragic story as well. He had his son betray him and had his other son sent out to the wideness. Then he had both of his eyes ripped out by someone he used to eat at the same table with.
DeleteIt seems like Cordelia should be surprised at her father’s drastic response but Shakespeare does not present his character this way. We, the audience, are surprised as Cordelia barely defends herself and leaves for France. It was kinda strange.
DeleteThe story is tragic not only because of the loss of life, but also because of the damaged and broken relationships among the characters. Ultimately, King Lear is a tragedy because of the death of pure hearts and sane minds. The tragedy is first brought to light as the King banishes the only people who truly love him and feeds the greedy fire in the hearts of his adversaries. The plot thickens, along with the tragic elements, as Edmund plots against his own father and brother. This thread of revenge and pain weaves itself into the entire rest of the play, wreaking havoc on all the familial relationships involved. The way Lear’s two daughters, Goneril and Regan, openly tried to ruin their father was further evidence of the destructive power of revenge. The obvious intent of many characters in the play to harm another character was, in my opinion, one of the main tragic elements. Whether or not those intentions played out, the mere consideration of these ideas reflected the tragedy of human nature and ultimate mortality. I think that Lear, Cordelia, Gloucester were the most tragic of all the characters because they suffered the ultimate consequence of death as a result of the evil hearts of other characters. Kent, Edgar, and Albany were also tragic characters because they too were directly affected by the acts of the corrupted characters, however, they were still alive at the end of the play (however, this can also be seen as a tragedy because these loyal and honest men were left to pick up the pieces of their hearts and their country). I believe the overarching tragedy of King Lear stemmed from the death of the good hearts of Edmund, Regan, Goneril, and all the characters on their side. Long before the beginning of the play, the tragedy of evil was born in the hearts of these characters and bloomed into an ugly creature that destroyed all that was good throughout the course of the play.
ReplyDeleteNote: One way that I think Shakespeare emphasizes the tragedy element is by hinting at the repentance of Regan, Goneril, and especially Edmund at the very end of the play. He indicates that it was too late for Edmund, Goneril, and Regan and he uses the emotions evoked at the very end as a testament to how destructive deception can be once it consumes you. Shakespeare reminds us how it can take something as tragic as imminent death to revive your heart once it has died.
I agree with what you said, and i like how you brought up the fact about how deception plays a big role in the characters who crossed the line of no return.
DeleteJanae I agree that there are lots of levels of tragedy in this play. I disagree that Regan, Goneril, and Edmund were consumed by deception. I think they were consumed with greed for power and money. I think it was their obsession with power that fueled the decisions they made to hurt people around them.
Delete-Garrett Rea
I loved your response, especially the last part about repentance. While I was reading the book I felt no mercy for Edgar but then I thought about it and I realized that God forgives us every day.
DeleteGreat responses so far! Looking forward to the rest of the class chiming in to the discussion!
ReplyDeleteJanae- I love this part of your answer, "I think that Lear, Cordelia, Gloucester were the most tragic of all the characters because they suffered the ultimate consequence of death as a result of the evil hearts of other characters." It does seem like a double dose of bitterness and tragedy! Not only did "bad things happen" but for those "bad things" to be caused by loved ones makes the whole affair even more tragic. The betrayal brings to mind an Aesop Fable, "The Donkey, The Fox and The Lion." The moral of that fable is "betray a friend and you will often find you have ruined yourself."
ReplyDelete"Tragedy is a serious play or drama typically dealing with the problems of a central character, leading to an unhappy or disastrous ending brought on, as in ancient drama, by fate and a tragic flaw in this character, or, in modern drama, usually by moral weakness, psychological maladjustment, or social pressures.”
ReplyDelete— Webster Dictionary
By this definition yes King Lear is a tragic story. The ending was unhappy because King Lear and the other characters made a mistake or a fatal flaw in there judgment.
Jack, Based on this definition, there should be a tragic flaw in King Lear. What do you think his tragic flaw was? I think King Lear's tragic flaw was when he banished Cordelia at the beginning of the story for not answering his question in a way that pleased him.
DeleteGarrett Rea
I agree with what Jack’s definition of tragedy and King Lear fits it perfectly. The play also fits Aristotle’s literary definition of tragedy: The plot is a tangled web of deception leading to deaths. The characters were all used as pawns making Shakespeare’s drama full of sorrow. The thought processes of every character, other than Cordelia, were motivated by their own selfish desires. Furthermore, its tragic spectacle has been seen in theaters worldwide.
DeleteJack~
DeleteAwesome definition! Typically, a character's fatal flaw has something to do with their inherent character. Something such as pride, greed, jealousy could be considered a fatal flaw. I think that Lear's fatal flaw was his anger and his ignorance. He based many of his pivitol decisions in the play on very trivial and fleeting things, and when he didn't get what he wanted, he became angry and did even more damage. To be honest, I think that King Lear was a very immature person. He seemed like he was so sheltered as a king in his castle that he never learned how to deal with suffering and real human problems.
~Janae
I think Edmund is the most deceitful character in Shakespeare’s King Lear, yet there are other deceivers as well. Edmund tricks Edgar by pretending to help him “Well then, Legitimate Edgar, I must have your land…if this letter speed and my invention thrive, Edmund the base shall top th’ legitimate”(1.2.16-22). Soon afterward, he tells the Duke of Cornwall that Gloucester intends to help Lear so Cornwall pokes Gloucester’s eyes out. Furthermore, he kills Lear by having Cordelia hanged.
ReplyDeleteLear’s two daughters, Regan and Goneril, are deceivers also for their own greed. Regan deceives her father by saying “Sir, I love you more than word can wield the matter”(1.1.60-61). What she’s saying here is that she doesn’t have any words for her love. After doing some research I found that what first appeared to be professing love, was actually saying she did not love him at all but using deceitful words to appear in the right. Goneril deceives her father and husband with her hateful intent to kill them. Edgar, on the other hand, uses deceit to save his life by disguising himself as Poor Tom “My face I’ll grime with filth, blanket my loins, elf all my hairs in knots”(2.3.9-10).
In conclusion, sometimes deceit can be used for good purposes but we should ultimately rely on God for the answers to our problems. “God is faithful; he will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted, he will also provide a way out so that you can endure it”(1 Corinthians 10:13).
Hudson~
DeleteI thought it was very interesting how you brought up the fact that sometimes deception can be used for good. This, I think, is one of the most complicated questions of life: is deceit ever the right thing to do? Our sermon last Sunday at my church talked about the 9th Commandment, you shall not give false testimony against your neighbor. According to studies, humans lie for two reasons. One, to protect themselves and two, to promote themselves. I think that we see both of these modes of deception played out throughout King Lear.
~Janae
Deception brings much harm whether directed at a person or coming from back stage. As the Bible says “It is mine to avenge; I will repay. In due time their foot will slip; their day of disaster is near and their doom rushes upon them.” Deuteronomy 32:35
ReplyDeleteShakespeare was one of the greatest play writes of his day, maybe of all time. He is known for his comedy and his tragedy. King Lear is one of Shakespeare’s few tragic dramas. The tragedy of King Lear is the betrayal by people he thought he could trust. There was deceit directed towards King Lear, himself, but also there was indirect deceit that affected him as well. Two of Lear’s three daughters deception begins when they lie about their love for him, leaving the only daughter who truly loved him banished. This led to Lear’s madness.
What starts as simple trickery between Edmund and Edgar ultimately wrenches King Lear to his death. Edmund tricks his father into hating his true and loved son. Edgar, then has to run from his beloved father. This lead to a series of unfortunate events, ultimately causing the death of Cordelia and the Fool. King Lear’s heart was broken to the point of death by this inadvertent tragedy.
God will not let deceit go unnoticed. If sin is not stopped or forgiven it will lead to a cascade of sorrow.
The family structure in King Lear is tragic. Although some of their habits are what one would expect in that time period and culture, a lot of their interactions show just how self absorbed they are.
ReplyDeleteIn the noble families, everything was about business. Any show of love was considered sweet, but mostly for show. When King Lear asks his daughters how much they love him, he is expecting an overly sentimental display. However, he ignores the fact that the only reason they are flattering him is so they can receive a better inheritance. Cordelia is the only one who is not thinking of herself at the time. She genuinely loves her father, and her affection is real.
Edmund is completely focused on his own personal benefit. He cares little to nothing about his father, and is jealous of his brother. He is so greedy that he goes so far as to lie about his brother and get him banished.
In this family, if you aren't on speaking terms with somebody you are enemies, and if you are then you are allies against the rest of the family. This situation is a distressing reality in our fallen world today.
This is not how God designed the family structure to work.
Oh by the way this is Maddie, I guess it put my mom's name instead of mine.
ReplyDelete