The most symbolically notable part of Wednesday’s reading for me was the diction and pathetic fallacy present in act 3 scene 2.
Lear has just been cast out of his daughter’s castle in a great storm, and the scene in which he describes the storm is also applicable to his two conniving daughters
Diction-wise, although this could also be considered a syntactic move, Lear describes the storm in each line in groupings of two; these adjectives display his opinion of his daughters as well as the storm. For example, beginning in line 3 of 3.2 Lear exclaims “You cataracts and hurricanoes, spout/ till you have drenched our steeples, drowned the cocks!”. Both lines include two elements describing the storm as over-powering and hellish as it “drenched our steeples” and “drowned the [weather vanes]”. Similarly, Lear’s two daughters overpowered him in their negotiation of his lodging, first allowing him half his men, then a quarter, then none, then hellishly forcing him out into the storm. He goes on with this theme in line 4 “You sulfurous and thought-executing fires,” again describing the storm and his daughters as evil, and quick to act on their evil thoughts. Lear solidify his analogy in line 16 by saying “you elements” and continuing on to describe the reasons his daughters should be grateful to him as though he were speaking to them through the storm.
As far as the pathetic fallacy, the storm Lear suffers though personifies his daughters. both the storm and his daughters are over-powering, deadly, and out of his control. Lear must suffer through the rathe of both, and find a way to survive through their burden.