Tag: King Lear

Justification of a Decrepit King

O Regan, Goneril,

Your old kind father, whose frank heart gave all—

Oh, that way madness lies. Let me shun that.

No more of that. (3.4.20-23)

 

King Lear is trying to justify his action for disregarding Cordelia by controlling himself to not go mad on his two treacherous daughters. When he basically relegates Cordelia to King of France by not giving her share, he is blinded to see the true, faithful love of his youngest daughter. He, also, rants to Kent when he displays his distress to the king. Although it is reasonable for the king to feel enraged against a servant’s rude remarks, the king only shows this to anyone who scold him of his illogical action towards Cordelia.

In both Act II and III, he tries to get his mind together when he encounters Duke of Cornwall’s punishment towards Kent. Unlike his outrage against Kent’s criticism, the king at least shows some effort to be reasonable when his daughter and Duke of Cornwall doesn’t show up: “O, how this mother swells up toward my heart!/Hysterica passio, down, thou climbing sorrow./Thy element’s below.—Where is this daughter?” (2.4.49-51) or “To suffer with the body. I’ll forbear,” (2.4.102). Also, even if he curses his two daughters, he doesn’t degrade them completely. The inconsistency in the display of his fury assists him to justify his irrational response to Cordelia. It seems as if he is trying to make up for his unjustifiable behavior by being a weak, senile father to his two daughters in front of them, and he loses his mind when they are not around. He, himself, is confused at why he treated Cordelia brutally.

King Lear and The Wombats

Until now, the only time I have encountered King Lear is in the lyric of an older song by The Wombats called Lost in the Post. The song is a about a relationship that failed at least partly due to the narrator’s anxiety and depression. The lyric is “she wanted Mary Poppins and I took her to King Lear.” Initially, I did not particularly care for this song and I paid no attention to the deeper meanings in this lyrics. As I am beginning to understand King Lear better, is it easier to see the specific differences Murph, the Wombats’ front man and main songwriter, was drawing on in his song between Mary Poppins and King Lear. Mary Poppins is one of the happiest and easiest plays to watch. As a metaphor for the relationship, the girl was expecting a fun, easy relationship. King Lear is a tragedy wherein most of the characters die in the end and it is very hard to walk away from feeling happy and romantic, compared to Mary Poppins. Maybe the use of King Lear shows how the relationship was doomed from the start.

 

As for Act I itself, Shakespeare allows the most important characters to be introduced and starts the drama that will ultimately lead to the untimely ending for most of the characters. I want to put emphasis on Cordelia’s part in this play, specifically when King Lear turns to her so that she may express her love for him and try to obtain the largest portion of the kingdom. Cordelia says “Nothing” when asked (line 89). This is a carefully crafted response, since Cordelia wants to be honest rather than extravagant like her sisters. She says her love for her father is “more ponderous than my tongue” meaning she already does not believe she can describe her love for her father accurately. A few lines later, Cordelia criticizes her sisters for their praises to their father that cannot possibly be true since they have husbands. It is interesting how Cordelia adheres to her moral code and is consequently punished for it. In this first Act, Shakespeare establishes Cordelia as the most morally sound daughter, and you could even say she is more moral than her father who is inviting this false praise that is obviously not genuine. Many stories I am used to hearing are a parable in some way. Act I is very much not a parable. After Cordelia spoke, some part of me was expecting King Lear to understand her meaning and turn to Goneril and Regan to punish them rather than Cordelia. Of course, this is not what occurs, but this display of morals sets the tone for the remainder of the play. Perhaps if King Lear had realized the true meaning of Cordelia’s words from the very beginning, at least some of the tragedy and death could have been prevented.