King Lear by William Shakespeare
Summary: Shakespears's King Lear is a tragedy of a king trying to split his kingdom between his three daughters. King Lear does not know how to split his kingdom in a way of fairness so, the king decides that whoever loves him the most should get the most of the kingdom. Whenever the daughters learn of this way of winning the kingdom they all react in different ways, the two oldest daughters try and spend their time flattering their father and showing their father how much they love and adore him, but they only do this out of selfishness. The youngest daughter says
that she cannot show her father how much she love him, but that she loves him just as much as she should and that if her older sisters loved him as much as she did than they would not be married. The youngest daughter is the only one
that really cares about her father and really wants to earn the kingdom from real love. The king is very upset his youngest daughter isn't going out of her way to impress him so he states that she is no longer in the running for the
kingdom. She becomes very depressed and starts to take action to betray her father. The king wanted to divide
his kingdom to avoid problems after he died, but he ended up causing these problems to happen while he was still alive. The end of the play is a series of unfortunate deaths.
Analysis of Major Characters:
King Lear - King Lear is a father and a king who really only cares about his title as a king, but not his repsonsibilites as a king or a father. He becomes obsessed with the power and the title instead of caring about his daughters. He is selfish about trying to get his daughters to show him their love for him in a materialistic way. The only daughter that really cares about him is the one he will not allow have the kingdom, because she doesn't know how to show her love. The king is blind to the real love of people who really care, and his daughters only using him for his money and power. He doesn't see that he is causing tragedy for himself and his family. He is a very selfish man, and very materialistic and blind to the truth.
Cordelia - Cordelia is King Lear's youngest daughter. Cordelia is the daughter who cares the most about her father, and doesn't want to just use him for his money. She was her fathers favorite until she chose not to flatter him in a materialistic way. She is the most honest of all the daughters and this is in some ways a bad thing because people take her honesty the wrong way and she is deprived of the kingdom that she truly deserves more than all of her
sisters because she is the most compassionate of all of the family. Cordelia tries to run away from her problems, and is in the end punished for it and becomes sacrifice for her family, she is killed along with many other characters
in the story are during the tragic ending. Codelia is honest loving and beautiful, but the audience are the only people that really see that in her.
Setting: The story takes place in the eighth century B.C in many different loacations in England. The story was written in England, so the author, Shakespeare used his own home to create the setting of the story. The exact time that the play was written is hard to determine since his work was never dated. The story seemed to be written for a specific timing of a play. The characters in the story travel through different places of England, but the majority of the story took place in the actual kingdom itself. Most of the action takes place in the kingdom. The kingdom is the basis of the whole play, therefore most of the play takes place here. Centering he whole play around the kingdom shows how small minded the characters were in what was really important. Kind Lear wasn't only blinded from his daughters true love for him, he was also blinded of the outside world because his whole entire life was based around this small kingdom, and his obsession with have the title of king. The only person that travels is the youngest daughter who knows that she needs to get away. She travels to different places in Englad, because she is open minded, and not materialistic like the rest of the family that she grew up with.
Types of Conflicts: The major conflict in the story is Man VS. Man. It is all the daughters competing with eachother, and one of them being treated a lot differently than the others. The youngest daughter doesn't try to compete with
her sisters, because she is disqualified from receiving the kingdom although in the audiences eyes she is the one who really deserves it. She is also conflicting with her father, trying to prove to him that her love for him is real and not materialistic like her sisters.
Major Themes:
Authority Vs. Chaos - In the play, you see that although he is the king, King Lear does not have have very much authority or respect. He lets his kingdom go in a very immature way which leads to major chaos.
Justice - Justice is given and taken throughout the play. The undeserving daughters lose their lives in the end. The king finally understands his daughters love for him in the end of the play when he holds her dead body in his arms.
Reconciliation - Although her father basically disowns her, King Lears youngest daughter still fully cares about her father and works really hard to love him from a distance. Her father finally sees this love she has for him during the tragic ending.
Major Symbols:
The kingdom - The kingdom represents the center of all the conflict. The kingdom is what causes all of the tragedy in the play. It is the home of all of the characters, and it is fought over long and hard. The kingdom is very important
to the play because without it, there would be no story line.
Blindness - One of the main characters in the play is blind, and this is directly parallel to King Lears blindness of which daughter loves and cares for him the most. If he could see this then there would be no real competition between the
daughters to earn the kingdom.
The label of “king” - Kind Lear is called the king, and labeled as the king, but he is completely powerless. He is overruled by his own daughters, and walked all over. He is materialistic, and blind to how he should act being the
king.
Video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ptXr7LKylpg
that she cannot show her father how much she love him, but that she loves him just as much as she should and that if her older sisters loved him as much as she did than they would not be married. The youngest daughter is the only one
that really cares about her father and really wants to earn the kingdom from real love. The king is very upset his youngest daughter isn't going out of her way to impress him so he states that she is no longer in the running for the
kingdom. She becomes very depressed and starts to take action to betray her father. The king wanted to divide
his kingdom to avoid problems after he died, but he ended up causing these problems to happen while he was still alive. The end of the play is a series of unfortunate deaths.
Analysis of Major Characters:
King Lear - King Lear is a father and a king who really only cares about his title as a king, but not his repsonsibilites as a king or a father. He becomes obsessed with the power and the title instead of caring about his daughters. He is selfish about trying to get his daughters to show him their love for him in a materialistic way. The only daughter that really cares about him is the one he will not allow have the kingdom, because she doesn't know how to show her love. The king is blind to the real love of people who really care, and his daughters only using him for his money and power. He doesn't see that he is causing tragedy for himself and his family. He is a very selfish man, and very materialistic and blind to the truth.
Cordelia - Cordelia is King Lear's youngest daughter. Cordelia is the daughter who cares the most about her father, and doesn't want to just use him for his money. She was her fathers favorite until she chose not to flatter him in a materialistic way. She is the most honest of all the daughters and this is in some ways a bad thing because people take her honesty the wrong way and she is deprived of the kingdom that she truly deserves more than all of her
sisters because she is the most compassionate of all of the family. Cordelia tries to run away from her problems, and is in the end punished for it and becomes sacrifice for her family, she is killed along with many other characters
in the story are during the tragic ending. Codelia is honest loving and beautiful, but the audience are the only people that really see that in her.
Setting: The story takes place in the eighth century B.C in many different loacations in England. The story was written in England, so the author, Shakespeare used his own home to create the setting of the story. The exact time that the play was written is hard to determine since his work was never dated. The story seemed to be written for a specific timing of a play. The characters in the story travel through different places of England, but the majority of the story took place in the actual kingdom itself. Most of the action takes place in the kingdom. The kingdom is the basis of the whole play, therefore most of the play takes place here. Centering he whole play around the kingdom shows how small minded the characters were in what was really important. Kind Lear wasn't only blinded from his daughters true love for him, he was also blinded of the outside world because his whole entire life was based around this small kingdom, and his obsession with have the title of king. The only person that travels is the youngest daughter who knows that she needs to get away. She travels to different places in Englad, because she is open minded, and not materialistic like the rest of the family that she grew up with.
Types of Conflicts: The major conflict in the story is Man VS. Man. It is all the daughters competing with eachother, and one of them being treated a lot differently than the others. The youngest daughter doesn't try to compete with
her sisters, because she is disqualified from receiving the kingdom although in the audiences eyes she is the one who really deserves it. She is also conflicting with her father, trying to prove to him that her love for him is real and not materialistic like her sisters.
Major Themes:
Authority Vs. Chaos - In the play, you see that although he is the king, King Lear does not have have very much authority or respect. He lets his kingdom go in a very immature way which leads to major chaos.
Justice - Justice is given and taken throughout the play. The undeserving daughters lose their lives in the end. The king finally understands his daughters love for him in the end of the play when he holds her dead body in his arms.
Reconciliation - Although her father basically disowns her, King Lears youngest daughter still fully cares about her father and works really hard to love him from a distance. Her father finally sees this love she has for him during the tragic ending.
Major Symbols:
The kingdom - The kingdom represents the center of all the conflict. The kingdom is what causes all of the tragedy in the play. It is the home of all of the characters, and it is fought over long and hard. The kingdom is very important
to the play because without it, there would be no story line.
Blindness - One of the main characters in the play is blind, and this is directly parallel to King Lears blindness of which daughter loves and cares for him the most. If he could see this then there would be no real competition between the
daughters to earn the kingdom.
The label of “king” - Kind Lear is called the king, and labeled as the king, but he is completely powerless. He is overruled by his own daughters, and walked all over. He is materialistic, and blind to how he should act being the
king.
Video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ptXr7LKylpg
Citations:
"Shakespeare Solved." : Shakespeare's King Lear. N.p., n.d. Web. 01 Apr.
2013. <http://shakespearesolved.blogspot.com/2012/12/shakespeares-king-lear.html>.
"King Lear." SparkNotes. SparkNotes, n.d. Web. 01 Apr. 2013. <http://www.sparknotes.com/shakespeare/lear/themes.html>.
"Moby-Dick." Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation, 31 Mar. 2013. Web. 01 Apr.
2013. <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moby-Dick>.
"King Lear." Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation, 31 Mar. 2013. Web. 01 Apr.
2013. <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/King_Lear>.
"Shakespeare Solved." : Shakespeare's King Lear. N.p., n.d. Web. 01 Apr.
2013. <http://shakespearesolved.blogspot.com/2012/12/shakespeares-king-lear.html>.
"King Lear." SparkNotes. SparkNotes, n.d. Web. 01 Apr. 2013. <http://www.sparknotes.com/shakespeare/lear/themes.html>.
"Moby-Dick." Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation, 31 Mar. 2013. Web. 01 Apr.
2013. <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moby-Dick>.
"King Lear." Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation, 31 Mar. 2013. Web. 01 Apr.
2013. <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/King_Lear>.