Mr. Mehrotra ENG 4U0 William Shakespeare’s King Lear Historical Context & Background

Mr. Mehrotra ENG 4U0 Sources of King Lear: 1605 – the true chronicle history of King Leir and his three daughters, Gonorill, Ragan, and Cordella (author unknown)  Cordella does not die  No Gloucester story  No storm  No insanity  No fool

Mr. Mehrotra ENG 4U – Holinshed’s “Chronicles”: Lear, upset by Cordeilla, marries the two older daughters to Cornwall & Albania The kingdom is promised to the sons-in-law on Lear’s death The two rebel against Lear Lear is saved by a third son-in-law, Aganippus, Cordeilla’s husband and one of the twelve kings of Gallia Cordeilla becomes Queen when Lear dies Five years later, a nephew revolts and imprisons her In prison, Cordeialla commits suicide

Mr. Mehrotra ENG 4U – A Mirror for Magistrates (collection of works by various authors) One story by John Higgins dealt with Lear Cordell is the narrator of the story Gonorell reduces her father’s guards Her husband is Albany

Mr. Mehrotra ENG 4U – The Faerie Queene (Edmund Spenser) A work of poetry in two volumes Contains some stanzas on the Lear theme The name “Cordelia” appears for the first time Cordelia dies by hanging It is considered an act of suicide

Mr. Mehrotra ENG 4U0 Shakespeare’s Lear: 1607 – first performance 1608 – first printing The story of King Lear was a popular old folktale by this time, but the painful ending is Shakespeare’s own invention.

Mr. Mehrotra ENG 4U0 Shakespeare’s Lear: The themes in the play examine some of the fundamental problems in life:  Whether there are gods and whether or not they care for humans  The problem of evil co-existing with goodness  The question of Fate  The problems of parents and children and the exchange of power from one generation to another  The question of suffering – why must humans endure such agony (allusions to the Book of Job – The Old Testament)  The question “what is a human”

Mr. Mehrotra ENG 4U0 Shakespeare’s Lear: Characterization in King Lear is crucial because it delineates themes Comparison is a good method of understanding character. You should examine:  King Lear & Gloucester  Regan-Goneril & Cordelia  Edgar & Edmund

Mr. Mehrotra ENG 4U0 Shakespeare’s Lear: Imagery in this play is very important:  Animal  Clothing  Blindness/Seeing  Sexual Lust  Sickness  Nature

Mr. Mehrotra ENG 4U0 The Structure of King Lear

Mr. Mehrotra ENG 4U0 Structure: The structure of King Lear is slightly different from most of Shakespeare’s tragedies For the most part, in plays like Hamlet & Macbeth, the climax (reversal of fortune for the protagonist) occurs in the third act For Lear, his fortunes reverse, then go forward, only to reverse again

Mr. Mehrotra ENG 4U Order Imperilled Pride and vanity blind Lear, causing him to divide his kingdom and reject Cordelia Rejection by Goneril followed by Lear’s curse Rejection by Regan Sounds of approaching storm The Storm Lear disrobes himself of the arrogance and ego-centricity of the past He begins to question and philosophize He sleeps Lear, mad, raves against lust Lear is in the care of Cordelia Humility, love, and understanding Devastation Cordelia hanged Lear’s grief Death of Lear Albany becomes ruler, yields to Edgar Stripping of Lear Blind pride & vanity Reclothing of Lear Opening of Lear’s eyes Lear’s agony

Mr. Mehrotra ENG 4U0 Structure: The play is also different in the sense that the secondary plot is fully developed We are exposed to a secondary plot with Fortinbras in Hamlet, but we are not given the same amount of detail as given with Gloucester