King Lear Structure characters and themes King Lear

King Lear Structure, characters, and themes

King Lear Goneril Regan Cordelia Albany Cornwall France

King Lear Characters Main Plot • Primary -- dynamic – Protagonist, changes through play • Lear – Antagonist, character revealed • Goneril, Regan • Secondary -- static – Reflection characters • Cordelia, Kent, Fool, France

King Lear Characters Sub Plot • Good – Gloucester, Edgar, change • Evil – Edmund, character revealed – Reflection characters • Oswald, Albany, Cornwall, servant to Cornwall

King Lear Foils • Character foiling – Lear and Gloucester – Cordelia and Edgar – Goneril/Regan and Edmund • Plot foiling – Act 1, sc 1 & Act 5, sc 3 – Act 3, sc 6 and sc 7

King Lear Motifs and Imagery • Motifs – Seeing – Judging – Flattery – “the worst” – “unaccomodated man” – Patience – nothing • Imagery – Insults – Foul fiend, madness – Swearing by Gods – Astrology

King Lear Seeing motif • Act 1 – “Hence and avoid my sight” “Out of my sight!” – “See better, Lear” – “If it be nothing, I shall not need spectacles” • Act 3 – “Pluck out his eyes” – “I would not see thy cruel nails pluck out his poor old eyes” – “I shall see the winged vengeance overtake such children” – “See it shalt thou never”

King Lear Seeing motif • Act 4 – “I stumbled when I saw” – “Might I but live to see thee in my touch, I’d say I had eyes again” • Act 5 – “As for the mercy Which he intends to Lear and to Cordelia, The battle done, and they within our power, Shall never see his pardon” – “Do you see this? Look on her, look, her lips, Look there, look there!”

King Lear Motifs and Imagery • Motifs – – – Seeing Judging Flattery “the worst” “unaccomodated man” – Patience – nothing • Imagery – – Insults Foul fiend, madness Swearing by Gods Astrology

King Lear Themes • • • Parent/child relationship Flattery Madness Judgment Appearance vs. reality world view of Renaissance Christian Humanist and Machiavellian