Fatima Mossolem
In Samuel Johnson’s essay Preface to Shakespeare he asserts that Shakespeare’s writing is a “mirror of manners and of life,” which in laymans terms means that Shakespeare writes the truth about life, even when it is seen as unpleasant. This proves to be true even today, over a hundred years since King Lear was written. One of the meanings of the work as a whole in King Lear is that loyalty doesn 't always have to be born of blood. We see this mostly with Kent, Lear’s faithful servant, who stayed by Lear’s side no matter the situation. Nature is also another meaning of the work as a whole. When related to Kent the question of nature is whether or not he is loyal to his king, and without compare he is. In my life now I have found that the best of friends will be more loyal and kind to you then the closest of families, proving that the stories and characters Shakespeare created can be paralleled in the modern world. Although one could claim that the events that occur in Shakespeare 's plays are nothing more than fiction, it is obvious from both the characters and the plot that Shakespeare’s work The first words Kent spoke in this play were “Good my liege-” (pg 15). The first time Kent is seen in the play he is trying to convince Lear to rethink his decision about banishing Cordelia. Lear takes this as a challenge and of course banishes Kent as well. Kent then chooses to come back and work for Lear in disguise. This was the first glimpse of Kent’s character,
Taming of the Shrew is a romantic comedy written by William Shakespeare in the 1500’s. It takes place in the city of Padua, presumably during the Italian Renaissance. The major conflict of the play is ‘taming’ a hot-headed woman named Katherine and to overcome the rule her father holds on his two daughters where the eldest marries first. The script brings up a lot of attention in the feminist theory. But, Shakespeare’s play reflects on the archetypes of characters, situations, and symbols. These connections are made in the play to make the audience familiar with the text and provide a deeper understanding.
One’s downfall may be caused by many factors, such as an individual’s traits. In The Catcher in the Rye, Holden’s cynical behaviour towards those around him causes him to see his classmates around him in a negative perspective. Similarly, in King Lear, King Lear’s attitude towards his honest daughter, Cordelia causes him to banish his most-loving and caring daughter away from England. Then, both protagonists are prompted to a punishment of physical humiliation. Likewise, both protagonists are mentally ill and have reached a breaking point, causing psychological problems. In The Catcher in the Rye and King Lear, Holden and King Lear are led to an eventual downfall due to their behaviour towards those around them, physical humiliation, and
Shakespeare had written many plays in his life time, some of them included various tragedies which included King Lear and Macbeth. All of Shakespeare’s plays had a theme which was used to help the story’s plot to advance further, making events much more interesting. King Lear and Macbeth both have a common theme of madness that is apparent throughout the play which has been depicted differently. They are both written in different ways but still share a same purpose. The essay will be broken down into three parts; firstly we will look at the way madness is viewed in Macbeth. Secondly, we will look at the way King Lear portrays madness lastly we will compare the two to see how differently madness is displayed. While both plays share this
In William Shakespeare’s Hamlet, the obsession that titular character Hamlet has with the perfection of various aspects of his life leads to chaos and his tragic downfall. Hamlet’s obsession with the perfection of his plan, the perfection of his moral character, and the perfection of feminine sexual purity help contribute to his tragic fall as he started to lose his sanity and control of his life. His obsessions also created conflict with those around him, as his actions when confronted with his obsessions pitted other characters against him.
1. Notice that the subject of the dependent clause in the sentence is ‘‘men.’’(‘‘As there are to be found…) What is the independent clause?
“It is the nature of people to love, then destroy, then love again that which they value the most.” –Unknown. Countless authors have tried to display love as human nature, but no author does this better than the famous playwright, William Shakespeare. In both Hamlet and A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Shakespeare exhibits how love can control a person. To understand how love controls a person, one must understand that human nature is the sum of qualities and traits shared by all humans. All humans have exhibit love in one way or another, which explains how human nature relates to the controlling aspect of love. In Hamlet and A Midsummer Night’s Dream, conflicts between loyalty to family and friends, lack of trustworthiness towards others,
Shakespeare's King Lear is a play which shows the consequences of one man's decisions. The audience follows the main character, Lear, as he makes decisions that disrupt order in his Kingdom. When Lear surrenders all his power and land to his daughters as a reward for their demonstration of love towards him, the breakdown on order in evident. Lear's first mistake is to divide his Kingdom into three parts. A Kingdom is run best under one ruler as only one decision is made without contradiction. Another indication that order is disrupted is the separation of Lear's family. Lear's inability to control his anger causes him to banish his youngest daughter, Cordelia, and loyal servant, Kent. This foolish act causes Lear to become vulnerable to
This makes the audience view Lear as obviously superior to Kent and it also demonstrates the total control and power Lear has over Kent by banishing his servant.
Lear is a powerful man who does not see how genuine his youngest daughter, Cordelia’s love is, but believes the deceitfulness of her sisters, Goneril and Regan. Kent, one of Lear’s most loyal servants, sees the two-facedness of Cordelia’s sisters and tries to make him look pass the show that Goneril and Regan put on and see them for who they truly are, and Lear refuses. Lear commands to Kent get "Out of my sight!" The play echoes
William Shakespeare is one of the most recognized playwrights in the history of man. People have analyzed every sentence of his works and have taken note of the various styles used in his writing. Ironically enough, little is known about Shakespeare's personal life. It is assumed, however, that like other literary writers, Shakespeare relates occurrences in his life into his writing. The average person experiences varied and numerous events that affect them personally, and shape them into who they are. Whether one expresses loyalty or betrayal to another can impact one's life greatly and can cause numerous outcomes in a person's life. In
Shakespeare uses subplots to dramatize the action of the play and give spark on the contrast for the themes in King Lear. Sub plots usually improve the effect of dramatic irony and suspense. The latter, which is used in King Lear, gives us the understanding of the emotions of the characters in the play. This follows the parallelism between Gloucester and King Lear.
Did you know that Shakespeare did not write his plays? It is believed Shakespeare borrowed the plays from Sir Francis Bacon and Edward De Vere. However, through the character of Hamlet, Shakespeare easily conveys his feelings about filthy things apparent in society, during his time. Hamlet is the prince of Denmark and its favourite subject. Hamlet as a Shakespearean tragic hero gets special attention, for his deep thinking and analysis of humankind and its actions. The sudden death of the king followed by his mother's immediate marriage with his uncle disappoints Hamlet, for his mother's haste for love just within weeks of her spouse's death. Regardless of everything, Hamlet keeps calm and does not resent his mother, nor does he expresses his
Kent’s effort to steer Lear in the right direction backfires. Lear is offended by Kent’s attempt to make him go against his word and reverse the disownment on Cordelia. Lear, feeling his pride in jeopardy, goes into a fit of rage and banishes Kent for questioning his judgment:
The Earl of Kent plays a small but important part in Shakespeare's play King Lear. From the beginning scenes to the end we see a minor character that is used to show the values that Shakespeare believed in. Whether Kent is an example of the dutiful servant or plays the intermediary between Lear and Cordelia he is essential to the functioning of the plot.
When the Earl of Kent attempts to stand up for Cordelia and point out the rashness of King Lear's actions, he banishes him, too. Neither Cordelia or Kent deserved such severe and unforgiving punishment – in fact, they deserved no punishment at all, as they did nothing wrong.