ao5 lear

ARISTOTLE, TRAGEDY

refers to there being a 'proper type of pleasure' that can be derived from tragedy- link to catharsis (an outlet for the audience's emotions).

NUTTAL, TRAGEDY

discusses the tension between pleasure and pain- inspiration from NIEZTSCHE, who appreciates the 'tragic joy' of Lear.

ARISTOTLE, TRAGEDY

refers to there being a 'proper type of pleasure' that can be derived from tragedy- link to catharsis (an outlet for the audience's emotions).

NUTTAL, TRAGEDY

discusses the tension between pleasure and pain- inspiration from NIEZTSCHE, who appreciates the 'tragic joy' of Lear.

KASTAN, TRAGEDY

tragedy is about 'the absence of clear answers'. referred to as 'the genre of uncompensated suffering'.

BRADLEY, TRAGEDY

tragedy must centre around a character who undergoes an intense peripeteia

MACK, MADNESS

Shakespeare uses madness as a written technique- allows him to provide a commentary on Jacobean England

KERMODE, LANGUAGE

the immoral speak, whilst the morally good are silent

KNIGHT, Lear

'Lear is mentally a child, in passion a titan'

CUNNINGHAM, MADNESS

'Lear finds wisdom through madness'.

KAHN, GENDER

'Lear goes mad because he is unable to accept his dependence on the feminine' (also, King Lear as a feminine play)

DUNN, RELIGION

'The storm acts as a symbol of the last judgement' -> connotations to Doomsday would be recognised by the audience (HIGHER POWER).

MCLEAN, APPEARANCES

Emphasises the 'necessity of disguise', especially for those loyal to Lear.

johnson, good/evil

the wicked prosper and the virtuous miscarry

HEILMAN, KINGSHIP

'His failure to perceive that a king cannot be a king without a crown'.

TENNENHOUSE, kingship

‘In King Lear, the crown is merely property’

ENRIGHT, SUFFERING

'The principle characters are not those who act, but those who suffer'.

SCHLEGEL, MASTERS/SERVANTS

'Kent is the closest thing to perfect goodness': moral virtuousness of servants.

BARISH AND WINGROW, MASTERS/SERVANTS

the relationship of king and vassal...and that of father and child are co-extensive' (codependence within family/servitude).

DOVER-WILSON, NATURE

‘nature is a force encouraging the individual to think only of the fulfilment of his own desires’

GOLDBERG, JUSTICE

'There is no supernatural justice - only human natural justice'

BACHE, suffering

Lear being stripped of his royal status and comfort allows him to see the true value of human suffering

DOMELEN, Cordelia

Cordelia’s death described as the ‘essential meaning of the play’

RACKIN, madness

Through his madness, Lear’s suffering is alleviated (faux reconciliation)

MATTHEWS, Edmund

Edmund is not irredeemable- he is capable of feeling compassion

SNYDER, dying

The entirety of King Lear can be attributed to the process of dying (e.g. the lack of pressure from societal means, declining optimism)

CALDERWOOD, tragedy

The ending of the play is almost ‘too tragic’: we are granted no reprieve from the tragedy

NORRIS, G + R

‘The horror of Lear’s story is the unnatural behaviour of Gonreil and Regan’

Asimov, the Fool

‘The Fool is no fool at all’