ACT 3: THE STORM AND LEAR’S GROWING MADNESS

In Homer’s Odyssey, Zeus says: “Ah how shameless - the way these mortals blame the gods. From us alone, they say, come all their miseries, yes, but they themselves, with their own reckless ways, compound their pains beyond their proper share. “

How can you relate this to King Lear?

What did we discuss last class about the storm and its symbolism?

What is pathetic fallacy and why does Shakespeare use it?

What do you think of the critical theory that Cordelia disguises herself as The Fool?

Listen to Ian McKellendiscussing his view of Lear’s character. Make relevant notes!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ahFtoCq6CHw Ian McKellan Understanding King Lear, the character

What does McKellenmean by a ‘priest-like’ king?

What ‘understanding’ has Lear reached by the end of Act 3?

How does McKellan explain Lear’s actions at the beginning of the play (‘retirement’)?

What event in McKelland’s personal life made playing Lear all the more poignant?

What curious (and rather taboo) aspect of Lear’s personality does McKelland comment on?

How does he explain Lear’s closeness to Cordelia?

WHAT DID YOU THINK OF THE ACTIONSOF GONERIL AND REGAN IN THIS ACT?

Below is a true story from C16…..Shakespeare’s inspiration?

Aa lawsuit that occurred not long before King Lear was written, in which the eldest of three sisters tried to have her elderly father, Sir Brian Annesley, declared insane so that she could take control of his property. Annesley‘syoungest daughter, Cordell, successfully defended her father against her sister.

ACT 3: EDMUND’S EVIL PLOT COMES TO FRUITION…

• “Edmund is another Iago” (Barker)

•Dirty Rotten Bastards – Edmund, Class and King Lear (Bruce)

•Marxist perspective??

Edmund sets up a new, more natural order.

The critic Barker views Edmund as “another Iago” – a purely evil villain - but this perspective ignores a valid political reading of the play. It can be argued that, like Goneril and Regan, Edmund is a kind of revolutionary anti-hero who can’t be blamed for wanting to tear apart old structures of heredity and inheritance. Having a father who had ‘so often blushed to acknowledge him’, the most notable characteristic of whom, according to Edmund, is his ‘goatish disposition’, Edmund’s anger and lack of compassion towards his father is understandable, and only a reflection of the treatment he has had to endure. Despite being labelled with ‘base’ and ‘bastard’, Edmund views himself very differently – with a ‘mind as generous’ and a ‘shape as true’ as his legitimate brother, meaning it is only ‘natural’ and fair that he stands to inherit just as much of his father’s fortune as Edgar. Susan Bruce views Edmund as a character who challenges the old order, attempting to usher in a meritocratic society. This desire for a new way of thinking is revealed in Edmund’s first soliloquy, where he questions the very idea of legitimacy, proclaiming ‘Thou, nature, art my goddess’, and makes it clear that he does not accept the old bonds of heredity – a shocking idea for a Jacobean audience to take on, but one a modern audience with a greater acceptance of individualism would be more likely to embrace. A Marxist reading of Lear might view Edmund as the play’s hero – a character wronged by old systems of power who has decided he will be oppressed no longer.

Edmund sets up a new, more natural order.

STICHOMYTHIA - A fast exchange of alternate lines, passionate/angry.

LADY ANNE: I would I knew thy heart.

GLOUCESTER: 'Tis figured in my tongue.

LADY ANNE: I fear me both are false.

GLOUCESTER: Then never man was true.

LADY ANNE: Well, well, put up your sword.

GLOUCESTER: Say, then, my peace is made.

LADY ANNE: That shall you know hereafter.

GLOUCESTER: But shall I live in hope?

LADY ANNE: All men, I hope, live so.

GLOUCESTER: Vouchsafe to wear this ring.

LADY ANNE: To take is not to give.

In pairs, create a dialogue using stichomythia, featuring Goneril and Regan discussing their father. Feel free to use insults!

ACT 3 SCENE 7: WATCH THE BLINDING OF GLOUCESTER. HOW DO THE TWO DIFFERENT VERSIONS PORTRAY THE HORROR OF THIS SCENE?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ycpkkEfNsBc

How has the blinding of Gloucester been FORESHADOWED from the beginning ofthe play? Bullet-point examples in pairs.

Consider physical and metaphorical blindness

Kent: “see better, Lear.”

Gloucester’s ironic blindness when reading the ‘letter’ from ‘Edgar.’

Moral blindness?

Homework for Monday: Read Act 4 and read ‘Kingship’ notes.