EA 190 Discussion Weeks 6 and 7

NOTE: Discussion questions are due Week 7, but you should begin reading King Lear week 6, so I'm providing them now.

Material in Folger Shakespeare Library King Lear

Introduction pp. xiii-lxvii: as in the Folger Shakespeare Library Macbeth, this introductory material begins with "Reading Shakespeare's Language" (pp. xv-xxx) similar to Macbeth but focusing on specific examples from King Lear (including inversion, word play/punning, personification, and implied stage action). At the end of the introduction we find "Introduction to This Text" (lvi-lxvii), which explains the publication history of King Lear (two rather different versions) and the editing choices made for this edition. The rest of the material (Shakespeare's Life, Shakespeare's Theater) duplicates the material found in Macbeth.

Susan Snyder's "King Lear: A Modern Perspective" (pp. 289-299): this essay takes one, seemingly minor, element of the play -- the geographical place, Dover -- and uses that element to trace out three major thematic movements of the play: 1) the painful "journey of discovery" that Lear and Gloucester experience; 2) the "end of suffering" that both seek and repeatedly fail to find; and 3) the forces of absurd and random cruelty that undermine that search (culminating in Cordelia's unexpected death). It is a useful model of how to smoothly incorporate lines from the play into your argument.

Background Information Useful for Reading King Lear

WIKIPEDIA ON TRAGEDY:
“As the Greeks developed it, the tragic form, more than any other, raised questions about human existence. Why must humans suffer? Why must humans be forever torn between the seeming irreconcilable forces of good and evil, freedom and necessity, truth and deceit? Are the causes of suffering outside of oneself, in blind chance, in the evil designs of others, in the malice of the gods? Are its causes internal, and does one bring suffering upon oneself through arrogance, infatuation, or the tendency to overreach? [i.e. tragic flaws cause the hero to fail.] Why is justice so elusive?”

Another common idea about tragedy is that the experience of suffering is a "journey of self-discovery"; that the main character learns something about themselves (and the world) in the course of the play. For example, a very simplistic reading of Macbeth would be that at the end of the play he has learned a lesson about the futility of ambition pursued at the cost of human relationships.

WIKIPEDIA ON THE WHEEL OF FORTUNE (Rota Fortunae, not the game show!):

"The Wheel of Fortune, or Rota Fortunae, is a concept in medieval and ancient philosophy referring to the capricious nature of Fate. The wheel belongs to the goddess Fortuna, who spins it at random, changing the positions of those on the wheel - some suffer great misfortune, others gain windfalls. Fortune appears on all paintings as a woman, sometimes blindfolded, "puppeteering" a wheel."

See also images of the Rota Fortunae

In King Lear two basic world views are represented:

1. The "faith" position: those who believe that the gods/Fortune's wheel/ astrology determine our fate.

a. In the case of the gods, they will punish those who are bad, and reward those who are good.

b. In the case of Fortune's Wheel, the wheel turns round to bring those who have fallen back to former grace (if they have learned their lesson in humility and justice).

c. In the case of astrology/horoscope, it would seem that all is fated and beyond our control.

(From a to c, human beings appear to have a decreasing amoung of control over their fate.)

2. The skeptic's position: that human suffering is caused by humans, and that gods, or Fortune, or astrology have nothing to do with it.

NOTE: A belief in "Nature" (with a capital "N") is more ambiugous -- the word itself is generally used to mean " the natural world" or "one's natural disposition." If the character believes that Nature and Society are distinct, then they tend toward the skeptical position. If they believe that events in Nature reflect events in Society (eg. eclipses = bad omens about social relations), then they tend toward the first position (faith in gods/fortune/astrology).

DISCUSSION QUESTION 1: As you read keep a list of characters and lines where they express their world view:

a. Which characters take the first position (belief in gods or fate that rewards good)?

b. Which characters take the second position (skepticism)?

c. Does what happens to each character support their beliefs about the way the world is or challenge those beliefs? For example, are their prayers answered?

d. At the end of the play do any of the characters still believe in the existence of benign deities who care about what happens to human beings? Cite scenes/lines to support your position.

DISCUSSION QUESTION 2: Choose EITHER Lear or Gloucester and answer the following questions:

a. How do Lear or Gloucester understand themselves at the beginning of the play? That is, how do they view themselves, positively or negatively and why?

b. How do the characters around them view them? For example, how do Goneril and Reagan view their father? How does Cordelia view him? How do Edmund and Edgar view their father?

c. Do you think Lear and Gloucester have learned anything at the end of the play? Can we "moralize" Lear's and Gloucester's experience --that is, is there any lesson to be learned from their suffering/ experience? Why or why not? Cite scenes/lines to support your position.

It will be helpful to also think about how some of the minor characters, particularly Kent, Albany, and the Fool, understand Lear and Gloucester, but you don't have to consider them in writing.

CLASS PRESENTATION on Imagery in King Lear (type out your notes to turn in with week 7 discussion questions)

Pick ONE of the following kinds of imagery in the play and note all the instances you can find (lines and page numbers). Pick two of the images you've found (not just the first two you run into please!), quote the lines in which the image appears, and discuss what you think the image means in that specific context and in the wider context of the play.

In other words, you need to come up with a thesis for how this kind of imagery is working in the play as a whole, present that thesis, and then give two examples (with pg #s, line #s) to support your argument.

SIGN UP SHEET

a. Weather: how does it appear to reflect the external social chaos and the internal mental turmoil of Lear? How does he respond? How do people around him respond?

b. Vision and blindness, both literal and metaphorical: i.e. the difference between literal blindness (eg. after Gloucester gets his eyes plucked out) and the blindness of not understanding (eg. Gloucester not recognizing which son actually loves him).

c. Clothing and nakedness: how do clothes "make the man" in King Lear? How are clothes related to power? Why does Lear take off his clothing when he goes mad?

d. Nothing and nothingness: When Cordelia replies "nothing" to her father's request to tell him how much she loves him, he says "Nothing will come of nothing. Speak again." From this moment onward, the idea of nothing, nothingness, naught, zero (a mathematical concept which had only just been introduced) appears repeatedly. What is the effect of all this nothinginess?

e. Animal imagery (predation and animal nature): used to describe Goneril and Regan, especially, but other characters as well, such as Cordelia. How are traits attributed to the characters, positively and negatively? Are they gendered? Do they change over the course of the play, and how does that indicate a change in attitude voiced toward that character?

FURTHER READING QUESTIONS (you do not have to answer these but you should think about them as you read the play):

1. A dramatic convention that was common in Shakespeare's time was the convention of exposition: that as quickly and smoothly as possible in the first act the playwright is supposed to give us our bearings, to let us know who's who and what's what, who we're supposed to root for, and who we're supposed to be booing. Does Shakespeare follow this convention, particularly in the first two scenes? If you had only read these two scenes, what would you think of the various characters? Why might Shakespeare have done this?

2. What motivates Lear to divide his kingdom? What does he want to accomplish by dividing it and marrying off Cordelia at the same time? Why is this likely to fail? [Note that Shakespeare is making an indirect (negative) comment on marriage politics of this time.]

3. The motivation for the Edgar/Edmund/Gloucester subplot is the issue of primogeniture. Look this word up! Why is Edmond so embittered at the beginning of the play? Does he have a reason to be? Does this motivation fully explain and/or justify Edmond's actions? At what point do we lose our empathy for Edmond?

4. As in Macbeth, at key moments in the play minor characters comment on what is happening. What do these comments add to our understanding of the action of the play?

5. What role does the Fool play in the first half of the play? What function do his satirical comments and songs have in commenting on dire events, both for the audience and for Lear? Why do you supposed he disappears half way through the play? Who takes on his role after he is gone?

6. There are a series of "judgement scenes" in the play, including the opening scene in which Lear "judges" Cordelia and Kent (for defending Cordelia), the "mad scene" in the hovel, and when Gloucester is judged by Cornwall. Is there any justice in the world of King Lear?

7. SPOILER ALERT: Were you expecting Cordelia to die? (Most people do not!) What hints are there in the play that make it seem like King Lear might have a happy ending? Why do you think Shakespeare chose to give us those false signals? How does the gratuitousness (accidental nature) of Cordelia's death affect the overall meaning of the play? Is there any sense of redemption?