king lear theme appearance vs reality

Appearance & Reality In Shakespeare

Shakespeare’s plays display countless themes, some of which develop through the body of plays as a whole. The idea, though, that people, events and things in our world are often not what they seem, is at the heart of all the plays. Indeed, some of the plays, for example A Midsummer Night’s Dream and The Tempest , are largely about the confusion between what is real and what is not. This theme of appearance and reality is one that runs through many of Shakespeare’s plays .

What is appearance and reality? Well, as Shakespeare himself put it: ‘ All that glitters is not gold .’ At its most simple level, the way some characters appear to the other characters on the one hand and the way they appear to the audience on the other is often different. Iago in Othello conceals his real nature behind a facade of honesty and is trusted by all, whereas, in his dealings with everyone he is manipulative and remorseless.  In Measure for Measure Angelo, apparently incorruptible, is in reality a deceitful sexual abuser. Macbeth takes Duncan into his home as a friend while planning to murder him, and acknowledges that ‘false face must hide what the false heart does know.’

Shakespeare’s plays are full of references to men who hide their evil natures behind smiles.  When Hamlet  thinks about his father’s murderer he comments ‘One may smile, and smile, and be a villain.’  Such observations  about men’s smiles fill the plays: ‘There’s daggers in men’s smiles’ ; ‘Why, I can smile, and murder whiles I smile’ ; ‘Some that smile have in their hearts, I fear, millions of mischief.’

The characters in Shakespeare’s plays often wear masks. The stage convention was that if a character was wearing a mask no-one would recognise him or her, so characters could appear to a friend as a stranger, or as anonymous, or hide his or her identity for any other purpose.

Shakespeare found disguise, another of the Elizabethan theatre’s conventions, most useful for his representation of appearance and reality. Disguise was a staple of the Elizabethan stage.

Several characters conceal their true identity behind disguises. The Duke of Kent, for example, banished by King Lear , determines to stay with him and look after him: he disguises himself as a servant. The device of disguise is highly dramatic and Shakespeare exploited it to the full.

One of Shakespeare’s favourite tricks was to disguise a girl as a boy. Probably the two most famous are Viola in Twelfth Night and Rosalind in As You Like It . In those cases everyone is deceived, regarding appearance as the reality.

A Midsummer Night’s Dream is all about confusing appearance and reality. Shakespeare uses various devices to create confusion as to what is real and what is illusion. There are two worlds in the play, the fairy world and the human world. They operate harmoniously but separately. But in this play the fairy world intervenes in the human world and throws up all kinds of illusions as the action develops. The fairly king’s servant, Puck, plays tricks on the lovers and that makes things seem to be what they are not and bewilders them: Puck becomes confused himself and puts the love potion in the wrong young man’s eyes, further complicating matters. The four lovers are not only lost in the forest but have lost their grip on reality.

Shakespeare Themes by Play

Hamlet themes , Macbeth themes , Romeo and Juliet themes

Shakespeare Themes by Topic

Ambition, Appearance & Reality , Betrayal , Conflict , Corruption , Death , Deception , Good & Evil , Hatred , Order & Disorder , Revenge , Suffering , Transformation

• Pinterest 0

Leave a Reply

Leave a reply cancel reply.

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Save my name, email, and website in this browser for the next time I comment.

King Lear Themes

Theme is a pervasive idea presented in a literary piece.  King Lear , a masterpiece of William Shakespeare , has very thoughtful themes.  It presents the dilemma of human relations and exposes the dark sides of human nature, such as infidelity and ungratefulness.  Some of the major themes in King Lear have been discussed below.

Themes in King Lear

Age and the process of aging is a significant theme of the play , King Lear. When a person starts aging, he starts losing his significance. As King Lear starts aging, he starts making decisions about his kingdom and makes a bet on the persons expressing their profound love for them. However, old King Lear does not understand Cordelia is the loyal one. Sadly, he trusts the deceitful ones. On the other hand, Edmund also waits for his father, Gloucester, to die so that he could inherit something to win social legitimacy in the eyes of the social fabric he wants to live in. In fact, King Lear’s age heralds a new social circle forming around him where he is not the kingpin, but just a commoner having no authority as in the past. However, he wants to retain the same authority even in his old age, that seems impossible. That is why he admits of his being old and the desire for retirement without having to abandon his privileges. Therefore, old age and its attendant features of losing privileges.

Family Relations

Family relationships and family loyalty are equally prominent as King Lear checks the loyalty of his daughters through their love. Though superficially, love is in abundance, it becomes scary when it comes to its application and demonstration. Cordelia, however, shows true loyalty to her father by staying with him until the end when Goneril and Regan conspire to keep the old man out of their castles. Despite severe emotional consequences and legal and regal repercussions, Goneril and Regan do not budge from their stand of keeping the king out. Similarly, Gloucester’s act of fathering Edmund seems a matter of childishness for him and causes sufferings for all others. King Lear’s earlier act of seeing familial love through expressions of love seems to hinge upon the fact that he wants to ensure family loyalty and blindly trusts the one who vocally vows to love him but abandon him later.

Madness and ensuing foolishness is another major theme of the play, King Lear. However, most of the characters , including that of the king, try to determine their reasonable behavior toward the choice they have to make. However, most often, they fail to think clearly. It is because most of them, including the King himself, try to keep their own interests before them, ignoring the interests of others. That is why he puts the entire kingdom in harm’s way with the desire for power come what may . His irrational desire to hear only love and nothing else and then irrational decision to cling to power even after dividing his kingdom seems a foolish decision, bordering madness. That is why the court jester, mostly known as fool, appears to help King Lear realize the situation prevalent in his kingdom. He makes the king realizes his own madness about judging people.

Significance of Order

Order and its significance in the world is another major theme of the play, King Lear. It is clear from the very start that King Lear is disrupting this order. He brings chaos in his family and his country. His desire for seeming love, even if it is flattery, makes him reject those who want to bring order and calmness. He almost disowns Cordelia for her honesty and divides his kingdom among two undeserving daughters. This brings chaos on which the court jester makes a commentary. Interestingly, even the jester taunts him for throwing away his kingdom. In fact, where Cordelia and Kent bring order and strength, Edmund, Edgar, Goneril, and Regan are the forces who bring disorder and disruption. Even King Lear himself wants disruption as he finally curses his treacherous daughter.

King Lear tests the loyalty of his daughters and their husbands through a test. He asks them to tell him how much they love him. Regan and Goneril instantly shower praises on him, vowing their everlasting and strong love, while Cordelia, who actually takes care of him and loves him very much, only states that she loves him. The king was enamored of this superficial realization of the love of his daughters that he instantly considers both of them worthy of the heritage to share his kingdom. However, he does not take care of Cordelia. Instead, he instantly disinherits her. Despite this treatment, she stays loyal to her father, demonstrating that the relationships of father-daughter are not subject to property and divisions; rather, it is an enduring bond of loyalty.

The theme of justice is intertwined with the theme of royal authority. King Lear does injustice to his daughter, Cordelia, who, despite her intense love for her father, is thrown away, while Regan and Goneril’s deception is bought by King Lear. He, however, faces injustice at the hands of both of his daughters so much so that he is left in the stormy weather to bear the brunt of his own doing. Later, he repents over this injustice meted out to him, saying that he has faced punishment more than his sin. However, later he seeks justice through a mock trial. Another point of injustice is to Edmund committed by Gloucester that he is illegitimate, which makes him jealous of his brother for which he plans his brother’s exile and murder Cordelia. The punishment meted out to him by the end is another instance of justice.

Appearance and Reality

Appearance and reality is another important theme of the play. Lear believes in the false narrative of his daughters, Goneril and Regan, that they love her more than he can think. However, he equally turns away his attention from the reality that his daughter, Cordelia, loves him the most. The appearances of his two elder daughters fool him, and he ignores his daughter, who shows him true love and loyalty. Similarly, Edmond, the illegitimate son of Gloucester, does not accept this reality and conspires to discredit his brother, Edgar, the legitimate son.

Compassion and humanity is another thematic strand that runs parallel to other themes. Although King Lear sends Kent into exile, he still comes back to serve him as a farmer. He knows that the king has done a wrong and would soon face repercussions. So, when the king sees the jester, he feels sympathy and compassion for him. The king also tears down his clothes to show his sympathy for poor Tom when he sees such poor people facing problems in life.

Nature and its impacts, like the storm in the play, shows that the kingdom of King Lear is in turmoil on account of his own actions. The turns in weather conditions also reflect how King Lear faces mental instability that leads to his confusion and madness. This is actually, as stated by King Lear himself, a tempest in his mind reflected through nature.

Vision is a minor yet important theme of the play, which is evident in many ways. Sometimes in literally and sometimes symbolically. King Lear’s call to his daughters to demonstrate their love is a loss of his vision that cost him his kingdom.

Related posts:

• King Lear Characters
• King Lear Quotes
• The Tempest Themes
• Twelfth Night Themes
• Macbeth Themes
• Hamlet Themes
• 1984 Themes
• The Crucible Themes
• Frankenstein Themes
• Oedipus Rex Themes
• The Metamorphosis Themes
• Beowulf Themes
• Odyssey Themes
• Beloved Themes
• Slaughterhouse-Five Themes
• Antigone Themes
• Inferno Themes
• Fahrenheit 451 Themes
• Into the Wild Themes
• The Alchemist Themes
• Night Themes
• Life of Pi Themes
• The Invisible Man Themes
• The Iliad Themes
• The Jungle Themes
• Siddhartha Themes
• The Stranger Themes
• The Aeneid Themes
• Dracula Themes
• To Kill a Mockingbird Themes
• The Scarlet Letter Themes
• The Canterbury Tales Themes
• Heart of Darkness Themes
• Brave New World Themes
• Death of a Salesman Themes
• Things Fall Apart Themes
• A Tale of Two Cities Themes
• A Doll’s House Themes
• The Grapes of Wrath Themes
• Crime and Punishment Themes
• Their Eyes Were Watching God Themes
• Wuthering Heights Themes
• In Cold Blood Themes
• The Kite Runner Themes
• The Glass Castle Themes
• Julius Caesar Themes
• The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn Themes
• Oedipus The King
• King Archetype
• Literary Writing Style of Stephen King
• Romeo and Juliet Themes
• Lord of the Flies Themes
• Jane Eyre Themes
• 10 Different Themes in Taylor Swift Songs
• A Huge List of Common Themes
• Examples of Themes in Popular Songs
• That Way Madness Lies
• To Kill a Mockingbird Racism
• Song of the Witches: Double, Double Toil and Trouble
• Twelfth Night Quotes
• Twelfth Night Characters
• William Shakespeare
• The Tempest Quotes
• The Tempest Characters
• Blow, Blow, Thou Winter Wind
• Sonnet 55: Not Marble nor the Gilded Monuments
• Twelfth Night
• Julius Caesar Quotes
• Speech: “Is this a dagger which I see before me
• A Midsummer Night’s Dream
• The Taming of the Shrew
• Shall I compare thee to a summer’s day?
• Sonnet 11: As Fast As Thou Shalt Wane, So Fast Thou Grow’st
• Sonnet 12: When I Do Count The Clock That Tells The Time
• Sonnet 14: Not From The Stars Do I My Judgement Pluck
• Sonnet 15: When I Consider Everything That Grows
• Sonnet 10: For shame deny that thou bear’st love to any
• Sonnet 16: But Wherefore Do Not You a Mightier Way
• Sonnet 17:  Who Will Believe My Verse in Time to Come

Post navigation

Themes in King Lear: The Theme of Blindness, Eyesight, Appearance vs. Reality & Others

• Trent Lorcher
• Categories : Literature study guides and chapter summaries
• Tags : Homework help & study guides

The theme of blindness in King Lear is perhaps the most discussed. I shall add to the discussion.

Cornwall and Regan poke out Gloucester’s eye in retaliation for his aiding of Lear. This physical blindness represents the symbolic blindness of Gloucester and Lear: (1) They are both blind to the intentions of their children, wrongfully banishing the loyal one and rewarding the devious ones; (2) They are blind to their responsibilities. Gloucester’s adultery leads to the illegitimate Edmund who causes strife in his kingdom. Lear’s abdication of the throne and handing over of power to self serving individuals leads to his downfall; (3) It is also apparent that Lear was blind to the needs of his people during his reign as evidenced by his remorse over not taking care of the less fortunate.

Along with blindness, madness plays an important role. The mad babblings of the fool carry wisdom much in the same way Lear finds wisdom as he goes mad. It is probable that Lear’s madness causes the tragedy as much as the tragedy causes his madness. Lear’s behavior in the play’s opening scene shows signs of mental illness, an illness that perhaps his most loyal daughter and most loyal servant recognize. This could be why the two remain loyal to the king, notwithstanding his ill treatment of them.

Appearance vs. Reality

Closely related to the theme of blindness in King Lear is the understanding of appearance vs. reality** . ** It, therefore, occupies the next spot in our discussion.

Nothing is as it seems in the play. The king isn’t really the king anymore. The good daughters are the bad daughters and the disowned daughter is the only true daughter. Edgar is the loyal son, but is made to look like a traitor while Edmund, the traitorous son, appears to be the savior of the family. The fool is wise and the wise are fools.

Disorder reigns as Goneril becomes the authority figure in her relationship with Albany, even taking over rule of the military. The sisters are anything but sisterly, attempting to win the heart of the ruthless Edmund, who has no heart. Poor Tom (Edgar) is a the son of a nobleman and Caius the beggar is actually the loyal Kent. Those who are loyal have every reason to be disloyal and those who are disloyal have every reason to be loyal.

Responsibility

A look at King Lear major themes must include a discussion of King Lear’s responsibilities and how is abdication brought forth negative consequences.

At the heart of all the problems present in the play is the lack of responsibility demonstrated by Lear and Gloucester. Lear, according to England’s divine right of kings, has a responsibility to his subjects, which he carelessly turns over to his two wicked daughters. In addition, he has responsibilities toward Cordelia, his youngest, to take care of her. Cordelia as well has a responsibility to take care of her father who is not in his right mind, something of which she is capable by merely exaggerating her love for him at the play’s opening.

Gloucester has a responsibility to his wife, which he does not live up to, having committed adultery. He also has a responsibility to his sons, one of which he banishes. It’s possible that his trust of Edmund stems from the guilt of bringing a bastard son into the world and the inherent shame Edmund has to bear.

If you found this analysis of King Lear themes helpful, check out other Shakespeare study guides at brighthub.com.

This post is part of the series: King Lear Study Guide

Don’t be blinded by stupidity on your nest test. Read this study guide an inherit the kingdom of A students.

• Shakespeare’s King Lear: A Summary of All Four Acts
• Important Quotes From Shakespeare’s King Lear
• Major Themes in King Lear
• King Lear Character Analysis
• Imagery in Shakespeare’s King Lear

Academia.edu no longer supports Internet Explorer.

To browse Academia.edu and the wider internet faster and more securely, please take a few seconds to  upgrade your browser .

Enter the email address you signed up with and we'll email you a reset link.

• We're Hiring!
• Help Center

The Theme of Appearance vs. Reality in Shakespeare’s Plays

A contrast between appearance and reality is one of the most important themes in Shakespeare’s plays. This theme is necessary for the progression from ignorance to knowledge that Shakespeare’s characters often go through, as in the case of King Lear, Othello, and Twelfth Night. In A Midsummer Night’s Dream, this theme permeates every aspect of the play. In Romeo and Juliet and The Merchant of Venice, mistaking appearance for reality is the action that produces the tragic and comic effect respectively. Whichever the case, it is used to both comic and tragic effect, providing a means for the conflict of the play to occur.

Related Papers

Emirhan Reyhan Taş

Joana P C Sevilha

This essay proposes an analysis based on Literary Semiotics in William Shakespeare’s King Lear, Macbeth and Othello. Few studies have been made in this area, not only because Semiotics is a much understudied area of Linguistics, but also due to the complexity of language in Shakespeare’s plays. This paper will begin with a small framework of Semiotics’ pioneers and will discuss the most basic notions of several semioticians (e.g. Saussure, Pierce, Jakobson and Eco). Moreover, the paper will explain how Semiotics and Structuralism were so influential in the development of Literary Theory. In the tragedies mentioned, the consistent repetition of several words is noticeable: nothing in King Lear, blood/bloody/bloodier in Macbeth and honest/honesty in Othello. These words have different meanings according to the context in which they are used. The same word can mean the exact opposite or have a sarcastic significance for the audience. A literary analysis is necessary to understand the alteration of meanings in the same word. With it, it is possible to have a better understanding of Shakespeare’s intent.

Steve Sohmer

Anita Briggs

A close reading of The Tragedy of Othello in light of the popularity of improvised commedia dell'arte in Italy at the time the play was written suggests that commedia dell'arte strongly influenced the composition of the play, but this influence has not been fully appreciated by Shakespeare scholarship. If this interpretation of the literary and historical evidence is persuasive, the play becomes a brilliant, satirical comedy derived from commedia dell'arte but with a disturbing, tragic ending, not the traditional romantic tragedy that has puzzled commentators. The question then becomes when and where the dramatist learned so much about the Italian commedia dell'arte to be able to draw on it so extensively in Othello and other plays. In this new reading, the seven principal characters, from Othello the general to Emilia the maid, have their prototypes in characters of commedia dell'arte. Much of the action reflects the rough comedy of commedia dell'arte; and Iago's gleeful, improvised manipulation of the other characters mirrors the improvised performances of commedia dell'arte. Arguably, this reading also offers readers, theater directors and playgoers the promise of a new and deeper appreciation of the play as a bitter satire of human folly that entertains, disorients and unsettles, denying the audience the Aristotelian catharsis of tragedy. Although a few Shakespeare scholars have noted traces of commedia dell'arte in several plays, notably The Tempest, its influence on Othello has been almost completely ignored. It's not discussed in the many scholarly, single-volume editions, including those by E. A. J. Honigmann, Michael Neill, Kim Hall, Russ McDonald and Edward Pechter. Nor is there anything on it in the collected works of Shakespeare, such as the Riverside, Norton, Pelican, Oxford or most recently the RSC edition from Random House. The focus is on other sources and influences, principally Cinthio's

David Malik

Saikat Banerjee

Andrew Moore

This paper illustrates how Shakespeare's depictions of political collapse and predatory human actors seem to anticipate the political philosophy of Thomas Hobbes. Focusing on King Lear and Othello, I demonstrate how Shakespeare understands what is 'natural' to human beings to be determined largely by context: it varies wildly depending on the presence or absence of laws or other social constraints. Humans are revealed by Shakespeare - as they are by Hobbes - to possess a frightening kind of ontological flexibility which allows them to be something other than what they are by nature.

GIOVANI F E R R E I R A BEZERRA

Biochimica et Biophysica Acta (BBA) - Gene Regulatory Mechanisms

RELATED PAPERS

Dr. Moisés Toapanta

Cultura - Hombre - Sociedad CUHSO

Alejandra Santana

NJAS - Wageningen Journal of Life Sciences

Tia Hermans

AIP Advances

AGORA Magazine

Marleen Dekker

Revista Cadernos do Ceom

César Augusto Martins Souza

Revista Colombiana de Nefrología

alexander barrera

abdessamad mortaji

Fabiano Nascimento

JURNAL PESISIR DAN LAUT TROPIS

Nego Bataragoa

Medinat Adeniran

Rati Ningrum

Advanced Vaccine Research Methods for the Decade of Vaccines

Nathalie Norais

Southern African Public Law

Juanita Pienaar

Biomass Conversion and Biorefinery

tarek khass

Journal of Soils and Sediments

Barbara Faccini

International Journal of Environmental Studies

Phil Ineson

Frontiers in Veterinary Science

Dirk Werling

Muhammad Imran

Turk Turizm Arastirmalari Dergisi

merve doğan

Acta Linguistica Hungarica

Károly Bibok

Academia-revista Latinoamericana De Administracion

Alvaro Espejo

See More Documents Like This

RELATED TOPICS

•   We're Hiring!
•   Help Center
• Find new research papers in:
• Health Sciences
• Earth Sciences
• Cognitive Science
• Mathematics
• Computer Science
• Academia ©2024

Major Themes in the Play “King Lear” by William Shakespeare Essay

Appearance versus reality, irresponsibility, authority and order, works cited.

The theme of madness is the most powerful aspect of this tragedy. King Lear is portrayed as being insane throughout the play and his condition deteriorates towards the end (Archer, Turley, and Thomas 521). Two of his daughters recognize their father’s mental state and perhaps take advantage of the insanity to acquire power at the expense of their younger sister (Edmiston and McKibben 97). However, the two daughters attribute their father’s mental challenge to his old age. The insanity influences most of the King’s decisions as he banishes his loyal daughter and divides power between the two disloyal children (Woodford 77). The decision to disown and curse his daughter, viz. Cordelia, is uninformed, as it cannot be expected from a mentality sound individual.

Some scholars argue that both Kent and Cordelia are aware of the King’s condition right from the beginning, which explains why they remain loyal to him even as he mistreats them (Archer, Turley, and Thomas 523). The madness is connected to the trouble that befalls the King later in his helpless state as he faces all sorts of mistreatments from the two daughters whom he gives the mandate to run the kingdom. Due to his insanity, he fails to make an informed decision regarding giving away power to the self-centered daughters.

This theme stands out throughout the play as everything works against the readers’ expectations (Edmiston and McKibben 96). In the opening scenes of the play, King Lear relies on his older daughters’ faked sycophancy, and thus he rewards them with his kingdom. In addition, against the audience’s expectations, he sends away Cordelia, who is the only loyal daughter. In addition, he banishes Kent, who is one of his closest confidantes, on grounds of disloyalty. However, his two older daughters, whom he entrusts with his kingdom, are disloyal to him (Moore 181). The two daughters, whom he entrusts the kingdom, later betray him by mistreating and neglecting him in his old age.

Edmond conspires to discredit Edgar, his brother in-law, to his father (Ioppolo 139). Based on the conspiracy, his father sends Edgar away and shifts his trust on Edmond. However, Edmond is a traitor and he is only driven by jealousy to have his brother evicted so that he can gain power in the kingdom (Archer, Turley, and Thomas 529). As opposed to the expectations of his father, Edmond later causes trouble in the kingdom. The loyal characters in the play are expected to hold the best positions in the kingdom; however, they are portrayed as the poorest, while the disloyal persons hold powerful positions. Therefore, disloyalty wins over loyalty in this kingdom.

The theme of blindness stand out clearly in King Lear in relation to the physical blindness of Gloucester, who has his eye plucked off by Cornwall and Regan due to being loyal to the King (Urkowitz 136). The physical blindness is symbolic of mental blindness in decisions made by the main characters in the play. Such blindness is especially evidenced by the shortsighted decisions made by both King Lear and Gloucester in the play. The two are blind while selecting their favorite children to reward. For example, the King expels the honest child from his palace and gives leadership to the two irresponsible daughters (Edmiston and McKibben 92).

Blindness is also evidenced by the neglect concerning one’s responsibilities. For example, Gloucester is a philanderer and his behavior leads to the birth of an illegitimate child, viz. Edmund (Woodford 167). Edmund later becomes a threat to the kingdom to the extent of attempting to attain illegitimately. On his part, King Lear is blind in addressing the needs of the people that he serves as the King. He ignores the needs of the less fortunate instead of assisting them, as expected of a servant leader.

The play portrays both King Lear and Gloucester as irresponsible persons who lack the virtue of mercy (Archer, Turley, and Thomas 522). The King, in his capacity as the head of the throne, is expected to address the problems of the poor and less fortunate groups in society. Conversely, he ignores such issues. In the play, the King does not address the key issues affecting the needy. The King is self-centered and he does not exercise the servant style of leadership as expected of him. This self-centered nature of the King leads to the failure of his throne later on (Moore 182).

The irresponsible character of the King is also seen in his decision to delegate his roles and responsibilities to his irresponsible daughters, who are equally self-centered. Similarly, they do not care about the needs of the public (Edmiston and McKibben 89). In addition, the King has the responsibility of taking care of his youngest daughter. In addition, he has the responsibility of treating his daughters as equals (Woodford 113). However, due to his irresponsible character, he forces Cordelia out of his house and forgets about her. As a parent, one is supposed to take care of his/her children regardless of whether they are loyal or disloyal. However, the King is oblivious of his duties as a parent and a role model to his followers.

Just as the King has the responsibility of taking care of his daughter, Cordelia equally owes her father the duty of taking good care of him in his weak mental state (Moore 175). However, she neglects this role. On the other hand, Gloucester has the responsibility of taking care of his wife on top of remaining faithful (Archer, Turley, and Thomas 536). Husbands are expected to remain faithful to their wives. On the contrary, Gloucester’s philandering ways lead to the birth of a love child. This child later on causes problems in the kingdom by trying to rise to power illegitimately. In addition, Gloucester overlooks his responsibilities as a father by expelling one of his sons on grounds of disloyalty and dishonesty (Archer, Turley, and Thomas 521).

The theme of power is evident at the beginning of the play where King Lear is portrayed as powerful and authoritative (Ioppolo 173). The aspect of power is seen in how he conducts his business without consulting his close allies. For example, he conducts the dramatic ceremony to divide power between his two daughters in the watch of Gloucester, Kent, and others. These individuals should question the King’s decision, but they opt to remain silent and watch as the events unfold (Urkowitz 112).

Power in this tragedy is not only exercised at the national level, but also at the family level. Without consulting anyone, the King expels his youngest daughter on grounds of being disloyal to his kingship. Divine power is also evident in the play as the King seeks providential help especially after the two daughters mistreat him later in his helpless state (Edmiston and McKibben 87). The King is heard ordering divine powers to come down and take his part after having a serious quarrel with the daughters.

Finally, the theme of old age stands out towards the end of the play. Due to old age, King Lear has to give up leadership to his daughters by claiming that he does not want to go to the grave burdened (Moore 169). King Lear has the sense that old age forces one to surrender some responsibilities as a way of preparing for death. Goneril and Regan recognize their father’s old age. They argue that his madness is mainly due to his age. Seemingly, the play suggests that old age deserves respect as Lear calls upon the gods to look at his old age and intervene in overcoming his tribulations (Archer, Turley, and Thomas 518).

However, the two daughters do not respect the fact that their father is old, and thus he deserves respect. On the contrary, they insult, ridicule, and neglect him. In addition, they do not take instructions from him, which leads to the fall of the kingdom. Madness and old age stand out as the most critical factors that influence the King’s decisions (Edmiston and McKibben 87). The two factors cause the King to make uninformed decisions leading to the downfall of the kingdom soon after his retirement. The old age contributes to the severity of the King’s mental illness.

Archer, Jayne, Richard Turley, and Howard Thomas. “The Autumn King: Remembering the Land in King Lear.” Shakespeare Quarterly 63.4 (2012): 518-543. Print.

Edmiston, Brian, and Amy McKibben. “Shakespeare, rehearsal approaches, and dramatic inquiry: Literacy education for life.” English in Education 45.1 (2011): 86-101. Print.

Ioppolo, Grace. A Routledge Literary Sourcebook on William Shakespeare’s King Lear , New York: Psychology Press, 2003. Print.

Moore, Peter. “The Nature of King Lear.” English Studies 87.2 (2006): 169-190. Print.

Urkowitz, Steven. Shakespeare’s Revision of King Lear , Princeton: Princeton University Press, 2014. Print.

Woodford, Donna. Understanding King Lear: A student casebook to issues, sources, and historical documents . Santa Barbara: Greenwood Publishing, 2004. Print.

• Chicago (A-D)
• Chicago (N-B)

IvyPanda. (2020, July 6). Major Themes in the Play "King Lear" by William Shakespeare. https://ivypanda.com/essays/major-themes-in-the-play-king-lear-by-william-shakespeare/

"Major Themes in the Play "King Lear" by William Shakespeare." IvyPanda , 6 July 2020, ivypanda.com/essays/major-themes-in-the-play-king-lear-by-william-shakespeare/.

IvyPanda . (2020) 'Major Themes in the Play "King Lear" by William Shakespeare'. 6 July.

IvyPanda . 2020. "Major Themes in the Play "King Lear" by William Shakespeare." July 6, 2020. https://ivypanda.com/essays/major-themes-in-the-play-king-lear-by-william-shakespeare/.

1. IvyPanda . "Major Themes in the Play "King Lear" by William Shakespeare." July 6, 2020. https://ivypanda.com/essays/major-themes-in-the-play-king-lear-by-william-shakespeare/.

Bibliography

IvyPanda . "Major Themes in the Play "King Lear" by William Shakespeare." July 6, 2020. https://ivypanda.com/essays/major-themes-in-the-play-king-lear-by-william-shakespeare/.

• “King Lear” by William Shakespeare: A Play Review by Jeremy Bryson
• The Role of Trickery in Shakespear's "King Lear"
• Shakespeare’s King Lear: A Bad Judgment Turns Tragic
• Antigone and Cordelia's Stories
• Tragic Redemption in "King Lear" by Shakespeare
• Individual’s Sense of Entitlement and Destructive Behavior in “King Lear”
• King Lear's Cataclysm: Analysis of Shakespeare's Plays
• King Lear as a Depiction of Shakespeare's Era
• Similar Themes in the Movie "King Lear" and "About Schmidt"
• Analysis of King Lear and Paradise Lost
• Monstrous and Human Relationship in “The Odyssey”
• “The Odyssey”: The Relationship Between the Monstrous and the Human
• The Change of Gender Roles
• Joseph Addison’s Tragedy Cato as an Example of Self-sacrificing for the Ideals
• The Ultimate Irony: "Othello" by Shakespeare

• Junior Cert
• Elizabeth Bishop
• Emily Dickinson
• Seamus Heaney
• Thomas Kinsella
• Derek Mahon
• All 2014 guides on CD
• Sylvia Plath
• Eavan Boland (LC 2012)
• Patrick Kavanagh (LC 2012)
• Adrienne Rich (LC 2013)
• Gerard Manley Hopkins (LC 2013)
• Cancelled Order
• Thank You for your order

King Lear questions

First of all let’s look at the broad categories questions usually fall into:

CHARACTER THEME OPEN STYLE

You may be asked to discuss the following when it comes to characters:

• a tragic hero? (does he recognise his flaws and gain self-knowledge?)
• his nobility (is he a good man? / strengths & weaknesses / virtues & flaws)
• his relationship with his daughters & treatment of / by them
• the extent to which he is responsible for the tragedy which occurs
• our level of sympathy for him

Gloucester:

• his nobility / is he a good man? / strengths and weaknesses / virtues and flaws
• his relationship with his sons & treatment of / by them
• his dramatic function in the play

Lear & Gloucester:

• how and why their stories mirror each other
• the extent to which they bring about their own downfall
• our level of sympathy for them
• too good to be true or a believable character?
• virtues and flaws / our level of sympathy for her
• dramatic function in the play?

Goneril and Regan:

• treatment of their father
• extent to which they present a very negative view of women
• an admirable villain? or a sociopath?

Edmund and Edgar:

• contrast in their characters and personalities

Kent and The Fool

• dramatic function and believability

All characters:

• contrast the extremes of good and evil presented in the characters in the play
• the play is very pessimistic about human nature
• the play is very pessimistic about human relationships / family / parent – child dynamics

The major themes in the play are:

• Loyalty & Betrayal

Appearance vs Reality (Deception/Manipulation)

Good and Evil

Forgiveness

For each theme – no matter what the wording – ask yourself

WHO does this theme apply to? HOW / WHY does this character have to deal with this issue? Do they CHANGE over the course of the play? Are there any SCENES which highlight this theme specifically? What are our FINAL IMPRESSIONS of this issue?

OPEN QUESTIONS:

• Relevance to a modern audience
• Pessimistic play?

STYLE QUESTIONS:

• Language & Imagery
• Dramatic Irony
• Compelling Drama – scene or scenes

SAMPLE QUESTIONS

In each case you are given a statement which you can fully agree with, partially agree with or completely disagree with. In the most recent Chief Examiner’s Report, students were advised to avoid taking an overly simplistic approach (“I agree 100% that…”). It’s understandable that this would be your first instinct under exam conditions, but remember that a single sentence rarely sums up accurately the complexity and nuance of an entire play. Yes, you’ll look for evidence that supports the statement, but you’ll also need to display an awareness that different phases in the play contain different truths. Your attitude to a character, theme, relationship in the play will change and morph as the play unfolds and the plot develops…

“ King Lear is a man more sinned against than sinning ” – Discuss

“ Lear is a ‘foolish fond old man’ who deserves everything he gets ” – Discuss

“ Lear embarks on a harrowing journey through suffering to self-knowledge. At the end of the play he is a better and wiser man “

“ The play King Lear is a realistic tragedy that depicts the tragic consequences of one man’s folly “

“ King Lear is not a tragic hero, but rather a victim of circumstances “

“Gloucester is a weak and gullible man, but at heart, a decent one”

“Gloucester serves an important dramatic function in making Lear’s circumstances more credible”

“Discuss the dramatic significance of the Gloucester story in the play King Lear”

Lear and Gloucester

“Neither Lear nor Gloucester are deserving of the love and service they receive from their followers”

“Cordelia shares with her father the faults of pride and obstinacy”

“Cordelia’s dramatic function in the play is twofold: her wisdom highlights her father’s foolishness; her goodness  highlights her sisters’ malevolence” 

Goneril and Regan

“Lear’s evil daughters allow Shakespeare to present a very negative view of women in the play”

“Edmund is a sociopath: a charming liar, incapable of remorse, who views men and women merely as obstacles or aids to his ambition”

“Edmund is an admirable villain. At the beginning of the play he has nothing; by the end he is almost King”

Edmund and Edgar

“Gloucester’s sons represent the very best and the very worst in human nature”

Minor characters: Kent & The Fool

“The Fool serves as Lear’s conscience in the play. When he disappears, it is because Lear no longer needs him”

“The fool is an unnecessary distraction in the play King Lear”

“Kent is too loyal to be believable as a real human being”

General character questions

“The play King Lear offers characters who represent the very best and the very worst in human nature”

“Shakespeare’s King Lear presents a dark and pessimistic view of humanity”

“Cosmic justice is denied, yet human justice prevails in the play King Lear”

“The relationship between parents and children is unrealistically portrayed in the play King Lear”

Loyalty (&/or Betrayal)

“It is only the loyalty of loved ones that enables Lear and Gloucester to endure their sufferings”

“The theme of blindness – both physical and emotional – is dramatically presented in the play King Lear”

“In King Lear, whilst characters are initially fooled by appearances, they gradually come to see the truth”

“In King Lear, ‘sane’ characters frequently behave in a crazy manner, whilst ‘mad’ characters at times seem perfectly sane”

“Love as a redemptive force is a major theme in the play King Lear”

“ The play King Lear memorably explores the meaning of love “

“King Lear examines the nature of good and evil but neither force emerges triumphant”

“Learning through suffering is central to the play”

“ The importance of self-knowledge and forgiveness is strikingly evident in the play King Lear”

“The play King Lear explores what it means to be a good King”

OPEN QUESTIONS

“The play King Lear offers us one central experience: pessimism”

“Shakespeare’s vision of the world is not entirely pessimistic in the play King Lear”

“King Lear is one of the greatest tragedies ever written”

“Scenes of great suffering and of great tenderness help to make King Lear a very memorable play”

“The two plots of King Lear are closely paralleled in theme, character and action, to great dramatic effect”

“What, if any, relevance, does the play King Lear hold for today’s readers?”

LANGUAGE / STYLE

“King Lear is a play filled with striking images and symbols which heighten our experience of the play”

“Dramatic irony is used to tragic, and occasionally comic effect, in Shakespeare’s King Lear”

“The way characters speak accurately reflects their personality in Shakespeare’s King Lear”

“ King Lear contains many scenes of compelling drama, but the extremity of the cruelty and violence presented prevents the audience from achieving catharsis. Rather than a release, we feel haunted by what we have witnessed “

8 responses to “ King Lear questions ”

Recent posts.

• A long slow goodbye…
• Lear’s journey
• Some themes in Lear…
• King Lear – Plot Chronology
• King Lear quotes (in translation!)
• Justice in King Lear – how to construct an answer…
• The Old Warrior and Me
• Single text options…
• Tackling the Comparative
• Reading Shakespeare (Othello)
• Game Based Learning
• Originality – Freshness – Energy – Style
• Discussions
• Comprehensions
• Comparative
• Studied poetry
• Unseen poetry
• Media Studies
• Uncategorized

Affiliations

Nominations.

King Lear Appearance vs Reality Quotes

Sir, I love you more than word can wield the matter, Dearer than eyesight, space, and liberty, Beyond what can be valued, rich or rare, No less than life, with grace, health, beauty, honour; As much as child e’er loved, or father found; A love that makes breath poor, and speech unable. Beyond all manner of so much I love you.

– William Shakespeare

I am made of that self mettle as my sister And prize me at her worth. In my true heart I find she names my very deed of love; Only she comes too short, that I profess Myself an enemy to all other joys Which the most precious square of sense possesses, And find I am alone felicitate In your dear Highness’ love.

LEAR: So young, and so untender? CORDELIA: So young, my lord, and true.

Let it be so. Thy truth, then, be thy dower, For by the sacred radiance of the sun, The mysteries of Hecate and the night, By all the operation of the orbs From whom we do exist, and cease to be, Here I disclaim all my paternal care, Propinquity, and property of blood, And as a stranger to my heart and me Hold thee, from this, for ever. The barbarous Scythian, Or he that makes his generation messes To gorge his appetite, shall to my bosom Be as well neighboured, pitied, and relieved As thou my sometime daughter.

LEAR: Kent, on thy life, no more. KENT: My life I never held but as a pawn To wage against thy enemies; nor fear to lose it, Thy safety being the motive. LEAR: Out of my sight!

The jewels of our father, with wash’d eyes Cordelia leaves you. I know you what you are, And like a sister am most loath to call Your faults as they are named.

Time shall unfold what plighted cunning hides. Who cover faults, at last shame them derides.

Thou, Nature, art my goddess. To thy law My services are bound. Wherefore should I Stand in the plague of custom, and permit The curiosity of nations to deprive me For that I am some twelve or fourteen moonshines Lag of a brother? why "bastard"? Wherefore "base," When my dimensions are as well compact, My mind as generous and my shape as true As honest madam’s issue? Why brand they us With "base," with "baseness," "bastardy," "base," "base," Who, in the lusty stealth of nature, take More composition and fierce quality Than doth within a dull, stale, tired bed Go to th’ creating a whole tribe of fops Got ‘tween asleep and wake? Well then, Legitimate Edgar, I must have your land. Our father’s love is to the bastard Edmund As to th’ legitimate. Fine word, "legitimate." Well, my legitimate, if this letter speed And my invention thrive, Edmund the base Shall top th’ legitimate. I grow, I prosper. Now, gods, stand up for bastards!

Legitimate Edgar, I must have your land. Our father’s love is to the bastard Edmund As to th’ legitimate. Fine word, "legitimate." Well, my legitimate, if this letter speed And my invention thrive, Edmund the base Shall top th’ legitimate. I grow, I prosper.

I beseech you, sir, pardon me. It is a letter from my brother, that I have not all o’er-read; and for so much as I have perused, I find it not fit for your o’er-looking.

GLOUCESTER [Reads]: "This policy and reverence of age makes the world bitter to the best of our times; keeps our fortunes from us till our oldness cannot relish them. I begin to find an idle and fond bondage in the oppression of aged tyranny; who sways, not as it hath power, but as it is suffered. Come to me, that of this I may speak more. If our father would sleep till I waked him, you should enjoy half his revenue for ever, and live the beloved of your brother, Edgar." Hum? Conspiracy? "Sleep till I waked him, you should enjoy half his revenue," – My son Edgar! Had he a hand to write this? a heart and brain to breed it in? – When came this to you? Who brought it?

I have heard him oft maintain it to be fit that, sons at perfect age and fathers declined, the father should be as ward to the son, and the son manage his revenue.

O villain, villain! His very opinion in the letter. Unnatural, detested, brutish villain! Worse than brutish! Go, sirrah, seek him; I’ll apprehend him: abominable villain! Where is he?

He cannot be such a monster.

If but as well I other accents borrow That can my speech diffuse, my good intent May carry through itself to that full issue For which I razed my likeness. Now, banished Kent, If thou canst serve where thou dost stand condemned, So may it come thy master, whom thou lov’st, Shall find thee full of labours.

I do profess to be no less than I seem.

LEAR: What art thou? KENT: A very honest-hearted fellow, and as poor as the King. LEAR: If thou be’st as poor for a subject as he is for a king, thou art poor enough. What wouldst thou? KENT: Service. LEAR: Who wouldst thou serve? KENT: You. LEAR: Dost thou know me, fellow? KENT: No, sir, but you have that in your countenance which I would fain call master.

LEAR: Doth any here know me? This is not Lear. Doth Lear walk thus, speak thus? Where are his eyes? Either his notion weakens, his discernings Are lethargied – Ha! Waking? ‘Tis not so. Who is it that can tell me who I am? FOOL: Lear’s shadow.

This man hath had good counsel. A hundred knights! ‘Tis politic and safe to let him keep At point a hundred knights! Yes, that on every dream, Each buzz, each fancy, each complaint, dislike, He may enguard his dotage with their powers And hold our lives in mercy.

Let him fly far. Not in this land shall he remain uncaught. And found – dispatch.

Thou unpossessing bastard!

And of my land, Loyal and natural boy, I’ll work the means To make thee capable.

My old heart is cracked; it’s cracked.

CORNWALL: Edmund, I hear that you have shown your father A childlike office. EDMUND: It was my dury, sir.

This is some fellow Who, having been praised for bluntness, doth affect A saucy roughness and constrains the garb Quite from his nature. He cannot flatter, he. An honest mind and plain, he must speak truth! An they will take it, so; if not, he’s plain. These kind of knaves I know, which in this plainness Harbour more craft and more corrupter ends Than twenty silly-ducking observants That stretch their duties nicely.

I heard myself proclaimed, And by the happy hollow of a tree Escaped the hunt. No port is free; no place That guard and most unusual vigilance Does not attend my taking. Whiles I may ‘scape, I will preserve myself, and am bethought To take the basest and most poorest shape That ever penury in contempt of man Brought near to beast.

My face I’ll grime with filth, Blanket my loins, elf all my hairs in knots, And with presented nakedness outface The winds and persecutions of the sky. The country gives me proof and precedent Of Bedlam beggars who with roaring voices Strike in their numbed and mortifièd arms Pins, wooden pricks, nails, sprigs of rosemary, And, with this horrible object, from low farms, Poor pelting villages, sheepcotes, and mills, Sometime with lunatic bans, sometime with prayers, Enforce their charity. "Poor Turlygod! Poor Tom!" That’s something yet. "Edgar" I nothing am.

Edgar I nothing am.

There is division, Although as yet the face of it is covered With mutual cunning, ‘twixt Albany and Cornwall, Who have – as who have not, that their great stars Throned and set high? – servants, who seem no less, Which are to France the spies and speculations Intelligent of our state; what hath been seen, Either in snuffs and packings of the dukes, Or the hard rein which both of them have borne Against the old kind king; or something deeper, Whereof perchance these are but furnishings; But true it is, from France there comes a power Into this scattered kingdom, who already, Wise in our negligence, have secret feet In some of our best ports and are at point To show their open banner.

GLOUCESTER: Alack, alack, Edmund, I like not this unnatural dealing. When I desired their leave that I might pity him, they took from me the use of mine own house, charged me on pain of perpetual displeasure neither to speak of him, entreat for him, or any way sustain him. EDMUND: Most savage and unnatural.

A Thousand Acres

Jane smiley, everything you need for every book you read..

A Thousand Acres takes place in the American Midwest in a community so small that, at times, its inhabitants seem to know everything about one another. And yet many of the novel’s characters, including some of the community’s most prominent and popular residents, have dark secrets to hide; for example, Larry Cook abused his children, Ginny and Rose , even as he pretends to be a proud, upstanding member of the community. Smiley’s novel studies the relationship between appearance and reality; particularly the appearance of innocence and goodness as it hides secret sin or evil.

For some of the novel’s characters, the separation between appearances and reality can be a source of freedom. Characters maintain a certain affect or public image, but beneath the surface, their personalities are very different. Appearance acts as a mask for reality, disguising and enabling the characters’ true thoughts and feelings. Consider Harold Clark , Larry’s neighbor and rival. Clark pretends to be an old eccentric, when in reality, he’s extremely sharp and single-minded. Because he’s so successful in affecting the appearance of eccentricity, Harold’s neighbors mostly steer clear of him; they give him a lot of privacy, and even let him get away with overcharging on farm crops. In short, Clark manipulates his public image in order to benefit himself—that is, to benefit his secret, shrewder “self.” Harold’s son, Jess Clark , represents an even more extreme example of the divide between appearance and reality. Jess spends most of his adult life “trying on” different careers and, with each career, a different personality. Whenever Jess tires of the external elements of his life, such as his job, his home, or his friends, he just moves on to somewhere else. Jess can do so because, beneath his kind, charismatic façade, he’s cold-hearted and selfish—Jess is so good at affecting the appearance of kindness that we don’t realize how cruel he really is until the end of the book.

By manipulating their own appearances, affects, and reputations, many of the characters in the novel achieve a kind of freedom. But of course, there’s a limit to how often the characters can get away with such manipulations; furthermore, many characters, particularly female characters, are forced to adhere to a certain public image instead of crafting one for themselves. While Jess Clark has the freedom to start over again and again, Ginny and Rose are “locked into” the same sexist roles year after year. They’re expected to be obedient children, to cook and care for their aging father, and to marry and have kids.

Ginny and Rose struggle to “be themselves” in private while adhering to the image that’s expected of them. Their public image doesn’t offer them freedom; on the contrary, it burdens them, to the point where, on some level, they start to believe that their public image is the truth. Ginny and Rose also have a horrible secret: Larry raped them when they were teenagers. The novel never explicitly explains why the two women never tell other people what happened. Smiley implies, however, that Ginny and Rose remain silent about their father’s horrible crimes at least in part because they’re afraid of disrupting appearances. In other words, they’re afraid of challenging Larry’s image as a pillar of the community, their own images as obedient daughters, and even their community’s “image” as a tranquil, ordinary place. In short, Smiley shows a basic disagreement between her characters’ appearances and their true natures. While some of the characters succeed in manipulating their own appearances, many of the women in the novel suffer because they internalize the image that other characters have imposed upon them.

Appearance vs. Reality ThemeTracker

Appearance vs. Reality Quotes in A Thousand Acres

At the pig roast, Jess Clark and the new machinery were Harold’s twin exhibits, and guests from all over the area couldn’t resist, had no reason to resist, the way he ferried them between the two, asking for and receiving admiration with a kind of shameless innocence that he was known for.

What is a farmer? A farmer is a man who feeds the world.

It was a pantry cabinet, a sink, four base cabinets, and two wall cabinets, as well as eight fee of baby blue laminated countertop, … which my father had bought for a thousand dollars.

“He is crazy,” said Rose. Anyway, Ginny, you’re running out of money

and you have all the expensive rentals left before you get to Go.”

Now that I remembered that little girl and that young, running man, I couldn’t imagine what had happened to them.

“Now that I’m back, after all those years away, I’m really amazed at how good Harold is at manipulating the way people think of him.”

After you’ve confided long enough in someone, he or she assumes the antagonism you might have just been trying out. It was better for now to keep this conversation to myself.

I was so remarkably comfortable with the discipline of making a good appearance!

One of the jars of sausage was close to the edge of the table. I pushed it back and looked at Jess again. For the first time in weeks what was unbearable felt bearable.

I continued to behave as if I was living in the sight of all our neighbors, as Mr. Cartier had told us to. I waited for Rose to die, but the weather was warm for sauerkraut and liver sausage—that was a winter dish.

One thing was surely true about going to court. It had marvelous divided us from each other and from our old lives. There could be no reconciliation now.