Women in Shakespeare's King Lear?

Question

I'm doing this for my A level coursework, and while I already have so many notes on the subject that I feel like my wrists are going to disintegrate from all the writing, I would love other people's ideas on the subject, so I can write the most exhaustive essay possible.

So, does anybody know the play? Do you have any ideas? Anything at all you can think of.Thanks. =)

Answer 1

Having performed in a couple different productions of the play, and having seen it any number of times, I can tell you this much: the key to Regan and Goneril is NOT to portray them as the "evil" sisters from the get-go. Yes, they both end up doing despicable things, but I think it's important to devote a little thought to the question of their motivation.

Point number one: Lear must be an absolute BEAR of a father to deal with. You can see throughout the play how demanding he is, and how quick to anger he is when he's thwarted.

Point number two: Cordelia is daddy's little girl. How difficult must it be for Regan and Goneril, to grow up in the shadow of their younger sister, who is CLEARLY the one that dad loves best.

The point I'm making here is that there are good and evident reasons why Regan and Goneril are more susceptible to their darker impulses. Look at the encounter, for example, between Lear and Goneril in Act I, scene iv. There's no "evil" intent here. Goneril is absolutely on solid ground when she tells her father that he and his 100 knights are TRASHING her house. But, Lear isn't used to having people say "no" to him, and within minutes, he's cursing her in the most vile terms imaginable.

We all know how the play ENDS, and it's tempting to try to play the end at the beginning. Believe me, it makes for a far less interesting performance. The scales should be more balanced at the outset, which gives Lear a more extended climb to enlightenment, and gives Regan/Goneril a more extended descent into their cesspool of madness, lust, and death.

Answer 2

think of roughly all the terrible issues that ensue in the play. What does that recommend with regard to the character of the international. Is it unjust? Unfair? think of with regard to the character of God (in case you have chose to bypass down that path). what variety of God could enable those products ensue? what variety of God could enable a stable individual like Cordelia die? i'm going to bypass away it to you to place in writing the essay. stable success.

Answer 3

Have you noticed that one of the daughters has an std named after her?