Power, Corrption and an Old Man's Regrets
 Mar 13th, 2001
Advantages:
It's good
Disadvantages:
It can be challenging
Recommendable:
Yes
Detailed rating:
Would you read it again?
Story
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  Medusa
About me:
A new me!! Well, a new profile, at any rate. I continue to be a marginally insane English teacher ...
Member since:21.08.2000
Reviews:39
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Review rated by 12 Ciao members on average: very helpful 
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Read Comment
King Lear is a rare treasure amongst Will Shake's plays in some respects: It deals with an English king and the story of his passing (which surely makes a change from miserable Danes and horny Italians!); It couple extreme tragedy with extreme comedy in places; It is possibly the one play of Will's (apart from 'Hamlet', of course) that can be dealt with better on paper rather than on stage. Lear is an old man and he decides it is time that he gave over the taxing business of running the country in favour of a leisurely retirement spent marauding with 100 or so knights, killing wild life and generally behaving irresponsibly. (Sounds a little like the antics of my own retired father!). Having three daughters, he is reluctant to show favouritism (although he does!) and so offers to divide the kingdom equally between the three of them. But .... there is a condition: each must profess just how much they love their father the king, thus pandering to an old man's (rather pathetic?) ego.
Goneril and Regan, the two elder daughters, are happy to oblige and do so, with a glint in their eyes that yells 'SHOPPING SPREE' to all apart from Lear. However the youngest,favoured daughter, Cordelia, refuses to compromise her 'love' by attempting to frame it in words. Lear, outraged by her 'lack of love', promptly disowns her and does that thing which all fathers do when their daughters annoy them - pacj them off in marriage to whoever will put up with such a shrew! Silly, Silly Lear. He also banishes the loyal Kent for daring to suggest that his decision was wrong, thus leaving himself without 'true' friends who care about him. He decides that he will spend his retirement alternating residence between his two eldest daughters. Somewhat understandable they are not so very find of this idea and ..... well, it was all bound to end in tears, wasn't it? 'King Lear' isn't called a tragedy for nothing. In fact, there are so many dead bodies strewn across the stage by the end of the play that anyone would think the play had been written by John Webster, rather than William whats-his-face.
As usual, Shakespeare has picked up lots of lovely themes in his play. A key theme is sight and seeing. Kentwarns Lear to 'See better' and he is not referring to Lear needing a cateract operation! Gloucester, who falls for the plot of his bastard (sorry!) son to oust the legitimate son, actually loses his eyes and, as a result, is forced to see events clearer than he did previously. Power is also a key theme. Lear's tragic flaw is that he is unable to relinquish the prestige that his position as king gives him, whilst he wants none of the responsibility that attends the position. Power is also seen to have a very negative affect on Goneril and Regan (both of whom, methinks, would give Lady Macbeth a run for her money), leading them to betray their father, their husbands and .. mmmmmmm .. yep, just about everybody else who comes into contact with them.
Lear is a good, if demanding play. There are some real spine-tingling moments in it and timeswhen you want to yell 'Lear, stop being a prat' to keep you inerested and reading to the end.
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07.11.2004 14:15
A bright lively review...well done. L
07.03.2004 14:58
Am studying this at the moment. Conveyed the play's atmosphere very effectively- good review! Jim
01.04.2001 20:23
My favourite play of all time, so I'm biased, but a great op.