King Lear
The play of "King Lear" is about a person in search of their own personal identity. In the historical period in which this play is set, the social structure was set in order of things closest to Heaven. Therefore, on Earth, the king was at the top, followed by his noblemen and going all the way down to the basest of objects such as rocks and dirt. This structure was set up by the people, and by going by the premise that anything that is man made is imperfect, this system cannot exist for long without conflict.Through tattered clothes small vices do appear; Robes and furred gowns hide all. Plate sin with gold, And the strong lance of justice hurtles breaks; (IV, vi). The chaos that occurs in "King Lear" is due the reshaping of bonds within the society. Thus naturally, bonds must be broken, kept and most importantly, formed. This rearrangement of bonds is necessary to Lear understanding his personal identity. Bonds that are broken include those relations between King Lear and his two eldest daughters (Regan and Goneril), between Glouster and Edmund and also between Edmund and Edgar. Lear and Cordelia; Lear and Kent; Glouster and Edgar include those bonds that are existent at both the beginning and conclusion of the play. By
The reshaping of bonds within Lear's Kingdom was necessary for Lear coming to terms with himself. Throughout the play those relationships that were based on deception and material goods were broken while those bonds based on loyalty and love were present at the beginning and at the end of the play. Most importantly Lear is able to build a bond with nature which allows him to come to terms with himself. At the conclusion of the play the lesson has been learned, "Speak what we feel, not what we ought to say" (V, iii, 392) Blow, winds, and crack your cheeks! Rage, blow! Through the reforming of relationships Lear gains insight which allows him to come to terms with himself and nature. Throughout the play Lear experiences much torment and punishment from nature, for unnaturally giving up his power: Lear has difficulties accepting his fate he believes he is "More sinned against than sinning" (III, ii, 62-63). It is not until he accepts his fate and comes to terms will himself that he is at peace. By the end of the play Lear is humbled and just happy that he has the love of Cordelia. Tough the two were not in communication through the majority of the play, they still had love for each other and by the end of the play, their bond is reformed. The breaking and reform
Some common words found in the essay are:
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Approximate Word count = 858
Approximate Pages = 3 (250 words per page double spaced)
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