Mimetic Desire in Shakespeare's King Lear
The dynamic of desire is a phenomenon all too familiar to the human condition. Everyday experience attests to the conviction that desire assumes a linear path which projects from the subject directly to the object of the affection. Such a concept embraces the assumption that the object possesses some intrinsic value that naturally elicits an affective response, which is perhaps the dominant opinion about human desire. The feelings generally associated with desire are so naturally drawn out by the object that little doubt is ever given to the authenticity of the experience. The simplicity of the experience immediately provides a satisfactory account of the event, thereby eliminating any need for further investigation. A closer look at social interactions, however, reveals that human desire is mimetic, or mediated-in which case the object desired has no a priori worth, but is merely signaled by a model to be desirable. The structure of desire is therefore triangular, with the model mediating the subject and the object. In King Lear, Shakespeare portrays brilliantly this mimetic disposition of human nature; he demonstrates dramatically how mimetic desire provides the necessary basis for cooperation, as well as for rivalry, in
The first scene dramatizes perfectly the mimetic pattern of behavior. At the outset, King Lear calls his daughters together to exhibit their love for him: "Tell me, daughters/...Which of you shall we say doth love us most/ That our largest bounty may extend/ Where nature doth with merit challenge"(1.1.50-55). He tenders the prize of his kingdom and thereby makes it an object of desire. Being the mediator of the desire himself, he initiates the mimetic rivalry among his daughters by setting them against each other for his kingdom. Goneril, modeling him, begins the competition with extravagant flattery and professes a love for her father "that makes breath poor, and speech/ unable"(1.1.62). Then follows Regan. Modeling both her father and her older sister, she declares her love to be "made of that same self mettle as [her] sister," and further claims to "alone felicitate/ In [his] dear Highness' love"(1.1.71-78). Cordelia, being the youngest and exposed to the most mimetic influence simply refuses to participate since, being last to speak, the condition for any chance in the game of rivalry has been spoiled by her sisters-"Then poor Cordelia!/...I am sure my love's/ more ponderous than my tongue"(1.1.79-80). Mimetic desire up to this point has been manifested in the competition among the sisters to win the favor of King Lear, who has the object of their desire at his discretion. When two people desire the same object, competition is inevitable. Given its mimetic nature, desire naturally begets feelings of discontent, envy and resentment, and often results in conflict, as it is evidently the case with Goneril and Regan. After the kingdom is divided between Goneril and Regan, however, the conditions require a different course of action. At the beginning, the prize is immediately at hand; whoever wins the king's favor wins also
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Approximate Word count = 1245
Approximate Pages = 5 (250 words per page double spaced)
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