Politics of King Lear

A detailed Summary of Politics of King Lear

The subject of politics is a touchy one. It might be because of the essence of politics. The "right" things must be done or said if there is to be a benefit from the actions or speech. But, what is considered right? Knowing the answer to this is the trick. What is "right" in politics is in the eye of the beholder. Everyone has a different opinion about what is right and good. In order to succeed in the world of politics, one must agree, or at least outwardly show agreement, with the majority of the population - the people, the public - making the decision. Politics is defined as having practical wisdom, prudent, shrewd, and diplomatic. The same definition also admits, however, that politics is crafty and unscrupulous. These statements are proved through King Lear. Several of the characters are defined in the play by their use of crafty and unscrupulous methods to appear to be the "right" choice for those doing the choosing while others are punished for speaking and acting honestly. Each one's actions,though, were related to the position they held in their society.

The opening scene in the play revealed that England's King Lear was preparing to divide his kingdom among his three daughters. In this scene Lear's two o

Their younger sister Cordelia expressed her honest feelings that she could not love her father with anymore love than what she possessed. She also questioned her sisters' abilities to love their father with all their love when they each had husbands. The king did not expect this from his youngest daughter, and although she was indeed his favorite, he was infuriated that she had not given him the flattery that he wanted. In an abrubt act of irrationality, he banished her from the country.

Edmund, the bastard son of Gloucester, knew that Gloucester loved him as he did Edgar, his legitimate half-brother, but he hated the fact that, because he was illegitimate, he could not inherit his father's estate and that it would belong to only Edgar someday. His bastardly background and his hatred of it lead him to deceive his father to disown Edgar and leave the entire inheritance to Edmund, who was the only other child to which Gloucester could leave it. Edmund's whole plan stemed from his resentment of how society treated bastards like himself. He enacted the plan to disinherit Edgar by forging a letter that explained Edgar's plan to kill their father. Of course Edmund also arranged for Gloucester to read the letter and decide for himself that his legitimate son should be disowned, hoping that his own inheretance of Gloucester's estate would be hastened. While Edmund was in the same frame of mind as Goneril and Regan, wanting to destroy and take power from his father as they were, his mind was set, not only by the hungry greed of land, wealth, and power, but by that of winning a battle for bastards. He hoped his plan would build his reputation within the public eye, who would watch him rise to something they never thought he would be, and in doing so better their opinion of children born out of wedlock.

Each one of the characters descr

Some common words found in the essay are:
Goneril Regan, Edmund Edmund's, Gloucester Gloucester, , King Lear, Edmund Gloucester, Lear Edmund's, Regan's Edmund's, goneril regan, Lear Kent, Goneril Goneril, king lear, inherit father's estate, edgar legitimate, love father, own father, father's estate, inherit father's, wealth power, crafty unscrupulous,

Approximate Word count = 1251
Approximate Pages = 5 (250 words per page double spaced)

Category: English