King Lear: Act 3 Q. 1

Act 3
Question 1:
Read Gloucester’s lines beginning with line 171 in Act III, scene 4. It starts “Canst thou blame him?” It then continues to express Gloucester’s terrible hurt at the thought that Edgar, his beloved son, has betrayed him. Of course, the dramatic irony is palpable because Edgar is standing right there, but that is an analytical discussion for another time.
Here, I would like you to consider the human emotional response to rejection and betrayal—especially by those you love. It is perhaps the most painful of experiences. Only grief after a death competes with it. What is it like? What does it do to a person? Consider deeply what Gloucester (and Lear, and Edgar, and Cordelia, and Kent) is experiencing. Consider the pain that they are living with.

Rejection and betrayal genuinely suck. They hurt. A lot. And it’s really hard to move on from.

With rejection, it’s like that sinking feeling in your heart when your dignitary is stripped away. The rejecter takes any self-confidence you might have had and there isn’t much you can do but sulk in self-pity afterwards. It is in fact the most painful of experience next to the death of a loved one.

Betrayal, on the other hand, is like a stab in the back. It’s sharp and rather than wallowing in self-pity, betrayal evokes anger. Well, at least for me personally. It’s also like a punch in the stomach: it takes a while to register what that person did; you are in disbelief and shocked that a person could do such a thing.

Gloucester and the other characters in King Lear experience pain because of betrayal and rejection. Specifically in Gloucester’s case, after calling out for Edmund to help him, Regan blatantly reveals Edmund is the traitor who put him in this situation. Gloucester is completely rejected of getting any help what-so-ever in his moment of need. And as if that rejection doesn’t hurt enough, Gloucester realizes Edgar has betrayed him. It’s like a slapped in the face, so-to-speak, as he grasps that he was very wrong about his sons. He experiences this all alone, which makes it all the more painful for him. Gloucester doesn’t have anyone to talk to about his grief.

Adding more to his painful epiphany, Gloucester gets brutally beaten. It becomes a very metaphorical scene: when he has the revelation before, he literally and figuratively is able to see. However when Cornwall gouges his eyesight, Gloucester is unable to see. He literally becomes blind and figuratively cannot see past the anguish and betrayal he feels.

King Lear: Act 2 Q. 2

Act 2
Question 2:
What is it—what could it conceivably be—that would make children turn against their parent as completely as Goneril and Regan have turned against Lear? They’ve gone beyond irritation and its consequent neglect to outright cruelty. You may consider this question either specifically in reference to the two women (imagine their backstory the way you did Edgar’s) or consider it in general. Where do the terrible resentments of children for their parents come from? What is so very powerful about that relationship?

Goneril and Regan turn against Lear in the fourth scene of Act 2. It’s not too difficult to see the reasoning behind their actions. Lear handed the kingdom over to them, and still wants to have all the perks of being king. This creates a huge amount of conflict between his daughters and him; he expects to be respected and have authority over something he handed off. I think this is where all the resentment stems from. It would be like giving a 16 year old a brand new car, and then wanting to drive it everywhere. Lear needs to realize that it’s not his kingdom to run anymore. These sisters are incredibly selfish and are motivated to show their father who is boss. They want to live independently and have a feeling of control and power. This drives them to overturn their father.

When Regan and Gonerial act out Lear becomes very angry, which is what they want. The first instance we see this is when Regan refuses to see her father when he arrives at the castle. Her reason is because she is exhausted from traveling. It’s a huge slap in the face to Lear and shows her lack of respect. More so when they eventually come down, Lear questions why Kent is in stocks; by putting Kent in the stocks Regan clearly indicates the extent of lack of respect she has for her father.

Lear then makes a huge fool of himself and beings talking about hating Gonerial and says he wishes she were never born. Regan pushes her father over the edge and tells him to get over himself and to stay with Gonerial. After she does this, Gonerial enters and holds Regan’s hand. This shows they are united and Lear is on his own. Regan is clearly undercutting his authority even more.

King Lear: Act 2 Q. 3

Act 2
Question 3:
Consider Edgar’s state of mind when he takes on the persona of Tom O’Bedlam. Certainly, he is trying to disguise himself, but this is an extreme disguise indeed. Consider why he chose this particular disguise. What would drive him to this? Again, you can do this as a mini-essay, but it might be more interesting and more informative to write from Edgar’s perspective. Do whatever comes most naturally to you, but don’t write to fill space—be thoughtful.

Edger decides to change his appearance to look like Tom O’Bedlam because he is still loyal to his father. When Edger returns to Gloucester’s castle and see’s Lear’s servant, Kent in the stocks, Edger realizes something is still very wrong. Edger recognizes Edmund is still out to get revenge and understands he is out to get his dad. His motivation to dress like Tom is his want to remain loyal to his dad. However, he doesn’t fully understand what Edmund is doing which is why he can’t simply march back into the castle.

Also because Edger has been kicked out, he realizes no one, particularly Lear and Gloucester, is going to be willing to listen to him. If he goes into Gloucester’s castle, he is likely to be attacked because of Edmund’s accusations. They aren’t going to wait for an explanation of what was going on.

Edger instead opts to rub mud over himself to make him look like Tom O’Bedlam. This choice of disguise is significant for a couple of reasons. For one, Bedlam is a reference to describe a confused, chaotic situation. But more importantly, Bedlam was the title of an insane asylum in England. Edger chooses to disguise himself as this character because no one will question a crazy-looking person. It will also show his confused state of mind – no thanks to Edmund.

It’s very interesting to see the ‘good’ characters getting casted out of their homes. Edmund arguably hasn’t had much bad done to Edger however he still gets to stay. This is similar to Kent and even Cordelia, who is banished from England for telling her father the truth about her feelings. The theme of good versus evil becomes very prevalent throughout the novel.

King Lear: Q. 3

Act 1
Question 3:
How do you understand the relationship between Cordelia and Lear? He seems to love her, and she him, but how? Why is she unable to speak when her very survival depends on her speaking? Why is he unable to hear her truth?
To take the same concept from another angle…. While her sisters’ speeches are excellent examples of verbal manipulation, the one person (Cordelia) who goes in honestly with Lear’s best interests at heart is punished because she doesn’t want (or know how to) “play the game.” Have you seen situations like this? Have you used your powers of manipulation to get what you want? Have you been the loser in a game like this?

Lear has a skewed look on love to begin with, and that makes his relationship with all three of his daughters, particularly with Cordelia, who he favors, very odd. When Lear decides he doesn’t want to rule the kingdom anymore and is going to divide the land between them, he chooses to turn it into a competition of whoever loves him the most will inherit the best part of his kingdom. The daughters give a speech about why they love him; this is a problem because you cannot prove you love someone simply by saying nice things.

Cordelia has a hard time with the concept of verbal manipulation. I feel it has to do with Lear favoring Cordelia over the other sisters, and she is unable to measure up to his expectations. He wants a reason to give his favorite daughter the best part of his kingdom. She doesn’t play the game though, and is unable to put her love into words. She says she loves him like a daughter should love her father.

Afterwards, Cordelia says because her sisters are married they clearly cannot love him as much as they say they do. Lear does not want to hear this and gets really angry. He essentially disinherits her because she will not be overwhelming in her feelings towards him. This just goes to show Lear is impulsive, and not necessarily with good ones at that.

In terms of myself being in situations like Cordelia’s, I feel that I have been – and I have played the game like the other sisters to get my way. I had to learn overtime how to play it though; when I was younger, I use to scream and pout when I didn’t get my way. This caused me to lose the game quite often. I learned mostly from my brother that in order to win, it’s mostly about tone of voice or how a questioned is phrased. Making an effort to show – or sound – like you care also makes a huge difference in getting what you want.

King Lear: Q. 1

Act 1
Question 1:
Identify with Edmund. What do you know about family dynamics and parents’ treatment of children that might make him act the way he does? What is there to respect about him? Why do you think Gloucester treats him the way he does? Is there any modern day equivalent to this?

Edmund is an interesting character in King Lear. He is apart of the Gloucester family, who is going through an internal conflict of what it means to love and trust your family. Part of the family’s dynamic that greatly affects Edmund being a bastard son while his older sibling Edger is legitimate.

Depending on how the first scene is interpreted - or rather, staged – the audience identifies with Edmund differently by how his relationship with his father is portrayed. For example in a conversation about Edmund, Gloucester reveals to Kent that while his relationship with Edmund’s mother was very enjoyable, he is embarrassed of Edmund. Edmund either hears this and most likely won’t like his father, or he is called over half way between and his relationship with his father is clearly different.

In the second scene, Edmund’s true character is revealed by his actions. He has a bit of an obsession with being the illegitimate son and knows when Gloucester dies, Edger is going to inherit all of his father’s land. In order to prevent this and for Edmund to get anything, Edger has to die.

I don’t view Edmund as a respectable character. He tries to play the ‘good’ son and that isn’t who he really is. He composes a letter supposedly from his brother Edger that says he wants to kill Gloucester in order to take over the Kingdom. It also says if Edmund helps he will be rewarded. Gloucester now trusts Edmund and thinks Edger is the ‘bad’ guy, which is what Edmund wants.

The reality is just the opposite though. Edmund tells Gloucester not to question Edger and says Edger wrote it to test Edmund. He makes it look like he is defending Edger, when in reality he is trying to destroy him. Edmund tells Gloucester he’ll talk to Edger and Gloucester can ease drop. This creates a large rift between the family.

BNW Response #4

After responding to question three, the answer is quite clear for me: I feel the society presented in Brave New World is bad. I don’t think I could live in a world full of false happiness and brainwashed people. There is no freedom of expression, which makes Huxley’s view of the future horrifying.

In thinking about a Utopia makes me think of the movie, Pleasantville. We watched it on this year’s Diversity Day. It’s about a teenage boy and girl who are completely opposites, and they gets ‘sucked’ into the television and placed into what seems to be an I Love Lucy sitcom. Everything is perfect in this society and needless to say, it’s colorless. The citizens aren’t allowed - or rather they just don’t know - about individuality, emotions, pain, war…really anything outside their perfect world. So to imagine that kind of world and actually live in it seems terrible.

Also, to not be able to feel emotions and to just sleep around with everyone with no consequences is very disturbing to me. It desensitizes the meaning of life.

BNW Response #3

In the discussion between Mustapha Mond and John Savage about civilization in chapter 17, it’s very apparent of their opposite mind sets. Mond’s argument boils down to him thinking society is perfectly fine the way it is. He feels it’s okay to let the leaders in society control people’s emotions and minds, and explains to John why society has no need for God, as the citizens don’t fear death. Mond goes on saying everything negative and bad have been taken out of society. There is no need to leave or question the State because everyone is happy.

John’s argument focuses on being an individual and having the ability to make decisions where they are good or bad. John wants to learn and feel emotion! He feels people should be able to learn from their mistakes and not take soma to make them feel better. When he says, “What you need is something with tears for a change,” John’s argument is clear: feelings are necessary to have a compatible, free society. “Nothing costs enough here,” also hints that when everything is free, only materialistic things are gained; nothing is learned because nothing is given up. John wants individuality and intelligence to have value, and it has to come with a price.