Notesale: Turn your study into money

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This is most important when looking at the references to gender and status in
King Lear, gender fluidity is a key aspect of the play however it is necessary to understand the
strict gender roles that were present during Shakespeare’s time
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This allows us to view
Lear’s descent into madness as being more substantial than him simply losing his belongings or
title, without his masculinity, he has lost his identity, however, characters such as Edgar who
maintain more feminine traits (compassion, willingness to cry) are not negatively emotionally
affected by a loss of power, suggesting that the play is acting as criticism for hypermasculinity
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This is
relevant to the nature of the monarchy at the time being very androcentric
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King’s Double Body
Lear generates a whole host of problems in the first act when he decides to split his kingdom
‘Know we have divided in our kingdom;and tis our fast intent’
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However when Lear gives power to both
Gonril and Regan he does not follow the long held theory about the King’s double body as he
almost creates a second body to accommodate the sisters
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When the fool says this to Lear it is a reminder of the
loss of his divine identity and as he has no career outside of this title he nothing but his natural
body
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However it is curious
that when Lear’s flesh is finally exposed in the storm and the realisation that he has lost his
divine body he has a sort of anagoris ‘O I have ta’en too little care of this’
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The fool also points out that because his power
came from no skill or ability it was made from ‘nothing’
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Will Kemp was
Shakespeare's best comedian at the time, but he went to pursue a solo career which impacted
the company because a lot of people were attracted to the theatre, due to Kemp's style
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'The Fool' was Shakespeare's first role that seemed to truly
suit Armin, and was a complete contrast to other comedic roles he wrote before - clowns and
kings were often kept apart in his plays, but in King Lear, he creates some sort of intimate bond
that forces them together, which is shown by Lear's reliance on the fool for comic purposes
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In this way, rather than having the sole purpose of being a
clown, the relationship between the Fool and Lear is used to show that moral people are
misinterpreted by those in power, because they aren't seen to be as significant
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The
Fool is associated with a range of complicated, extended metaphors, which presents Lear to be
on a similar level as him
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This development of the comical
character into one that potentially has intellect is likely a result of the change from Kemp to
Armin
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Younger
male actors were also suited for, as he wrote Edgar and Edmund
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The messages and political ideas in King Lear demonstrate the ways in which the play became
a vital touchstone for the formation of British identity overall, and this is done through the
themes and ideas in the play but also the language techniques that Shakespeare uses
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The
contemporary anxieties and questions about the union between England and Scotland can be
seen in the overall plot of the play, with division of the kingdom being the primary source of
instability, and this means that with the plot line alone Shakespeare has demonstrated the
dangers of a kingdom becoming or staying divided, and is in favour of the new ideas of a United
British identity
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The use of words in the play is a key
demonstration of its impact on the development of British identity, with the changing use of the
words ‘British,’ and ‘English,’ in his plays reflecting the changing ideas
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The character of Lear himself is also vital to the play’s opinion on identity and nationality, as he
serves as a representative for the kingdom itself, and is used to be a small scale presentation of
the kingdom around him
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The inability of any
of the central characters to unify and govern a kingdom that is so divided is a key statement on
the ideas of British/english identity and the importance of unity, as the difficulties of leading a
divided kingdom result in chaos and disorder, and the process of putting these divisions into
place resulted in the breakdown of a personal relationship between Lear, and his daughters,
which means that the play is vital to the development of British identity because it shows the
dangers of having a divided kingdom and mindset, and places a clear emphasis on the move
towards viewing the country as united rather than just as England
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An example of where this
is presented clearly in the play is through King Lear choosing to originally divide his kingdom
between his three daughters, Goneril, Regan and Cordelia, and ignoring primogeniture which
was the idea that the monarch passed their kingdom onto his eldest child, ‘which of you shall we
doth love us most
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Despite this being an unusual and arguably corrupt way of
deciding, it does however reflect the anxieties about the union of Scotland and England as it can
be implied there is a feeling that there shouldn’t be a single heir for a kingdom due to Lear
dividing it into three
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This idea is also reflected through Cordelia’s refusal to express her love to
her father, ‘nothing’, as this breaks down Lear’s order in the kingdom and also presents the
conflicting political consequences of division
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This further
reinforces the idea that ‘King Lear’ reflects anxieties about this shift as the word ‘British’ is only
mentioned three times throughout the play

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