The wide range of ambiguities in Shakespeare

Consider and identify how this “wide range of ambiguities” might be preserved, rather than exclusively simplified, in documented (and if you wish, imagined) productions of one or more of the plays studied on the module.

In this quotation, Hunter proposes that Shakespeare’s plays contain many complex layers of meaning and themes, and a good performance should fully explore and present all these complexities to an audience. Much ambiguity is due in part to the richness of Shakespeare’s text, in which even apparently simple language can produce a variety of interpretations. King Lear is a very relevant play in this respect, as language itself plays a very important part in the plot. In Sylvia Ellis’ article exploring the use of language in the play she observes “King Lear examines a fascination with and an investigation of the relationship of language to meaning and words to truth” , meaning that what is spoken may not always be true, therefore layers of meaning and interpretation are created. It is also important to remember that Shakespeare’s plays began on stage and

There is a great range of options for staging Lear’s entrance. In the stage directions Shakespeare indicates a “Sennet” which was a set of notes played on wind instruments, which heralded a ceremonial entrance, perhaps suggesting Shakespeare wanted Lear’s entrance to be strong and important, reflecting the seriousness of the event. For example, Nicholas Hytner’s 1990 production at the RSC featured ceremoniously dressed courtiers, and Lear’s authority was unquestioned. In contrast to this, Deborah Warner’s 1990 NT interpretation had Lear hurtling onto the stage in a wheelchair surrounded by his celebrating daughters in party hats, portraying the ceremony as a light-hearted celebration. The effect of this would be to heighten the shock when Cordelia’s refusal to play Lear’s game dramatically changes the tone. These two very different interpretations of the same short stage direction emphasises the range of ambiguities in the text, which make such varied readings possible.

only later became texts, therefore when exploring the issue of interpretation, it is crucial to look at Shakespeare’s original intentions for performance, and how these have been adapted for a modern day audience.

King Lear is rich with ambiguities, with many aspects of the play offering any number of production choices depending on the interpretation, such as the Fool, the storm, and the blinding of Gloucester. However, in Shakespeare In Performance Parsons and Mason state “The particular emphases of a production are often clearly established at the start” , so for the purpose of this essay I shall now focus on the opening scene of King Lear, exploring the text itself and the various choices that have been made for specific productions.

It would be easy to simply present Goneril and Regan as villains out to beat their father at his own game, but is there actually anything in their words that show them clearly to be wicked? In The Empty Space, Peter Brook describes an experiment he did to explore this very question, in which he asked a woman who had never read or seen King Lear to read Goneril’s first speech for whatever values she found in it. Brook details how the woman proceeded to read it “simply…full of eloquence and charm” , yet when she was asked to read it again as the speech of a wicked woman it created a “hard unnatural wrestling with the simple music of the words” . This suggests that Goneril may not begin the play as a villain, but simply as a well breed lady speaking in public, and her transition into the monster she undoubtedly becomes, complex and compelling. In fact Goneril’s first words “Sir, I do love you more than word can wield the / matter,” seem more attributed to Cordelia who claims “I am sure my love’s / more ponderous than my tongue” , both seeming to tell Lear that their love cannot be described through language alone.

Some topics in this essay:
King Lear, Scofield’s Lear, Bristol Vic, Goneril Regan, Cordeliua Hamlet, Kingdom Leir, Deborah Warner’s, Sylvia Ellis’, GK Hunter, Lusardi Schlueter, king lear, goneril regan, layers meaning, love test, shakespeare’s plays, range ambiguities”, genuine love father, genuine love, original story, lusardi schlueter, lear gloucester, basis love test, scene king lear, “wide range ambiguities”, play father’s game,