... portraying his father, using both Gonerill and Regan for his advantage and also for Cordelia's death. When Gloucester talks of the "ruinous disorders- of the time, he projects them through the lens of this quaint astrological theorising. Edmond's mockery stresses the gulf between the father's older world-view and the son's fashionable scepticism. Gloucester talks of "These late eclipses- and their unavoidable "sequent effects ... can be seen to be caused by the absence of maternal figures, causing Lear's blocked capacity for intimacy. This is supported by Coppelia Kahn's The Absent Mother...

• Word Count: 1753
• Approx Pages: 7
• Grade Level: Undergraduate