... have the king murdered. His evil is so complete that by the time he dies in the last scene the audience is relieved. His fathers treatment of him has turned him against a heavenly belief that causes society to think of him as unnatural or illegitimate to an earthly belief ... seems to be an innocent victim of Edmunds treachery. Gloucester has no knowledge of what either of his sons are capable of. Edgar is too nave to realize he is being tricked and Goneril and Reagan are both adulteresses. The king has shown himself to have very little knowledge of how his actions ... . They also had ...

• Word Count: 2203
• Approx Pages: 9
• Has Bibliography
• Grade Level: High School

... [i.e. crowded] (Poems, sig. *4r). After the Restoration, Samuel Pepys saw the play acted five times between 1660, when the theatres re-opened, and 1668, the first time admittedly disappointed with the performance, his "expectation being too great" (Pepys, 1, 325). Today the play still produces great expectations of ... The play sets before us an intricately woven tapestry of high and low characters, of public and private motives, of politics and festivity, of poetry and prose, of history and comedy, of fact and fiction, allowing us to see and hear not only the Variegated play world but ...

• Word Count: 1901
• Approx Pages: 8
• Grade Level: Undergraduate

... disaster?" To which he stated: "If the play is seen as exemplifying the mindless, haphazard cruelty of a godless universe, it is indeed a drama of disaster. But if it exemplifies choice and responsibility, it is a tragedy in disaster the force comes from beyond our control, whereas tragedy assigns responsibility to the protagonist for the unhappy fate of the self or of others ... Edgar, saying if he saw his loyal son, he would metaphorically be able to see again and be redeemed, Edgar's presence at this time proves Gloucester's redemption. From the Christian perspective, Gloucester and ...

• Word Count: 1659
• Approx Pages: 7
• Grade Level: High School