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Literary Focus: King Lear - Storm Scene


            The storm scene constitutes the mechanical centre in "King Lear " as in "Julius Caesar " it will be recognized as the dramatic back ground to the tempest of human emotion . A C Bradley says "The storm in ˜King Lear " coincides with the storm in the human affairs and also with the storm which is present in the heart and soul of "King Lear ". And it is not ordinary storm it a night of black winds, a night" Where in the cub-drawn bear would couch, The lion and the belly-pinched wolf Keep their fur dry. "Stapford Brooke says that "No word can tell the imaginative greatness of the scene on the black and lovely moor and in Lear's black and lovely heart. " The storm scene reflects king's sufferings and the lessons he learns through these sufferings. According to Moulton, the purpose of the storm is not confined to marking of emotional climax; it is one of the agencies which assist in carrying it to its height. King Lear is a willful man and he suffers due to his wishes because he does not hear to others. The king physically struggles against the storm which symbolizes certain things. There is a storm in external and internal world, disturbance in human nature and in outer world. Lear is struggling also mentally with the stormy winds and invoking the gods for help and mercy. He is tearing his white hair and treats his sufferings in different ways with his uncovered head. The image of child and parents is also very significant here. There are gusts of rains and winds, and animals must struggle for their shelter, but king is deprived of all these things. The storm is significant for him, but he does not care for it, because the storm in his mind is greater than the storm of this night. Mental excitement sometimes converts into actual madness. Lear is exposed without shelter to the pelting of the pitiless storm, and he gets wilder with its wildness. Then he is suddenly brought into contact with the half naked Tom.


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