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Interpreting the Text of King Lear

            Regardless of the time and place in which various productions were made, audiences continue to receive the play as an exploration of the values associated with the natural order. King Lear is a text that has been continually recontexualised but its universal nature is reflected through its reception in a range of contexts. The different productions highlight how the questions of power, familial duties and the role of fate have remained unchanged over time. King Lear is a four hundred year old tragedy of such textual integrity that it continues to be appreciated and interpreted in different ways by different responders.
             Natural order is maintained only through the responsible use of power. Shakespeare alludes to the Divine Right of Kings at the time of James I's ascension to power in 1603 and his wish to unite the thrones of Scotland and England. King Lear explores how responsibility and order are one and the same with power and authority. Lear is an irresponsible monarch who breaks the Chain of Being by dividing his kingdom prematurely. He carries a misguided and conceited notion of power which is characterised through symbolism in "Come not between the dragon and his wrath". It is ironic when Lear wishes to "unburthen'd crawl towards death" as a King was expected to lead and protect his people until his death. Lear's abuse of authority disrupts the natural order, cumulative imagery in "houseless heads" and "unfed sides" highlights the enormity of his realization to this truth. By encouraging pathos, Lear says, "Oh, I have ta'en/ too little care of this" pity is evoked in the audience for this failed monarch. Shakespeare addresses the issue relevant to his time as the notion of misguided power throws society into chaos.
             The values of responsible use of power and the natural order still hold significance to different audiences over time.


Essays Related to Interpreting the Text of King Lear

1. King Lear can be read in a variety of ways.

King Lear, like all texts, has been interpreted in a number of ways. ... When King Lear was originally written, most audiences would have interpreted it through an Elizabethan perspective. ... In a contemporary society however, King Lear has been received very differently. ... As a result, Eyre's reading presents King Lear as a domestic rather than a social tragedy. ... King Lear has been and will always be read in a variety of ways. ...

  • Word Count: 1119
  • Approx Pages: 4
  • Grade Level: Undergraduate

2. King Lear: Film Productions

William Shakespeare's King Lear: Film production by Richard Eyre or Michael Elliott? King Lear today rivals Hamlet as the most frequently performed William Shakespeare play. King Lear is a timeless tale of human greed, lust for power and lost loyalties. Directors" Richard Eyre and Michael Elliott have produced two distinctively different film adaptations of Shakespeare's play King Lear. ... Both the 1997 and the 1983 productions of King Lear have been successful in interpreting Shakespeare's play in the way that the directors desired to interpret the original text. ...

  • Word Count: 1073
  • Approx Pages: 4
  • Grade Level: Undergraduate

3. king lear

King Lear As time passes the values and expectations of the audience change and therefore so must film and literature. ... Kosky's play can also be interpreted as an example of Freudian psychology. ... In Michael Elliot's cinematic construction of King Lear, Act I, Scene I can be viewed as a traditional interpretation of King Lear. ... In Brook's appropriation of King Lear, Act V, Scene III is altered to emphasis a nihilistic view, which is the director's perception of the text. ... Harrison is a critic who shares a nihilistic opinion of Shakespeare's King Lear. ...

  • Word Count: 2216
  • Approx Pages: 9
  • Grade Level: Undergraduate

4. The Disguise in King Lear

The motif of disguise is prominent in King Lear. ... The text of As You Like It explicitly refers to that: Also, what danger will it be to us,/ Maids as we, to travel forth so far !... Thus, it is possible to interpret the disguise motif in the two shakespearean plays, King Lear and As You Like It, in historical terms. ... This dissonance is given attention in As You Like It and especially in King Lear. ... The disguised Kent in King Lear "...protess[es] to be no less than [he] seem[s] (1.4.14). ...

  • Word Count: 3220
  • Approx Pages: 13
  • Grade Level: High School

5. King Lear Speech

He described King Lear as a "pure tragedy". ... Do you perhaps interpret King Lear in a religious perspective? ... Your world-view, personal philosophy, religious convictions and/or appreciation of Shakespearian tragedy would definitely impact on your final interpretation of the text of King Lear. ... Do you believe King Lear is a tale of redemption? Thank you and enjoy studying King Lear. ...

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

6. Silence as a Sign of Emotional Intent in Shakespeare's

Volumnia is now often being interpreted as a being capable of growth, and thereby regret and grief in her final scene. ... When set apart from the main story Volumnia's progression takes on a plot of its own that mirrors the story of King Lear, in Shakespeare's tragedy of the same name. ... Though Hawkins does not specify the male that she is referring to in her review, her interpretation leads the reader down the path to King Lear. ... Here too we find elements of King Lear. ... Volumnia's shortcomings as a mother and communicator of love relate directly to the text of King ...

  • Word Count: 1648
  • Approx Pages: 7
  • Has Bibliography
  • Grade Level: Undergraduate

7. The Life and Works of William Shakespere

In the third stage, the contributions made by Shakespeare are listed here are considered works highlighting the playwright wrote his play Romeo and Juliet which is considered as the most important development This essay, which aims to present the most relevant aspects of the life of William Shakespeare, as his works, his personal life, his adventures, and the contributions he made ​​will have an interpretive approach; that mostly under the age of Shakespeare, the historical, social and cultural conditions will be explained. ... The monarchy of the Visigoths established peerages along wi...

  • Word Count: 2527
  • Approx Pages: 10

8. Criticism Of Shakespeare And His Drama

Despite the authorship "the artistic problem would remain untouched, because that drama remains always the same; Lear laments and imprecates in the same manner, Othello struggles furiously, Hamlet meditates and wavers before the problem of humanity, and the action that he is called upon to take; and in the same manner, all are enwrapped in the veil of Eternity" (Krull 32). ... He attended the King's New School, which was known for its academic success. ... Several of Shakespeare's famous tragedies were written and performed in this theatre such as Hamlet, Othello, King Lear, and Ma...

  • Word Count: 2347
  • Approx Pages: 9
  • Has Bibliography
  • Grade Level: High School

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