Essays on King Lear

Shakespeare’s tragedies are based on the culmination of the recklessness of his protagonists. For example, suspicion was the major cause of Othello’s downfall; Pride was the cause behind King Lear’s tragedy. As said by Aristotle, the protagonist’s weakness is the major reason for the tragedy to happen in the play. Shakespeare’s plays are based on the concept of Aristotle’s tragedy. The tragic hero according to Corrigan (206) is the good man who faces trouble due to his errors or shortcomings. The shortcomings or errors are the real motivators behind the action of the ...

Introduction

Akira Kurosawa's Ran is based on the 16th Century play, King Lear, by William Shakespeare. The main plots behind the two works are identical. Besides Ran’s adapted parallel characters like Hidetora, there are theme similarities and differences. In both stories, a leader decides to divide his kingdom among three heirs and a child identifies their father’s undoing in both. The similarities and differences in the plots of the two works underpin major similarities and differences in themes. For example, both works capture the theme of conflict between authority and challenge within the family albeit not exactly in ...

Everything new is well-forgotten old. This saying is true concerning any aspect of culture. Humanity evolves together with civilization and each century, every decade brings new ideas, forms and notions. The movement of postmodernism brought a lot of artists, who tried to bring in music, theatre and literature something new. But very often their new creations just evoke some ideas from the cultural legacy of other artists – the characters, plots and themes repeat in different variations. The play “Endgame” written by Samuel Beckett – an Irish avant-garde theatre director, playwright, and novelist, one of the founders of the Theatre of ...

In King Lear Shakespeare demonstrates the consequences of our actions in the in a few ways. In the first act King Lear, who is old wants to divide his kingdom between his daughters Goneril, Regan and Cordelia. He decides that he will give out portions of land according to who loves him the best “Which of you shall we say doth love us most?/ That we our largest bounty may extend? Where nature doth with merit challenge” (Shakespeare I.I. 50-52). Both Regan and Goneril are more than willing to profess their love for him even though they are lying. ...

Shakespeare wrote King Lear in the early 1600’s during a time that England was experiencing a social change. Much of this upheaval was caused by the continual shift in religion between Catholicism and Protestantism. Each shift brought with it persecution and death. King Lear was written during a time when the monarchy was the center of the kingdom. James I of England, VI of Scotland who was the king when King Lear was written felt that the powers of a king should be absolute as the position was given by divine right. This caused a number of problems ...

The apparent qualities of a strong-willed and intelligent woman are evident in Jane Austen’s portrayal of Elizabeth Bennet in Pride and Prejudice and the character of Cordelia in William Shakespeare’s King Lear. With the depiction of aristocracy and hierarchical societies in each text, the two women show their ability to uphold personal beliefs amid the threats of those in power and at the same time, set their respective plots in motion. Elizabeth’s refusal to marry immediately unleashes multiple chains of events as her initial pursuer marries another woman and the next man to come her way ...

The tragedy "King Lear" - one of the most profound social and psychological works of world drama. In Shakespeare's story of a cruel and ungrateful children served as the basis for the psychological, social and philosophical tragedy, which draws a picture of the prevailing injustice in society, cruelty, greed. The text of the play is most common with word "nature", and the theme of nature is connected with the general philosophical conception of Shakespeare. In the tragedy almost all the characters are turning to nature, mention it, call it into an ally, blame it for their troubles. This is ...

Film Studies

Ran (1985) "Ran" (1985) is one of the deepest films directed by Akira Kurosawa. Every character evokes emotions and makes the viewer think about his life circumstances.

The very first episode with boar hunt is symbolic. Three brothers are watching in different directions, but then are hunting one boar. Hidetora compares himself with this old boar, whose skin is tough and stinks. In this episode we see how his sons behave toward their father. The youngest - Saburo, really cares about Hidetora and we see this when Hidetora falls asleep and Saburo cuts branches to make a shade ...

Asian film industry has been entertaining audiences since a long time with the help of a strong story, music and different other aspects of film making. Asian cinema has lodged its strong presence across the world and Asian movies have won several prestigious international awards. This paper intends to discuss some very famous Asian movies like Red Sorghum, Ran, Eye in the sky, IndoChine and Dhobi Ghat along with further focusing, how masculinity has been portrayed in almost all these movies.

There are some favorite subjects of Asian movie makers. Aggressive Jingoism, fantasy, epic and masculinity are some important components of Asian ...

Ran is set in the 16th century in Japan. There is not much dialogue. Hidetora has three sons, whereas King Lear has three daughters. In that sense, there is a parallel between these two stories. Also in both of these works of art there is the question of authority that is given away from a father to his children. In the 16th century, there was a culture of the samurais which can be seen in Ran. In King Lear, the king is separated from his daughters Goneril and Regan because of their greed and from Cordelia because of his own vanity ...

Akira Kurosawa's film ‘Ran’ as an adaptation of Shakespeare’s ‘King Lear’ has several similarities that start with themes, action as well as characters. In King Lear, the women are seen as being hard-pressed from the centre of politics, while in Ran they are caught in between domestic margins. This paper addresses the power and motivations among women. It is therefore not a direct adaptation of Shakespeare’s play.

King Lear does not explain the history of the characters so that the reader can be in a better position to understand their motives, but Ran has their historical ...

Introduction

King Lear is one of the most thrilling books and plays done by William Shakespeare. Ideally, it is one of the four great tragedies within Shakespeare’s works. Among these plays is the Hamlet, Macbeth and Othello. However, King Lear is assumed to be the best among them. The title-characters of this play show a very clear outlay of leadership in a dynasty drafted by William Shakespeare. Ideally, the play lays its basis of the legendary “Lair of Britain” (Shakespeare 15). The legendary is described as a mythological Roman Celtic-King. Accordingly, Shakespeare designed the play underwriting such that it is mainly ...

Introduction

Implicit leadership theory refers to qualities considered as specific and suited for leadership, qualities that contribute to shaping the image of a person as leader (Schyns & Meindl 21). Considering, however, that there are various types of leadership, such as autocratic, bureaucratic, charismatic, democratic, participative, laissez-faire, people-oriented, servant, task-oriented, transactional, transformational or abusive (Bansal, et al. 188), the implicit theory of leadership shapes on the features of each leadership style. William Shakespeare’s “King Lear” implicitly delineates several leadership styles, visible in the characters’ development, decision-making and in their attitude in different situations. Implicit theories of leadership are entrenched in most ...

“Ran” is a well acclaimed Japanese movie that was released in the Tokyo international film festival in the year 1985. Akira Kurosawa directed this movie was the most expensive Japanese movie that was ever made up to its release. This paper intends to discuss the movie Ran and focuses on interesting parts of this movie. Ran is a Japanese epic that tells the story and downfall of Ichimonji clan. King Heditora calls his sons and suggests them to be united, and in order to corroborate his version, king displays, how one arrow is broken easily while it becomes difficult to ...

The world is a very different place than it was when people first came out of medieval times. If a person from that period were to step into today’s world, they would surely die from fright. Many people do not go to church and democracy has long since replaced the monarchies of that time. However, if they were to read popular literature and watch popular television shows and films, that individual would find themselves right at home. Conversely, a person who time travelled from the edge of reason might find this world to be a cultivation of their ideals. People are all ...

King Lear and the Basilikon Doran

The Basilikon Doron is an ornately significant document for the pivotal role that it plays in exemplifying the Jacobean court and its usage of the local allegory for recounting the royal power and accountability. Furthermore, this discourse is a highly useful recap of the way in which James I viewed his association with his family as well as the people of his kingdom, both of whom are bound to perceive James I as their regal father. The Basilikon Doron is precisely a list of qualities that make an individual a good leader and an ideal king. For an individual to be ...

{Student’s Name} {} {Course Name} {Date}

King Lear is one of Shakespeare’s most revered tragic plays of all time and even deemed by many critics as the most tragic. The play’s tragic end was so harshly condemned by the audiences that other writers wrote alternative “happier” endings that were even played on stage for quite some time. However, the play’s true essence lies in the original end and this was realized by critics and audiences alike and since then has been performed worldwide in its original form (Shakespeare and Halio). ...

Psychology of King Lear

Introduction It is adamant that the psychology of King Lear is quite disturbing in many ways throughout the play. He struggles with his own thoughts of conspicuous thoughts and ravages around the kingdom with a delusion of who his daughter is and who his servant is as well as how his family is implicated in the kingdom and how he sees his family being implicated in the kingdom . Therefore, it is reasonable to say that King Lear is psychotic or, in other words, mad in his own way and since he is aging, the mental illness he suffers from ...

The relationship between rich and poor, and the examination of class issues, in literature and art is always a fascinating proposition. Many works, through their structuring, messaging plot and characters, can be read through a Marxist lens – namely, the literary perspective which aligns with the philosophies and teachings of socialist writer and thinker Karl Marx. In Marxist criticism, works are viewed as lenses through which to view the sociopolitical worlds in which they were created (or are being viewed) (Eagleton, 1976). Art is political, particularly in a Marxist lens, and the works The Kite Runner and King Lear are no exception. Both ...

Shakespeare writes his play in an era where males are not accepting of women in power and authority. While the Elizabethan Age had Queen Elizabeth at the throne, many critics did not accept women in these positions readily. As a result, Shakespeare’s works reveal women in both negative and positive ways. Males controlled aspects of the society such as power and authority while women were expected to be submissive or weak and follow the orders as stipulated by these males. This submission was important to their survival in the society and within their families. During the Renaissance period, the ...

Introduction

‘King Lear’ is one of the luminous literary works of William Shakespeare. Shakespeare wrote this tragic play several centuries ago. ‘King Lear’ portrays the bitter truth of the society and various noted intellectuals consider this play as a rare literature that has ever been witnessed. George Bernard Shaw writes, “No man will ever write a better tragedy than Lear” (Shaw 23). This paper intends to argue for the possibility of greed of a family member or any person to destroy the whole family. In ‘King Lear’, greed is the cause of family tragedy hence the paper will argue on the positive and ...

Overview and analysis of Shakespeare and King Lear

William Shakespeare, the most famous and celebrated English poet, has been known to the world over the past 400 and more years, and yet had remained a mystery throughout this time. Many researchers and historians have undertaken the task of writing his biography, and still it is not well known. The reason for this is that the facts about Shakespeare's personal life have been drawn from two types of sources, the first one referring to official documentation, which in the time of his life was restricted to court and church records, while the second is his rich opus. Indeed, according ...

Introduction

King Leah is a play written by shake spear. The play consists of three female characters who are Goneril, Regan and cordelia. These are the daughters of King Leah. As Leah nears to his retirement, his decides to divide his power among his three daughters based on their love for the king (Danby, 21). The king loves his daughters very much but she loved the youngest more the other two. The king expected the same love from his daughters in return of his love towards them. Although he loves the youngest daughter Cordelia very much, this daughter does not ...

The people of Japan hold the virtue of honor in very high regard. Honor often has close ties with culture and self-perception. The Japanese often look upon honor as essential to one’s character as integrity. Masculine and feminine roles are also often defined under the idea of honor (Guerra).

How Honor is taught

Traditionally honor is taught to the new generation often within different families and clans. For a normal student, a teacher might have simply gone over the most basic aspects of the style without diving deeper into the subject or the student’s life. For a disciple, the teacher would develop a much more ...

Literature

Introduction Application of visual effects during a stage play can add a considerable amount of realism to the whole play. There are a large number of visual effects that are used for theatrical plays. But, imagination and creativity are two vital elements in implementing these effects. Besides this, lighting effects are the common ones that are widely used to create a hover of visual realism. The other common visual effects are physical effects and pyrotechnics. In pyrotechnics, much care is taken to ensure safety over the stage, and it is mainly used in rock concerts.

During medieval times, visual effects were looked ...

“ The good knight on Gringolet thought it great luckIf he could but contrive to come there withinTo keep the Christmas feast in that castle fairand brigh”. After enjoying the privileges in the castle, Gawain takes it for granted and does not honor the promise of host. At this point, he feels he is winning his way out when in the real sense; he is failing part of the original test. The wife of the host deceives him by taking a girdle that constantly reminds him of his folly. “Gawain was glad to begin those games in hall,But ...

Analysis of King Lear, Act V by William Shakespeare

The play King Lear by famous William Shakespeare is known as one of the best tragedies in the world. It was written at the beginning of the 17th century but still remains on stage. This means that it is successful and interesting to modern spectators. The story of the King, the powerful man, who wanted to be loved for his accomplishments by his family and friends, retire in calmness and die in the circle of beloved daughters. Instead, the King gone mad because of shame and sorrow. Members of his family die. However, the strong dramatic effect of the play ...

Blindness and insight is a repetitive theme in William Shakespeare's classic tragedy, King Lear. Shakespeare primarily uses the characters of King Lear and Earl of Gloucester as a means of depicting this theme. Although Lear is not physically blind, but the lack of guidance, intelligence, and insight in a sense blinds him. On the other hand, Gloucester loses his sight but in turn gains the insightful vision that Lear does not possess. It is apparent from the two characters that clear vision and insight are not derived entirely from physical sight. The lack of insight despite having physical sight is what causes ...

In William Shakespeare’s play King Lear, the relationships between King Lear and his three daughters play a critical role in the events of the play. Lear has dysfunctional relationships with all three of his daughters, resulting primarily from his overbearing demands that they should love only him. Through the end of Act 4, the relationships with his two older daughters deteriorate, and for much of the play Lear is estranged from his youngest daughter. Although Shakespeare demonizes the two older daughters to a large extent, the text itself suggests that Lear is primarily responsible for the dysfunctional nature of the ...

When reading Homer’s Iliad, one of the most important parts of the plot has to do with waiting for Achilles to decide whether or not he will enter the fray on the side of the Achaians. Agamemnon had angered Achilles before the war had even begun, by taking Achilles’ mistress Briseis from him. Agamemnon had had to surrender his own mistress (Khriseis) in order to undo a curse from Apollo, and he had demanded Achilles’ in return. When the Achaians arrive near Troy, while the rest of the warriors headed for the city, Achilles waited in his tent; all ...

King Lear follows the story of the titular character Lear, an elderly king who wishes to give up his power, and attempts to divide his lands among his three daughters. However, a series of unfortunate and capricious events, brought on primarily by Lear's own vanity and anger, lead him to slowly descend into madness, pushing away his three daughters. The show turns into a bloodbath, with all three daughters and Lear dead at the end of it, with many deaths stemming from jealousy, capriciousness and futile competition among military leaders. The play, however, demonstrates Lear's journey as the end result of ...

Analysis of Shakespearean Plays

Ethnicity is often a source of conflict in most aspects of society; Victorian era notwithstanding. This is evident in two of Shakespeare’s dark characters (pun not intended) Aaron in Titus Andronicus and Othello. Considering the context of racial discrimination during this time, it may be safely assumed that both characters suffered prejudiced treatment. However, the use of ethnicity as a plot device differed with these two characters. One is used literally to show the racial discrimination suffered by the character and trigger the consequences that followed while the latter is a figurative representation of abstract ideas.

In the play of Titus ...

Oedipus Rex is one of the great masterpieces by the great dramatist Sophocles. Oedipus the King is a trilogy out of which Oedipus Rex is the first part. The fast pace of this play and the horrible fate of the mighty king grips the reader from the very first word of the play.

After reading the play, some might argue that everything happened because it was supposed to happen i.e. because of the predestination. Furthermore, it is believed that Oedipus’s character had nothing to do with whatever happened with him and he was just a puppet in the fate’s ...

Shakespeare’s presentation of madness and blindness in King Lear are pervasive. Madness and blindness occur in the plot and in the sub-plot – in a literal and a figurative sense; they are frequently referred to in the language and imagery of the play; they are inextricably linked – the mistakes that certain characters make due to blindness lead inevitably to their insanity; some characters pretend to be mad or blind. In short, madness and blindness are far more than themes of the play – they are the play. Shakespeare weaves his entire play around madness and blindness and presents them so that they ...

In the introduction to Hunter's Shakespeare and the Comedy of Forgiveness, the author announces his intention to combat oversimplifications that have arisen over the past few decades with regards to the scholarship of Shakespeare, wherein the attitude of Shakespeare itself at the time of his writing would actually reflect the politics and intent of the work itself (e.g. King Lear having a sad ending indicating Shakespeare being despondent at the time of its composition). "This study...will be an attempt to investigate one feature - the denouement in forgiveness - which is common to five of the later comedies" (Hunter 2). ...