Lear disowns Goneril, and curses her to be sterile.
“Into her womb convey sterility!”
“Create her a child of spleen,”
“To have a thankless child!”
“I am asham’d that thou hast the power to shake my manhood thus,” *
- by removing Gonerils ability to have children, Lear is removing her womanly qualities (like lady Macbeth did). he is also removing the womanly qualities that make her weak and emotional. Thus making her more masculine, and thus more powerful, and strong. Which in turn only further leads to Lears downfall.
Lear- “O! (…), not mad, sweet (…);”
“O! let me not be mad, not mad, sweet heaven;”
Imagery of disease: Lear compares Goneril to
“A plague sore… in my corrupted blood.”
Finish the quote:
“Does (…)? This is not Lear (…)?”
“Does any here know me? This is not Lear… who is it that can tell me who I am?
“Degenerate bastard!” (To Goneril)
“Degenerate bastard!” (To Goneril)
To Goneril after cursing her to be sterile
“I am asham’d that thou hast the power to shake my manhood thus,”
- she has said power due to him cursing her fertility- now her womanly qualities are gone, she is more masculine, thus has the power to “shake his manhood”.
Lear- man stripped of all comfort leads L to ask…
“Is man no more than this?”
L- clothing imagery; clothes repress civilised life, but also sanity- without them Lear is truly mad
Stage directions- “[tearing off his clothes]”
L- Irony of Lear seeing the madman (aka Edg) as a …, he appoints him…
“Noble philosopher”
“Most learned justicer”
L trying to reason with Goneril
(Act 2 scene 4)
“, prithee, daughter, do not make me mad:”
- his daughters have already made him mad- his madness/temper are worsening
L calls Goneril a disease… a (…) and a (…)
“a boil… A Plague sore… In my corrupted blood”
L curses both daughters by calling them ….
“you, unnatural hags, I will have such revenges on you both”
What is the importance of
“[storm heard at a distance]”
The storms purpose is twofold:
- it is pathetic fallacy, as the storm Lear suffers though personifies his daughters.
both the storm and his daughters are over-powering, deadly, and out of his control. Lear must suffer through the rathe of both, and find a way to survive through their burden - it also resembles the metaphorical storm in his mind and his madness worsens, and his situation worsens (the climax is building)
“O Fool! I shall go mad.”
In the ‘Love Test’ L asks his daughters…
“Which of you shall we say doth love is most? That we our largest bounty may extend”
L- asks Cordelia what she’ll say to prove her love
“Our joy… what can you say to draw a third more opulent than your sisters?”
L response to Cordelia saying “nothing” in the love trial
“Nothing?… Nothing will come of nothing: speak again.”
L to both G and R- “let not women’s weapons, water-drops, stain my man’s cheeks! No, you unnatural hags, I will have such revenges on you both”
L- “here I stand, your slave, A poor, infirm, weak, and despis’d old man.”
L- “I am a man more sinned against than sinning.”
L- “this tempest in my mind” (links to storm metaphor, as the storm resembles his mind/madness)
L when speaking to Edg as poor Tom-
“Didst thou give all to thy daughters?
And art thou come to this?”
L stage directions “[Enter Lear, fantastically dressed with wild flowers]”
L- “I am the king himself… Natures above art in that respect…every inch a king:”
