William Shakespeare's King Lear

King Lear 

 

Historical Context 

The historical context of Shakespeare's King Lear is twofold. William Shakespeare periodically mentions the misfortunes brought about by the disunity of England under King Leir, the historical source of Shakespeare's play. When reading it, you should bear in mind the history of King Leir and the discussions about the union/disunity of Britain at the time of Shakespeare. Shakespeare drew the main plot of King Lear—that is, the story of a ruler who divides his kingdom among his children and is consequently ruined—from several sources describing the legendary British king of that name. 

 

Related Literary Works 

Shakespeare drew King Lear's main plot from a number of sources describing the legendary British king by that name. Shakespeare drew further subplots from Edmund Spenser's The Faerie Queen (1590), which also features a character named Cordelia, who dies by hanging; and from Sir Philip Sidney's Arcadia (1580-90), which contains an outline of the Gloucester subplot. 

 The Play 

King Lear puts his daughters to a test to see who loves him the most Lear asks his daughters to express their affections for him. Appealing to his vanity, the two oldest cajole him with pretexts of affection. Each get one third of his kingdom. Though she loves her father, the youngest refuses to cajole her father into getting the last third of his possessions. 

 “then let truth alone be your dowery” 

King Lear disowns his youngest daughter and gives the rest of the land to the other two. What does this equal? His subject, Kent, disagrees with the king’s decision and is consequently banished. But being the dear friend, he disguises himself to care for the aging king. Because she has no dowery, the Duke no longer wants Cordelia as his bride, but the French king does. King Lear plans to stay with each of his eldest daughters for a month somewhat to test them somewhat to stroke his ego This displeases the two daughters: neither wants to deal with the old man, but both are blatant cajolers, typical of courtiers of the time. 

Similarly…The Earl of Gloucester is conflicted with his sons Edmund- illegitimate son, cunning villain Edgar- legitimate son, good, betrayed by bro Edmund makes his father believe that Edgar is trying to kill him. Edmund does this in order to gain exclusive control of his father’s land. King Lear visits Goneril first She hates her father’s presence and tries to control her father. This only enrages him and hastens his senility. Her husband tries to calm King Lear fearing retribution, but Lear leaves to visit the second daughter. The banished Earl of Kent (sympathetic to Cordelia) disguises himself and becomes King Lear’s new servant in order to protect his king/friend from his own daughters. King Lear sends a servant (his good friend) with a letter to Regan. Goneril also sends a servant with a letter to Regan. Edmund convinces his father that Edgar wants both of them dead. In order to protect his pretext, Edmund convinces Edgar to flee, and then Edmund incriminates him in a conspiracy (treason). King Lear still believes Regan will be kind to him, but he soon finds out otherwise. She, too, insults him and ridicules him driving him further into senility. King Lear and his servant (Kent incognito) escape into a storm. Gloucester is worried and urges Lear to find protection under the French King and Cordelia’s protection. Ironically for his service, Gloucester was blinded by the servants of Goneril and Regan.  

 

Lear to Kent (incognito): “I am a man more sinned against than sinning.” (3.2)  

 

The French army led by the French King will take back Lear’s throne. Like Kent, Edgar also has disguised himself as a fool rather than leave his father unprotected. Upon finding Gloucester blinded, Edgar promises to help the old man find his hut. Gloucester plans to kill himself and wants the fool (disguised Edgar) to lead him to Dover to do so. Because Edgar is protecting his father, Gloucester survives. As a result, he feels it is a miracle and is determined to carry on. Regan’s husband dies in a battle against the French king, but she receives the affections of Edmund. Jealous, Goneril vies for his attentions. Edgar captures Goneril’s servant, and in his pocket, Edgar finds a letter to Edmund from Goneril instructing him to kill her husband and betroth her.  

 

King Lear, guided by the disguised Kent, finds refuge with Cordelia. Cared for with kindness and tenderness, King Lear regains his sanity and sees the truth. Weeping, he regrets his errors. Meanwhile, Gloucester, too, is furnished with the truth when Edgar reveals himself to his father just before Gloucester dies in Edgar’s arms. However, a battle is still taking place between France and England. Edmund was arrested for treason against King Lear, but Regan sides with Edmund and claims she wants him as her husband. Goneril, jealous, poisons her sister. Edgar shows up with the letter indicting Goneril against her husband, so she stabs herself. Edmund dies in battle with the satisfaction that two women died fighting over him. With a small bit of remorse, Edmund sends Edgar to have the order changed, but it is too late. Cordelia, too, is charged with treason, but she is hanged. Her death breaks Lear’s heart, and he dies. Edgar and Goneril’s repentant husband alone survive to rebuild Britain. Simple character who learns to see beyond appearances into the heart of a person Tragic hero because despite the tragedies of his own making, we still feel sympathy for him. King Lear may also be compared to King Solomon in the way that his kingdom is also divided. 

Conclusion 

I- William Shakespeare's King Lear is about endurance, fairness, religion, nature, dementia and insight. When this play is viewed from a feminist perspective, it is apparent that the behaviour of the female characters stemmed from the king's inability to follow the social rules of Elizabethan England. Most of the writers conclude that the king's mental disease is evident from the opening scene of the tragedy.  

II- Although ecocriticism has not had much influence on Shakespeare's studies, it provides a vocabulary for the environmental ethics and attitudes of plays such as King Lear and a means of moving beyond the thematic and symbolic readings that have characterized so much of the critical work on Shakespeare's representations of Nature. On the other side are Edmund, Cornwall, Goneril, and Regan, who are associated with a Nature that is at best indifferent to social order and customs and at worst amoral and rapacious. In the middle is Cordelia, whom Danby sees as "standing for Nature herself."' For Danby, "Cordelia expresses the Utopian intention of Shakespeare's art.” 

III- Finally, in my opinion, King Lear is one of the best tragedies of William Shakespeare in terms of using characters and themes. The play contains many different themes such as Old Age, Animals, Fooling and Madness, and Blindness-Insight. Not only Shakespeare shows us, Lear's family issues, but also Gloucester's family conflict. However, Lear and his daughters are the main plot. Edgar and his father and brother are subplots. Both Lear and Gloucester have faith in the wrong child and reject the right one.

You will witness a big tragedy.  

  

 

Mummification Process

Mummification Process

Mummification was developed by the ancient Egyptians to preserve the body for the afterlife. Typically, all internal organs are removed before mummification, except the heart. But in this case, the heart is removed, and the lungs are left intact. Next, the body is covered with salt and left for about 40 days, until all moisture is eliminated. Perfumed oils and plant resins are rubbed on the body. Thick layers of resin are applied to glue the strips of linen that were wrapped around the body. The mummy is placed on a wooden board and more wrappings bound them together. A mysterious pouch, perhaps of religious significance, is placed on the chest. A mummified ibis*, a wading bird with a slender, down-curved bill, is placed on the abdomen. Ibis mummies commonly served as votive offerings to the gods, but this is an unusual case of a bird being mummified with a deceased human. Long linen strips further secured the wrappings. Large linen cloth was wrapped around the mummy. The shroud is painted red with an imported lead-based pigment. This treatment is rare, very few red shroud mummies exist. Egyptian symbols of protection and rebirth are painted on the outer cloth with pigments and gold. After the mummification process is completed, if the person is a king, they are placed in three coffins, one of which is gold and the other wooden, and the 70-day mummification process is completed. 

*Ibis-The unusual covering of a votive ibis mummy—a shell of linen and plaster—reproduces the bird's long beak and head, with glass beads added for eyes. Millions of votive ibis mummies were dedicated in Egypt during the first millennium B.C. 

William Shakespeare - Julius Caesar

 William Shakespeare  

Julius Caesar 

 

William Shakespeare is a well-known writer who has continued to impress readers and audiences all over the world for nearly 400 years with his power to express the human condition in his plays and poems. The tragedy of Julius Caesar which is well-known, takes over one of the most famous assassinations of the world, yet this play differs from real history. Shakespeare focused on the inside of the characters, particularly Brutus and Caesar. He rebuilt their life, ideas and behaviours.  

 

The play has been interpreted as the struggle of Julius Caesar and his followers, who want to wear the imperial crown, and dictatorial tendencies are getting stronger with the republicans. From this perspective, Brutus is noble, a patriot, and an idealist, furthermore the assassination of Caesar is a rebellion. The betrayal of Brutus to Caesar means Roman is superior to all things. William Shakespeare created a new Caesar, his Caesar is a person both glorious like a god and weak like a people. Caesar's power and victories are respected by people. He is arrogant. Caesar who wants to show his power, does not listen to anyone, and he goes to die. Shakespeare may try to show us that arrogance is how bad thing (I do not want to share a spoiler).  

 

Shakespeare shows us Brutus. He is a good husband and a kind person. He is a patriot and people who want to kill Caesar, use his patriotism to kill Caesar. Brutus and Caesar have a good relationship. In Roman culture, an honourable image is fairly significant. Brutus thinks that it is necessary to give the image of the saviour instead of the murderer to legitimize the assassination of Caesar. 

 

Finally, was Caesar a tyrant who deserved to be killed, and was Brutus a saviour? We can see that Shakespeare uses more than one evaluation while he is editing his plays. I think we should avoid judging characters, and consider how complex human personality can be.  

Et tu, Brute?