King lear

shakespear feature一、內容既為抄襲更有創作；二、劇中 人物善惡並存；三、語言既精準又岐義；四、思想兼具傳統與創新。 如《李爾王》（King Lear）劇中，李爾的兩個女兒固 然不孝，他自己的固執昏庸、自以為是，何嘗不是釀成悲劇的原因？因此我們對劇中人 不再愛憎分明，而有更多的認同。《李爾王》的題材描述的是古今熟稔的親子關係，劇中孝道和忤逆形成強烈的對比。其中也探討到真實與謊言、親情背叛和老年等議題。 Okay, I'l give you a brief summary. King Lear has three daughters: Goneril, his eldest, Regan, the middle child, and Cordelia, the youngest and his favorite. Both Goneril and Regan are married to men of power: Albany and Cornwall, respectively. Cordelia is unmarried and assumed, like all unmarried women of that time period, to be pure. When King Lear decides he is going to pass down the rule of his kingdom and divide it amongst his daughters, he demands that his three lovelies earn it by convincing him that each of them loves him the most. He is, basically, fishing for public flattery. Goneril and Regan try to one-up each other by kissing the king's royal behind, but Cordelia refuses, believing that she shows her love for her father every day. For this, Cordelia is disinherited and banished, and all hell breaks loose from there. Because Lear was more interested in appearances than real loyalty and devotion, he royally (ha ha) screws up his kingdom and life. Goneril and Regan are horrible to their father after he hands over the control, and he winds up wandering his kingdom, cold, hungry, practically naked...basically a broken man. Cordelia, the only truly loyal and loving daughter, sends to France to try to help him take back his kingdom. King Lear realizes his mistake, but it is too late. Cordelia is executed for her efforts and Lear dies of grief. Hope this helps. Cordelia cannot be blamed for her honesty. Unlike her sisters, she refused to embellish and lie when her father put love to the test. Lear's pride required stroking...... and Cordelia's love for him was true and solid. Her words were truthful and genuine. Unfortunately, her father didn't want the truth and embraced her sisters' extravagant lies over her simple, pure love The eldest daughter, Goneril contrives to strip Lear of his power from the beginning, flattering him and leading her sister in how to act. She drives Lear from her house with coldness and then aids Regan in rejecting him and throwing him out into the storm. Disgusted by her husband's weakness, she tries to persuade Edmund to kill him so they can marry. Her letter allows Albany proof against Edmund and herself. She poisons Regan out of jealousy and then stabs herself when she realizes that Albany knows of her intentions. When Lear stages his silly love test, he asks Cordelia "What can you say to draw a third [of the kingdom] more opulent than your sisters?" Cordelia replies, "Nothing."Lear is offended and says, "Nothing will come of nothing." The idea is that if Cordelia refuses to play his silly game, she will get nothing in the way of inheritance. Lear preferred to hear the empty compliments of Goneril and Regan rather than see the true love of his daughter Cordelia. The double plot of King Lear has parallel stories of two hapless old fathers and their children. The octogenarian Lear proposes to distribute his kingdom among his three daughters--Goneril, Regan and Cordelia--on the basis of their respective eloquence to quantify their love for the old father.Goneril and Regan get their shares by exaggeration and flattery, while Cordelia is banished by Lear for reiterating 'nothing'. Lear's story is one of abandoning the good daughter and rewarding the false & selfish ones, leading to the ill-treatment of the father by Goneril and Regan, while the banished daughter vainly tries to rescue and rehabilitate her wronged father. Cordelia dies the death of a martyr of love, proving her 'nothing' so authentic & substantial, whereas the two 'pelican daughters' degenerate and get deceased. In the parallel story, old and credulous Goucester suspects, hates & abandons his good son, Edgar, and embraces his bastard son, Edmund, who turns into a Machiavellian villain to betray his father. Thus the parent-child relationship in the main plot is duplicated in the sub-plot.The tragedy of Lear and Gloucester deals with the theme of filial ingratitude, the appearance and reality of parent-child relationship. Outline I. Thesis Statement: The emotional effect is heightened in King Lear with Shakespeare’s use of a subplot that mirrors the father-child relationships, the corruption of political power, and the death of the protagonist in the main plot. II. Parallels of father-child relationships A. Lear’s daughter Cordelia parallels Gloucester’s son Edgar. 1. Both Cordelia and Edgar are loyal to their fathers to the end. 2. Cordelia is banished and Edgar is forced into hiding. B. Lear’s daughters Goneril and Regan parallel Gloucester’s son Edmund. 1. Goneril and Regan flatter Lear just as Edmund deceives Gloucester. 2. Both Lear and Gloucester talk of the ingratitude of their children. C. Lear and Gloucester are both blind to their children. 1. Lear is blind to Cordelia’s love and to Goneril and Regan’s ulterior motives. 2. Gloucester is blind to Edmund’s deceit and trickery. III. Parallels of greed in political power A. Goneril and Regan seek political power. 1. They strip the King of all his train of followers. 2. They reject the King’s title and turn him out into the storm. B. Edmund has high political aspirations. 1. He allows Gloucester to be blinded for his own political gain. 2. He usurps Edgar’s legitimate title as the future Earl of Gloucester. C. Kent and Edgar both lose their nobility. 1. The Earl of Kent is banished for his honest defense of Cordelia. 2. Edgar loses his claim to nobility through the deceit and trickery of Edmund. IV. Parallels in the deaths of Lear and Gloucester A. Both die in the presence of their loyal children. 1. Lear dies with Cordelia in his arms. 2. Gloucester dies after Edgar has revealed himself as the Duke’s son. B. Lear and Gloucester both die in “extremes of passion.” 1. Lear dies of a broken heart. “Break heart, I prithee break!” 2. Gloucester’s “flaw’d heart” bursts of “joy and grief” after his reunion with Edgar. C. Both die with renewed insight. 1. Gloucester needs to be blinded before he can see Edmund’s deceit and Edgar’s loyalty. 2. Lear needs to suffer the rejection of his older daughters before he can see Cordelia’s loyalty 3. Both find that the loss of title and position humbles them. V. Conclusion: The subplot intensifies the emotional impact of the main plot in the areas of child-parent relationships, the corruption of political power, and the death of the protagonist.