Throughout the
play King Lear by Shakespeare, I find that madness and insanity are very strong
themes. It makes me wonder, why were these themes necessary? Why did
Shakespeare have to incorporate such absurdity? Would the play be different if
it did not have those bizarre scenes such as the one where King Lear, The Fool,
Kent, and Edgar (Poor Tom) are stuck outside in the storm? The entire scene is
a frenzy. Could the play have done without it? I personally don’t see the
point, but then again was Shakespeare even trying to make a point or was it out
of entertainment and comedy? For example, in Act 111 scene 1V, “Bless
thy five wits! Tom's a-cold,--O, do
de, do de, do de. Bless thee from
whirlwinds,
star-blasting, and taking! Do poor Tom some
charity, whom the foul
fiend vexes: there could I
have him now,--and there,--and there again, and
there.” I have come to the
conclusion that Shakespeare believes that in order to get to the core of us
human beings he places his characters in chaotic and turbulent settings that
expose all of their weaknesses and vulnerability. Insane emotions such as the
one in this play, can truly make us think and feel as if we were the character
or perhaps if we were ever to be in that situation. I feel Shakespeare wanted
to make the characters susceptible and explore their emotions by causing
dramatic and preposterous life battles for them. Would the play have the same
effect if it did not possess the insanity Shakespeare intended it to have?
I completely agree with you on that; I feel that the play would not have the same effect if insanity was not a theme in the play. Shakespeare is obviously famous for his tragedies-insanity happens to be one of the core themes of his plays. Insanity shows vulnerability and it expresses a characters fall from grace. Lear is a perfect example. He once did take pride in himself, his kingdom, and his family. Lear had a sense of power within himself and his sadistic daughters, (excluding Cordelia), robbed the power from him. When he was banished from his kingdom to Dover, he was traveling through a tempest. During the tempest is when he becomes unstable and starts completely losing it. Lear states in Act III Scene II, "My wits begin to turn." He also speaks with Gloucester in Act IV after Gloucester eyes were removed. As they are conversing, Lear starts yelling like a madman-with much emphasis-"kill, kill, kill, kill, kill, kill!" This shows Lear will never be the same. He will no longer be seen as a powerful king because his sanity is lost. Insanity is an important theme in tragedies, I feel that without it, Shakespeare would not capture the attention of readers. A character falling from grace can be viewed as a process, within that process we see powerful emotion from insane characters. The theme of insanity helps us feel what the character is going through, and as we read we begin to feel sorry for that character; which I believe Shakespeare intended to do.
ReplyDelete