King Lear naivety and inability to control his emotions (ENG4U class)

hey everyone !

I am finished writing an essay for my ENG4U class on King Lear and was wondering what you thought ! Any feedback would be most welcome !

Here is my thesis: In Shakespeare's King Lear, Lear's naivety and inability to control his emotions leads him on a self-destructive path from denial to rage and, finally, to isolation.

Thanks in advance !!

Not everyone's journey through life can be smooth and carefree. Some paths in life can be treacherous and fraught with peril. In William Shakespeare's King Lear we see the cruel reality of one man's journey through hardships and unexpected hurdles that ultimately lead to his downfall. Lear's life takes an unexpected turn as his world begins to crumble before him. His life begins to twist and transform and Lear becomes so shrouded in denial that he fails to see that his very own daughters plan his demise. However, after Lear realizes his daughters' true intent he becomes consumed with rage which ultimately leads to his self inflicted isolation. In Shakespeare's King Lear, Lear's naivety and inability to control his emotions leads him on a self-destructive path from denial to rage and, finally, to isolation.

Lear's naïve nature makes him blind to his daughters' true intents and feelings towards their father. He is blinded by his love for his daughters and can not speculate why they could act in such a manner as to throw his servant, Kent, into the stocks. Lear's denial becomes evident as he questions Kent:

Lear. No, no, they would not.
Kent. Yes, they have.
Lear. By Jupiter, I swear no!
Kent. By Juno, I swear ay!
Lear. They durst not do't; they could not, would not do't. 'Tis worse than murder. To do upon respect such violent outrage. (II.IV.19-24)

Lear's vehement denial that Regan and Cornwall would ever disrespect his authority demonstrates his inability to see the truth. This failure to determine fact from fiction impairs his mind as Lear begins to formulate his own understanding of Cornwall and Regan's actions: "Infirmity doth still neglect all office whereto our health is bound. We are not ourselves when nature, being oppressed, commands the mind to suffer with the body." (II.IV. 103-107) In his mind, Lear comprehends that the brain cannot possibly function while being ill and therefore the body cannot be held responsible for its actions. This blind attitude and immature thought process is what ultimately carries Lear from denial onto the second stage of his emotional journey.

Lear's path from denial swiftly moves towards rage through lack of ability to control his emotions. Goneril's cruel and unkind attitude towards Lear is his first failure to maintain his composure and his rage begins to take form. Lear ventures to Cornwall and Regan's castle in order to seek refuge. He pleads with Regan and he speaks of Goneril's "sharp-toothed unkindness" (II.IV.134) and his rage increases further as he spouts, "my curses on her!" (II.IV.144) Lear's clear lack of self control award him no more tolerance from his second daughter as Regan rejects his cries for help: "Good sir, no more. These are unsightly tricks, return to my sister." (II.IV.156-157) This is another trigger to unleashing Lear's rage and further failure to control his emotions will spiral him towards a path of deep spiteful anger.

Lear's rage reaches its pinnacle as Regan and Goneril begin to strip their father of his dignity and authority. His lack of self control enables his emotions to take hold of his actions. The sisters offer their father shelter with a simple request; that he give up his retinue:

Goneril. Hear me, my lord. What need you five-and-twenty? Ten? Or five? To follow in a house where twice so many have a command to tend you?

Regan. What need one? (II.IV.259-263)

Goneril and Regan's intentions may come off as cruel, however Lear's emotional reaction only further illustrates his rage, "O reason not the need! Our basest beggars are in the poorest superfluous. Allow not nature more than nature needs, man's life is cheap as beast's." (II.IV.263-266) Lear's comparison to being treated like an animal infuriates him to his breaking point. His rage erupts in a volcanic and explosive outburst, "No, you unnatural hags! I will have such revenges on you both that all the world shall-I will do such things-what they are, yet I know not; but they shall be the terrors of the earth. You think I'll weep. No, I'll not weep." (II.IV.277-282) Lear has become so enraged with his daughters that he curses them and vows vengeance. His path from denial to rage has now come full circle due to his inability to maintain his thoughts and actions. This king's lack of self control and ineptitude at controlling a situation, ultimately lead him toward the path of self destruction. Lear's journey from denial to rage and finally isolation is almost at an end as rage gives way to isolation.

This heart wrenching emotional journey has finally led Lear to isolation. His rage towards Gonerial and Regan has led him to feel isolated and abandoned by his family. Lear's lack of ability to suppress his rage towards his daughters has forced his path into that of loneliness and self desertion, clearly illustrated when he cries out to the surrounding storm;

Lear. Rumble they bellyful. Spit, fire. Spout, rain! Nor rain, wind, thunder, fire are my daughters. I tax not you, you elements, with unkindness. I never gave you kingdom, called you children, you owe me no subscription. Then let fall your horrible pleasure. Here I stand your slave, a poor, infirm, weak, and despised old man. (III.II.14-22)

Lear cannot begin to comprehend why he should suffer at the hands of his daughters when he has given them so much. This man's journey to isolation is now at hand. Forlorn and bellowing into a dark ominous storm clearly illustrates how alone Lear truly is. His feelings of abandonment oblige him to once again call out into the night in a last attempt for someone to hear his pleas. He roars to the storm wanting to be judged and purged from the gods since he describes himself as a "man more sinned against then sinning." (III.II.57-59) Shakespeare clearly illustrates the epitome of isolation and loneliness by depicting a frail old man howling into the open night sky during a raging storm. Lear's path to isolation is now absolute and is the final step before his ultimate self destruction.

The emotional voyage of Shakespeare's King Lear, was a long and arduous journey. Lear's self destructive path from denial to rage and, finally, to isolation was ultimately his own doing. The inability to think for himself and determine the false nature of his eldest daughters is where Lear began his journey in denial. Such blindness, in conjunction with Lear's inability to maintain control over his emotions, led this king to a path of thunderous rage. The lack of ability to have power over his actions led Lear to a self inflicted isolation. Only Lear can be held responsible for his own demise as he lacked the capability to control the situations around him. Fate may lay out the course for us to follow however; we govern our own actions and must accept responsibility for the choices we make.

On the whole, this is a strong essay with good grammar and organization. But I notice a problem in your conclusion that reflects a problem running through the essay. You say, "Only Lear can be held responsible for his own demise as he lacked the capability to control the situations around him." Of course, we are not responsible for things we lack the capacity to control. We are responsible only for those things within our control.

Throughout the essay, you alternate between charging Lear with self-destruction (implying that he is responsible for his own demise) and giving him an out by saying that he was unable or lacked the ability to do this or that. You will need to settle this question in your own mind before you can write a coherent essay in which your phrasing consistently comes down on the same side of the question of whether Lear was responsible for his own demise.

In my view, due to hubris, Lear was willfully blind to his daughters' deceptions and did not choose to control his emotions. That's the sort of phrasing you will need to use if you want to hold Lear accountable for his own downfall.

In keeping with Simone's excellent advice, you might also want to address Lear's initial decision to give his kingdom away to his daughters, and how that shows his great hubris. It isn't just that he wants to have all the benefits of being king while giving up the responsibilities, though that is part of it, too. Nor is it that he gives away land based on his daughters' ability to flatter rather than based upon his own understanding of their characters, though again, that's also part of it. Most importantly, though, it is that, under Shakespeare's worldview, kings are divinely appointed, chosen by God. That makes kingship a charge that Lear does not have the right to lay down. To believe that he can divest himself of what he was divinely invested with is arrogance that involves placing himself above God, which is sort of the very definition of hubris.

Good point, Sean.

Thanks guys for your awesome feedback ! I will modify some of my phrasing so that it sticks to one reason for his downfall and not flipping back and forth.

I'm going to review my paper today and try to make some changes and I'll re-post when I'm finished. :)

I just had a question about Lear's hubris. Hubris is someone's pride or arrogance correct ? I'm just not sure how that would apply to his denial. My first point is that I'm trying to establish that Lear is blind and naive when it comes to his eldest daughters intents and character qualities. Maybe I just don't understand the meaning of hubris thoroughly ?

I am almost done writing a second paper on King Lear where I trace his emotional and physical journey in which I talk about pride. Would that be a more appropriate place to discuss his hubris?

Maybe I just need more clarification ! lol

Thanks :)

Hubris is excessive pride or confidence, to the point of arrogance. Most literary critics agree that Lear was meant to be an example of hubris. In addition to the interpretation that Sean outlines, there is also the fact that throughout the play Lear ignores the advice of those who are warning him not to take these foolish actions. He thinks he knows better. He has excessive confidence in his judgment. That's hubris.

And this comes back to my main piece of advice. I am not saying that you should stick to one reason for his downfall. I am saying that you need to decide the central question of whether you believe Lear was responsible for his downfall. If the answer to that is "yes," then you must keep your language consistent with that, for example saying that he was "unwilling" rather than "unable" to control his emotions.

Yeah, if you are going with "unwilling" rather than "unable," you can unite a lot of the points under the heading of hubris. So, if he willfully ignore his daughters' advice, then that can be cast as hubris. If he willfully chooses to engage in expressions of rage rather than in reasoned discourse, believing that he should be obeyed without question, then that too can be classified as a type of hubris. And pride, of course, is a close synonym to begin with. Hmmmm . . . three points that can all be tied back to the same overarching statement, almost like it were a defensible thesis . . .

ah okay I understand now !! Thanks for your help guys !

Romeo, What an interesting essay! You make it seem almost as if King Lear has a happy ending. It's always so fascinating to me to see the different ways that people read and think about this classic play.

I'd like to see a stronger first sentence. What you have now is fine, but could be so much more precise and, therefore, individual. Draw the reader in with a description of Lear at the start and end of his journey or with a less common statement about paths in life.

I'd also like you to go through the essay and ruthlessly eliminate unneeded words such as "particular" in "Lear goes through six particular stages..."

In terms of punctuation, I notice that you sometimes use semi-colons incorrectly. Here are a couple of fixes.

Such hostility, however, ultimately leads to overbearing anguish and suffering followed by madness as Lear attempts to cope with such raging emotions.

These characteristics are unfit for a king and thus only one conclusion can be drawn:that Lear has been overcome by madness.

By, the way, I noticed that your feedback to other Forum users was very helpful. Thanks for participating so actively!

Great job. Reading your essay has made me want to reread the play, so you've obviously done something right. You might want to consider deleting the first three sentences of your introduction, though, and moving your last sentence of that paragraph to the beginning of it.

Thanks again guys for your wondering incite ! I made some changes and submitted both papers so I should have both marks back fairly soon.

Thanks again for all your help :)

By all means feel free to post your marks when you get them -- it is always interesting to learn how well an essay posted here was received by its intended audience.

Hey guys !

I've gotten the marks back for both essays and I got 91% on both !!! So I just wanted to thank you guys for all your help and feedback !!

My next assignment is to read The Stone Angel and do two assignments for that as well so I'll have some more stuff soon !

:)

Congratulations! You worked hard for those grades and deserve to feel good about them.

Great job! I look forward to seeing what you come up with on the Stone Angel.

And, Romeo -- Don't forget to pay the favor forward by helping others with their essays!