King Lear by William Shakespeare

King Lear by William Shakespeare

 

Hey everyone,

Now I've finished my plan for my English Literature coursework, it's on to prepping for the exam. For our exam we are doing King Lear and I have finally finished my first read through of it. Sorry I haven't written a blog for a couple of weeks but I'm having to read Volpone and King Lear at the same time- not easy texts.

One of my mum's favourite playwrights, I knew my knowledge of it would be scrutinised. One of her party tricks is to be able to recognise any line of Shakespeare from any play and tell you which one it comes from. I don't think I'll ever be able to do that but I do need to quote in the exam.

It is a great tragedy by the famous William Shakespeare and it does make you think. My teacher asked whether I'm enjoying it and I'm not entirely sure yet. I love the characters but every single one seems to overreact in this alternate reality. Cordelia seems too love interested to be real compared to her harsh sisters who seem heartless until they find Edmund who they fight over. You feel sorry for Regan and Goneril whilst at the same time grateful that they are getting what they deserve until the final scene.

My favourite character has to be the Fool for no particular reason that I can explain apart from the fact she makes no sense. Possibly, after having read Fight Club, I see the Fool as King Lear's alternate conscience but whatever part she plays I think the Fool is the best.

However I did surprise myself how much I could understand. I haven't read Shakespeare for so long but once you start looking for the one line in each section that has no metaphorical elements, it all starts to make sense. Yes the language was difficult but once you have a dictionary by your side, they are no longer a problem. I did find myself wanting to analyse the language development in King Lear but I knew I needed to concentrate on the plot during my first read through. Although writing down the plot summary did become tedious, it developed my understanding of the text immensely.

I did see the play before I started reading the play which really helped with my understanding of who the characters were and the basic plot but reading the play brought so many new things alive that I'd missed in the live performance. The play I went to see did stay very closely with the actual text which has helped me make greater links.

Thanks,
Hope you enjoyed my latest blog even though I will probably look back and be embarrassed by my initial interpretations. Oh well, it's out there now...