Att: 2006. King Lear introduction by Mercedes

[l-mercedes-l]

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These are the notes i came up with for King Lear before the trial. I've added a few lines but these are the things the I wish someone had told me before I started studying this module. So this is my offering to you. It's very simplified so that it makes sense if you haven't started studying this module yet its probably still woth reading to get you thinking in a certain direction. I hope it dosen't sound like im insulting your intelligence as your all clearly intelligent people to be taking this course, but i like to think of it as a lead in, something that i wish I'd had. *Sorry in advance for any spelling errors, i wrote this a fair while ago*

Originally Posted by RUBRIC

Critical Study of Texts
This module requires students to explore and evaluate a specific text and its reception in a
range of contexts. It develops students’ understanding of questions of textual integrity.
(Reread English Stage 6 Syllabus, p 52.)
Students choose one text from one of the listed types of text.
Shakespeare
Students who choose the Shakespeare play explore its literary qualities and the ways in
which different readings are possible and imply different values that may be realised
through different productions.
• Shakespeare, William, The Tragedy of King Lear, Cambridge University Press, New
Cambridge Shakespeare, 1992, ISBN 0521337291

To start at the start, King Lear is a play. Which means it is open to the interpretation of its audience, director and players. There is no finite meaning, unless we consider the specific context of its inception.

**Brief Overview** [This is oversimplified out of all meaning… but a starting point]
King Lear [of Britain] decides to split his land between his daughters based on their declarations of LOVE for him. His eldest two daughters oblige and are given land, the youngest refuses to flatter him and is banished. This sets up a complex family situation suggesting that power and family relationships don’t mix… *Notice in different productions whether Lear seems like a king or a father? – theres no answer to this but it is the sort of observation that aids your argument =)*.
The second plot involves a father and his two sons, one legitimate and the other illegitimate. In our society being a ‘bastard’ dosent have the same social/political connections.

You can find some reasonable summaries on the net which are detailed but I don’t want to give away the ending… although the title, ‘the tragedy of KING LEAR’ gives a reasonable idea.

I enjoyed studying this module, however after having studied it I’d like to share with anyone willing to read this thread what I thing the goals and purposes of this module are because I think that it would have made studying the module a lot less confusing at first.

I think that what the module is getting at is causing HSC students to see that certain views we take of texts [like King Lear] are influenced by a whole heap of things. For example, when we watch a film like ‘Shrek’, there is a wealth of allusions that can be made and this gives the film deeper meaning. Children can enjoy the film but the more we’ve read, seen and know, the more meaning we can draw from it.

Originally Posted by Some definitions

Critics-Scholars who have critically evaluated the play, they include Bradley and Lamb who said that the play was too complex to be acted and should be enjoyed as a psychological masterpiece.
Productions-Anything that you watch or see, a video or live production, a director and actors taking Shakespeare’s script and performing it
Play Text-The text you are issued, its not a novel or a story or a play {it’s a play when its acted}, but the script with the lines
Critical readings-Includes things like feminist readings which highlight particular things about the play, eg the patriarchal society

In the same way, looking at King Lear from a variety of viewpoints [Critics interpretations, eg Bradley and Lamb, Directors interpretations and audience response over time] creates a huge base of knowledge and it is inevitable that when we view different productions or consider different readings we apply all of our own preconceived ideas.

In the module you will watch productions which show how directors highlight particular aspects of the text. The play is hugely complex and not all of it is going to be relevant, so directors have to be selective about what they think is important. You use the productions as evidence for your arguments.

Once you have studied this module, [play-text, critical readings, productions etc] you will have a huge wealth of knowledge and what the module requires you to do is apply what you now know to form an argument.

I didn’t realise this at first and struggled with this module but if you follow these guidelines I’m confident that you will address questions really well because over the past few HSC’s this seems to be what they’re getting at.…
1. What do I think??? Do I think that the play is about family relationships, or power struggles, or Freudian psychology etc. You need to make a choice about what you think is important and central to the play.
2. Why do I think that??? What have I come across in my readings/viewings that make this reading seem valid, which critics support what I’m arguing, which ones don’t? What parts of my own context help me to accept a certain reading, 9/11 etc is always a good example for political drama, the present political climate might suggest and existential viewpoint.
3. How can I prove/justify what I think??? What productions and scenes are appropriate to prove what I’m saying? What things are the actors doing? Do Lear’s unscripted tears in the BBC production suggest the directors preference for a family drama view of the play?


These are notes from the 1/2yearlies which summarise some of the key things in the rubric… but challenge and think about them yourself, I make no claim to have all the answers!
Meaning changed over time by:
- Context
- Different Readings
- Different production values
- Cultural and socio-cultural factors
- Each individual performance
- Editors; i.e. Folio/Quarto versions

Script + Performance + Audience = “Play”

Script > What ideas
Performance > Hows/Techniques
Audience > Effects

Lines of argument;
K.L is about subverting expectations
K.L is a play about impossible choices > scale/weighing up imagery
K.L is a family drama/Aristotelian tragedy/political drama/
K.L can be viewed as a redemptive/nihilistic drama
K.L is about nature/human nature
K.L is an allegory for the flaws in human nature
The values in K.L are relevant to universal human existence
Key issues running through the text include,
- blindness
- folly

GOODLUCK GUYS!!!!

Any questions, PM me, i probably wont come back to this thread again.

This may be usefull when I do King Lear in term 2 next year thanks

[sando]

i'm starting King Lear when i get back after these christmas holidays, so i'm sure i'll find it useful

and if you have the time and wouldnt mind it, i'd really appreciate notes on BNW/BR, considering i went shit in that

[sando]

I'm just finished reading Act 1.

i dont mind it, really

It seems as though it has a good storyline

once i recieve the ample ammount of questions from my teacher, i'll be sure to come back and read this thread.

i jsut had a quick scim through, and it has aready increased my understanding

so thanks

[leesel1989]

Originally Posted by l-mercedes-l

These are the notes i came up with for King Lear before the trial. I've added a few lines but these are the things the I wish someone had told me before I started studying this module. So this is my offering to you. It's very simplified so that it makes sense if you haven't started studying this module yet its probably still woth reading to get you thinking in a certain direction. I hope it dosen't sound like im insulting your intelligence as your all clearly intelligent people to be taking this course, but i like to think of it as a lead in, something that i wish I'd had. *Sorry in advance for any spelling errors, i wrote this a fair while ago*





To start at the start, King Lear is a play. Which means it is open to the interpretation of its audience, director and players. There is no finite meaning, unless we consider the specific context of its inception.

**Brief Overview** [This is oversimplified out of all meaning… but a starting point]
King Lear [of Britain] decides to split his land between his daughters based on their declarations of LOVE for him. His eldest two daughters oblige and are given land, the youngest refuses to flatter him and is banished. This sets up a complex family situation suggesting that power and family relationships don’t mix… *Notice in different productions whether Lear seems like a king or a father? – theres no answer to this but it is the sort of observation that aids your argument =)*.
The second plot involves a father and his two sons, one legitimate and the other illegitimate. In our society being a ‘bastard’ dosent have the same social/political connections.

You can find some reasonable summaries on the net which are detailed but I don’t want to give away the ending… although the title, ‘the tragedy of KING LEAR’ gives a reasonable idea.

I enjoyed studying this module, however after having studied it I’d like to share with anyone willing to read this thread what I thing the goals and purposes of this module are because I think that it would have made studying the module a lot less confusing at first.

I think that what the module is getting at is causing HSC students to see that certain views we take of texts [like King Lear] are influenced by a whole heap of things. For example, when we watch a film like ‘Shrek’, there is a wealth of allusions that can be made and this gives the film deeper meaning. Children can enjoy the film but the more we’ve read, seen and know, the more meaning we can draw from it.



In the same way, looking at King Lear from a variety of viewpoints [Critics interpretations, eg Bradley and Lamb, Directors interpretations and audience response over time] creates a huge base of knowledge and it is inevitable that when we view different productions or consider different readings we apply all of our own preconceived ideas.

In the module you will watch productions which show how directors highlight particular aspects of the text. The play is hugely complex and not all of it is going to be relevant, so directors have to be selective about what they think is important. You use the productions as evidence for your arguments.

Once you have studied this module, [play-text, critical readings, productions etc] you will have a huge wealth of knowledge and what the module requires you to do is apply what you now know to form an argument.

I didn’t realise this at first and struggled with this module but if you follow these guidelines I’m confident that you will address questions really well because over the past few HSC’s this seems to be what they’re getting at.…
1. What do I think??? Do I think that the play is about family relationships, or power struggles, or Freudian psychology etc. You need to make a choice about what you think is important and central to the play.
2. Why do I think that??? What have I come across in my readings/viewings that make this reading seem valid, which critics support what I’m arguing, which ones don’t? What parts of my own context help me to accept a certain reading, 9/11 etc is always a good example for political drama, the present political climate might suggest and existential viewpoint.
3. How can I prove/justify what I think??? What productions and scenes are appropriate to prove what I’m saying? What things are the actors doing? Do Lear’s unscripted tears in the BBC production suggest the directors preference for a family drama view of the play?


These are notes from the 1/2yearlies which summarise some of the key things in the rubric… but challenge and think about them yourself, I make no claim to have all the answers!
Meaning changed over time by:
- Context
- Different Readings
- Different production values
- Cultural and socio-cultural factors
- Each individual performance
- Editors; i.e. Folio/Quarto versions

Script + Performance + Audience = “Play”

Script > What ideas
Performance > Hows/Techniques
Audience > Effects

Lines of argument;
K.L is about subverting expectations
K.L is a play about impossible choices > scale/weighing up imagery
K.L is a family drama/Aristotelian tragedy/political drama/
K.L can be viewed as a redemptive/nihilistic drama
K.L is about nature/human nature
K.L is an allegory for the flaws in human nature
The values in K.L are relevant to universal human existence
Key issues running through the text include,
- blindness
- folly

GOODLUCK GUYS!!!!

Any questions, PM me, i probably wont come back to this thread again.

im studying king lear atm its one of my fave plays by william shakespeare if u have any ideas bout how Shakespeare came up with this play i would love to read them!
thanx

[l-mercedes-l]

Originally Posted by leesel1989

im studying king lear atm its one of my fave plays by william shakespeare if u have any ideas bout how Shakespeare came up with this play i would love to read them!
thanx

That is a very good question and one that i dont think i can actually claim to be able to answer, especially considering the time that has passed since i did this module. however i am willing to suggest that shakespeare was influenced by a whole range of social and contextual factors at the time of writing.

firstly, textbooks suggest that the play is an amalgamation of 2 other stories. Remember shakespeare did not write his own plays completely but tended to reuse other stories. i think you'll find that K.L is based on a story[?] called arcadia and also another story that basically informs the king lear plot, arcadia {from memory} is the gloucester plot.

secondly at the time of writing in jacobean london, king james {double check this} had finally united england and wales and there was a time of peace. What effect would shakespeares political message have on a newly united and peaceful society such as it was???

aside from those 2 main things which are documented in the first section of your text, have a read, i would hazard a guess that shakepeare was also inherently interested in family dynamics. he himself had a slightly dysfunctional family with his long periods spent away etc {do some research and check these, this is purely from memory} and was more than likely perpetuating some inner interest in the breakdown of familial structure. by the way, this is purely theoretical and my own viewpoint, as a student that was very interested in freud and philosophy. but the point of this module is to FIND a way of looking at the text which is original and enlightening. Basically you can say anything you like as long as you can find examples in the written playtext and also in performances.

i think ive procrastinated long enough...

goodluck, im glad you like king lear, its a fantastic module

[leesel1989]

Thank you so much for writing back i did some research and found an enormous range of texts from the time that included pieces of king lear in it!

[georgie2006]

hey guys i really really really need help iv got an assessment coming up and i need to talk about A.C. Bradley's reading of the play (ie. patriarchal) BUT i have no idea how to do it...any suggestions????!!!

[ane_st]

i really like this topic, and King Lear is a great play i reckonn... im glad we get to do shakespeare.. oh and for the patriarchal thing.. sorry cant help you, im doing a family reading and an existentialist reading...

[kelly_xxx]

Originally Posted by georgie2006

hey guys i really really really need help iv got an assessment coming up and i need to talk about A.C. Bradley's reading of the play (ie. patriarchal) BUT i have no idea how to do it...any suggestions????!!!

Hi. Im doing King Lear as well and my assessment is in.. precisely 72 hours. ARGHH...

Anyways, onto A. C. Bradley. Basically his view is that [Correct me if i'm wrong] he talks of characters as if they are just normal human beings, experiencing familiar human emotions adn thoughts. Bradley also identifieds the unique desires and motives which gives each character their particular personality. So for example, he sees that the characters are marked by imperfections, e.g. Lear's pride, Regan and Goneril's lust, etc. etc. Bradley argues that this play is primarily about the inner struggles within the characters.

I partially agree with his view in that viewing characters in the play such as Lear and all the other characters from a human level allows us to understand, and sympathesise with them better. Perhaps Lear's actions and consequent sufferings have been caused by the foibles of his character... But then i also think environmental factors play a huge part, e.g. the fact that Lear is a King, his constructed status has contributed to his ego... hmm what do you think?

[tigerlily**]

hey thanks, ive got my trials next week...and King Lear is my worst module. this helps a lot!

[*miranda*]

Thanks! I'm just starting yr 12 and the first thing up for english is critical studies so we get to study King Lear. i really hate critical theory! urgh! i'm currently in act 2 but anyone studying King Lear for the 2007 hsc, is you're interested in talking about it with me either email me or PM me.

[revhead.meg]

thanks your thread has put me onto the right track coz we started reading the play today and im kinda lost... but slowly getting there =)

[Mystic-Illusion]

MARRY ME MERCEDES, lol.
Last minute cramming before trials.
You saved my life, lol.
Ugh im aware i have an extremely limited grasp on this module.
To point the finger; my Teacher focused more on Modules A and C most.
Ow well.
Got plenty of time before HSC to mend my situation.
Thanks for the post Mercedes.
Life saver.
=]

[wendolina]

HEyyy
Does anyone know what a Family Psychological Drama reading would consider? It'd be a heap of help thanks