King Lear essay help (1 Viewer)

[Kazuya]

Hey guys,
For an in-class essay we got the question:

"Every new reading of King Lear implies a reconsideration of the ways audiences value the play and respond to it.
Discuss this view with reference to two scenes from the play and how these scenes impact on the play as a whole."

I just wrote about different readings, eg. feminist, new historicist and family, and how each reading would explain/justify the events of the first and last scene. The feedback I got was that I had to place the readings in historical context (which I now realise I should have done).

But what is 'historical context'? Is that just Shakespeare's time, or does she mean the different contexts like the diff. social values + attitudes throughout history that have led to the rise in popularity/importance of the different readings (feminist, family etc.)? If it's the latter, how do I do that? I don't know when each reading came about...

 

[Nerissa]

Hey there! We had to do this practice essay too, and we got to look at the response written by the 03'er who got 99 in English and is practically worshipped at our school...Anyway, how I think you should approach it is take each reading and show how it was influenced by its context. Also, in your choice of readings, try to show the progression of criticism over time. I'll give you an example: I wrote about Nahum Tate's version, and spoke about how Christian views of morality, redemption, good / evil and divine justice, the fact that audiences hated the play when it was first performed in 1606 and the fact that the theme of fallen royalty resonated too deeply (one of the kings of England at the time was mad, can't remember who...) prompted him to create his OWN reading and version of the play. Another one was Peter Brook's film, which was heavily influenced by the Polish critic Jan Kott - I talked about Kott's experiences during World War II (he was a freedom fighter and was tortured by the Nazis) and Brook's disgust at the senselessness of the Vietnam War and analysed how these events prompted each man to consider the play from a nihilistic perspective. I didn't do a feminist reading, but you should know enough from Year 10 History about the rise of the feminists, their rebellion against misogyny and the unfair portrayal of women throughout history to be able to relate your critic's attitude / view to their context. In essence, you're talking about HOW the values of society and important events in the critic's historical context (ie the time in which they lived) influenced their view. There is plenty of information in study guides, on the Net...perhaps look for biographies about your chosen critics....depends on how much time you have, I suppose. Hope this helps, and it should, I got 20/20 for my Lear assessment

 

[Kazuya]

Thanks so much for the info, Nerissa. I wasn't really sure what I had to do; the wording of the question is a bit vague. It seems that it's bit more complex than what I originally thought. Thanks again!