King Lear (1 Viewer)

[Tenille]

just when lear gets on one of his crazy rants and his daughters are bitches. and when they just start yelling at ach other for 1 one page speeches. nothing has really changed since then.

nothing to sad has happened yet in mine, only them being disowned

 

[= Jennifer =]

Originally posted by abdooooo!!!
how so? i don't why i cried reading it... umm... gay!

no you didnt you liar and i have proof you didnt read it....

Originally posted by abdooooo!!!
what do you mean? hahaha... i just made that shit up... i never even read the book

see

 

[Tenille]

its starting to turn a little disturbing but still funny. YAY for madness

 

[abdooooo!!!]

its not very funny when you get to the end scene...

Originally posted by = Jennifer =
no you didnt you liar and i have proof you didnt read it....

see

no... you liar... i hate you.

 

[AK Gumbi]

For KL, i recommend u buy the Excel book, and the Wizard book too..its only like $10 or something and it has got some nice, easy to read stuff in it...and let me tell u, the summaries come in handy nearing ur Trials and HSC exams time when u basically forget what happens in the play .
And to prevent reading the play again, make sure that as u r studying it the first time round, to underline/highlight/make note of certain important quotes esp those that may provide proof of misogony, etc.

And this site might also help:

http://home.pacific.net.au/~greg.hub/lear.html

 

[veanz]

Originally posted by abdooooo!!!
hahaha... nice intepretation... but when he revealed his true identities he ended the poor Gloucester's life.

Gloucester was a foolish old man just like Mr King Lear, the stripping of the eyes has opened him to a new and more accurate perception of the people around him, thats why i think it was a great part of the play.

i agree with you. Although i must add, there is something so abnormally and intensely horrific in this scene, dont you think? Nothing today, with all the guns and violence in movies compares to the brutality of something done with the bare hands! It looks as though it would be far worse than being slowly stabbed in the stomach - at least you would die eventually. And for it to be done by someone whom you thought was loyal.

Gawd shakespeare never ceases to amaze me.

 

[Tenille]

hmmm this play was quite... odd?

 

[= Jennifer =]

yes it is but...it is very interesting more interesting than othello

 

[Gregor Samsa]

Originally posted by AK Gumbi
And to prevent reading the play again, make sure that as u r studying it the first time round, to underline/highlight/make note of certain important quotes esp those that may provide proof of misogony, etc.

King Lear is definately worth reading more than once. I'm probably in the minority on this board at least (A shame.), but it really is a fantastic play, and studying it just heightens this, for understanding reasons such as;
-The parallel plot. (Its a cycle, each heightens the effect of the other, before entwining towards the inevitable climax.)
-Characterisation. (Even the 'villainous' characters retain an essential humanity, giving insight into their motivations, and continued relevance.. Shakespeare's adaptive talent is very apparent.)
-The language, ranging from imagery-filled ;
(Blow, winds, and crack your cheeks! rage! blow!
You cataracts and hurricanoes, spout
Till you have drench'd our steeples, drown'd the cocks!
You sulphurous and thought-executing fires,
Vaunt-couriers to oak-cleaving thunderbolts,
Singe my white head! And thou, all-shaking thunder,
Strike [smite] flat the thick rotundity o' the world,
Crack nature's moulds, all germains spill at once,
That make ingrateful man! )
to deceptively simple (I stumbled when I saw. or I will be the pattern of all patience)
-Universal themes. (Therefore remaining continually relevant..Even with the occasionally misogynistic dialogue and so-on.)
-Multitude of ideologies.. (One technique used in KL is characters representing many ideological viewpoints, from Stoicism to Nihilism to Christianity.)

The Peter Brook adaption is also very good.

 

[= Jennifer =]

what is the best way to start off a king lear essay i am having heaps of problems coming up with an original idea

 

[Gregor Samsa]

Originally posted by = Jennifer =
what is the best way to start off a king lear essay i am having heaps of problems coming up with an original idea

Do you have a set topic for your essay, or have to devise your own?

 

[= Jennifer =]

comparing lear's speeches in act one with his closing speech in act 2

 

[Gregor Samsa]

Hmm...Perhaps besides introducing the text, you could briefly state the extent of change in Lear's character that is revealed via his speeches. Possibly a line referring to the use of speeches to convey emotions and relations, and then linking to the insights revealed by direct comparison, showing Lear moving from confidence in his own position/power (Come not between the dragon and his wrath!) to a neglected state foreshadowing his own madness.

Something like;

Throughout the history of theatre, the dramatic speech has functioned as a means of gaining insight into the speaker's psyche, revealing their emotional state both singularly and in relation to others. As such, the comparitive study of speeches within a single text not only reveals techniques, but depicts character-based development. A fine example of this may be seen in the archetypal Shakespearean tragedy,' King Lear', revealing the inexorable progression from hubris to madness of its protagonist, the aging King Lear....

 

[aud]

Originally posted by mazza_728
Who's started?
Who understands it?
Ive read 4 pages of the introduction and I'm already lost with all the F1's and Q1's AHHH

Poor you, you tried to read an intro... intros usually screw your head around, it's better to just plunge in and read the intro later...

As for the Qs and Fs, Shakespeare's works were published in different ways:
Q1 = Quarto 1, aka the Bad Quarto - was very incomplete and miswrote things, etc
Q2 = Quarto 2, aka the Good Quarto - most books are now based on this one which has a few hundred more lines than Folio
Q3 = Quarto 3, a reprint of Q2 I think
Q4 = Quarto 4, I forget, I think it was a balance between Q1 and Q2
F = Folio - the Lear in the syllabus is completely based on the Folio version - leaves out 'Quarto-only' lines/scenes, and adds an extra hundred.

It's so confusing in my class cause we have different editions and types, and we'll be reading and someone will keep on reading... and half of us won't have it in our books...

I love Shakespeare... *don't hit me*

edit: fixed my mistakes

 

[Shiloh]

I'm doin King Lear...it was okay...until we got our assess. task on it today. I'm going to need some serious help!!!

 

[= Jennifer =]

we got our king lear assessment warning sheet it is a listening task!

 

[aud]

For our Lear assessment, which we get notified of in a few days, is an in class essay...

We get given three questions on a slip of paper to study for two weeks, then just before we start they tell us which question the essay is really on... last year there were only two questions, now we have to learn three...

 

[nickw...]

this shit is crazy

 

[aud]

Originally posted by nickw...
this shit is crazy

What shit in particular?

 

[iambored]

if it's the essay that's normal. they will normally be very close anyway, all essays for the HSC are. good practice!