please help with this dumb Lear assignment!! (1 Viewer)

[irnie]

this is the question:

'You have been asked to give a speech to a group of trainee actors on "the timeless text". Write the speech, in which you discuss the ways in which the ideas, language and form of King Lear have been received in different contexts.'


i've just been tiptoeing around the question for days now.... i don't know how to go about just starting it... and whether it asks to refer to only productions or both productions and readings.... and what content should really be used in talking to a group of trainee actors..

any pointers PLEAAASE? any help is GREATLY appreciated

 

[xBellex]

Alrightey, that's a beaut question you've got there and in talking about differing contexts, yes you do refer to your readings and productions to help support what you're saying. Because you are talking about trainee actors, by using examples,you can show that you are addressing your audience which we assume are amatuers and therefore know little about the play. In discussing readings and productions, you can then launch into your contexts and contextual shifts as seen by the interpretation of the production/s director/s and focus on how the language reflects societal ideals and attitudes relative to your context (e.g. in a feminist reading you could mention the context of KL being a very Patriarchal society, women treated as commodities/objects as expressed through bestial imagery in language...also the undermining of femininity esp. when KL disowns Gonerill).

For example, last year for my HSC I did an aristotelian reading and referred to differing contexts in terms of the idea of the 'tragic' element and how Lear's ultimate demise is so poignant in conveying the fragility of humanity and human limitations. In doing this I noted the contextual shift from the play being set in Pagan times but written for a Jacobean audience and how this idea of the redemption of Lear arises due to the evolution of Christianity and Christian ideals. In doing so, I noted that by wanting Lear's redemption, it destroys the overall message of the play about humanity.

After explaining such elements relating to your reading, you could then casually put in...'this can be seen in Schofield's/Brooke's etc etc production, particularly in Scene blah blah blah'. '...

I hope this kind of makes sense, it's been a while! Hope it helps!