Faults In Society: 'Patriarchal Approach To King Lear'

Tav Luthra
Ms. Keatings
ENG 4U0-C
July 22nd 2014
The Faults in Society:
The Patriarchal Approach to King Lear Over time, society has altered the attitudes towards various stereotypes; however, the stigmas placed on the roles of women remain undisturbed. King Lear by William Shakespeare illustrates the cunning capabilities of women against their supposed loved ones. Ultimately, their schemes are revealed and the female characters’ plans are exposed and consequently dealt with in extreme measures contributing to the tragedy. Patriarchy is a structure that declares that males are naturally dominating, especially towards females. In particular, patriarchy can be determined from the text, which assist in identifying the interchanging gender roles
Based on patriarchy, males are supposed to be controlling have the most power within the family. Sheila Rowbotham writes within her article, titled Patriarchy, “It has been used to express men’s control over women’s sexuality […] and to describe the institutional structure of male domination.” (Rowbotham 1). Rowbotham explains that patriarchy is used to display a male’s power over a woman. In King Lear, the males do not act as the laws of patriarchy state. Instead, Lear is being submissive to his daughters Goneril and Regan; as a result, Goneril and Regan take Lear’s power. He is disturbed on how much power the young females acquire, power that once used to be his. “Life and death! I am ashamed/ [t]hat thou hast power to shake my manhood thus;” (1. 4. 295-296). Lear is depressed that Goneril has enough power to make him upset, and act irrationally, which are traits usually associated with females. Lear’s knights are forced out of his control and Goneril’s husband, Albany, has no idea what is going on at this time and is ordered to stay out of the situation. This proves that Goneril can handle responsibility and she does not need to consult her husband before making these decisions, showing independence and courage, typical characteristics describing a male figure. In modern day society, the
(4. 1. 83-88)
Gloucester is being overly dramatic about this situation, one may understand he is upset; however, suicide is not the way to deal with situations. Overly dramatic typically describes a female so the reader may notice that Gloucester is acting like a female and being overly dramatic. The males in this play are just as emotionally unstable as the females are in modern day society. Evidently, the plot of King Lear by William Shakespeare successfully conveys the ideas of patriarchy using males who imitate female characteristics and females who imitate male characteristics, which support the stereotypes set on households by society. First, the females in the play demonstrate male attributes; such as, aggression. Second, Lear’s family and Gloucester’s family have issues that involve interchanging gender roles. Third, Shakespeare portrays males with more of a feminine persona than the actual females in the play. Some may interpret King Lear as a play strictly based on tragedy and deceit; however, it is clear that Shakespeare meant to add some literary trickery to the text when switching the gender roles of some of the characters. Once gender criticism is applied and this play is approached with a patriarchal approach, it becomes apparent that Shakespeare meant to add a twist to the plot not only for the audience’s attention, but also to convey the laws of patriarchy and the stereotypes against females that remain in