Hear, Nature, hear, dear goddess, hear!Suspend thy purpose if thou didst intend 270To make this creature fruitful.
Into her womb convey sterility.
Dry up in her the organs of increase,And from her derogate body never springA babe to honor her. If she must teem, 275Create her child of spleen, that it may liveAnd be a thwart disnatured torment to her.
Let it stamp wrinkles in her brow of youth,With cadent tears fret channels in her cheeks,Turn all her mother's pains and benefits 280To laughter and contempt, that she may feel-That she may feelHow sharper than a serpent's tooth it isTo have a thankless child.-Away, away!In this particular monologue, it explores the theme, nature, immediately. Lear implores nature, to which he worships as a 'goddess' or deity to listen to his plea. He strongly believes that the god is capable of doing anything. For example, making her daughter sterile and drying up her womb so that no baby can come out.
Before this monologue, Gonerill wishes that Lear would behave in an orderly manner and would listen to her. Lear then starts to question himself and he seems unable to believe that he is listening to his own daughter because he thinks he is their father and therefore should be able to do whatever he wants.
"Are you our daughter?" Lear says.
Later on, the Fool shows regret for Lear's reduced status. Lear then becomes angry and declares he will go to Regan's castle instead assuming she would welcome him. Lear attacks Gonerill's ingratitude and defends his followers' honour. After this, in rage, Lear curses Gonerill with no children and if she did have children, they would be disobedient and unloving.
"Dry up in her the organs of increase, … derogate body never spring … Createher child of spleen, that it may live … disnatured torment to her. Let it stamp wrinkles in her brow of youth…" Lear curses.
Shakespeare's King Lear is a play revolving around the themes of human nature, madness and childishness. In the beginning of this play, King Lear is involved in a childish incident where an old king decides to give away his kingdom to the child who loves him the most based on a speech.
"Now, that we have divided in three our kingdom … tell me, my daughters, which of you shall we say doth love us most, that we our largest bounty may extend"Realistically, who would be so foolish ask their children to show their love on some bluffed words and base his will on what they say? (rhetorical question)The words 'nature' appear many times in the play. Why is 'nature' so important in the play? One major reason is that it is a powerful means of controlling people. Lear along with other characters think that what is 'natural' is right. For example, for much of the play, Lear believes everything he does is natural and any person who frustrates him is unnatural, because it is natural that everyone should obey him without question because he is king. Nature herself is a goddess to whom he can talk to.
"Hear, Nature, hear, dear goddess, hear!" As Lear begs.
There are two different views of nature in Shakespeare's play, a good or a bad way. Characters are classified as good or evil accordingly to their view of nature. In this monologue, Lear is 'mad' and has the evil nature in him at the moment. An example of when nature is evil is with the characters, Edmund, Gonerill and Regan. The evil nature in them feeds and motivates them and make them behave like ruthless predatorial animals.
A major type of image used in the play is that of animals. These are used mainly to compare the character's behaviours and nature with animals. Animals are seen in the play to be insignificant creatures. In the play, Shakespeare suggests that sometimes humans can be as cruel and insignificant as animals are. He uses metaphors about serpents and fanged animals to compare with the evil character in the play.
"How sharper than a serpent's tooth it is," as Lear would say to curse Gonerill.
"Kind Lear", William Shakespeare
You May Also Find These Documents Helpful
-
16. What does Lear vow to do in the face of Goneril’s behavior and how realistic are his threats?…
- 349 Words
- 2 Pages
Satisfactory Essays -
Lear was naked, in a sense, by the removal of all that he owned and all that he held dear, in the way that he began processing the identity of himself as a beautiful, inadequate human. Perhaps, Lear’s wild speeches that seemed mad to Caius was the voice of a good change in the man, Lear (Lamb & Lamb, 2010, p. 163).…
- 561 Words
- 3 Pages
Good Essays -
With such powerful language and intonation, it sometimes is difficult for me to remember that King Lear is but an aged man, biased and occasionally foolish. In act two, he finally ostracizes Regan and Goneril by making sexist comments intending to wound both women. His speech has three distinct parts: distinguishing men from women, making a prayer for the present, and giving his threat for the future. Lear divides the world into two parts, one with animals, and the other with humans. The latter category is then again subdivided into men and women. He sees the section of men as like beasts, but women to almost have just a superficial view of the world by only caring about looks instead of substance. He mocks Regan and Goneril with their clothing- something he calls “gorgeous”, but it “scarcely keeps [them] warm.” Lear must consider himself to be like a beast in that he acts as he sees practical, like keeping knights that stay loyal to him as the only family he has left, which are “a reservation to be followed with such a number.” I think he is stumbling over what to say the entire speech, with interrupted sentences, apostrophe, and the use of prose, which might indicate feeling rushed and lack of time in which he would usually have spoken poetry. By discussing sexism, it seems to be an easy play of Lear’s to make that will surely injure Regan and Goneril, even though both are quite masculine in their powers. In the next section, he creates another sexist divide by assigning different responses to hardship per gender. Even his speech shows his condescending beliefs for women by using the soft ‘w’ sound alliteratively in line 319. “…women’s weapons, water drops,” are contrasted with what Lear wants- “noble anger” that is more suited to him as a man. Even the thought of crying would “stain [his] man’s cheeks” in an act of weakness. While characterizing grief as womanly, Lear again associates being female as a deficiency in that one…
- 372 Words
- 2 Pages
Good Essays -
Shakespeare in Lear, presents the notion that characters in great authority force suffering upon others in an effort to retain power, admiration, and status. Initially, Lear himself demonstrates this, appallingly treating Cordelia with an irrational snap judgement when he is embarrassed in court by his youngest daughters silence and lack of praise; “Here I disclaim all my parental care.” (1:1:107) This unjust sentence is highly ironic, especially for the audience, as dramatically we see transparent farce of Gonerill and Regan’s dedications of love, and the total truth of Cordelia’s. Due to the “infirmity of his age” (1:1:284) (Lear) the unjust pain Cordelia endures for his mistake is greatened, and due to this dramatic irony the audience is forever hopeful for some form of justice and resolution to come.…
- 999 Words
- 4 Pages
Good Essays -
The character of King Lear possesses the fatal flaw of hubris. He is arrogant, self-absorbed, an imperious king who is unbelievably unrealistic. Especially in the division of his kingdom, his title always came first and he had little or no understanding of what it meant to be a father or to love as can be seen in Act One nothing will come of nothing. Speak again. Hence Lears suffering from Act Three onwards is a large part of his journey…
- 1443 Words
- 4 Pages
Better Essays -
To be fair, it is difficult for us, as readers, to know how true this assertion is. Lear claims, “My train are men of choice and rarest parts, / That all particulars of duty know,” yet we have already seen Lear make imperious demands and lose his temper in a seemingly unjustified way (1.4.240–241). At this point in the play, the audience may still be unsure about whether or not to sympathize with Lear, especially given his capricious decision to banish Cordelia. Still, we know that Goneril has been talking, in private, about how best to control her aging…
- 5068 Words
- 21 Pages
Powerful Essays -
King Lear reaches a point where he turned into a mad king and easily enraged by anybody that disagrees with his decisions, except his fool. King Lear is an old man who has enjoyed his authority of kingship for a long time and he is giving up everything to his. Lear is ready to hand all of his authority, and income that comes with kingship, but Lear keeps few things in return, first being one hundred knights and the second is to keep the title as “King” by saying “With reservation of an hundred knights By you to be sustain’d, shall our abode make with you by due turn, Only shall we retain The name and all th’addition to a king.” (1.1.132-135). This is an example of Lear’s pride and arrogance because Lear still wants to be known as a king although he owns nothing, no kingdom, and no authority over anything. Lear kept one hundred knights to prove that he is still known as a king and still powerful. As time passes Lear becomes less known in society which makes him furious because he is used to be a powerful king soon afterward becomes unrecognized. Lear is upset to the fact that he is unknown and an example when he shows his frustration would be “Does anyone here know me …/ Who is that can tell me Who I am?” (1.4.215-219). This proves that Lear himself notices that he is a nobody now, and he cannot define himself since he has lost everything, including his daughter and his loyal servant Kent. Lear’s daughters Goneril and Regan got everything they wanted from their father, and now they want to take his one hundred knights to make Lear completely powerless. Lear begins his retirement with him keeping one hundred knights and his title and wants to live with one of his daughters for one month. Lear’s knights are the only thing he has left and that is his only pride other than his title. His daughters demand Lear to get rid of his knights in order to stay. Lear lost his knights and losing his knights represents taking…
- 1477 Words
- 6 Pages
Better Essays -
strife will always follow and that giving them his Kingdom would only lear to his downfall. Goneril and Regan use his flaws…
- 1216 Words
- 5 Pages
Powerful Essays -
Secondly, the God’s cruelty was thrust upon many people as they begged for justice. Lear asks “show the heavens more just” (III.iv.39) as he considers the nakedness and poverty in which “Poor Tom” lives. Lear does not understand why the God’s continue to allow his own daughters to treat him as horridly as they do, much the same as why they continue to leave Edgar (Poor Tom) naked and in poverty in the streets. As well, when Gloucester tries to commit suicide, Edgar convinces him that, while Gloucester sees it as an injustice, the God’s not allowing…
- 640 Words
- 3 Pages
Good Essays -
When Goneril states to Regan that, "You see how full of changes his age is; the observation we have made of it hath not been little," (1. 1.) it is assumed that Lear was once a sane, and at least somewhat competent monarch. His senility, while seemingly unknown to Lear, affects how other characters in the play identify him. Goneril and Regan clearly have lost respect for him as he has aged, and because they have no respect for him, they have no qualms about completely betraying him. Because their wives view Lear as less, Albany and Cornwall also seem to have less respect for Lear due to the onset of his senility, but perhaps not to the extent of Goneril and Regan. While Lear seeks to relieve himself of the burdens of rule due to his old age, he wishes to retain, "The name, and all the additions to a king; the sway, [and] revenue," (1. 1.) of being monarch. This leads the reader to believe that, to some extent, Lear himself understands…
- 1228 Words
- 5 Pages
Powerful Essays -
King Lear makes many mistakes that lead him to his own doom. His first mistake is paying more attention to his daughters’ pretty words than their actual personalities and aims. When deciding how to divide his kingdom amongst his daughters, King Lear asks them the question: “Which of you shall we say doth love us most?” (line 50.1144) Lear’s intentions are genuine; he only wishes to divide his kingdom fairly among his daughters and give them all individual dowries. Lear’s eldest daughters, Goneril and Regan, proclaim their love for him with extravagant and very flattering speeches. Cordelia, Lear’s third daughter, does not use flattery. She is honest with her father saying, “Unhappy that I am, I cannot heave / My heart into my mouth, I love your majesty / According to my bond; nor more nor less” (91-93.1145). Lear expects the extravagance and flattery he received from the others. His expectations cause him to overlook the greedy selfishness of Goneril and Regan and the selfless love of Cordelia.…
- 980 Words
- 4 Pages
Better Essays -
Goneril and Regan tell Lear exactly what he wants to hear; that they both love him more than anything, even their husbands. Lear seems to be entertained by the fact that each daughter is competing against one another for his love and trust. It is for this reason, when, unlike her sisters, Cordelia finds it hard to lie and Lear acts in the way that he does. "Let it be so! Thy truth then be they dower!... Here I disclaim all my paternal care... And, as a stranger to my heart and me Hold thee from this forever... Be as well neighbored, pitied, and relieved As thou my sometime daughter" (1.1.108-119) Lear's anger-ridden speech does not hide his frustration, and it is obvious that this will have a negative impact later in the play. Driven by his blindness, Lear begins to make many mistakes. He not only loses his devoted daughter; but also banishes his most loyal servant,…
- 1048 Words
- 5 Pages
Good Essays -
The notion that humanity is possessed only by those who understand and perceive the basic human condition can be seen to be explored in King Lear. Lear’s advancing madness allows him to perceive reality once he is stripped of his title and reduced to “nothing” during the storm scene; that is, that man is merely a “poor, bare, forked animal” and that he, for all his royalty, is “no more than this”. Imagery is utilised to affirm his epiphany and accept his insignificance as a mere mortal. In his humility, Lear is able to understand the values of humanity, demonstrated when he bids Cordelia not to resist being jailed, an indication that he has discovered that true filial love is more important than fighting for the material concepts of rank, property and power.…
- 1057 Words
- 5 Pages
Good Essays -
The opening Act of King Lear uses the motifs of nature and the unnatural, sanity and madness, and “nothing” to reinforce the downward movement in Lear’s perception of his own identity. For example, at the beginning of the play, Lear expresses his awe at the serenity of a beautiful world: “With plenteous rivers, and wide wide-skirted meads…” (I, i, 66). As the plot moves forward, the motif of the unnatural becomes present and indicates the negative trend of Lear’s own identity. Specifically, when Lear becomes mad at his daughter Goneril for treating him poorly he exclaims: “…from her derogate body never spring / A babe to honour her!” (I, iv, 77-78). Whereas normally a father would wish well upon his children, Lear curses his daughter, and the…
- 369 Words
- 2 Pages
Good Essays -
Lear delivers these lines after he has been driven to the end of his rope by the cruelties of Goneril and Regan. He articulates how unnatural their acts are towards him. When his daughters ask to take away his knights and attendants, he feels as though his power has been taken away from him. The way Goneril and Regan treated their father drives him mad. Like the end of the soliloquy states, he is unable to bear the realization of his daughters’ terrible betrayal. Despite his attempt to assert his authority, Lear finds himself powerless; all he can do is vent his rage.…
- 1375 Words
- 6 Pages
Good Essays