Plot
Name 2 characters who disguise themselves and their Aliases
Kent (Caius)
Edgar (Poor Tom)
Who said, 'Now gods, stand up for bastards!'
Edmund
Name 2 techniques where a character speaks directly to the audience (or to themselves) to reveal their inner thoughts, heavily used by villains like Edmund and heroes like Cordelia.
Soliloquy and aside
This Elizabethan/Jacobean belief system held that the universe was arranged in a strict, divinely ordained hierarchical order.
The Great Chain of Being
What idea does Gloucester's characterisation explore, enhanced by Edgar and his disguise?
Identify 1 way Lear mistreats G+R and 1 way they mistreat him.
Teacher's discretion
This character begins the play as a timid husband, but grows a massive backbone to stand up against evil later on.
Albany
In prose
While Shakespeare’s England was a deeply evangelical Christian nation, King Lear is deliberately set in this kind of historical/religious era.
What is a pre-Christian pagan nation?
Edmund’s rejection of astrology in favor of self-determination aligns with this philosophical movement emphasizing individual agency.
Humanism and its more radical form, Machiavellianism
Kent is subjected to a humiliating punishment. What is it and why did it happen?
He was put in the stocks for attacking Oswald.
Who is an ironic voice of reason?
The Fool
Name 3 techniques employed by the Fool
Irony, puns, rhyme, aphorisms...
What could Lear be warning King James I about?
The importance of unity
What theme/motif contrasts social order in the play
Nature
Why is Gloucester accused of treason?
Because Edmund reveals letters showing that he knows of a French invasion
Name the 3 sets of character foils
Cordelia - G+R
Edgar - Edmund
Lear - Gloucester
Name 3 techniques that convey Lear's internal brokenness in the play
Caesura
Illogical exclamations
Repeated phrases
Pathetic fallacy
This term refers to the belief that human actions are determined by external causes like "the stars" to avoid personal responsibility
Determinism (and astrology/astrological determinism)
Describe hysterica passio and identify why it is significant
A hysteria (irrational emotion/panic) associated with women.
It is significant because King Lear associates his emotion with femininity and therefore weakness, meaning that he chooses to be mad rather than to express his emotions - explores the destructive rigidity of gender roles.
When they're caught in the storm, what does the Fool suggest that Lear do?
Beg his daughters for shelter
Why is Oswald of any significance?
His shifting loyalty signifies a shift in power from Lear to his daughters
Name 3 components/steps of an Aristotelian tragedy and what they mean
Hamartia (fatal flaw)
E.g. Hubris (ego)
Peripeteia (reversal of fortune)
Anagnorisis (realisation)
Pathos (pity)
Catharsis (release of emotion)
Name a female monarch who could be seen to reflect Cordelia's Evangelical Humanism and one who could be seen to reflect the Machiavellianism of Goneril and Regan
Queen Elizabeth I
Queen Mary I
Evangelical Humanism (being guided by Christian virtues) - Edgar
Parliament and shared power - Albany and Edgar (also Kent and The Fool because they try to speak sense into a dictatorial leader)
Humility to accept one's own insignificance ('nothing') - Lear, Edgar
Compassion - Lear (Act 3 - I have ta'en too little care of this)
Wisdom and sight - Gloucester, Lear
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