Order vs chaos

• Lear speaks of himself using the royal 'we' - 'we have divided in three our kingdom' (1.1)


  • this is appropriate to state occasion
  • shows he identifies himself with the sovereignty of kingship
  • at beginning of play, Lear is an authority figure, embodying order in his own person & commanding it from his family and followers (how he's able to compel R & G to participate in dramatic ceremony of dividing kingdom by professing their absolute love on cue, precisely when he demands)
• 'Which of you shall we say doth love us most?' (1.1) 


  • ceremony complicated by Lear's vanity & desire to hear his daughters' public claims of extreme love - love buying their share of kingdom
  • competition reveals self-indulgent egotism of an old man so used to flattery that he cannot discern it from true love or friendship
  • Lear's status as a powerful figure is already compromised by his abdication of responsibility & his susceptibility to vanity
• 'Gods, stand up for bastards' - Edmund (1.2) 


  
  

  • calls upon gods to invert nature (similar to Lear)
  • anarchic symbol defiant of social order & conventions of disdain for bastard children
  • conflict w authority & societal norms - thoughts of change in society & challenging social injustice (sympathy for Edm?)
  • energy of soliloquy - easily carried away into his cause, siding with the villain - reversing order - established as an attractive villain - glamorously wicked
• '(storm still)' - (3.1 & 3.2) 


  • stage direction
  • shift in setting highlights Lear's split from setting of power for the first time - reversal of his circumstance - left outside with nothing - no symbols of power protecting his identity
  • chaos & coldness of the storm highlights initial error of Lear, dividing his kingdom which has led to this moment where his daughters cruelly outcast their father, leaving him out in storm - suffering is a consequence of is poor judgement
• Refers to 'prophecy' where 'every case in law is right' etc - Fool (3.2) 


  • final speech in scene presents a contrast between the harsh reality of the world he & Lear are experience and a utopian world, where justice & goodness replace evil
  • contrast highlights that the storm symbolises the collapse of moral order
• 'Hang him instantly. [Regan] / Pluck out his eyes [Goneril]' - 3.7


  • presented as cruel & bloodthirsty as they call for Gloucester's punishment
  • this allows Edm to have understood harsh punishment Gl is about to endure, yet he willingly leaves to let them do the job - climax of Edm's betrayal
  • savagery sisters behave is shocking - shows how easily they now feel able to assert their power & indulge their cruel desires
  • breakdown in moral order is complete as those in power behave with such shocking lack of restraint
• ‘you are my guests. Do me no foul play, friends.’ - Gloucester (3.7) 


  • although Gl reminds Cornwall they are guests in his home, Corn nor Regan have any interest in maianting rules of hospitality
  • reversing order of respect
• '[Regan plucks his beard]' - (3.7)


  • Regan has no basic respect for age or rank
  • Gl is an earl & elderly statesman - pulling of beard rejects structure of nature, which provides that older members of society be revered for their age and wisdom
  • loss of traditional ranks of power
• 'Go, thrust him out at gates and let him smell his way to Dover' - Regan (3.7)


  • cruelty - almost mocking his blindness
  • no regret for actions
• 'You are not worth the dust which the rude wind/ blows in your face' Albany to Goneril (4.2)


  • attack on Goneril's integrity shows Albany is a highly moral & humane individual - antithesis of his wife
  • different perceptions of worth - where Goneril has created chaos, Albany believes in structure & perceives the sisters actions be wicked & horrifying
  • Albany believes hierarchy of father to child is essential to eliminating chaos of the world - Goneril has reversed that natural order in treatment of Lear - resulting chaos has turned man against himself
• 'milk-livered man' - Goneril to Albany (4.2)


  • criticises & emasculates husband
  • role contrasts to that of most Elizabethan women, where women were totally subordinate to their husband's desires
  • Goneril sees herself as the ultimate authority
• 'My lord is dead; Edmund and I have talked,/ And more convenient is he for my hand, than your lady's' - Regan to Oswald (4.5)


  • Regan insists she is better suited for Edmund as a widow
  • sense of conflict w her sister - relationship crumbling - becoming rivals
  • competition for Edmund indicates he is no longer simply the bastard son of Gl - 2 royal princesses vying for his attention legitimises his new position
• What does Regan suggest to do about Gloucester in Act 4, Scene 5?

  • Regan directs Oswald to kill Gloucester
  • displays ruthless amorality of the new rulers of the kingdom
• 'Enter Lear [crowned with wild flowers]' - (4.6)


  • now crowned w something futile - contrast to A1 when crowned w something heavy & powerful - comments on what he gave away
  • power shifts & power goes
  • now king of nature rather than of human society
• Cordelia 'kneels' - (4.7)


  • symbolises Cordelia's humility & willingness to forgive despite father's rejection & harsh treatment
  • restoration of moral & social order - actions symbolise hope & potential for healing in world that has been turned upside down by betrayal & madness
• 'I had rather lose the battle than that sister should loosen him and me' - Goneril (5.1)


  • prefer lose battle than see Regan win Edmund's affection
  • in political/ military conflict is preoccupied w personal & romantic jealousy - misplaced focus reveals selfishness - driven by personal desire
  • indicates violence & hostility between sisters - in civil war also occupied in family war - internal strife weakens their position & leads to their mutual destruction
  • represent larger breakdown of order & morality in the play - personal vendettas & power struggles lead to widespread suffering & chaos
• What does Edmund reveal at the end of Act 5, Scene 1?

  • he will leave Albany's murder to Goneril (killing Albany to be w Goneril)
  • he won't show any mercy for Lear & Cordelia if they fall into his power - will kill them
• 'The laws are mine, not thine' - Goneril (5.3)


  • after she has poisoned Regan out of jealousy & competition for Edm - ruthless
  • assertion of her perceived ultimate authority - places herself as supreme ruler above any legal/ moral constraint
  • breakdown of order - rejects moral law & replaces w tyranny & self-interest
  • Goneril's unchecked ambition leads to her downfall - later kills herself