King Lear: Lear's Language, Beginning vs. End of the Play

Seminar paper from the year 2002 in the subject English Language and Literature Studies - Linguistics, grade: 2 (B), Martin Luther University (Anglistics), course: Shakespear's Plays, language: English, abstract: King Lear was first published in 1608 and is one of the numerous tragedies

written by William Shakespeare. However, it is not just any of his tragedies, the

tragedy of King Lear ¿stands like a colossus at the centre of Shakespeare¿s

achievement as the grandest effort of imagination¿, says Foakes who is the Editor

of the Arden Edition (Foakes 1997, 1). ¿In its social range it encompasses a whole

society, from king to beggar, and invites us to move in our imagination between a

royal palace and a hovel on a bare heath¿ (Foakes 1997, 1). Nevertheless,

¿complications have been kept to a minimum¿ (Brown 2001, 229) by

Shakespeare. Still, this tragedy ¿is as demanding as any of the others ¿ in some

ways, it is the most epic of them all¿ (Brown 2001, 229).

Between all the commotion in the plot, Lear¿s story ¿is the one clear and

indisputable element¿ (Brown 2001, 229). From the beginning to the end, ¿Lear¿s

story is presented in stark and unavoidably physical terms¿ (Brown 2001, 231).

The threefold dignity of a king, an old man, and a father, is

dishonored by the cruel ingratitude of his unnatural daughters; the

old king, who out of a foolish tenderness has given away

everything, is driven out into the world a homeless beggar; the

childish imbecility to which he was fast advancing changes into the

wildest insanity, and when he is rescued from the destitution to

which he was abandoned, it is too late. (Bates 1906))

In a way that was new to himself and almost unknown in the theatre

of his time, Shakespeare constantly drew attention to what his hero

undergoes in body as well as in mind, in his senses as well as in his

thoughts and feelings, achievements, and relations with other

people. (Brown 2001, 231)

In this paper I am trying to follow Lear¿s state of mind and thought. The King

goes from power to madness and from royalty to peasantry. But how does he

articulate his deep thoughts and feelings through language? How can the reader

understand his change in mood? The following pages will give some insight on

these topics and will help to a better understanding of the character of King Lear.