The Construction of the Plot in `King Lear´

Essay from the year 1993 in the subject English Language and Literature Studies - Literature, grade: keine, University of Reading (English Department), course: Shakespeare Post 1600, language: English, abstract: This essay is about the construction of the plot in King Lear. Throughout the essay I will refer to the quarto text The History of King Lear.

As for the construction of the plot both form and content will be taken into consideration. Since a tragedy is normally characterized by the rise of a conflict that terminates in a catastrophe, I intend to deal especially with those aspects of form and content which relate to the conflict that is significant for King Lear.

With regard to this conflict several questions can be asked. First of all there is the question of what constitutes the conflict and which different forms this conflict takes. Furthermore we need to examine whether the structure of the play and the development of the conflict correspond with each other. Moreover I would like to point out some traits of the construction, such as the double-action, which seem to be special about King Lear.