Ellb3 King Lear Theme of Power

Explore the ways in which Shakespeare presents attitudes to great power in this passageway. In your answer you must consider how the playwright uses literary, linguistic and rhetorical devices and conventions to create special dramatic effects. The theme of power is explored extensively in the play and in this first photo the theme is already established. This scene takes place after Kent and Gloucesters talk about Gloucesters illegitimate son Edmund, the dark subplot within the play draws out the theme of power in the main plot, for example the power Gloucester asserts as a father is parallel to the power baron Lear has.Power is an important theme within the play because many of the characters abuse their power and use power as a tool for manipulation and authorisation, other characters on the other hand, desire power and authority precisely ultimately power corrupts all. This scene is set in the pansys court and this extract is an example of family talk which at times is i ntimate but it is also an example of public talk, the language in this passage is purely for regulatory and performative purposes.This highly formal public stage setting creates tension and the speech itself opens with an important radical, the audience know that king Lear intends to divide his power and soil among his three daughters but demands they publicly profess their love for him. Conferring them on younger strengths, while we unburdened crawl toward death, the imagery in the opening of the scene here is of a feeble old man indicating King Lears retirement and the loss of his power suggesting he is weak and vulnerable like an infant.Due to the public context the register throughout this passage is formal and the kings speech appears to be rehearsed. In this passage the king is the primary speaker because he establishes the topic of conversation and sets the agenda, meanwhile we should express our darkest purpose, give me the map there. As we would expect his is the charact er with the most status and authority and his role as King give ups him to open his speech with this imperative sentence. Furthermore, the modes of speak to used by the characters on stage also reveal more about the theme of power.Lears daughters address him as Sir, your majesty and your dear highness suggesting he is not only asserting his power as a king but as a father. We wipe out character revelation here as Shakespeare reveals Lears hamartia, by having his daughter quantify their love for him indicates that he is arrogant and hubristic. Lear takes the most turns and his utterances are generally continuing than the other characters as he speaks for the longest amount of time. His bypass response to Cordelia nothing, nothing will come of nothing indicates that the he is trying to maintain control over the conversation.The adjacency couple ons here are broken because nothing is a non-expected response, this suggests that this is an unsuccessful conversation and reveals more about their relationship. In this conversation the adjacency pair is subverted by Cordelia creating tension on stage Lear and Cordelia are both flouting Grices maxim of quantity as Lear says too much and Cordelia says too little which is further take the stand of their conversation being unsuccessful. Goneril and Regan clearly abuse their fathers power as they try to deceive him.The declarations of love do by the two daughters have been crafted to flatter Lear, they are exaggerated and the insincerity of this is shown through Shakespeares use of poetry. A good example of this is, sir I love you more than word can wield, the enumerate dearer than eyesight, space and liberty. In other words, the substance of Gonerils love is too great or weighty to be expressed. Similarly, the phrase, a love that makes breath low and speech unable is hyperbolical as Goneril again tries to make her love seem priceless.Regans declarations are even more exaggerated than her sisters, I am made to th at self mettle as my sister and price me at her worth. She tells her father that her own pleasure lies solely in the enjoyment of his love but her sisters love is only a means to an end. The synthetic language used here to manipulate Lears vulnerability reveals that Regan desires to gain more power and control. It is clear that both their speeches are insincere and this creates tension because the audience can see that when the daughters declare their love for their father, they are in fact declaring their greed.This is then place by Cordelias simple and minimal responses I love your majesty according to my bond, no more nor less showing that she speaks of her love more honestly. Cordelias asides allow her to build a relationship with the audience. These asides may appear spontaneous but Shakespeare has carefully crafted them for her speech to appear sincere and honest. When Cordelia is asked to express her love towards her father, she answers with nothing. Lears interrogative repl y nothing? suggests her simple answer has comes as a shock to him and the court, this response instantly changes both the mood and the tone within the scene. The short exchanges between Cordelia and Lear and the caesura in this line disrupts the iambic pentameter and the regularity of the blank verse creating dramatic tension on the stage. Lear orders Cordelia to speak again, this imperative reveals frustration and enkindle at which point his volume would increase. Cordelia delays her speech as she refuses to take part in Lears ceremonial love test suggesting that she has some degree of power.Her long break off creates an awkward silence on the stage and adding further to the tension between the characters and creating suspense. Lears attitude to power is clearly one of pride and arrogance which prevents him from seeing the received nature of Goneril and Regans appearances and their hypocrisy. He foolishly believes their excessively sweet and sentimental declarations and this is what makes this passage so dramatic. The power he asserts in this passage blinds him as he rejects the truthful Cordelia who he has banished from the kingdom.