Lear was just pretending to be mad all along so he could find out which one of his daughters really loved him.
>>8082349
where are your spoiler tags
That's absolute bullshit my friend
Now Hamlet, that dude was pretending
>>8082349
I like Henry Jaffa's essay on Lear found in Bloom's Shakespeare's Politics. He examines the first scene and shows why King Lear is the great king and thus the greatest tragic character in shakespeare as well as what he was thinking to do and why he divided the kingdom.
>>8082349
I had an interesting thought: the jester would be like Lear-s Tyler Durden. He has I think just a few lines where he interacts with people, mostly he either randomly comments or addresses direcly to Lear. Also, he disappears as soon as Lear gets his shit together, which is really odd.
Now seriously, something's wrong with that jester.
>>8082391
Why is Lear the great king? In the first scene he's just a tyrannical asshole.
If Lear was a great king he wouldn't be punished for his wrongdoing in the ensuing play.
>>8082402
He's hanged
>>8082411
Really? Why would he?
>>8082414
Lear + Cordelia/France took on the sister's armies and lost, thus being why they were jailed. The fool being a compadre of Lear was executed as all of them were going to be. I imagine it went Fool, Cordelia, and then Lear shanking the executioner's ass
>>8082423
Damn. That's fucked up. Thanks.
>>8082410
He is not punished. He is, rather, fate's fool, as Romeo would say.
Lear is actually one of the greatest kings. He has lived a long life and reigned a peaceful rule, so much so that he wants to retire and marry Cornelia so that he can divide the kingdom in three equal parts. All of his subjects respect and love him, and he even is in peace with foreign nations. His daughters, however, are the ones that bring doom upon him, Gonerill and Regan by betraying him and Cordelia by being far too loyal. King Lear is a play about, among other things, the importance of communication and the disastrous effects silence can have on human's.
If you think Lear is punished by some kind of wrongdoing in the play, you couldn't be more off the mark.
>>8082423
That's never implied in the play, though. You are just creating a narrative.
>>8082441
on humans****
>>8082443
uhm what? that definitely happened.
>>8082443
All of that happened. The executioner hanged cordelia and the jester, then lear killed him in rage. he literally explains this to everyone in the last scene
>>8082441
I think Lear goes in a journey of self-discocery where he realises he's a cunt and recovers "sanity". Not a punishment, but a "recomputing" moment. The foolwould be the supporting figure, like a catalyser. We've all had one of those moments. Wasn't really mad IMO.
>>8082349
It's possible, I guess.
Edmund is definitely my favorite Shakespeare villain
>gets to bang both regan and goneril
Damn son
>>8082457
Where does the fool get killed? He disappears in Act 3. Not around when the battle happens.
>>8082441
Sorry, you don't disinherit a daughter because she doesn't like flattery. You also don't banish a Duke at the slightest provocation. You also don't act like a demanding cunt in the first few scenes to all your servants and subjects.
Greatest king? Hardly.
>>8082479
He doesn't disappear, he just doesn't talk. He can't bumble along quiet for once?
When Lear comes in after the Edgar/Edmund duel holding Cordelia, he mentions his fool hanged
Lear is by no means lucid or insane here, just racked with grief
>>8082484
"And my poor fool is hanged" refers to Cordelia.
>>8082484
Well, there goes my fan theory. RIP.
>>8082480
>a moment of senility and fury crumbles a life of achievement
wew
>>8082488
>a moment of senility and fury
REGAN
'Tis the infirmity of his age. Yet he hath ever but slenderly known himself.
>>8082493
>believing Regan.
Wew, lad.
>>8082500
>assuming stuff never touched on in the play over textual evidence
>>8082486
there is considerable debate on this line and who it refers to, and the ultimate fate of the fool
>>8082506
>there is considerable debate on this line and who it refers to
No, there is not.
>and the ultimate fate of the fool
Sure. But we have no idea whether he is hanged or not.
>>8082502
All the textual evidence points out that Regan cannot be trusted, and that Lear was loved by ll hia subjects and by Cordelia.
>>8082502
Nigga all you need to know is that Regan wants power and she's justifying her shit.
