"To reach the end, all means are good."


Theater, drama, is a genre that I don't usually read very often. However, whenever I approach this type of classic, I do it starting from William Shakespeare. I only have four books of the great bard, namely and in order of preference: Macbeth, Hamlet, The Tempest, and this one, which I have liked quite a bit. The first two that I list are still my favorites, especially Macbeth, for being the darkest and most evil work of Shakespeare.


Regarding King Lear, and as in most of Shakespeare's tragedies, it is already a classic in his works to find a trail of deaths, battles, loves, and hates, and above all an element that Shakespeare used to handle to perfection: that of betrayals. And it is based on these betrayals (which, on the other hand, cause certain characters to remain faithful and loyal to the King, as is the case of Kent and Gloucester) that keep the reader attentive to the development of the drama.


I can perceive certain passages that made me remember Oedipus Rex, especially in the characters of the old Gloucester and Cordelia. In general, it has managed to make me interested in knowing how this tragedy ended, although I repeat: there is no work of Shakespeare that does not passion me as much as the wonderful Macbeth.


Five stars because the work of one of the five greatest writers in history, as Shakespeare is, does not deserve a lower rating.

**"Thoughts on Shakespeare's 'King Lear'"**

I don't think anyone could depict the descent into madness as Shakespeare did. Whether it's Ophelia in "Hamlet" who ends up in the depths of the river or the cries of King Lear in the wilderness.

His genius is evident in every line of poetry and every eternal scene in the memory of literature.

In my opinion, "King Lear" is the most dramatic play by Shakespeare. It is tragic from the beginning and astonishing at its end.

We wonder what Lear did to deserve such punishment and this fate. What did Cordelia do to deserve the same fate?

Lear abused his power. He was deceived by the false appearance and believed in empty words instead of seeing the truth in the actions of those around him. He boasted of his strength and divided, gave, and distributed with joy.

And then he abandoned his right to be a human, to be just, and to have the true strength.

Lear is an example for every person who abandons, deceives himself, and flees from facing reality. He is a symbol for all of us.

As for poor Cordelia, she had to die because this corrupt earth cannot accommodate a pure soul like hers, just as it could not accommodate Desdemona or Ophelia before.

The purest souls belong in heaven.

Strangely, most of the quotes I love from Shakespeare are in this play, although it ranks fifth in my favorites.

But the poetry that Shakespeare scattered here is like fragrance, flowers, and bleeding hearts, forcing me to return again and again to the pages of "King Lear."

Of course, my favorite scene is Lear shouting in the wilderness.

No one in any era can write a scene that approaches this beauty. It's impossible.

Finally, a note: Whoever reads Shakespeare in translation (for any language) has not read Shakespeare. They have not even known the husks of what he wrote.

Shakespeare should be read in the original English, not in simplified or explanatory texts.

Nachtrag

Nachtrag is a German word that means "addendum" or "supplement." It is often used in legal, academic, or technical contexts to refer to additional information or a modification that is added to a document or text. For example, a contract might have a Nachtrag to clarify certain terms or to make changes based on new circumstances. In an academic paper, a Nachtrag could be used to include new research findings or to correct errors. The use of Nachtrag helps to ensure that the original document remains accurate and up-to-date. It allows for the incorporation of new information without having to completely rewrite the entire document. Overall, Nachtrag is an important concept in many fields as it provides a way to manage and update information in a clear and organized manner.

[Was just reminded that this review exists and I had to bring it back. I was truly unhinged in 2016. Need to reintroduce that energy back into my life, lmao. I'm still so proud of my RiRi-ification of Zeus. Enjoy.]

King Lear, a modern reimagination by yours truly.

LEAR: Gather 'round daughters, ya daddy is old af and wants to retire. Whoever kisses my sweet ass the most will get the largest part of my kingdom.

GONERIL: Daddy, I love you so so so so so so much.

REGAN: Daddy, I love you even moooooooooooore.

LEAR: (squeals happily) Ah, there's nothing like family. Cordelia, how about you?

CORDELIA: (shifts awkwardly) I have nothing, my lord.

LEAR: Nothing?

CORDELIA:

LEAR: BITCH, THE DOOR! (the door being France)

KENT: For real? This decision will bite you in the ass one day.

LEAR: Kent, you know what, while we're at it, you can fuck off too.

*

EDMUND: Honey, you should see me in a crown. I might not be as honorable of a bastard as Jon Snow but I will sit on that goddamn throne. (screams) DAAAAAD?

GLOUCESTER: I told you not to call me that in public, you little shit.

EDMUND: Edgar, your honorable, loyal and rightful heir, is plotting to kill you. Yeah, I'm totally not making that up to steal his place.

GLOUCESTR: Fair enough. (screams) EDGAAAAR?

EDGAR: Yes, O my beloved father?

GLOUCESTER: Piss off.

EDGAR: (shrugs) Well, then, guess I'm going to live naked in the woods now. Walden has nothing on me.

*

LEAR: (slowly descending into madness upon realizing that Regan and Goneril are fake hoes who want to get rid of his sorry ass) Zeus, you hear me? I need some thunder and lightning to fit my mood.

ZEUS:

(The biggest storm ever hits. Shakespeare in the back taking notes for The Tempest.)

LEAR: (dancing in the rain) CASH ME OUTSIDE HOWBOW DAH?

GLOUCESTER: Umm... guys, don't you wanna do something? Your father's 'bout to catch a cold.

GONERIL: You're 'bout to catch those hands. (stabs his eyes out)

REGAN: (tosses Gloucester's blind ass to the streets) Well done, sis.

GONERIL: And they say women are weak.

REGAN: (looks around savagely) Now who's gonna help us kill our father next?

EDMUND: I'm in.

REGAN: (leers at Edmund) Edmund with his fine ass.

GONERIL: (giving Regan a side-eye) This D is mine. I will poison her ass.

ALBANY: (looking at Goneril, is shooketh) My wife's a ho.

*

Meanwhile...

CORDELIA: (marching on Britain with her French army) Yee-haa!

EDGAR: (returning from the woods after having saved his father from committing suicide) Yee-haaa!

KENT: (donning costume) Bitches, I'm back!

LEAR: (embracing Cordelia) Everything is going to be alright now.

ALBANY: (stepping onto the scene)

REGAN: (dies from poisoning; off-stage of course because no one cares about women)

GONERIL: (kills herself; off-stage, that goes without saying)

CORDELIA: (gets fucking hanged; OFF-STAGE)

EDMUND: (gets killed off-stage)

LEAR: FML. (dies)

ALBANY:

EDGAR: Guess, I'll be King now.

ALBANY: The Quarto says I will be King.

EDGAR: Fuck the Quarto, the Folio is on my side.

ME: (as the curtains close)

As the bright red filament of stars above might give away, I truly had a profound response to this play. I may have reacted in both negative and positive ways, but this story left an indelible mark on me. It achieved something that Macbeth could not - it presented me with truly tragic characters who, by the end of the journey, had earned my tears and compassion.

Looking back on it, a useful guide for King Lear is provided by another of Shakespeare's characters, Jacques, and his Ages of Man speech from As You Like It, the part that ends in "second childishness".

"The sixth age shifts
Into the lean and slipper'd pantaloon,
With spectacles on nose and pouch on side;
His youthful hose, well sav'd, a world too wide
For his shrunk shank; and his big manly voice,
Turning again toward childish treble, pipes
And whistles in his sound.
Last scene of all,
That ends this strange eventful history,
Is second childishness..."

King Lear's story unfolds in these tragic, declining last two ages of man. As the description of the sixth age implies, King Lear begins as a figure easily ridiculed. A selfish, rather self-centered old man, accustomed to a life of power, with all the sycophants and alternate reality that comes with it, now desires to retire, expressing it in a way that manages to seem even more selfish than it should be: "shake all cares and business from our age; Conferring them on younger strengths, while we Unburthen'd crawl toward death." In other words, it's time to act like a man-child, in a serious Will Ferrell style! He then demands that his children fawn over him one last time before he relinquishes his power to them - if you think that's a flicker of recognition that he might have to store up after that, given that there are other people to suck up to now, think again - and then makes his final act of power by disowning and rejecting the only child who understands what love is. Her bitchy older sisters take over, and things unfold as you would expect from a strict main plot perspective. King Lear and his serious lack of foresight are screwed over by both of his power-hungry daughters, who then start to turn on each other, one insufficiently evil husband, and anyone else around them who might be considered a decent human being - all of this would make it so easy to just shout "YOU FOOL!" and dismiss the whole mess.

But I can't - because I recognize the truth of it all, and the heartbreakingly, unbelievably amazing way that Shakespeare was able to depict the psychology of this aging man. Does he have faults? Of course he does, plenty of them, but if you think about those faults, what could be more understandable? Anyway, I'll get to the heart of it:

There's so much to explore in this play, about family, power, government, class, and gender, but here I'll focus on my favorite aspect of the play: the ideas about perception. I loved the agonizing portrayal of what can happen when you create an unrealistic world for yourself and then suddenly, the real world intrudes. If you think about it, all the trouble begins, continues, and ultimately snowballs into that tragic clusterfuck of an ending because everyone refuses to play the roles assigned to them. Cordelia starts it all with her refusal to be a dutiful daughter in precisely the way her father desires her to express it. She doesn't even reject the essence of the role - she just doesn't embody his vision of it. The sisters continue it with their refusal to actually be what King Lear wanted them to be - his ever-loving, dutiful, and sycophantic fawning young women, his illusion of his youthful attractiveness come to life. Both sisters choose power, they choose agency, they seize what is given to them with both hands. And in some ways, the audience can understand this, at least at first - it's hard for Lear to let go of his power, and the next generation has to be clear about the change of command. Kent is not the ideal (in Lear's mind) courtier for a moment, daring to question the King, and he is banished. Edgar appears not to be an ideal son, Gloucester tries to have him chased down, likewise. Edmund, (in what starts out as a very tragic, relatable way) refuses to be merely the bastard son, and his ambition to be more nearly destroys his family. It reaches the poignant point where people can't recognize their close relatives standing right in front of them because they are not who they expect them to be, and in Gloucester's case, the inability to see becomes quite literal. It was so painful that I found myself misting up and crying as half the cast realizes what they've been missing right under their very noses, and the other half finally, desperately - and at great cost to their soul or body (even to the point of death) - makes them see it. King Lear's journey is especially poignant, of course. He's having his entire world destroyed not long before he could have left it, in utter blissful ignorance, never knowing a single truth about the world. A fool, but a happy fool, and who, in compassion, would have wished otherwise upon him?

But he does learn, while also being punished for the life he's led, and that redeems it for me. Is some of it in madness? Yes, of course it is. Because for a man of that age, suddenly seeing everything he never did before, of course he would have to find sense in madness and believe himself out of his mind in order to make some sense of a world he thought he knew. He does learn, though, I must reiterate that - he learns what his two older daughters are, what Cordelia is, he learns what love and loyalty truly mean, and ultimately, he learns what a selfish fucking bastard he's been. The speech where he speaks of the poor wretches who always have to endure storms - he's finally given up the selfishness that completely ruined his life. And if this seems inadequate, he is punished by the deaths of all of his children, the loss of his sanity and his health, and ultimately by his death. What greater price do you want the man to pay? He ends just as Jacques would mercilessly predict, in:

"...mere oblivion;
Sans teeth, sans eyes, sans taste, sans everything."

I was incredibly fortunate to be residing in Stockholm during the late 1980s when Ingmar Bergman presented Lear at the Swedish National Theatre. I had the privilege of seeing this remarkable production twice. Bergman's approach to the play was truly fascinating and out of the ordinary. He interpreted it as being fundamentally optimistic.

Obviously, you might be wondering why. In the hands of a less talented director, this might have seemed like an unnecessary act of perversity. However, Bergman's reasoning was far from being strange. He regarded the key scene of the play as the reconciliation between Lear and Cordelia. This was the very scene that was depicted on the poster, which was plastered all over the town. Wherever one looked, one could see Lear and his daughter kneeling, holding hands, and looking deeply into each other's eyes, with expressions of relief and joy streaming from their faces. What Bergman was suggesting was that everyone, just like Lear, has committed horrible deeds against those who love them the most. Usually, they never get an opportunity to apologize or receive forgiveness from those they have wronged. Lear, however, was given that chance, just moments before he and Cordelia passed away. Therefore, we should feel happy for him.

Bergman directed this play when he was approximately 70 years old. If one has any knowledge of his life, it becomes easy to understand why he might have interpreted the play in this manner. It was an extremely moving production that left a lasting impression on all who witnessed it.

Second Reading: Just as amazing as I remembered (:

Tonight is the highly anticipated opening night for my school's extracurricular performance of this truly wonderful play. Over the past 10 weeks, I've delved into the script countless times, probably a minimum of 20 times. With each reading, I've fallen deeper in love with this entire captivating story.

I absolutely adore all of my cast mates. Their talent and dedication have made this experience even more special. I'm just beside myself with excitement as I prepare to take the stage and bring this play to life.

And I'm beyond grateful to have the opportunity to play such a strong, powerful, and wicked character like Regan. Getting to know her has been an absolute joy. I've worked hard to understand her motives and bring out her essence in my performance. I truly hope that I can do her justice and make the audience believe in her.

Alright, let's do this :D

This year, I set a goal for myself to increase the number of Shakespeare plays I have read. This included revisiting some of my favorites. I first read King Lear in school, and while I can remember relatively little about my experience of reading it, I can recall the most significant moments of the plot.

The play focuses on the family drama that unfolds after King Lear asks his three daughters to declare their love for him. The two eldest daughters freely proclaim their love, while the younger and most favored daughter, Cordelia, says little of her affections. Due to her recalcitrance, her portion of her father's land is divided between the other two sisters, and Cordelia is cast out. Little does Lear know the self-serving nature of his remaining two daughters and how their beautiful words do not reflect their true desires.

Perhaps it is because this is my second reading, or maybe it is due to the increase in the number of Shakespeare plays I have read recently, but I found the readability of this piece to flow much more smoothly than with some of his other plays. There was little that I struggled with, and I was able to absorb the entire drama in one sitting.

I have found that other of the bard's plays are so renowned because they primarily deal with timeless concepts. This is evident again in King Lear, with its focus on the conflicts between parents and their children, which is also mirrored in the clever sub-plot. This can actually be quite frustrating, as the reader is made aware of who the "good" characters are before the other characters themselves. This intensifies both their suffering and the reader's.

Shakespeare has created some classically structured, villainous characters and yet managed to make them seem three-dimensional to the modern-day reader. That, along with the timeless and still relevant topics covered, as well as the sublime prose used to depict them, makes King Lear another example of why Shakespeare is still so beloved.

A Story of a Man who just wants to be Loved
16 April 2009

King Lear is by far my favorite Shakespeare play. It's a dark and brooding work, filled with intense violence and a tragic ending for most of the main characters. Alongside the Scottish Play and Hamlet, it's one of Shakespeare's great tragedies. However, I find Hamlet to be more tightly structured with more intertwined plots compared to King Lear.

In King Lear, there are essentially two plots that run parallel and merge at the end. Both plots center around the theme of love. The first plot involves King Lear, who, believing he's too old to rule, decides to divide his kingdom among his daughters. The one who professes the most love for him will receive the largest portion. Two daughters put on a show of exaggerated love, while the third, Cordelia, who truly loves him, can only be honest. Lear, angered by what he deems a pathetic response, banishes her and divides the kingdom between the other two daughters. Lord Kent rebukes Lear for this, and he too is banished.

The second plot involves Edgar, his bastard half-brother Edmund, and their father, the duke of Gloucester. Edmund, bitter about being a bastard, schemes to destroy Edgar and take his place. He deceives his father, and Edgar flees to the moors, disguising himself as Mad Tom. Edmund then brands his father as a traitor, blinds him, and banishes him to the moors.

The theme of love is prominent throughout the play. King Lear simply desires to be loved but fails to understand that love is measured by actions, not words. This is evident in Lord Kent, who, despite being banished, disguises himself and returns to serve Lear. Even when Lear is stripped of his authority, Kent still recognizes him as the true king. At the end of the play, when Lear dies and Kent is offered the crown, he refuses and instead gives it to Edgar, who has been vindicated. A similar theme is seen with Edgar and Gloucester. Edgar finds his blind father on the moors and helps him regain his dignity before he dies.

In addition to the theme of love, the division of the kingdom is another interesting aspect of the play. While it may seem anachronistic for the period in which the play was written or set, it was a common practice during the era of Charlemagne. In those times, a kingdom and property were not automatically passed down to the firstborn but divided among the male heirs. This may be the main reason why Charlemagne's empire did not survive long after his death.

For those interested, I have written a more detailed analysis on my blog (after watching the Ian McKellan version of the play).

A reread of one of my top five favorite Shakespeare plays always brings a new depth of understanding and emotion. This time, as I reached the reunion with Cordelia, I couldn't help but get tears in my eyes. Shakespeare's portrayal of love in this scene is truly profound. It shows that love isn't about material goods or wealth. Cordelia's love for her father is pure and unconditional, despite his initial rejection. She doesn't care about his kingdom or his possessions. All she wants is his love and affection. This simple yet powerful message is something that we can all learn from. In a world where materialism often takes precedence, it's important to remember that true love is something that comes from the heart and cannot be bought or sold.

The learning that even if it has been a thousand years, it can still be reborn, become a child again. Start life anew, with purity and whiteness, taking hold of trust and the love of life. Teach me this from you.

Learning
The knowledge that even if a thousand years have passed, it can still be reborn, can still become a child again. Starting life anew, with innocence and purity, seizing hold of trust and the love of life. This is what I ask of you.

In this passage, the idea of learning something profound is presented. It emphasizes that regardless of the passage of time, there is always the possibility of a new beginning. The concept of being reborn and becoming like a child again implies a return to a state of purity and simplicity. By starting life anew, one can embrace trust and the love of life with a fresh perspective. The final sentence, "This is what I ask of you," suggests a request for someone to impart this wisdom or knowledge. Overall, the passage conveys a sense of hope and the potential for personal growth and transformation through learning.

The one who is old has carried more burdens on his head. We, who are young, wish that we would never see all of that and never live such a long life. :)

All the feelings and understandings that I have found and obtained from the world are in this sentence. :)

Aging often brings with it a plethora of experiences, both good and bad. The elderly have endured hardships and challenges that we, as the younger generation, may not fully comprehend. Their wisdom and perspective come from a lifetime of living.

However, we, in our youth, sometimes take for granted the simplicity and naivety of our age. We may not appreciate the value of time and the importance of making the most of every moment.

This sentence serves as a reminder that life is a journey, and each stage has its own beauty and significance. We should strive to learn from the experiences of the elderly while also cherishing the present and looking forward to the future.