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Shakespeare in Time William Shakespeare's life span covered the reigns of two monarchs for he was born in 1564 during the reign of Elizabeth Tudor and died in 1616 during the reign of James Ist and View. His family had Catholic sympathies. His father was fined for not attending Anglican services, and even lost his position as Alderman, and his mothers family the Arden's were to some extent linked to Catholic rebels and ultimately to those who wanted a Catholic monarch, so in his plays Shakespeare perhaps wisely does not tend to dwell upon religious matters, although they were so important at the time. As a playwright he relied on patronage and so the subjects of his plays are often royal themes.
He was quite liberal in his interpretation of history in order to please his patrons, as in his tale of Richard III, enemy of the Queens grandfather. For much of Shakespeare's life the country was at war, in particular with Spain, although for much of the last 500 years France had been seen as the enemy. King Lear though was not about anyone real as far as is known, so the author was free to depict events just as he liked. Geoffrey of Monmouth described him as a pre-Christian king in the south west in his 12 th century work History of the English Kings.
There are also Celtic references to a king Lir in legend, one of whose daughters was Ireland and another play by an unknown author, but with a similar story, was produced in 1605 according to Hodek. (1958). London being then such a comparatively small city Shakespeare was almost certainly aware of this production and may have witnessed it. Shakespeare obviously had access to Monmouth's story of a king with 3 daughters who disinherited the honest one. The story appears in Holinshed s Chronicles, a work published in 1577, often a source book for the bard. Plagiarism as we now consider it was not an issue.
According to Ed Friedland (2003) on his web page Enjoying King Lear Shakespeare's message through the words of the play is something he would hardly have dared to say in real life: -. There is no God. The comforts of religion are make-believe. Nor are we good by nature, or through our laws and customs. The only hope for human beings is that we can be try to be decent and generous with one another. This can be linked to the almost last line of the play Speak what we feel and not what we ought to say.
The play follows certain conventions of the theatre of the day i. e. the first and last lines of a scene are given to someone important. Social status rather than ability played a considerable role in society, yet in this play these ideas are upturned. The king, a warrior, decides to put an end to war by dividing his kingdom amongst his three daughters and their husbands. However this could also lead to civil war amongst the various branches of the family.
The king goes to live with first one daughter and then the other, but despite their earlier protestations of devout love, he is eventually left to fend for himself as a beggar. The play was first produced at a time not long after the death of Queen Elizabeth and only a very short time after the Gunpowder Plot of November 1605. With the accession of James, a Protestant, to the throne the country had averted the threat of civil war. In his introduction to The Complete Works of Shakespeare Hodek (1958) tells how the play was performed for the new king. This play is important because it deals with human issues. It is not just in royal families that children are ungrateful or people do foolish things or show compassion.
The fool or jester is in fact a loyal companion so we should not judge by appearances... Cordelia is married to France. This would be seen by the 17 th century playgoers as a plot to usurp the English throne, a point that might be missed by modern audiences as may other nuances of the time. People would still be alive who remembered the plotting of the Seymour brothers or the Norfolk family to gain power. But this plot is not so much about Lear as King as Lear as old man and what is done to him because he has relinquished power... The plot could in some senses have been seen as a warning to the real king to be careful in his actions and in whom he trusts, in both family and courtiers, so Shakespeare was taking some risks, especially as he adds his own ideas to the basic plot.
Conclusion The play might be considered irrelevant today by some, written as it was in a very different age apparently with different ideas and values, yet it still has a message in its themes of power and betrayal. Kingship was not the sometimes nominal role it plays today, but about power and decision making, being a leader of men. Lear has all this taken away from him, because of his own lack of emotional maturity and ultimate insanity. There may be fewer kings in the 21 st century, but there are still leaders and there are still Yes Men - people who will say anything to please someone in power if they think it will get them what they want.
It is also about the wrong use of power as when in Act 3 scene 7 Regan and her husband show sadism when they torture Gloucester still a modern theme when we see newsreels from Iraq. It is also about compassion, still needed in the modern world, as when Edgar in Act IV helps Gloucester, despite earlier bad treatment from him. Edgar, not bound by the usual expressing of pious words as would have been normal at the time simply says Lets just tell the truth. This happened. This is sad. The play is ultimately about the need to be honest in relationships, and that hasnt changed and nor has human nature.
References HODEK, B (1958), Introduction to The Complete Works of William Shakespeare, Middlesex, The Hamlyn Publishing Group. Electronic Sources FRIEDLANDER, E. (2003) Enjoying King Lear by William Shakespeare, available from web accessed 4 th November 2008 MERRIMAN, C. D, (2006), William Shakespeare, The Literature Network, available from web accessed 4 th November 2008
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Research essay sample on William Shakespeare King Lear
