King lear, a timeless story of family relationships, human nature and its failings. But what makes this play timeless ? the fact that it contains universal themes of love, jealousy and family relationships makes it applicable to modern times even though it was written for a 16thcentury audience. Two critics that have commented on the thematic concerns of family relationships and human nature are maggie tomlinson in a violent world and jim young in still through the hawthorn blows the cold wind , both of which i’ll be discussing, today in detail. The concept of family relationships is a prevalent theme that can be viewed on many levels, such as the deterioration, renewal and the nature of familial bonds. There are many family relationships in the plot of king lear, with the two major ones relating to the sub plot of gloucester and the main plot of lear.

A Narrative Essay Outline

In both these relationships, betrayal is the major factor that contributes to the deterioration of the kinship. In gloucester’s case, through the simple act of humiliating edmund, where gloucester says in his presence there was good sport at his making and the whoreson must be acknowledged 1.1.21 24 , he created a rift in the relationship. Maggie tomlinson brings up a rather significant point when she comments on the nature of the relationship and the trust that is abused.

She states the evidence is simply not the sort of thing any one let alone a father would believe in this illustrates the trust that is built in these types of relationships and the ability of it to be exploited. Shakespeare cleverly investigates the nature of relationships through lear’s test to see who loves him the most. Goneril and regan are portrayed as manipulative people with the gift of words and courtly manners, but it. sarah doncaster the concept of nature in shakespeare’s king lear 1 is not simply one of many themes to be uncovered and analysed, but rather it can be considered to be the foundation of the whole play. From kingship through to personal human relations, from representations of the physical world to notions of the heavenly realm, from the portrayal of human nature to the use of animal imagery nature permeates every line of king lear. However as i intend to argue, nature in all of these contexts is a social construct, which is utilized in order to legitimise the existing social order.

In order to do this it is first necessary to draw a very brief sketch of the political and social beliefs of the elizabethan and jacobean ages, whilst outlining my arguments for believing that nature is a socially constructed concept. In light of these arguments i will then analyse the representations of nature in king lear to show how the play can be seen as both a portrayal of and a contribution to the social and political beliefs of the time. It is well documented that both the elizabethan and jacobean age were not known for their unity. It was a time of change and upheaval, elizabeth i never married and therefore left no heir to the throne, leaving her subjects to worry about who would succeed her, and what was to become of them when james i succeeded her to become the first stuart king, although he ended the war with spain in 1604, he could not overcome the deep seated political and financial problems that dogged the state. Therefore in order to overcome any debate on kingship regarding legitimacy or efficiency the representation of unity and harmony between the state and nature was of paramount importance to his continued reign. �kings are justly called gods for that they exercise a manner or resemblance of divine power on the earth.’ 1 this quotation is from a speech by james i to his parliament and it illustrates a belief in the divine right of kings.

By connecting the notion of the divine to kings, james i is legitimising his power through naturalisation, the very fact that james i felt it necessary to reiterate this concept in parliament suggests that it was a social construct, not a natural fact, designed to legitimise and protect the interests of the monarchy. The concept of ‘the great chain of being’ follows on from the notion of the divine right of kings and again legitimises the actions of those holding power. For if by ‘nature’ everyone and everything has its place, and knows its duties and obligations to that place, then the status quo is maintained and those that hold the power cannot be questioned. Shakespeare belonged to a world where notions of man, his nature and his place in the universe were an amalgamation of both christian and pagan philosophies. The fundamental principle of this universe was order, with god at the head of his hierarchy in the heavenly realm, and man, who was created in god’s image, at the head of the physical world, with kings at the head of the state. This belief in the social order stemming from the natural order is an important concept to grasp when examining the idea of nature being utilized to maintain the status quo. Closely associated with the belief in an ordered universe was the concept of nature as a benign force in the universe.

Nature in this sense was a principle of order linking all spheres of existence in their proper relationships. Reese suggests that ‘the endlessly recurring correspondence between microcosm and macrocosm, was the most significant of the symbols which proclaimed the order and unity of the world, for it proclaimed at the same time the special place which man occupied in the universal scheme’. 4 it can be argued that the importance of the correspondence between microcosm and macrocosm was a social construct called forth to legitimise man’s power over other men, and it is in this light i will examine the representations of nature.

If we accept the proposal that the renaissance 5 concept of nature was socially constructed, then we can understand the necessity of representing disorder breeding disorder, because it reinforces the need to conform. It was thought that unity was easily displaced because disorder in any part of the universe causes disorder in its corresponding part. This concept can be seen in troilus and cressida where ulysses predicts that once ‘the specialty of rule hath been neglected’ disaster will follow, for ‘take but degree away, untune that string, / and hark what discord follows.’ 6 by removing a ‘degree’ or not acting according to the ‘natural’ social order, disorder and disharmony in the whole of the universe are inevitable. This interdependence of man and nature is a theme, which is explored in lear men are never represented in isolation, but always in relation to the divine hierarchy, the physical world and the world of animals. Once the concept of correspondence between man’s nature and the natural world is understood in terms of legitimising the social order, it becomes easier to contextualise the actions of lear with the almost constant references to nature.

King Lear Human Nature Essay Text

A Narrative Essay Outline

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