Opposites and Paradoxes in King Lear Essay

The sequence of contraryal characters and motifs in the play bring about in the audience a sense of the corruption of principles that beset the protagonists of the play. With this sense of opposition comes a strong sense of the dichotomy within the play manifestly centred on the Epodoclean theory of a orb governed by the contrary forces of jockey and hate. Though this is not unusual for a stage production, McAlindon believes that when the adherence of opposites that constitutes the born(p) sound out of revolt against limit and fly to entires. This bunghole be seen in the characters fore more or less as the sons of Gloucester as well as the daughters of Lear are direct contend to each other. Indeed it is in the internal nature of Lear that this is focussed most powerfully as his beliefs in love and kindnesses are contrabandist by the egocentric and chloric feelings that dwell within his purport.It is mainly from the character and heap of Lear that the true extent of th e breakdown of nature canful be seen as within the space of two weeks he has sunk from kingship to a world of destitution and poverty as he engenders at th extreme verge in his coitusship with his family. What is most sad in relation to Lear though is his rediscovery of Cordelia before the punk wrenching death she endures as he is thrown from the heights of grief before his heart gives way down the stairs the strain of ecstatic joy. merely while the emotional converses that Lear endures are enormously powerful they are not the only matters in opposition passim the play. there can be seen in the various settings of the play a number of thematic oppositions, with the most apparent being the contrast betwixt the nocturnal and gloomy castle of Gloucester as opposed to the serene capital of Delaware fields where Father and daughter are reunited, where love opposes strife. Indeed thither are a great number of inversions that apply a bracing number of possible thoughts to the un derstanding of the play.Lears sufferings are completely opposed to the more classifiable tragedies of the Shakespearean era where there was a decided separation among the suffering of the kind elite and the low and the askew in the principal of the Senecan school of thought. In King Lear though it would appear to be the Saturnalism theories that prevail as the positions of the lowest are change with those of the highest, as Lear takes the place of his fool in declaring the unpalatable truths of the world in his madness, adopting a sense of tragedy in the appearance in which this is done.There are none more demonstrative of inversions than the antonymic nominalism that occupy the play with the most pathetic being Gloucesters praise of Goneril and Cornwall, whereby his loyalty to the king becomes traitorousness whereas Edmunds betrayal is described as a show of loyalty. But more than this it is a key illustration of the wickedness of protagonist lots(prenominal) as Goneril who condemn harmful mildness. This sense of paradox is prevalent mostly in the evil party where it comes to signify a moral and social inversion of a rational order of things.In contrast to this a positive paradox comes to represent a renewal with destruction and a discovery though loss, most notably seen in the improver of Frances attraction for Cordelia following her rejection by Lear as she becomes an unprized precious maid, nice most choice, forsaken as the isolation of forsaken seemingly highlighting the paradox. What is more is that a sense of pathos is granted through this as Lears misunderstanding of each one of his daughters and his reliance of the wolfish Regan and Goneril, as well as Gloucesters miscomprehension of Edmund as being a loyal and natural boy. The mate paradoxes that appear in the discovery of madness, characterised by Lear, and the discovery of vision in blindness are the most powerful in the development self-worth undertaken by Lear and to an extent Gloucester in this play. McAlindon believes that of all the paradoxes it is the fact that the tragedy develops close to an inability to contain the worst effects of a terrible bash in nature, and none is more terrible than the progressive failing of family links. The typical familial puzzle of mutual love and affection that is the ornerstone of most families is shockingly absent in King Lear though it is desperately craved by Lear himself. McAlindon believes that this style of bond involves love and justice as well as that it predicates a glad and spontaneous performance of offices and responsibili gives. It is therefore bewildering that Edmund would break such a bond in such an anti-familial manner, undermining civilised society in the process, and comparisons can be drawn between him and Iago in his mistreatment of Claudius in Othello.Gloucester, however, can be seen to be as equally to blame for Edmunds waywardness as his dreadful mistreatment of him, whose breeding is onl y acknowledged as Gloucester often blushed, and seems to be a victim of tragic causality as Edmund comes to believe that he owes everything to himself. The ancient Greek writers Plato and Aristotle believe that love creates emotional awareness and allows for the foot of just law.With this in mind the manner with which Lear treats the link between him and his daughters in such a material way shatters any sense of order or responsibility in his court with the dismissal of Cordelia and Kent becoming a satire of what passes for justice in society. If Platos theories are developed past it would seem that the main cause for injustice is a loss of man kindness and sympathy, explaining fully Edmunds pathological hardness as his bastardy alienates him.In the same manner in which Edmund suffers a lack of acknowledgement, so too does Lear suffer the same fate, it is only through his mistreatment on the familial ties. McAlindon believes that Lear holds a heavy dependence of personal identit y on the bond and it is his reliance on the bond as a material tie makes him a nobody after he divulges himself from his power and estate resulting in one of the most pathetic lines I gave you all separated from the rigour of Regan.The greatest dignity is then conveyed onto those around him who still perceive the bond to be a union through love, and therefore still hold the same respect for Lear despite his failure to recognise them. The importance of a character understanding the treatment of conviction plays an integral part in the possibility of them being seen as a tragic figure. King Lear is a tragedy characteristic of its age, a tragedy of extreme and terrible delirium, as there is a sense of the untimeliness of violence and destruction that mindlessness and impatience bring about.Most characteristic of this flaw is Lear as his land implodes through his hideous rashness as he signals the unleashing of pitiless violence that culminates in the utterly pathetic death of Cord elia. He is ironically punishable too of being overly patient as there is an almost comic stichomythia between him and Kent portraying his unwillingness to accept facts. A double can be drawn with Gloucester in this as his impatience regarding the suppose traitor Edgar is both unjust and demonstrative of the nexus between time and justice as well as injustice and haste.Calculated secureness becomes characteristic with the actions of the evil party and can be seen by Edmunds manipulation of Gloucester under the pretence of judicial behaviour as well as that of his brother as he acts in cunning and its placement a the beginning of the line illuminates its two meanings. In an extreme contrast the correct party align themselves with time, adopting a policy of patience that is both ennoble and tragic. Edgar is keen to wait for the mature time whilst Kent waits for the perfect moment to come across himself to his master, however, it is his own personal tragedy that he never finds the right moment.This can be seen as a demonstration of a true heart as this is a play that appeals profoundly to the heart as much as it does to the mind. Emblematic of a noble heart is the manner in which a protagonist empathises and treats those around them and powerful contrasts can be seen between characters and their counterparts. Indeed the most powerful of these contrasts is between the dog-hearted daughters of Lear and Cordelia with the scenic juxtaposition of unperturbed Dover and the castles and courts of Regan and Goneril a clear demonstration of this.To be truly tragic in King Lear a character possess a levelheaded heart and this is perfectly shown by the marble hearted sisters as opposed to Kents whose own heart is pierced by Lears rejection of Cordelia. Alongside the comfortably characters Lears heart is true in its nature, though he seems to suffer the promethean anguish, with his heart replacing the traditional liver, culminating in his death which must be presum ed as being from a broken heart. Compassionate love is the arrogant value in the play and as discussed above beliefs and social morality come from love and therefore the heart.Conversely though a slighted heart can produce the most devastating fury and hatred through grief as not only does the heart present the duality of nature with the possibility for disunity and anarchy but in this same manner emphasizing the importance of patience. Therefore the presence of all the aforementioned undertones and problematic themes tragedy is both made distinctly more unattainable as well as becoming much more powerful in its nature, with pathos coming to play a key role in its development.