NOTE: You can answer these any time Thursday or Friday, since we don't really have class on Thursday anymore. E-mail them to me as usual, and I'll post another video to respond to as a 'comment' tomorrow.
Answer two of the following:
Q1: In Act 2, Scene 4, when Regan and Goneril decide to
openly defy their father’s demands, Lear exclaims “I gave you all” (52). This
echoes his later line in the storm when he proclaims, “I am a man/More sinned
against than sinning” (58). Do we agree with Lear here; has he been
a good and selfless father? Or is this line simply meant to be read,
“whatever I did in the past, I finally gave you all my land, so what more
do you want?” Do we have any sympathy for the daughters here? Is
this a betrayal—or an ironic reversal of the events of Act 1, Scene 1?
Q2: How do you account for the extreme cruelty of Act 3,
Scene 7, where both sisters and Regan’s husband, Cornwall Gloucester Gloucester
Q3: Act 3, Scene 6, the so-called “trial scene” only appears
in the early quarto version of the play (Q1). The authentic
version of Lear was published in the complete version of
Shakespeare’s works, the Folio version, in 1623, and this entire scene is
missing. Either Shakespeare thought the better of it and cut it or it
simply got lost in translation. The editors of this version, though
following the Folio, decided to reinstate it. What do we gain from having
this scene in the play? Does it underline or foreshadow important themes
or events in the play? Or is it too much of the same, including a lot of
“nothing”?
Q4: What do you think Edgar’s role in the play is as “Poor
Tom”? Though he has some of the craziest lines in the play, he is clearly
acting, as he pops out of character at the End of 3.6 to talk to the
audience. Is he a foil to Lear? A rival to the Fool? Or a
mirror to Cordelia (especially if she is the Fool)?
No comments:
Post a Comment