King
Lear Notes
For
a full treatment of this
play read the book
Cordelia,
King Lear and His Fool on-line here.
Index
to Notes.
Straight to
notes on Act 1 Scene 1
Preface
to Notes
When Shakespeare and his
players
performed his version of the King Lear legend before King James I at
Christmas
time in 1606, he was presenting a story that was no doubt very familiar
to his
audience, as familiar as say the fairytale Cinderella is to us
today. It
had already been around for more than 400 years!
Several older
versions of the story were in circulation in Shakespeare's day and it
is clear
that Shakespeare expected his audience would contrast his version with
these.
Unfortunately
most modern readers do not approach the play with any knowledge of
these older
versions, and so they can't see what Shakespeare was doing.
As
a result, the play has been for many
a "mystery" that contains many "improbabilities" that have
caused many to charge Shakespeare with "carelessness" in composing
the text.
Most
people also do not know that in a Shakespearean text, any character
could have
more than one speech prefix, (the tag at the beginning of a character's
speech)
so that what appears to be two different people in a play, can, in
fact, be the
same person in a different role.
In the case of King
Lear while it has normally been accepted that "Cordelia" and
"Fool" are two different people, there is ample justification for
reading them as the same. Other characters in this play have more than
one
speech prefix in the original texts. There was no list of characters at
the
beginning of the play in Shakespeare's text. We only have what is said
by the
characters to make a judgment concerning possible duplication. The most
obvious
argument that can be made in favour of Fool being Cordelia concerns
Lear's last
words while he is looking at his dead daughter, Cordelia, "And my poor
Fool is hanged...." I am convinced that Lear has realized that Cordelia
had served him as his Fool, and that he then dies of a broken heart as
Gloucester did in the sub-plot when he learned that Edgar had been Poor
Tom.
These notes are written
to give the action of the play. Sometimes the action depends not on
what
Shakespeare has written but on what Shakespeare's original audiences
could have
been expected to bring to the play.
These
notes present an interpretation of King Lear that is as simple
as the
plot of, say, The Merchant of Venice, As You Like It or
almost
any of Shakespeare's plays.
Index
to Notes.
To notes on Act 1 Scene 1
WARNING:
If you are a student and use
these notes without reading the play, you will find yourself in deep
water, as
this interpretation is not the normal one. To understand the play, read
it
keeping in mind the points made in these notes. Better still get hold
of
Shakespeare's sources and read them first. Then when you read
Shakespeare's
version you will be better able to see what he did. His version really
is a
wonderful piece of literature. Many hold it to be the best piece ever
composed
in the English language.
Thanks to those
who have made comments on the notes. We would welcome your questions or
comments.
Index
to Notes.
To notes on Act 1 Scene 1
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