Notes

King Lear

• As a King, acting like a father
• As a father, acting like a King.

Theme: Shadows or ideal?
Theme: Is this play pessimistic or optimistic?
Theme: Being resigned to fate, but not a fate of action (tragedy)
Theme: Ghost of my father.

King Lear wanted to not rule but still wanted to be called king. He has a desire for inaction. He is presented with a challenge and does not even want to be alive anymore. So he keeps diminishing himself.

The Hamlet problem: We are underneath a tyrant, how do we kill the tyrant?

Ismael: Albanian essayist. Family blood feud. Vengeance: Blood for blood.

Vengeance: Not so much revenge but minor slights. Cordelia being honest and Lear misinterpreting it.

Shakespeare’s play seems to be filmed inside the Oedipus Complex. Shakespeare knew his politics and knew his psychology.

Sidebar Commentary: Politics is making up things to be afraid of (Art of the Advantage). And then using those things to create conditions in which you can win. You define the rules in the game in which everyone else has to plan.

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"King Lear," Act I, Scene I by Edwin Austin Abbey (1898). Cordelia's Farewell.

Notes Sources

King Lear
Essays on World Literature
Combat and Classics, Ep. 30: King Lear
Apple Podcasts