King Lear | The Power of Language and the Language of Power in King Lear
P. Pick discusses the use of language in King Lear as it conveys power, deceipt, and flattery between and among the characters. Pick examines the evolution of Lear's language as the play progresses.
King Lear is one of Shakespeare's darkest plays; darker than Measure for Measure, darker perhaps even than Titus Andronicus. So dark is it, that from 1681 to 1838 it was performed only in a tamed, even sedated version by Nahum Tate. The particular cruelty of King Lear is indicated in Shakespeare's alterations to his sources; in Holinshead's Chronicles Cordelia wins the war and restores Lear to the throne (although she does later hang herself). This darkness of tone is accompanied and indeed reinforced by a studied vagueness of time and geography.
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See Also:
- - Read the King Lear text online.
- - For teachers, the King Lear Lesson Plan.
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