Lear, King | Peter Erickson (essary date 1985)
Peter Erickson (essary date 1985)
SOURCE: "Maternal Images and Male Bonds in Hamlet, Othello, and King Lear," in Patriarchal Structures in Shakespeare's Drama, University of California Press, 1985, pp. 66-122.
[In the excerpt below, Erickson examines the power of male bonding in King Lear, contending that, in contrast to earlier Shakespearean tragedies, male-male relationships are less important in King Lear than male-female relationships.]
King Lear elaborates further the dramatic possibilities of the two extreme versions of women between which Othello shuttles. The opening scene makes clear that Lear himself is the major source of this splitting, for he initiates the contest that provokes the division into good and bad daughters. Though they respond differently to this provocation, all three daughters share the common purpose of protecting themselves against the father's total claim on them. Lear...
[The entire page is 3855 words long]
Navigate
