I think King Lear is too harshly criticized when being depicted as a heartless tyrant who shows no love for his children. Kahn's contention that he is initially a "man's man" so to speak, displaying little emotion or ability to nurture is made primarily on the basis of his tirade against Cordelia (and Kent) at the beginning. Rather than show him harsh and devoid of emotion I think this instead humanizes Lear who is devastated by what he perceives as a lack of love from the daughter whom he loves most. He turns hard-hearted against her and this betrays how deeply and truly he loved her. This love is misguided but still demonstrably present.
As for Lear's revulsion to displaying affection for Goneril and Regan, who can blame him? It is no wonder he should feel it weak to let emotion get in the way of his deserving rage. Goneril and Regan show themselves to be sociopaths which Lear is not. Aside from his love for Cordelia, Lear also has the loyalty and affection of the Duke of Kent, Gloucester and his fool. These men, all honorable and compasssionate characters, stand with Lear even after it is clear they have little or nothing to gain from his friendship. This is a telling thing in itself that should not be overlooked. It is not likely he should receive such loyalty if he were nothing but a cold-hearted despot.
It's true that Lear makes an emotional conversion by the end of the play, becoming more openly affectionate and compassionate toward all, especially Cordelia whom he has clearly wronged. While this conversion, made at an earlier stage, might have prevented or at least altered the course of events, it could have in no way changed the characters of Goneril or Regan. Their behavior cannot be attributed directly to Lear from what we learn about him in the text.
If we accept that feeling affection and "being open with emotions" to be womanly qualities, then Lear certainly has become more womanly by the end and a better person for it, though perhaps too late. This is unfortunate but we need not give him such a hard time.
1 comment:
I actually awaited your blog because I knew it would challenge my thought process. Getting right to the point in your blog made it possible for me to jump right in with opinions. It usually takes me a while to get started. I agree treatment of Lear appears extremely harsh. His actions proved his love for his girls because his initial response was to divide his inheritance among all three daughters. While I believe he loved his daughters tremendously, I also feel as though, he is partly responsible for his demise. It is true that Lear's outrage toward Cordelia's refusal to entreat him does humanize him. Kahn's contention, Lear is a "man's man" reminds me of old adages. The irony is that she uses modern terms to rationalize her stance. Love, the driving force behind the madness, is what Kahn alludes to as being "feminine". Maybe another term for this is a "woman's woman." Moreover, I thought the skillful method in which Lear incorporated love and relationships in this play was absolutely brilliant. Lear loved Cordelia to a fault. Yet, he loved Goneril and Regan enough to divide the Kingdom between them after Cordelia refused to flatter him. Kent, Gloucester, and the fool have an undeniable love and loyalty towards Lear. At the same time, Gloucester loved his son (Edgar) more than he loved his son, (Edmunnd); Edmund would love to have his father's wealth. I didn't notice this until I began responding to your blog where you mentioned how Cordelia portrayed her father's deep and true love. His hard-heart was the up-side down emotion. Instead of displaying his feminine side as Kahn calls it, Lear reacted with his barbaric-like instinct (warrior culture) passed down from his ancestors. With that said, who can blame Lear? I believe his emotional conversion at the end depicts a more manly characteristic in the sense of how he became a vessel of transparency. He made a horrific mistake. He acknowledge it, apologized for it, learned from it, and was willing to accept the consequences of his actions (when he told Cordelia he would drink the poison. I agree Lear became a better person at the end, but I do not believe he became more womanly. Thank you for the opportunity to have commented on your blog. It made for an interesting read.
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