Literary Criticism:
Psychoanalysis
- focuses on the mindset of the writer and the character.
Freudian stuff:
id - our innate primal instincts and desires no longer deemed acceptable by society
superego - awareness of social customs, norms, etc. suppresses the id.
ego - face we present to the world
Freud said that we should look at the characters as actual people
Lacan said we should view the characters as symptoms of the writer.
applied to Lear:
There is an absence of a mother figure in both Lear's family and Gloucester's family and it seems to be for the worse, considering Goneril, Regan, and Edmund's actions. We can say that the id takes over and the mother figure would've been the superego to prevent that.
Goneril and Regan shouldn't have taken what was theirs. Therefore, they led to their own destruction.
"Nothing comes of nothing" = nothing comes of womanhood.
Marxism:
- the doctrines taught by marxism all require faith and belief, therefore, if you don't believe in it, it's likely that you don't understand it.
**Social being determines consciousness**
**Marxism's aim is to change the world, vs philosophers who only interpret it**
Institutions built the culture
Focuses on flow of power
-people who have power tend to want to keep it
-people who don't tend to want to take it
Applied to Lear:
Since it was written in 1605, 2 years after King James took the throne, Lear was probably a reflection of the change of power from Elizabeth to James. Since Elizabeth had no male heir, it was uncertain who would rise up to take the throne. After all, someone must take the throne when it's vacated. The play shows this by having a struggle between all the characters to ascend to the throne after Lear goes mad.
Other Lear stuff:
Lear (the king) breaks traditional practice by dividing up and giving each daughter land. This symbolizes the breaking up of the kingdom, and possibly the family?
Edgar is the perfect character. He is the only one who can replace Lear.
The storm symbolizes Lear's internal struggle.
Edgar keeps his identity hidden from his father in order to prevent more damage. analogous to "if you tell your partner you're cheating, how will they ever trust you again?" idea.
Fisher King parallel:
If king cannot produce an heir, he is considered impotent and the land similarly cannot produce any crops. Therefore, the king = land. A thing to note is that land is feminine.
Sorry that my notes kinda... suck. I recommend going back to our previous blog posts for further study. They go into much more detail and do help to clear stuff up.
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Psychoananlysis:
• Goneril, Regan, and Edmund are the id=quest for power
• Favorite child syndrome motivates Goneril, Regan, and Edmund (blame displaced on their siblings for their father’s favoritism?)
• Absence of mother’s provokes absense of love and family unity
o Cordelia cannot express love b/c she was raised by her father
o Edmund cannot see value of marriage; Goneril and Regan are attracted to his manipulative qualities b/c they cannot recognize real love
Marxism
• Edmund defies established monarchical system by attempting to seize power as a bastard
• Lear rules b/c birthright, though he is not a good king b/c he divides land
• Cordelia and Edgar champion aristocracy.
o Cordelia refuses to be part of Lear’s division of land
o Edgar is poster noble boy
Feminism
• Lack of mother’s screws up family dynamic
• Cordelia’s power is superficial
o Loses in final battle commanding French army
o When Lear tells her they should give up responsibility and stay in prison, she should tell him to fight. Instead acts like helpless female
o Cordelia must fail and die b/c Lear loves her the most. Doomed from the start b/c tragic flaw of not being able to express herself
Fisher King: Idea that king reps land. Male is supposed to rule over and protect the land, which is feminine. When Lear divides land among daughters, things sink into chaos, as repped by the storm.
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