"O, matter and impertinency mixed! Reason in madness!" says Edgar in 4.6.171-72, in response to a speech Lear makes after he has indured the storm of the previous night. In his torment, Lear has gone mad (in the sense of insane, not angry). The play is filled with characters who are foolish, or mentally deranged--or who pretend to be. The Fool is "foolish," but speaks with wisdom. Edgar pretends to be insane to escape the insanity of a world which has put a price on his head, although he has done no wrong. What about Lear? Why has he gone mad? Are there any benefits to being "mad"? What does Lear lose by being mad? What does he gain? Comment upon Lear and his madness, as seen in Act 4.
---Dream Big---
ReplyDeleteI agree with the statement that the play is filled with characters who are foolish, mentally deranged, or who pretend to be. Even though the Fool is foolish, he is one of the few characters in the play who side with King Lear. In addition, he also physically stays by his side even after the king is exiled. The fool is an interesting character because even though he presents things in a foolish manner, he irrevocably speaks the truth; which is something King Lear rarely hears.
King Lear is also very naive, vain, and lazy. Eventually these qualities caught up with him. His naivety caused him to trust in the wrong people. His vanity caused him to be blinded by false proclamations of love. Lastly, his laziness caused him to act on an idea that he thought would give him all of the benefits of being king without putting in any of the work.
Lear has gone mad because his actions consequentially drove him to this point. In my opinion, there are no benefits of being "mad." By becoming mad, Lear loses his family, kingdom, respect, power, and pride. The only thing he gained from becoming mad was sympathy from his beloved daughter, Cordelia. In the fourth scene, when Cordelia sees her father's condition she states, "O dear father, / It is thy business that I go about." Cordelia sent her troops to go forth and find her father so that she may take care of him.
In Act 4, King Lear is humbled through his madness, and in my opinion he sees things clearer than he did when he was of sound mind.
I will agree that this story holds a lot of foolishness and Edgar uses insanity as a accuse and it backfired, i feel that Lear is feeling bad on how he treated Cordelia and it is coming back to him.I don't feel that Lear is mad at no-one but his self because of the decision he chose and how his other two daughters are handling things. As dream big said he was very naive and didn't trust the people he should have trusted from the get go which was his daughter. He has gone mad because theirs nothing he can do about the predicament he is in and no longer can he change whats in the past. Which was start over with his decision on how he treated Cordelia because you cant do wrong and expect good to come out of it. He quotes “They flattered me like a dog. . . . To say ‘aye’ and ‘no’ to everything that I said!” (95–98).Meaning his daughters only told him what he wanted to hear and it took him to go through pain to realize the betrayal which causes his anger but he chose that so he cant blame no one but himself so why be upset with them in my opinion. With being mad their aren't any benefits for him, because he put himself in that problem. He loses a lot of things such as his two daughters who betrayed him,respect, and his sanity.The fact of him being old and losing his some of his memory caused more anger as well.The important thing he gained is Cordelia’s trust and love back.Cordelia choosing to take after her father shows that she genuinely loves him more than she could describe it, because Lear treated her badly and that why his anger is so heavy now.
ReplyDeleteBird91
I think there are many reasons as to why Lear has gone mad. For one, his two daughters who he thought were loving and loyal to him have just betrayed him. He was left outside during a horrific storm, and has lost everything that he once held so dear. While his age and the nature of the night he had just previously had factor into his insanity, I think the main cause of his madness is himself. He is ashamed of his actions. He trusted people blindly based off of words that meant nothing, and was so vain that all he cared about was the daughter who could flatter him the most, and he is ashamed of disowning Cordelia, the one daughter who actually did love him. He says, No rescue? What, a prisoner? I am even / The natural fool of fortune.” (179-180). In his madness he knows that he has been the fool and is now a prisoner in his own mind for all the foolish decision he had made in his life. I do disagree with Dream Big in a way about what King Lear gains from being mad. Dream Big states that there is nothing to be gained in Lear’s madness, but then finish the entry with the fact that Lear in his madness sees cleared then he did when he was sane. To me, this is something that Lear has gained through his madness. He sees everything clearly, he sees how he was betrayed, how he betrayed others, and how while others have aided in his downfall, and he himself is also to blame. Through his madness Lear loses, his kingdom, his respect, and his pride. Through his own actions, he has brought his own downfall.
ReplyDeleteInterestingly, Act IV is the framework for social paradoxes. As said; the Fool whom in this case embodies the mouth of wisdom, the dynamic of Edgar and his disguised identity, and even the concealed face of Kent in his pursuits. But the basis for Lear's madness is rooted in the shame of his outspoken decision to forfeit his kingdom into the hands of his two daughters. The pain lies greater in that he consciously took false proclamations of love instead of Cordelia's stance of true love as his daughter, banishing her as a result. For him to have only wanted the best flattering words, makes the case that he possibly only saw his daughters no further different than any other noble in the kingdom. Seeing them as only others who were subject to serve him, massaging his pride at his request-and when Cordelia did not...we know the rest. I'm sure that's another viewpoint he regrets. But I also must disagree with Dream Big by agreeing with Watts Davidson. In this Act, the context of "mad" is different than we're used to. In Lear's state of mind, never has he reached such a state of clarity. With pride eroded, and praise not heard, Lear is able to filter the dynamics of his family and kingdom's demise. In his dialogue with Edgar he shows this reasoning..."What, has his daughters brought him to this pass? Couldst thou save nothing? Didst thou give them all?" He's saying here did your daughters bring this to you, did you save anything, and did you have to give it to them all? In his madness he seems aware, and mirrors/voices his own past faults to Edgar. Lear does lose much, he loses the respect of many of his friends, his kingdom, and his confidence. But he gains much more in comparison to what he's lost. He has gained simply new vision, Lear was blinded before, made deaf by his own pride. He's also gained back the hand of his true daughter Cordelia and the hope for his dignity restored.
ReplyDelete-Annie08
I would have to say that I agree with Watts Davidson. There are so many reasons that King Lear could have gotten so upset because he had so much going on. However, I think that the main reason he was so upset was because of how his daughters were treating him. Lear was an old man and had to go through the heartbreak of two disrespectful daughters who he thought loved him unconditionally. I mean he had three daughters and not one, but two of them were treating him like he waas not their father. He was actually upset at Cordelia, who proved to be the daughter that loved him most. I think that after he thought about the things that he said to Cordelia really made him feel bad also. He felt bad and shameful for disowning his one and only good daughter and taking up for the bad ones. His other two daughters wanted him to give up alot of his men but Lear didn't want to. I don't think Lear gained anything by getting mad because the daughters were now in charge and whatever they said had to be done. By being mad, he had to give up all of his men. Overall, I think he gained true wisdom and knowledge because of everything he went through with the two daughters. In the end, he and Cordelia were captured and he was happya s long as they were together; it didn't matter where they were. Lear had to find out the hard way which daughter loved him most.
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