Kennedy\'s \"King Lear: Very Much

Kennedy's "King Lear: Very Much Like Life"

In his article "King Lear: Very Much Like Life" a.L. Kennedy discusses how the play King Lear is like life. This analysis seems true, though it is like the dark sides of life that are the clearest in Lear. Furthermore, because it is such a complex play, not all renditions of the play are successful. Kennedy acknowledges that there are difficulties, but maintains that, "Lear's beauty remains -- unforgettable, terrible, heart-shocking. Think of everything you're most deeply afraid of; it's here in Lear. Think of everything you couldn't stand to lose; you'll see it lost in Lear. And you'll see humanity survive, nonetheless, the play rising above life's most devastating certainties to sing and burn." (Kennedy).

Kennedy supports his thesis by demonstrating some of the horrors that exist in the play. He mentions the primal fears, and talks about how Lear addresses those. The first of those fears may be the loss of a child and/or the loss of a parent, which Lear and Cordelia both experience in the play's beginning; Lear when Cordelia refuses to publicly announce her love to him, and Cordelia when she is banished. The next of these fears is the fear of betrayal, which Lear experiences when Goneril and Regan betray one another, and then Goneril poisons Regan. Of course, the most potent of the fears may be the fear that one will lose one's mind, and Lear is, at its heart, the tale of man gone mad.

Kennedy's article accurately reflects how Lear speaks to basic human fears. Before ever going mad, Lear addresses his fear that he might go mad. Faced with betrayal by Goneril and Regan, Lear states, "No, I'll not weep. / I have full cause of weeping, but this heart / Shall break into a hundred thousand flaws, / or ere I'll weep. O fool, I shall go mad!" (Lear II.iv, 283-286). Gloucester, speaking of the injustice in the world, after he has been betrayed and blinded by Regan and Goneril, remarks, "As flies to wanton boys are we to th' gods, They kill us for their sport." (Lear, IV.i, 36-37). This remark makes the audience aware that the characters know that the events in the play seem both capricious and unjust. Finally, Lear addresses the injustice of the world and the specific injustice done to Gloucester, by asking, "What, art mad? / a man may see how this world goes with no eyes." (Lear, IV.vi, 150-151). Taken together, these three statements demonstrate that the play demonstrates tremendous loss, but also shows that man can triumph over that loss.

Hazlitt's "King Lear: An Analysis of the Play by William Shakespeare."