2023 Shakespeare Complete works challenge

#2 - King Lear -

Read 1/2/23 - 1/7/23

Rating: 3 stars ⭐️⭐️⭐️

Interesting that this is based on a true story in British monarchical history. Maybe a couple lessons to be learned are to be careful about who you should trust and to be sure your affairs are in order before you’re too old.

I listened to an audio recording and read this play. I'm stilled learning to understand Shakespeare and his work. Really enjoyable and the author has a extensive cast of characters in this one. I'm getting the feel that Shakespeare's plays were not solely written as entertainment.
7-31-2024
Listened to the audio performed by the Argo Classics-the Marlowe Professional Players. In this version there was some singing and the sound of the wind whipping it felt like a true tempest. The best way for my to appreciate the work, other than a live performance is to read along with the audio version.

King Lear divides his kingdom among his three daughters based on their love for him. When his youngest daughter, refuses to flatter him, he disowns her, leading to betrayal and tragedy.

I really enjoyed King Lear.
I re read this as an adult and I think I was able to appreciate it a lot more.
Lear’s love for his daughters, though misguided, feels so relatable... Lets get real, I have two little boys and I can totally understand his desperate desire for love and validation from his kids.
I mean its totally not healthy, but I get it. Nothing cuts deeper than your three year old telling you they don't like you.
A very real reminder that our decisions as parents can have far-reaching effects.

hai. Ben ik weer voor de tweede recensie van dit weekend. dit maal: King Lear. Schrijven is nogal tijdrovend en daarom moet je deze paar regels even opvatten alsof het er meer zijn.

Het verhaal begint met Koning Lear, die besluit zijn koninkrijk te verdelen onder zijn drie dochters: Goneril, Regan en Cordelia. Hij vraagt hen hun liefde voor hem te uiten:

“Tell me, my daughters—
Which of you shall we say doth love us most
That we our largest bounty may extend”

Goneril en Regan overladen hem met valse vleierij:

“Sir, I love you more than word can wield the matter,
Dearer than eyesight, space, and liberty,
Beyond what can be valued, rich or rare,
No less than life, with grace, health, beauty, honour”

Cordelia daarentegen blijft eerlijk en zegt niets, omdat ze gelooft dat haar liefde zwaarder weegt dan woorden. Wanneer Lear haar aanspoort te spreken, antwoordt ze:

CORDELIA
Nothing, my lord.

LEAR
Nothing?

CORDELIA
Nothing.

LEAR
Nothing will come of nothing. Speak again.

CORDELIA
Unhappy that I am, I cannot heave
My heart into my mouth. I love your Majesty
According to my bond, no more nor less.

Lear wordt woedend en verstoot haar, zeggende:

“Wretch of nature” en “Better thou
Hadst not been born than not t’ have pleased me better.”

Naarmate het verhaal vordert, ontdekt Lear dat Goneril en Regan hem verraden en machteloos achterlaten. Uiteindelijk sterven bijna alle hoofdpersonages, inclusief Lear en Cordelia, en blijft het toneel achter in chaos en verdriet.

Mijn favoriete personage is Cordelia. Ondanks de harde behandeling blijft ze haar vader trouw. Ze toont medeleven en bezorgdheid voor zijn welzijn, vooral wanneer hij later in het stuk waanzinnig wordt. Haar acties zijn gericht op het helpen en beschermen van haar vader, in tegenstelling tot haar zusters. Haar liefde en vermogen om emoties te voelen zonder zich te laten meeslepen door valse sentimenten toont haar morele superioriteit over haar zussen.

Aan het einde van het stuk ontmoet Cordelia uiteindelijk haar vader opnieuw, die berouw heeft van zijn daden. Hij wordt wakker, herkent zijn dochter en zegt:

LEAR
For (as I am a man) I think this lady
To be my child Cordelia.

CORDELIA
And so I am: I am!

LEAR
Be your tears wet? Yes, faith: I pray weep not.
If you have poison for me, I will drink it:
I know you do not love me, for your sisters
Have (as I do remember) done me wrong;
You have some cause; they have not.

CORDELIA
No cause, no cause.

Dit stuk was het meest tragisch, de haat en wreedheid van de personages, en ondertussen de schoonheid van de tekst, mijn god. Het was soms lastig te volgen, maar de samenvattingen per scène op Youtube hielpen goed ;)

En dan nog een paar citaten (ookal zou ik het hele toneelstuk hier moeten citeren):

—

Thou shouldst not have been old till thou hadst
been wise.

When we our betters see bearing our woes,
We scarcely think our miseries our foes.
Who alone suffers, suffers most i'th'mind,
Leaving free things and happy shows behind;

The weight of this sad time we must obey;
Speak what we feel, not what we ought to say.
The oldest hath borne most; we that are young
Shall never see so much, nor live so long.

This is the excellent foppery of the world, that
when we are sick in fortune (often the surfeits of
our own behavior) we make guilty of our disasters
the sun, the moon, and stars, as if we were villains
on necessity