King Lear by William Shakespeare

King Lear by William Shakespeare, first performed in 1606, is a tragedy heavily embedded and interlaced with dramatics, ‘theatrically exaggerated or overemotional behaviour’, to create an engaging play in which Shakespeare’s initial audiences and audiences today are left hooked from the opening scene. Shakespeare uses Act 1 Scene 1 to introduce both the characters and their personalities through Lear’s ‘love-test’ following in his decision to abdicate ending in Cordelia, Lear’s youngest daughter, and Kent, arguably Lear’s most loyal subject, being banished. This subsequently causes Lear’s two other daughters Goneril and Regan to have the kingdom divided up between them. Act 1 Scene 1 offers the reader many opportunities to indulge, as a result of Shakespeare’s creation of a striking opening, in pity and fear- the two emotions necessary for a tragedy according to Aristotle- a genre Shakespeare adapted in King Lear and many of his other plays.

Shakespeare creates an impressive, captivating first scene through his development of his characters. As a playwright Shakespeare manipulates his characters to fit his dramatic form of either lyric or verse by morphing and changing them to both his needs to develop the plot and the characters themselves as the scene progresses. The poignant moment of Lear’s development is when Cordelia refuses to partake in Lear’s ‘love-test’ as she argues with a plosive ‘h’ as if to punch out her defiance that she ‘cannot heave/ My heart into my mouth’. Lear begins to question his daughter’s decision pleading with her to ‘Speak again’ and not accept her initial decision. This signifies a development in Lear’s character as Shakespeare opens his audience to Lear’s vulnerable side; Lear was hoping for Cordelia, his fondest daughter, to look after him in his ‘kind nursery’ as he returns to a childlike state in old age as seen due to the childlike connotations associated with ‘nursery’. Many would argue this metaphor to be hyperbolic and thus dramatic, as Lear will not become a baby once again in his old age thereby giving an insight into Lear’s perception of himself in his old age. He is left pained and humiliated by Cordelia’s somewhat rash decision. However some may argue, although not as strongly, that there is no development of characters due to the cyclical nature of the scene; it starts and ends with characters gossiping. For Shakespeare’s initial audience in 1606 this would be seen as particularly engaging as they were not use to a troubled, vulnerable and pained monarchy as Elizabeth I rein throughout the ‘golden years’ of British monarchy with James I comfortably taking the next throne. A 21st Century audience would also find this development striking as Shakespeare displays a side of the monarchy, although fictional, that the media and the royals themselves do not let the public see.

Shakespeare’s portrayal of a dramatic and engaging opening scene comes within the stage directions. Most notably Shakespeare assigns Cordelia various ‘(aside)’s in which only the audience can hear her thoughts and subsequently become on her side due to empathising with her cause and why she refuses to take part in the love quest. The asides are valuable and needed for the scene as the audience need them to understand her and her motives to rather be married off to the King of France. By forcing the director of the play at any time to do this Shakespeare creates a dramatic scene as on stage the audience’s focus is drawn to solely Cordelia; perhaps to display her significance as a character. Dependant on the director Cordelia’s asides engages the audience as they come before she decides to not partake in Lear’s games with his daughters thus displaying her thought process that she went through inciting the audience into questioning why she has these thoughts and what makes her so different from her sisters Goneril and Regan.

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