King Lear Research Paper

Every child has felt at some point that their parents might favour their sibling over them. In King Lear, two families demonstrate the negative effect this can have when a child is continuously exposed to this demeanour. Shakespeare uses this to develop and influence the plot, characters and diction of the entire play.

Aristotle believed that there were three main elements that make up the plot of a perfect tragedy: the incentive moment, the climax and the resolution. Shakespeare’s King Lear brings together those elements using the parent-child dynamic as the backbone of the play. The incentive moment for Edmund’s storyline is hard to pinpoint, as his whole life has been spent dealing with abuse and disgrace from his father. Shakespeare

Edmund, Goneril and Regan are all proof that outwardly comparing equal siblings can cause jealousy and hatred. They easily fit into Aristotle’s template for the perfect tragic character: “In a perfect tragedy, character will support plot, i.e., personal motivations will be intricately connected parts of the cause-and-effect chain of action producing pity and fear in the audience.” (Aristotle’s Poetics) Edmund, for example, would not be the same developed character he was if his father didn’t have such a bias against him. In Gloucester’s eyes, Edmund’s breeding caused him to be lesser than Edgar. This was hard for Edmund, as he felt he was better-looking, more athletic and born from passion: “Who in the lusty stealth of nature take more composition and fierce quality than doth within a dull, stale, tirèd bed.” (King Lear I ii 13) These elements of Edmund’s upbringing are what pushed him to his full potential: he had to prove himself the best. Goneril and Regan were also spurred on by the fact that Cordelia was always favoured. Lear making up the contest proved to them that he would do anything to watch her succeed. His motives for loving her more are never made clear: while Gloucester has a reason, albeit questionable, to believe Edgar is better, Lear’s preference of Cordelia is never justified. This would be especially difficult for her sisters, since they had already experienced the love and attention of their father before he began to shower it all on Cordelia. However, they did not deal with the experience the same way. At multiple points throughout the play, Goneril demonstrates empathy for her father, whereas Regan shuns him completely. When Lear rushes into the storm at the end of act 2, Goneril entreats Regan to send someone after him, worried about his safety, especially since he is visibly descending into madness. Regan, however, orders the doors