Revision Cards - King Lear: A Level, Themes

Revise the key points

Lear loses everything: his kingly status, his family, his mind.
Lear has to come to terms with his own ‘nothingness’ as a man – instead of seeing himself as ‘constructed’ king.
Gloucester is a second figure of authority who is reduced to nothing in order to see more clearly.
Goneril and Regan’s so-called speeches of love are worth nothing.

Themes

King Lear: A Level

Goneril and Regan are compared throughout to savage animals; they are cruel and inhuman.
Goneril and Regan are destroyed by their own animal instincts.
Albany describes Lear’s daughters as ‘tigers not daughters’.
Gloucester and Cordelia describe how even a wild beast would not be turned out in the storm – as is Lear.

Themes

King Lear: A Level

The play presents different models of madness: Lear’s mental anguish, the Fool’s professional clowning and Edgar’s ‘Poor Tom’ disguise.
Edgar, disguised as a beggar who would feign insanity for money, speaks in nonsensical rhyme and is plagued by demons.
In the mock courtroom scene all is turned on its head so those who are mad are in charge.
The Fool has special status – he has licence to speak the truth, and Lear accepts this from him.

Themes

King Lear: A Level

Lear’s suffering is mental torture; it is relentless and his mind disintegrates. With Cordelia’s death his heart breaks.
Femininity is linked to suffering; Lear rages against female sexuality, denouncing women as ‘centaurs’ – half human, half beast.
Gloucester’s physical suffering reflects the mental anguish of Lear. They are both overwhelmed by their suffering and yearn for death.
The violence of Edgar’s frantic speeches on the heath intensifies the suffering – they contain imagery of whipping, knives and nooses.

Themes

King Lear: A Level

Lear searches for reason – he asks why his daughters have such hard hearts. Is nature responsible for the chaos?
Evil characters dominate in the play, which may lead us to think of nature as being a malevolent force.
Lear, as king, represents the natural order. He upsets this when he fails to see Cordelia’s genuine love.
Cordelia’s death makes it difficult to believe that the natural order ‘wins’. There is no resolution – only continued struggle.