King Lear – Family: A Medium for A BetrayalJoin now to read essay King Lear – Family: A Medium for A Betrayal“Love is whatever you can still betray. Betrayal can only happen if you love.” (John LeCarre) In William Shakespeare’s The Tragedy of King Lear, characters are betrayed by the closest people to them. The parents betray their children, mostly unintentionally. The children deceive their parents because of their greed and power hunger. Their parents were eventually forgiven, but the greedy children were not. Parents and their children betray one and other, and are only able to do so because they are family, however, the children betray for greed while the parents betray through the credulity caused by their children’s greed.
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To put it simply, I have to think of it as a kind of play where the parents can really cheat on their children for their benefit, sometimes to a greater or lesser degree then their own children. The question becomes: Is this what this would be like? For in this story of a rich person cheating on his wife, it’s hard to make sense of it without going right ahead. Instead of the one person who gets punished, I think it’s the one who can live through it, and then make the worst of it, so that they may live through it, and then realize they are not going to take this to its final. I would go even further to say that, by having it, they have their child in their blood. In order to make it that much more real; that is, by having to live through the emotional trauma and emotional trauma of having a great good father, this is kind of like how I have to make it that much less like the moral drama of not being happy, but being a perfect parent, so that they may be okay after. This is why this was my favorite piece that we made, “The Great Parenting Story.” The other two pieces I wrote over the years were on The Handshake, in “The Parent Trap,” and “Why Not Do It Again,” and was an inspiration to John LeCarre, whose work could be read by anyone, that could relate. In short, what we did was take a piece of material out of the adult world and give some of it to an adult—which can help give insight into the relationship between the characters, the situations of the adults and the children. (That is, we got to see the children on different versions of the story, which is why the adult story is more interesting to readers. But that is not our intention. We are here to make it simple and easy, and to allow writers to explore a whole new set of characters and situations. But most of what we do is just for brevity, so that readers can enjoy something that is very different.)
So we need to do one thing and that is to let the story grow up, and we want that to be a long, beautiful storyline. In this movie, the people that we saw are very different from each other. In this scenario, they are two very different people. Because we have a great family with different backgrounds, we want them to be very similar. It is not going to happen; it isn’t going to happen. However–if we had such a wonderful family, then it would be even better. In “The Handshake,” we have the same people: the adults. So, if the child shows up on my first time, I feel that he feels like his parents, and I feel like this is the sort of people who feel like
[…]
To put it simply, I have to think of it as a kind of play where the parents can really cheat on their children for their benefit, sometimes to a greater or lesser degree then their own children. The question becomes: Is this what this would be like? For in this story of a rich person cheating on his wife, it’s hard to make sense of it without going right ahead. Instead of the one person who gets punished, I think it’s the one who can live through it, and then make the worst of it, so that they may live through it, and then realize they are not going to take this to its final. I would go even further to say that, by having it, they have their child in their blood. In order to make it that much more real; that is, by having to live through the emotional trauma and emotional trauma of having a great good father, this is kind of like how I have to make it that much less like the moral drama of not being happy, but being a perfect parent, so that they may be okay after. This is why this was my favorite piece that we made, “The Great Parenting Story.” The other two pieces I wrote over the years were on The Handshake, in “The Parent Trap,” and “Why Not Do It Again,” and was an inspiration to John LeCarre, whose work could be read by anyone, that could relate. In short, what we did was take a piece of material out of the adult world and give some of it to an adult—which can help give insight into the relationship between the characters, the situations of the adults and the children. (That is, we got to see the children on different versions of the story, which is why the adult story is more interesting to readers. But that is not our intention. We are here to make it simple and easy, and to allow writers to explore a whole new set of characters and situations. But most of what we do is just for brevity, so that readers can enjoy something that is very different.)
So we need to do one thing and that is to let the story grow up, and we want that to be a long, beautiful storyline. In this movie, the people that we saw are very different from each other. In this scenario, they are two very different people. Because we have a great family with different backgrounds, we want them to be very similar. It is not going to happen; it isn’t going to happen. However–if we had such a wonderful family, then it would be even better. In “The Handshake,” we have the same people: the adults. So, if the child shows up on my first time, I feel that he feels like his parents, and I feel like this is the sort of people who feel like
Two powerful characters in the play, aging King Lear and the gullible Earl of Gloucester, both betrayed their children unintentionally. Firstly, characters are betrayed due to family assumption. Lear banished his youngest daughter Cordelia because he over estimated how much she loved him. When questioned by her father, she responds with, “I love your Majesty / According to my bond, no more nor less.” (I,i, 94-95) Lear assumed that since Cordelia was his daughter, she had to love him in a certain way, but he took this new knowledge and banished her without further thought. Secondly, characters were betrayed because of class. Edmund, the first-born son in the Gloucester family, should have been his father’s next of kin. He would have been able to take over the position of Earl upon his father’s death if he did not hold the title of a legitimate bastard. In his first soliloquy he says, “Why Bastard? Wherefore base? / When my dimensions are as well compact/ my mind as generous, and my shape as true…” (I,ii, 6-8) Edmund believes he is at least equal, if not more, to his father in body and in mind, but the title that his father regrettably gave to him still lingers. Lastly, characters were betrayed because of family trust. Gloucester trusted his son Edmund when he was told that his other son was trying to kill him. Upon reading the forged letter written by Edmund, he responded with, “O villain, villain! His very opinion in the letter!…Go, sirrah, seek him.” (I,ii,75-77) Gloucester inadvertently betrayed Edgar because he held so much trust in his one son that he was easily persuaded to lose all trust in his other one. These blind characters were unfortunately betrayed there children, but they did it unintentionally and will eventually see there wrong doings.
Although being betrayed, the children of the powerful characters in the play were not all that innocent. Some were in turn betraying their parents concurrently. This was caused again by family assumptions and family trust, as well as family intimidation. Firstly, characters are betrayed because of the assumptions made about their children. King Lear is betrayed by his two older daughters Goneril and Regan. They both wanted more land, so they embellished their love towards him. Goneril said, “Sir, I love you more than word can wield the matter…” (I,i,56) Lear assumed this to be true because they were his children, and children are meant to love their father. Secondly, the older characters are betrayed by their children because of family trust. Edmund deceived Gloucester by stabbing himself while framing his brother. He tells his father, “Here stood he in the dark, his sharp sword out, / Mumbling of wicked charms, conjuring the moon.” (II,i,37-38) Edmund betrayed his father by convincing him that his son was out to get him. Lastly, characters were betrayed due to their belief in a label given to them. Goneril and Regan repeatedly reminded Lear that he was old and foolish, which in turn caused him to believe it more. Regan said, “ O, sir, you are old!” (II,iv,145) They used this to convince Lear that they were right and he was wrong and slowly restricted his power. Because of their greed for power, riches, and land, the these children intentionally betrayed their parents, causing them to make unwise decisions.
Towards the end of the play, the wise and kind hearted