Fools Song
- In King Lear, The Fool acts as the voice of truth. Even though Lear doesn’t take criticism well , the fool matches the truth with humour resulting the Lear not taking offence. The fool doesn’t have the largest role within the play but he seems to be the only character that has always seen the truth and made the most sense.
- “‘Thou wast a pretty fellow when thou hadst no need to care for her frowning; now thou art an O without a figure: I am better than thou art now; I am a fool, thou art nothing.”
Clothing
- Shakespeare uses clothing imagery to display different themes within the play, The main themes displayed are : Justice, Power and social class as well as depicted a characters mental state
- JUSTICE – “Through tatter’d clothes small vices do appear; Robes and furr’d gowns hide all. Plate sin with gold” – This quote is a perfect representation of how clothes are used to represent justice, The wealthy tend to get away with more because of the way they are presented to society through their appearance
- SANITY – “my face I’ll grime with filth; Blanket my loins: elf all my hair in knots; and withed nakedness out-face” – This quote was said my Edgar, Just by changing his appearance everyone just believes he is a beggar (Poor Tom)
- POWER – The amount of power that a character has is reflected through their clothing
Storm
The storm within the play is a visual representation of Lears mental state at that given time. In Act 3, Lear rushes out into a raging storm after having an argument with his daughters. He is both enraged and furious because of this, this is represented through thunder and lightening as well as the chaos of the storm.
1 Comment
Add Yours →Hi Albie,
I would like to see you taking your analysis a little further.
Given this is a play, it is vital that you look to the script to get to the bottom of each of these symbols. Our characters directly address each of both the storm and the clothing and the Fool’s songs appear frequently. What do you notice in the language that gives us more insight into the importance of these things?
Also, look to comment on the wider significance of these objects in Elizabethan England. The play has been written to reflect life and Shakespeare is using these symbols to deliberately connect us with some of his ideas. What important representations do storms, clothing and Fool’s have in his world that are mirrored here?
I am also slightly concerned at the amount of material you have posted on your blog. We have been working on this analysis for 8 in class periods now. Is there anything I can do to help you with your work? Please let me know so we can ensure you are gaining a full and rich understanding of the text.
Mrs. P