King Lear discussion

Currently my blog is hosting a 'Battle of the Bards' to figure out The Best Shakespeare Play of Allll Timeee!!!


Currently King Lear is up against Macbeth! We need your votes to help decide!!

http://www.padfootandprongs.com

Oooh. Tough one. I truly love Macbeth. Some of my favorite all time quotes are from Macbeth. The play is dark, ambitious, bloody, political, scheming, philosophical, as a tragedy- it's masterful.

But I have to go with King Lear - It begins so simply, like a fairytale. "Which of you shall we say doth love us most?" Such a naive question - and only one answers truly. The fairytale quickly disintegrates. Ambition, lies, backstabbing, politics, horrible trials forcing new philosophies - the race for absolute power fully corrupting the already unjust as they scheme and maim and destroy everyone and everything. King Lear is powerful and most heartbreaking because it is the family that destroys. The knife cuts more deeply when the traitor is one you love. It will suck your heart out. Then, suddenly it seems we may have that fairytale ending after all - "so we'll live,
And pray, and sing, and tell old tales, and laugh
At gilded butterflies.." Lear says to Cordelia when they are reunited. But it is not to be. The one true thing is taken too and then that is the end of his heart.

I cried for days when I read this play. King Lear marks a death of innocence, the birth of wisdom, the discovery of truth and honor and love. It is the ultimate coming of age story, but too late. A seasoned king, but frozen naive and over-proud from his many flatterers. He grows up in this play, he gains his heart but he learns too late.

Prongs, went to your page but didn't find the link mentioned.

I've been blessed with a having a BRILLIANT Shakespeare festival in our town, who are willing to do brave things. Meaning, I've seen the troublesome plays, such as Timon of Athens, Titus Andronicus, Merchant of Venice, Winter's Tale, and Cymbeline. All of these play better than they read, and Timon was breathtaking in its modernity.

But, between Lear and Macbeth I'd pick Lear, for the well described reasons Betsy supplied.

I'm voting for King Lear, for its great morals deeply related to the real life...

Too bad Othello is not in the running ...

The white on black, the black on white
Explosive mix it makes, so easy to ignite
By jealousy venom, inserted drop by drop into suspicious mind,
And vicious fantasies force fatal spring of hate to wind
And there you go ... the flame of rage
Burns out lives, while getting out of its mental cage

Lear! Lest we come between the dragon and his wrath.

Haha I appreciate all the comments on this subject, but we actually did Battle of the Bards in March of 2010. Not sure how it just now got found but thanks for all the comments anyways!!

Prongs wrote: "Haha I appreciate all the comments on this subject, but we actually did Battle of the Bards in March of 2010. Not sure how it just now got found but thanks for all the comments anyways!!"

Prongs: which play won?

And how Hamlet got eliminated ?
=================================
Immortal Prince keeps coming back to make us look in depth
What's better choice - to take the life "as is" or challenge it by death
Each one finds answer on his own, decides it by thyself
But if you want Shakespeare's advise - take "Hamlet" from bookshelf

Or Romeo and Juliet for that matter ?
=======================================
Not lasting was this couple's tragic young romance
To be in one another arms they lucky were just once
No matter how, no matter what to tell us meant poet
So many youngsters die too soon not having even that

I would vote Lear as well. It's so bleak and devastating. Just a perfect tragedy.

I would second Zach. King Lear is my favorite, though Hamlet is exceptional both in its artistic nature and its cultural repercussions;-)

My father was a high school english teacher. I was one of four sisters. He quoted King Lear to us until the cows came home. Great play it is, but I'll vote for Macbeth. I'd rather set my eyelashes on fire, than hear another quote from King Lear.

Out of Macbeth and King Lear, it would have to be King Lear. But then again, out of all of the plays, it would still have to be King Lear.

For most of us, love for Shakespeare comes attached with a good teacher. (You never really have a good Lecturer/Reader/Professor ... it is always a "Teacher" who takes us through Shakespeare).I have had a series of fantastic teachers right from a priest who introduced me to Julius Caesar in school to this teacher in the University who was neck deep in Politics who took us through King Lear. In between we crammed through the History Plays and the other Great Tragedies.
Perhaps it is this background intertwined with the social & political upheavals of our times that has made me ‘learn’ and ‘unlearn’ King Lear, reading it in association with all other works - Macbeth, Othello, the ‘Richards’ and the ‘Henrys’, that makes it my favorite Shakespeare.

Why is "Best" equated with tragedy? for my money, its a trifecta between Shrew, Midsummer night's, and the Tempest.

The Scottish Play.

If I had to choose out of just these two I would have to say Mcbeth for the depth and beauty of the preformed play is truly brilliant and a work of art same goes for the opera

Definitely Macbeth.

I agree, Macbeth is the best.
I've read King Lear before I touched Macbeth and I've to say that King Lear can only come second.
Macbeth was a surprise for me when I first read it and it's still a surprise every time I read it.
One of the most important aspects of a good play, for me, is its ability to collar you through it without your knowing and Macbeth does that and more.
To see the gradual decay of the tragic character gives it an A++ in my book and to see how Shakespeare ends it is truly a piece of authentic Renaissance gold.

Betsy wrote: "Oooh. Tough one. I truly love Macbeth. Some of my favorite all time quotes are from Macbeth. The play is dark, ambitious, bloody, political, scheming, philosophical, as a tragedy- it's masterful..."
I so agree with you. I was sixteen when I first saw a production of Lear, and, as with you, it stayed with me for days and days. I cried buckets. It is not the easiest of plays; it is "pagan," and the celestial imagery is perhaps less accessible than that of Macbeth and Othello. But the characters are superb; no one touches me like Kent, Edgar, and Fool. Cordelia is a young woman of both integrity and strong character, unlike Desdemona or Ophelia. There is a purity about ths play that captures me again and again. I, too, love Macbeth (and Othello and Hamlet), but Lear has my heart.

King Lear. It is his best, just for the forgiveness seen alone, it is his best. King Lear realizes despite what flattering people have told him and he has believed, that he is as vulnerable to the forces of nature just like anyone else. He cannot command the elements and is subject to illness (4.6.96-103). Just as, during the storm he recognizes that beneath each person’s cloths is “a poor, bare, forked animal” (3.4.99-100), Lear now sees that no amount of flattery and praise can make a king different from anyone else, “Through tattered clothes small vices do appear; Robes and furred gowns hide all” (4.6.158-59). Now that Lear understands this, he can reunite with Cordelia and express his new humility and beg for forgiveness. “I am a very foolish fond old man” (4.7.61), he tells her sadly, and he admits that she has “some cause” to hate him (4.7.76). Cordelia’s moving response concludes one of the most beautiful forgiveness scene produced outside of the prodigal son, “no cause, no, cause” (4.7.77) and reconciliation is sealed in this tender response. Love and forgiveness, personified in Lear’s best daughter, join with his meekness and repentance.

Andy wrote: "King Lear. It is his best, just for the forgiveness seen alone, it is his best. King Lear realizes despite what flattering people have told him and he has believed, that he is as vulnerable to the ..."
I agree. Lear learns what love and loyalty are, not just Cordelia's, but also Kent. I also find the celestial imagery among the most beautiful in all Shakespeare.

it's Hamlet, then Lear, then Midsummer Night and then Macbeath

nothing beats Hamlet i'm afraid

LEAR The greatest of Shakespeare's plays. Perhaps the greatest single piece of Western literature. Certainly my favorite since I first read it at 16, which was a long time ago.

Hamlet is the only competitor -- certainly not Macbeth.

Lear, Hamlet, Twelfth Night and Tempest are my favorite Shakespeare. But that's not to say they're the only Shakespeare I love.

Hamlet is amazing , Interesting , Have a moral view!

This post is completed for a school assignment. My favorite work of Shakespeare is Romeo and Juliet because it has three characters whom I found realistic and admirable: Tybalt, Mercutio, and Benvolio. It is not often that a Shakespeare play has so many male characters who are so similar to me in age and because Romeo and Juliet, it is the most memorable of the works. I respect Tybalt for his rage and recklessness, both of which added danger to the hatred between the Montague and Capulet families. I loved Mercutio rhymes and his apparent lack of fear of death and how he does not care how others think of him and how well he adhered to his loyalty and defense of his friend, Romeo. Benvolio completes the trio and he although he was least involved in any fighting out of all three and his disappearance, not death, at the end, he represented the only survivor of the new generation. This is significant because it showed that peace could be renewed after so much loss on both sides of the families. Romeo and Juliet is my favorite because of these three characters whom I can relate too because of their age and their love of adventure and loyalty. Before reading Shakespeare, I believed that I could never enjoy it because there is a five centuries gap between my time and the Bard’s, but through Tybalt, Mercutio, and Benvolio, I am beginning to read classics to challenge my perception of human nature.

Twelfth Night, hands down.

King Lear is my favourite Shakespeare play and probably my favourite play, period. I like Macbeth but I find it a bit too moralistic - the bad are punished, and Providence, while not undoing the protagonists' crimes, ensures that the surviving good characters are rewarded. King Lear I find astonishingly modern, very rich in possible interpretations, and there is something about it that feels brutally honest ("speak what we feel, not what we ought to say") and it seems to me Shakespeare's crowning achievement in the topic of appearance vs. reality.

King Lear hands down....no doubt or me....gruesome...and i could relate so much...a complete tragedy

King Lear. It's the only Shakespeare that I can stand, although I don't have a good sense of Macbeth.

My own favorite is 'Henry V'

But I'd choose lear over MacBeth.

Prongs wrote: "Currently my blog is hosting a 'Battle of the Bards' to figure out The Best Shakespeare Play of Allll Timeee!!!


Currently King Lear is up against Macbeth! We need your votes to help decide!!

htt..."

Hamlet is the best Shakespearean play. Quite possibly the best play ever written.

Hamlet is the best Shakespearean play. Quite possibly the best play ever written.

I cannot choose between Lear, MacBeth and Hamlet. Each is great and any attempt to rank them seems foolish.

I vote Lear. It breaks my heart.

Benn wrote: "Hamlet is the best Shakespearean play. Quite possibly the best play ever written."

I agree with you

Macbeth. It's got drama, blood, action, revenge, heartbreak, death, sorcery, etc. Great play. The characters all have a little good and a little bad, which cannot be said for the characters in some other Shakespeare plays. Hamlet and King Lear are both overrated. A Midsummer Night's Dream is hilarious; the Tempest is okay.

Macbeth. It's got drama, blood, action, revenge, heartbreak, death, sorcery, etc. Great play. The characters all have a little good and a little bad, which cannot be said for the characters in some other Shakespeare plays. King Lear is overrated. Simple characters, fairy tale plot (not in a good way), melodramatic ending.

King Lear is not only the greatest play, is the greatest drama, surpassing Hamlet and Oedipus, according Daniel S.Burt book "The Drama 100":
http://www.spnu.ac.ir/mb%20resources/...

According Bradley, King Lear is Shakespeare's greatest work, and Hazlitt pointed, King Lear is the play, where Shakespeare more show his powers and invention.

My favorite used to be Macbeth, but I'm pretty sure than when I read King Lear, I changed my mind pretty quickly. It's simply a perfect play.

KIng Lear. In terms of tragedy and morality. It's completely devestating.

Plus, the first recorded performance was on my birthday in 1606.

And how about that insult hurled at Osward by Kent (disguised as Caius): "Thou whoreson zed! Thou unnecessary letter!"

Bonus!

Yes, in my opinion, King Lear is one of the greatest tragedies ever written. This is so, because King Lear illustrates to an incredible degree human suffering. Moreover, the tragedy is very realistic. King Lear, as a result of growing old, begins to lose his grip over his mental faculties. As a result, he makes imprudent decisions that result in grave consequences. Aside from this aspect, what I love about King Lear is that it made me cry when I first watched the play. There is something beautiful, tragic, and sad when Cordelia and Lear reunite, in which they both forgive each other.