In the period in which King Lear was written—from 1604 to 1607—King
James VI, King of Scotland and England, was trying to persuade English
Parliament to approve the union of the two countries into one nation.
(It was James who first used the term "Great Britain" to describe the
unity of the Celtic and Saxon lands: England, Scotland, and Wales.) Such
a combination of nations is called "accession." In his speeches to
Parliament, he regularly referred to the misfortunes that had been
brought about by the disunion of England under King Leir, the historical
source of Shakespeare's play. The historical context of Shakespeare's
King Lear is thus twofold. Reading it you should keep in mind both the
history of King Leir and the discussions on union/disunion of Great
Britain in Shakespeare's own time.
King Lear was a popular work during Shakespeare's lifetime, evidenced by the fact that
there were two editions of the play, published in quarto form before the inclusion of the
play in the First Folioin 1623. These different editions do not posed significant textual
problems for the general reader.
During the intervening centuries the scene where the crazed King Lear goes out into the
storm (Act III, scene 2) has become the best-known part of the play. In the late 1600's
the play fell into disfavor because the powerful emotions, and the final scene of Lear's
suffering was thought to be too much for theater audiences. Eventually the play was
rewritten so that Lear survived his ordeal and returned to the throne. Cordelia also
survived and married Edgar. This bastardization of Shakespeare's original play reigned
supreme during the 18th Century. In the 19th Century the famous novelist Charles
Dickens wrote a parody of this kind of emotional emasculation of Shakespeare when he
described an adapted version of Romeo and Juliet in the novel Nicholas Nickelby. Not
only do Shakespeare's famous couple survive their misunderstanding in the tomb, but so
does Romeo's friend, Mercutio, who ends up marrying Romeo's cousin Benvolio, who is
in actuality Benvolia, a girl who has been masquerading as a man for years.
Gradually theater people rediscovered Shakespeare's original King Lear and began to
stage it again, despite the admonition of Samuel Johnson, a famous 18th Century
Shakespearean scholar, who declared that the final scene of the play was too emotionally
draining for the general public to witness performed. Nevertheless, the play has been
restored to its preeminent position. Many people believe it to be the best of
Shakespeare's tragedies. I go even further and hold it to be the finest work of literature
ever produced by humankind.
Ethos (Credibility), or ethical appeal, means convincing by the character of
the author. We tend to believe people whom we respect. One of the central
problems of argumentation is to project an impression to the reader that you are
someone worth listening to, in other words making yourself as author into an
authority on the subject of the paper, as well as someone who is likable and
worthy of respect.
Pathos (Emotional) means persuading by appealing to the reader's emotions.
We can look at texts ranging from classic essays to contemporary
advertisements to see how pathos, emotional appeals, are used to persuade.
Language choice affects the audience's emotional response, and emotional
appeal can effectively be used to enhance an argument.
Logos (Logical) means persuading by the use of reasoning. This will be the
most important technique we will study, and Aristotle's favorite. We'll look at
deductive and inductive reasoning, and discuss what makes an effective,
persuasive reason to back up your claims. Giving reasons is the heart of
argumentation, and cannot be emphasized enough. We'll study the types of
support you can use to substantiate your thesis, and look at some of the
common logical fallacies, in order to avoid them in your writing.
Ethos, Pathos, and Logos.
Logos (Greek for 'word') refers to the internal consistency of the message--the
clarity of the claim, the logic of its reasons, and the effectiveness of its
supporting evidence. The impact of logos on an audience is sometimes called
the argument's logical appeal.
Ethos (Greek for 'character') refers to the trustworthiness or credibility of the
writer or speaker. Ethos is often conveyed through tone and style of the
message and through the way the writer or speaker refers to differing views. It
can also be affected by the writer's reputation as it exists independently from
the message--his or her expertise in the field, his or her previous record or
integrity, and so forth. The impact of ethos is often called the argument's
'ethical appeal' or the 'appeal from credibility.'
[P]athos (Greek for 'suffering' or 'experience') is often associated with
emotional appeal. But a better equivalent might be 'appeal to the audience's
sympathies and imagination.' An appeal to pathos causes an audience not just to
respond emotionally but to identify with the writer's point of view--to feel what
the writer feels. In this sense, pathos evokes a meaning implicit in the verb 'to
suffer'--to feel pain imaginatively.... Perhaps the most common way of
conveying a pathetic appeal is through narrative or story, which can turn the
abstractions of logic into something palpable and present. The values, beliefs,
and understandings of the writer are implicit in the story and conveyed
imaginatively to the reader. Pathos thus refers to both the emotional and the
imaginative impact of the message on an audience, the power with which the
writer's message moves the audience to decision or action.
[The above text drawn verbatim from Ramage, John D. and John C. Bean.
Writing Arguments. 4th Edition. Needham Heights, MA: Allyn & Bacon, 1998,
81-82.]http://www.u.arizona.edu/ic/polis/courses021/ENGL_10278/EthosPathosLogos
Or The Shorthand Version:
Ethos: the source's credibility, the speaker's/author's authority
Logos: the logic used to support a claim (induction and deduction); can also be
the facts and statistics used to help support the argument.
Pathos: the emotional or motivational appeals; vivid language, emotional
language and numerous sensory details.
Originating from ancient Greece, the word "catharsis" refers to the emotional
outpouring of a character. Often, when a character in a tragedy realizes his/her
flaws or downfall, a cathartic speech is delivered.
Poor Tom. The character of Poor Tom or the Bedlam Beggar, as which
Edgar disguises himself, is based on vagabonds or madmen considered
dangerous in England at the time. "Bedlam" was a slang word for
"Bethlehem," which was the name of a mental institution in London.
Two Versions. There are actually two different versions of King Lear—The
History of King Lear published in quarto form in 1608 and The Tragedy of
King Lear, which was published in the First Folio (1623) and is very
substantially revised from the play published in 1608. Before the 1990s,
editors usually "blended" the two texts, taking what they believed were the
best versions of each scene. In recent times, some editors have started
focusing on the "original" 1608 edition.
Poor Fool. In Shakespeare's day, the roles of Cordelia and the Fool were
often "doubled"—played by the same actor—since the two characters are
never on stage at the same time. Shakespeare alludes to this fact at
several points in the play. The first time that Lear summons the Fool, in
1.4, both he and his Knight observe that the Fool has been melancholy
ever since Cordelia was sent to France. More famously, in 5.3, upon
learning of Cordelia's death, Lear remarks "And my poor fool is hanged"
(5.3.369). Sometimes directors staging the play invent a scene in which the
Fool himself is hanged, to explain this line, but the tradition of doubling
the characters is the better explanation.
Archtypical Lens
Stars, Heavens, gods (pre Christian)
Animals
Clotheing cosutmes
Fathers, Children, Siblings
Authority and order
Disintegration, Chaos, Nothingness
Old Age
Fooling and Madness – reality
Blindness and Insight