Moral responsibility surpasses all considerations

[Bwanika kuteesa Stephen]

king Lear is a clear indication of what happens when man tries to change the ordered universe; It should serve as a warning to people who attempt to accept such things as homosexuals because when the insitution of the family is up set by socially unacceptable behaviour king when Lear wants to shade off resonsibility in favour of pleasure, he reaps the wrath of the supernatural through the suffering he undergoes Like wise Gloucester enjoyed illigitemate sex and in the end he suffers because of the sun he had got out of enjoying such pleasures of the body; the lesson we draw from this is that we have a duty to act and bear responsibility inspite of the limitations we encounter such as age and misfortune

[Tom A]

king Lear is a clear indication of what happens when man tries to change the ordered universe; It should serve as a warning to people who attempt to accept such things as homosexuals because when the insitution of the family is up set by socially unacceptable behaviour king when Lear wants to shade off resonsibility in favour of pleasure, he reaps the wrath of the supernatural through the suffering he undergoes Like wise Gloucester enjoyed illigitemate sex and in the end he suffers because of the sun he had got out of enjoying such pleasures of the body; the lesson we draw from this is that we have a duty to act and bear responsibility inspite of the limitations we encounter such as age and misfortune

So according to you, homosexuality is wrong? Please, please try to be a bit more open-minded. That kind of talk has no place in the contemporary world.


Persoanlly i think that this is the worst play that shakespeare has ever written. I don't think he knew what he was even writing. Do you realise there are two editions that are different? There are so many ambiguities in the text it gets confusing!

At the time it was written there were several versions of the story out which Shakespeare knew his audience would be comparing his version to. The reason it seems like a relatively 'weak' play is because the modern audiences haven't read these other versions of the story.


The fool randomly pops in and out and its not clear what happens to him in the end, which is a shame because he's the only one who has any sense.
Do you realise that Cordelia dies because Edmund listens to King Lear speech before he tells him that cordelia's in trouble? Edmund knows she will be killed at any minutes and wants to reddems himself but still just waits until the speech is over. That is a weak plotline.

According to some people Cordelia actually is the Fool; in 'King Lear' there is no list of characters at the start - we are left with what is said by the characters to make our own judgements. The most obvious argument that can be made in favour of Fool being Cordelia concerns Lear's last words while he is looking at his dead daughter, Cordelia, "And my poor Fool is hanged...." Parodies can be drawn between Lear dieing of a broken heart when he relaises that his Fool was actually his daughter Cordelia, and Gloucester doing the same when he relaised that Poor Tom was actually his son Edgar.

[byquist]

Tom A,

Fascinating idea about Lear at first thinking he's carrying the Fool, then realizes as Cordelia. Not heard that before. Wow, that is quite an interesting jolt. A double whammy! Lear really take it in the gut.

[Andy]

In response to first poster: King Lear should not serve as a warning to those accepting homosexuality. In actuality, your comparison between the foolish King who bore the consequences of his own naive decisions, and that of homosexuals, doesn't even make sense. King Lear is an illustration of 'the inverse of natural order', yes, but homosexuality is not. This isn't a modern day trend thought up by bored teens, it's a legitimate sexual preference that has been around forever. Even Alexander was bisexual.

As for Gloucester being betrayed by his illegitimate son, and that being a message of the wrongfulness of promiscuity ... perhaps you should reflect upon the fact that Goneril and Regan were of legitimate conception.

[Woland]

As for Gloucester being betrayed by his illegitimate son, and that being a message of the wrongfulness of promiscuity ... perhaps you should reflect upon the fact that Goneril and Regan were of legitimate conception.


I agree, there is no correlation. One of the great tyrannies of the age was to have a dottering monarch losing his (or her) faculties. Lear's vain ritual and his desire to retain kingly status while sloughing off the responsibilites of kingship is what precipitates the tyranny of the inverse order seen throughout the play - not Gloucester sireing a bastard. Edmund was just an oppurtunist exploiting cracks in the decaying current order and his father's inability to gauge his childrens' loyalty, which is serious business for a duke, and especially a king.

[Niamh123]

you have some good points within what was said, about the contrasting themes of order and disorder, but i'm afraid you may have got stuck in the era when this book was written. it is the 21st century and homosexuality has long since been accepted. i dont think it is appropriate to bring a matter such as that into comparison with the ebhaviours of king lear :(