AesaLina Assignment 3: King Lear

2. I noticed that the majority of the quantifying theme words occurred when characters were discussing love which is funny because we talked about in class how love is not quantifiable.

3.
a. From line 260-281 the last couple lines of anyone’s speech rhymes (e.g., unkind . . . find; gone . . . benison; grace . . . place; scanted . . . wanted; hides . . . derides. I am not sure why Shakespeare choose to throw in a lot of rhyme at this place except maybe to draw special attention to the exchange between the sisters. Their cohesive speeches juxtapose the lack of unity they have as Cordelia leaves.

b. Line 257 “Is queen of us, of ours, and our fair France.” I love this line. Watkins talked about how the Greeks used a semantic doubling effect (rhetorical pairs whether with synonyms or antonyms). Shakespeare does it here as a semantic tripling effect with us, ours, and our. It’s such a powerful use of inclusive words right after Cordelia’s father was so exclusive about her belonging to him any longer.

c. Line 87-90. The word echo or repetition of nothing is so ironic. She say “nothing” but in the end gets everything.

d. Cordelia’s speech of love (Line 95-103) has balanced phrases: “begot me, bred me, lov’d me” and “obey you, love you, and most honor you.”

e. IE theme: hero slays the dragon. The king says to Kent, “Come not between the dragon and his wrath.” Cordelia’s love conquers the dragon’s [her father’s] wrath in the end. It appears at the beginning that she has lost her father’s love and her inheritance because of the “dragon’s wrath”, but with love she conquers all.

f. I have more that I will mention in class.