The Controversial Ending of King Lear by William...

The Controversial Ending of King Lear by William Shakespeare Few Shakespearean plays have caused the controversy that is found with King Lear’s ending scenes. Othello kills himself, Macbeth is executed, and of course in hamlet, everyone dies. Lear, however, is different from other Shakespearean classics. Is Lear mad or lucid? Is Cordelia really dead? Is Edmund’s delay explainable? What is the nature of the Lear world that occasioned all of this? How does Knight’s thesis relate to the ending? Critical commentary varies and appears exhaustive. Bradley speaks of evil, but thinks Lear dies in a moment of supreme joy; Knight argues that however vicious and cruel the Lear world is, the death of Cordelia represents the future†¦show more content†¦Foakes thinks that Hamlet now is less suited for the twentieth century than Lear, insofar as Lear’s existential content is what matters, so now the question becomes why would Cordelia want to live in Lear’s world? The play is about protesting a world gone mad. The situation is further intensified by the Tate emendation that playgoers witnessed for over a century. Arguing from the perspective of post-restoration and neo-classical taste that literature must teach virtue, Tate dropped the Fool, gave Cordelia and Edgar a love interest, thus sparing her life along with her father: Edgar: My dear Cordelia! Lucky was the Minute Of our approach, the Gods have weighed our Sufferings, W’are past the Fire, and now must shine to Ages Albany notes, Take off their chains thou Injur’d Majesty, The Wheel of Fortune now has made a circle†¦ What comfort may be brought to cheer your age? And heal your savage Wrongs, shall be apply’d For to your Majesty we do resign Your kingdom†¦ Lear’s last words according to Tate are: Though, thou hast some business yet for life; Thou, Kent, and I, retir’d to some cool cell Will gently pass our short Reserves of time In calm reflections on our fortunes past, Cheer’d with relation of the prosperous reign Of this celestial pair; thus our remains Shall in an even course of thoughts be past? Enjoy the present hour, not fear the last Quite a difference from Edmund’sShow MoreRelatedSuffering in King Lear2408 Words   |  10 Pageswe are provoked to think about when reading many of Shakespeare plays. However the play which comes to mind first when any reader of Shakespeare hears the word suffering is surely King Lear, which arguably contains the most amount of pain and personal torment of all of Shakespeares work. Although appearing in the Quarto edition as The History of King Lear, the indescribably tragic plot led the Folio edition to be named The Tragedy of King Lear. Many adaptations and rewrites chose to drastically