Aristotle had very distinct ideas about how an effective tragedy should be constructed and this right here, is the place where I disagree with him. It sounds odd to say that I disagree with a man credited with establishing a huge chunk of our Western philosophy, however, on the matter of plot over character, I feel that our thoughts do not align. For me, character is the heart and soul of any story. A writers ability to construct a character who the audience connects with on some level is what makes a good story a great one. I, for one, am draw into the story by the premise of the plot but if I don’t feel like the characters are going to have grit and depth, then I can easily put the story down and feel no curiosity about how it ends.

Although Aristotle believed that the plot was the defining feature of the genre, he outlined a very specific character archetype which we now call the Tragic Hero.Tragic-Hero-Notes

Read the PDF above and think about how Lear fits the given definition of a tragic hero.

For each of the five characteristics, explain how Lear has been written to demonstrate them. Identify moments in the text where he either experiences or demonstrates each characteristic. Use quotations to support your responses.

1) Flaw or error of judgment (hamartia) Note the role of justice and/or revenge in the judgements.

Lear’s hamartia is his ignorance of the perspectives of others which surround him due to how arrogant he is, possibly due to being treated like he is always right (divine right of the king) and always being praised and worshipped for every action he makes, even if that action is foolish. This arrogance is evident by the animal imagery displayed by Lear’s utterance of the line “come not between the dragon and his wrath” which demonstrates his belief that he is this powerful, almighty and indestructible being whose fury will destroy all who comes in his way. His ignorance then leads to misjudgement, when he blindly accuses Cordelia of not vowing love for him and banishes her along with Kent for seeing the truth in Cordelia’s actions. He succumbs to large speeches of flattery in order to inflate his ego and in turn, fails to see the truth behind such proclamations of false love, that they do not love him and only his power. Lear’s tragic flaw then sparks his peripeteia, which only worsens as the play progresses. Initially, Lear cannot identify his tragic flaw and believes that his heart was in the right place by deciding to divide his kingdom according to the flattery he recieves from each daughter, feeling justice has been served to Cordelia for failing to obey his desires.

2) A reversal of fortune (peripeteia) brought about because of the hero’s error in judgment.

Shortly after giving away his power and banishing Kent and Cordelia, Lear is left vulnerable to the malicious intentions of his two despicable daughters, whom he failed to identify as undeserving of ruling his kingdom as a result of his hamartia. “O Regan, she hath tied sharp- tooth’d unkindness, like a vulture, here (points to heart)” and “struck me with her tongue, most serpent-like, upon the very heart” is how Lear describes the merciless tearing of power from Lear from the words uttered by Goneril without a care for his heart. Left with nothing and rejected from both daughters he grows increasingly more mad, leading up to the tearing of his garments and the mock trial, wherein he is at the height of his peripeteia and his insanity when just before stripping Lear states in prose that “Thou art the thing itself; unaccommodated man is no more but such a poor, bare, forked animal as thou art. Off, off, you lendings! Come unbutton here.”

3) The discovery or recognition that the reversal was brought about by the hero’s own actions (anagnorisis)

Lea identifies that his hamartia is ignorance during scene 7 of act 4, when he admits to Cordelia “I fear I am not in my perfect mind. Methinks I should know you, and know this man Yet I am doubtful; for I am mainly ignorant…”and “pray you now, forget and forgive. I am old and foolish.” Lear is recognising that his own ignorance towards Cordelia’s decision not to flatter him at the beginning of the play brought about his own misfortune or peripeteia, Lear admitting to his tragic flaw or hamartia. This is a redeeming moment for Lear, as he is able to place himself in the wrong and reflect on his past mistakes after enduring such suffering and pain from his plummet to madness. Whilst imprisoned with Cordelia, he expects judgement and despising from her.

4) Excessive Pride (hubris)

Lear, throughout the first half of the play displays excessive arrogance due to his upbringing as the King, being so adapted to being praised and loved by others, never being told he is wrong or imperfect. The comparison Lear mentions whilst saying “come not between the dragon and his wrath”, indicates that he perceives himself as a powerful mythical creature whose wrath will evoke fear in those who protest against him and will cause him to get his way, in this case it is Kent and Cordelia. However, this leads to the displaying of his hamartia, as he places himself at such a higher pedestal than everyone else that he is ignorant of what it looks like from the ground looking up, thus being blind to his own mistakes and the possible consequences that stem from them. Even after losing power, Lear persistently tries to claim that he has authority over others, ordering such things as “Dinner, ho, dinner! Where’s my knave? My fool? Go you and call my fool hither” in prose, indicating that these commands are inferior and will not have an effect on others since he is no longer of high power and class. Again, in act 2, just before Lear is kicked out of the castle, he frustratingly shouts “Are they informed of this? My breath and blood! Fiery? the fiery Duke? Tell the hot Duke that…”, which again brings up Lear’s perception of himself as an almighty fiery beast whose precious blood deems all to treat him with respect.

5) The character’s fate must be greater than deserved.

Lear brings up that “I am a man more sinned against than sinning”, which suggests that he thinks worse sins have been done against him ie. by his daughters and their followers than he has sinned against others ie. Cordelia and Kent. Cordelia and Kent are quick to forgive Lear for banishing them, contrary to how Lear feels about his daughters banishing him, wherein he is furious and vengeful. The audience watching the tragedy would feel that, because of the divine right of King, Lear being screwed over has a much more drastic impact in terms of wrongful injustice and him being driven into madness and skyrocketing to the bottom of the chain of being. These extreme amounts of suffering brought about on Lear are essental in the experience of pity and fear related to catharsis, since we fear that he will endure even further suffering as the play goes on.

Finally, the genre of tragedy has been a staple in the world of literature for well over a thousand years. One of the reasons behind this is the role that tragedy holds, as a genre, in the literary world. The goal of any tragedy is to ensure that the audience experiences catharsis. For a long time, psychologists and literary critics have explored the connection between a cathartic work of literature and the benefits to the human state of mind. Why is it that we feel lighter and of a more relieved mindset after experiencing something cathartic?

While the blurb above helps us to understand what catharsis is and how its effects can be explained, the paper below explores the connection between a cathartic experience via literature and the emotional benefits on the audience.Catharsis-in-Literature

Read the paper above by Ritu Singh Bhal and summarise five key ideas that he expresses in his exploration of catharsis.

• A Catharsis is an emotional discharge or ‘cleansing’ through which a person can achieve a state of moral or spiritual renewal or a state of liberation from anxiety and stress.
• Allows the reader to experience intense emotions in an indirect way (i.e., nothing bad is happening to the reader) and thus feel a cleansing of emotions.
• We experience catharsis in many different ways in our everyday lives. Whether the experience is tragic or comic we feel totally cleansed emotionally and changed by the emotional experience.
• Sometimes feeling somebody else’s feelings proves to be a lot easier than feeling your own—and catharsis has a way of making use of that fact to help people experience emotional release.
• Through viewing tragedy, people learned to display emotions at a proper amount and lessen excessive outbursts of emotion in daily life, thus incorporating catharsis in our daily lives.

Explain how King Lear would have provided an Elizabethan audience with a cartharic experience.

Finally, analyse how the character of King Lear can be used to achieve an emotional purgation on an audience today and why an audience may crave this experience.

Similar to how modern audiences today are drawn to the popular TV series ‘Game of Thrones’ (which itself can be considered a tragedy, particularly season 1 with Ned Stark as the tragic hero) somewhat because of the risk that comes with investing in characters and having them be suddenly killed off, an Elizabethan audience would form a strong bond of attachment to characters in Shakespeare’s tragedies and feel a particular thrill from the uncertainty of a character’s inevitable terrible fate. For the audience, this was their form of television, meaning that they received the same emotional tension throughout the play and eventual release after
Lear or Cordelia dies in act 5 as a modern viewer of a popular show would experience whilst witness one of their favourite characters die in a season finale. The anticipation of knowing that one of these characters, whom the audience feels so bonded to and may closely relate to, are ticking timebombs on the verge of destruction gives that ‘edge of your seat’ anxiety that can only be relieved when the deadly deed is done after which we pity the character who suffers and surrounding characters who are heavily emotionally impacted. This cathartic experience is why so many crowded ‘The Globe’ each time King Lear was performed and why shows where characters are vulnerable to death and wherein many characters endure terrible suffering are so popular. An element of this cathartic experience may be that we experience gratitude that our fates aren’t playing out in the way that King Lear and other characters experiencing suffering and feel a sense of superiority that we are able to look down upon their situation and pity them, without feeling directly affected by such events. Possibly some relief would have been felt by the Shakespearean audience that such misfortunes occurring to Lear in his world have yet to play out in reality, though the great possibility of this evokes fear that the monarchy which God has supposedly chosen to have power will be overthrown by others or overcome by madness.
Since they are so devoted to their faith in the King and his decisions, they question this faith and contemplate what would happen to them in the possible outcome of the King making a poor decision with disastrous consequences, this providing enough of an emotional thrill to give a highly cathartic experience for the audience.

Sometimes it is difficult to cry and release built up emotions such as grief and anxiety and it is easier to ignore these emotions cause it feels more manageable. However, this carrying of emotional baggage can weigh people down and bring about more pain and suffering, witnessing a tragedy being an outlet to invest and relate to another’s suffering and release these emotions alongside that character in an easier way. This relief is a moment of satisfaction because it is a feeling of letting go, it is why we crave cathartic experiences offered by tragedies like King Lear, to lessen the outpouring of emotions throughout our daily lives and releasing it at one time. Lear’s desperation in finding any evidence of life in Cordelia after her hanging is a particularly cathartic moment, his attempts at urging others to help him find this being evident when he exclaims “lend me a looking glass. If that her breath will mist or stain the stone, why then she lives.”, “This feather stirs; she lives!” and “Look on her! Look! Her lips!”. After Lear dies, his suffering has ended and he is released from his misery, the audience also feeling a sense of closure.