King Lear’s first Act is stuffed with
deceptions of all kinds, but most distinctively between father and child. In
King Lear’s part, two of his daughter’s lie to him, lay on flattery as thick
and sweet as a curtain of roses. Edmund of Gloucester lies not only to his
father, but to his brother as well. There are several layers of deception occurring
during the first two scenes alone.
King Lear sets himself up to be
praised and confounded with flattery when he asks his daughters, one by one, “Which
of you shall we say doth love us most” and basically promises the best kiss ass
the “largest bounty” (I.i.51-52). Goneril and Regan offer florid praise on cue,
attesting to their great respect and love for their father to gain their prize
in land, money, and titles. Goneril satisfies her father’s desire for flattery
by claiming that she hold him “dearer than eyesight, space, and liberty,/
beyond what can be valued” and “beyond all matter” and “more than words can
yield the matter” (I.i.54-61). Regan builds off of her sister’s ornate praise,
claiming she is made from the “self metal as [her] sister” asking to be seen in
her sister’s light, and then goes further to suggest Goneril had not praised
him enough, and Regan claims to be “an enemy to all other joys” save that she
finds with her father’s love (I.i.69-73). These high praises are marked and
devoured by King Lear, but when Cordelia, the King’s former favorite daughter,
casts aside flattery and speaks in plain truth to her father (after several
asides after her sisters’ speeches that reveal her unease at expressing her
devotion to an equal extent) and tell him that she loves him as is due. She
tells her father that she “cannot heave/ [her] heart into [her] mouth” and that
she loves him “according to [her] bond” (I.i.91-93). While her sisters’ false
praises and flattery are regarded as truthful pledges of loyal daughters,
Cordelia’s honesty is regarded as treachery and distain. King Lear continues
this distain for honesty when he banishes Kent for defending Cordelia. Here, King Lear finds a theme of honesty as
treachery and lies, deceit, and flattery as truth.
The bastard Edmund continues this
idea in his deception of his father and brother. He tricks his father, by
claiming loyalty not only to his father, but to his brother. Edmund assures his
father that his brother is loyal, when in fact he is setting Edgar up to look
treacherous. Likewise, he tricks Edgar into hiding by claiming to be protecting
him from his father’s wrath, assuring him that he has been used wrong. In this
way, though Edmund knows the truth and is, in fact, manipulating his relations
to his own ends, Edmund appears loyal, honest, and trustworthy.
After Henry V’s trickery being used
for sport or to expose truth, it is interesting to read King Lear and to see trickery being used for sinister purposes.
3 comments:
When I was reading act one I was thinking, could this really be serious? Could someone really give someone land based on how much they flattered them. It did not even make sense to me. How is it that King Lear expects his daughters to truly express their feelings for him when he offers up land for the best response? Wouldn't he think his daughters were just saying this for the land and not to show their devotion for him. I cannot even fathom that a father would ask hid children to do such a thing. Playing favorites would be an understatement here. All I can say is that I probably would have done the same thing that Cordelia did but instead before my sibling even got to answer I would say how ridiculous the request even is to begin with. I would think that a king would be smarter than this to just offer up something so large, valuable, and part of a kingdom for the mere satisfaction to hear some fake nice things about himself. Seems a little childish if you ask me and if I knew this is what my king was doing in his kingdom, I would be out of there in a heartbeat. Honestly aren't there more important things to do in the kingdom than sit around and make your daughters grovel over you. If he could just easily give it away for the satisfaction to hear nice things about him why couldn't any commoner grovel for money for his starving family.
It is easy to say that this part of the act bothered me to wits end. It also made me respect Cordelia in the fact that she refused to look as ridiculous and shallow like her older sisters. I also think she made this decision because she did not have a husband quacking away in her ear like her sisters did.
Talk about shallow when King Lear then banished Cordelia after she refused to grovel for his land. I could not think of anything but how pathetic they must have looked to the other people in the room watching this whole ordeal take place. If I was Cordelia I would have been embarrassed of the request of my father and the actions of not only my sisters but my older sisters who I am supposed to look up to.
I think your comparison to Henry V is very interesting and I thought of that too when reading the opening scenes of Lear. Goneril and Regan use the same sort of rhetoric that Henry used to rally his troops; he fluffed them up and told them what they wanted to hear. Henry assured his troops that they would gain honor and they were his brothers, Goneril and Regan do the same thing, they flatter their father and make these grandiose speeches. Neither of which have any truth to them, I thought it was too funny/ridiculous when Regan's husband told her to say more in the film. Did Lear not see that? Does he not know his daughters at all? You would think that as a king he would be smarter than that. But I think that his age is truly catching up with him. He knows he is slipping and is eager to pass on his responsibilities. Cordelia's age also plays a part in this exchange. I believe that it is her innocence that makes her speak the way she does. She doesn’t understand all the pomp and ceremony yet. Her response is filled with a naive wisdom. She responds as any daughter would to her father. And I think that Lear's slipping mind makes him miss that. He can't be a king and a father at the same time.
Edmund’s game also reminds me of the Tavern games that Henry played. But obviously Edmund’s purpose is more malicious; he has an evil intent from the start. I think that’s the difference between the way that deceptions and rhetorical language is used in this play versus the way Henry used language and trickery.
The comparisons to _Henry V_ here are really helpful in thinking about how this play is set up. I have to say that _Lear_ remains an enigma to me in this way--Shakespeare usually favors theatricality, itself inherently deceptive. Yet the opening of this play makes us question such false appearances. Perhaps we are to see Cordelia's "honesty" as being another kind of performance in itself? Isn't there a way in which she is just playing the role of the good daughter, in opposition to her sisters'?
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