The Earth Centered Theme of Shakespeares King Lear Essay -- King Lear

The Earth Centered Theme of Shakespeares King LearKing Lear is a complicated, apocalyptic stage with parallel plots, moralistic ambiguity, and a messy ending. The plays events were politically charged and historically informed when they were performed in seventeenth century England, as they continue to be to today. Whatever his intentions, Shakespeare has given us several universal truths to consider. One I like to consider is how beneath all the sinister and bold machinations of man lies the gentle earth, from which we, and all life, spring. Some critics tone of voice that Shakespeare was skeptical about God and the role of religion in ones life. I believe King Lear is the product of a writer with a solid cosmology, moreover one centered in earth and humanity. I hesitate to label Shakespeare a pagan, or anything other than brilliant. Yet there is evidence enough in the text for me to argue an earth-centric thesis. A close reading reveals those who employ common wording or down-t o-earth speech as embodiments of goodness, whereas characters that insist on the short controlled, artificial utterances of the feudal court are corrupt at best, if not evil. The gods above are shown to be fickle and uncaring, if not bloodthirsty. Shakespeare also weaves in legitimate utopian visions into the fabric of King Lear, earth-based ideals, not only pre-Christian like the plays setting, but pre-historic thus supporting the argument for an earthen cosmology and humanistic political consciousness, freely exhibited and often applied in the work. Unnatural EdmundEdmund rejects the very idea of baseness, or what we might think of as earthiness. He is skillfully used in the play to oppose to all that is common and good. His famous soliloquy in Act 1, Sc... ... manifest values of personal humility, caring, and wise stewardship of the land. Works CitedElliot, Michael. King Lear by William Shakespeare. Princeton Films for the Humanities. 1988. have Laurence Olivier and John Hur t. Oates, Joyce Carol. Is This the Promised End? The Tragedy of King Lear. Journal of Aesthetics and Art Criticism. (Fall 1974) URL http//www.usfca.edu/fac-staff/southerr/lear.html. Schneider, Ben Ross, Jr. King Lear in Its Own Time The Difference that end Makes. Early Modern Literary Studies 1.1 (1995) 3.1-49 URL http//www.humanities.ualberta.ca/emls/01-1/schnlear.html. Shakespeare, William. King Lear. Edited by David Bevington. new-fashioned York Bantam. 1980. Smiley, Jane. A Thousand Acres. New York Fawcett Columbine. 1991. Toole, John Kennedy. A Confederacy of Dunces. New York Grove Weidenfeld. 1980.