The first is the major language barrier in the beginning of the play. The language can be considered sophisticated in Shakespeare's time; however, in the present, it is the hardest play to follow. Maybe people would understand it more if it was performed on stage and the characters body language would help the audience understand what's going on. I doubt it. In the first scene, King Lear and Kent are discussing an issue. I thought everything was fine until King Lear says, "If on the tenth day following they banished trunk be found in our dominions, the moment is thy death. Away!" (19) All I could think was, what is going on? I feel that it is easy to be lost in the story and not understand what is happening because of the language.
The second, the play seems to overlap many major themes of Shakespeare's other plays. It seems that Shakespeare's plays always have treason, and family are involved.
In Julius Caesar, Macbeth, and Hamlet,all three plays have involved a plot to over throw and kill a king. Brutus planned to kill Caesar, Macbeth planned to kill King Duncan, and Hamlet's uncle planned to kill Hamlet's father. In King Lear, the audience is under the impression that Edgar is planning on killing King Lear. It seems that almost all of Shakespeare's tragedies involve treason. It becomes more predictable and less amusing to watch.
In the first act, there already seems to be tension between King Lear's family. The youngest sister, Cordelia is forced into a marriage she is not ready for, King Lear has stripped her from her dowry, and Regan and Goneril are fighting for the better part of their inheritance. It seems as though King Lear is pinning his children against each other. When Regan and Goneril are "presenting" why one of them should be given the bigger part of the kingdom, they seem fake. Both of them are talking as though they mean nothing. In my opinion they resemble the two evil step sisters in Cinderella. In Romeo and Juliet, family was the biggest issue. In Hamlet, family was looked at as the enemy in young Hamlet's eyes. Shakespeare's plays seem to have an abundance of dis functional family members.
King Lear is the least performed plays because it is a collection of all of Shakespeare's more famous plays. And because it is a collection of those plays, it becomes predictable in what will happen. This combined with the language he uses makes it difficult for the audience to understand and enjoy the play.
Unfortunately Michelle, I'm going to have to disagree with your thoughts on why King Lear is the least performed play.
ReplyDeleteShakespeare's language is indeed a barrier. It's a barrier not just for students, but teachers, actors, directors and just about anyone; however, what is most important to remember is that Shakespeare has always been difficult to read. Not simply by today's standards, but by late 1500s early 1600s standards. Shakespeare language is extremely challenging, but has been since he started writing. And because King Lear is often more conversational and has less characters than his other plays, I would argue that it is easier (at least at the beginning) than Romeo and Juliet, Macbeth, Hamlet and Midsummer’s.
I know people think the themes are similar, but I would argue differently. I know you stated, “In King Lear, the audience is under the impression that Edgar is planning on killing King Lear.” But unfortunately, that is not the case. This story has very little in terms of regicide, suicide or assassinations; currently, (at the end of Act One) there is no intention of killing King Lear. King Lear, as a play, is far more concerned with torture, punishment, and resilience; I would also argue, when we get to the inevitable death of Lear, his death may seem more shocking than Hamlet’s death or Macbeth’s death.
I would also like to mention that King Lear was performed before Shakespeare’s death. Other works such as Macbeth weren’t published until postmortem. With those thoughts in mind, I would begin to think about why King Lear, as a character, is important. What makes him interesting or thought provoking. And what makes him different than Macbeth, Hamlet, or Othello. His tragedy is different, what is different so far?