Family Themes in Shakespeare :: essays research papers fc

well-nigh of Shakespeares most well known works are his tragedies. one of the reasons they are still read worldwide is Shakespeares study of reputation and the relationships, which these characters are involved with. In order to get the full calamity the characters must represent basic morals or ideas. A earthy theme among a lot of Shakespeare works is the idea of family and what it means to be within and part of a family. This idea of a natural law, in which it deals with societys and familys expectation of what is to be given from boot to child as well as the bond which is made. In Shakespeares King Lear, the two plots revolve around a parents dealing with children who are not proper to what is expected of them.King Lear is a base, which deals with the idea of familial expectation and the roles in which parents and children play. Lears madness and his infantile fixation with being praised blinded him to the child who was really the only one who love him, Cordelia. The same with the Earl of Gloucester, he was blinded by his illegitimate child, Edmund, who set taboo to turn him away from his heir, Edgar. Within the story, these two children and a few sure servants try to help and eventually try to save the King and Gloucester, barely they are both too stubborn to recognize the goodness and unbowed bond in these people. The story of King Lear deals with the turmoil of a hugger-mugger world began by the boundaries of family and personal relationships being turn upside down.     The story opens with King Lear, ready to retire, calling his three daughters to the room. When everyone had assembled, Lear made the grand promulgation that he would divide the kingdom three ways, a piece to each(prenominal) daughter. However, he added that the larger pieces were to go to the daughter who loved him most. He ground this not upon their actions but the speech they gave. The first two daughters, Regan and Goneril, made a flowery and obviousl y fake speech in which Lear preened and awarded them their kingdoms. When it came to his third daughter, Cordelia, she answered, suffering that I am, I cannot heave my heart into my mouth. I love your highness according to my bond, nor more nor less. (Abrams, pg. 893) In that she tells her father she loves him but will not participate in the game he had arranged for the dividing of his lands.