King Lear

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So, today we're going to talk 1 King Lear. It's one of my favorite plays by Shakespeare and... I mean... it's so 2 a variety of reasons... for its difficulty in being staged properly... um... also for the incredibly violent and horrible 3 that happen to it... in it, but also... I think... also really 4 it talks about the nature of 5 , of true value of people... and public image versus private... and sort of... um... external and 6 value of a human being, I guess. So I... I think what we'll 7 with is talking really about love... and... the interesting thing about King Lear 8 is that he has no idea what love is... and...uh... he... he believes somehow that love is 9 to things and that love is connected to things you give to people, and love should be measured by how much you can give 10 , and, because he has 11 , he thinks that everyone should love him to the sum total of everything, and, indeed, the way he 12 about love is validated by his oldest two daughters who... you know... tell him 13 all sorts of words that they love him... that they love him this much, and it's really a great 14 if love is about grand gestures and pretty words or... if it's about 15 show... or if it's... uh... about what you can give people. So, at the 16 of the play, Lear divides his kingdom into 3 parts for his 3 daughters and his idea is that 17 is somehow going to ... quote prevent future strife, so it's going to solve any 18 that might happen later when he's dead... And so he asks his three daughters to 19 in. It's a great court occasion and he says to the first one, you know, "How much do 20 love me?" And to what he says, and I'll quote it here, she says, "Sir, I love you 21 than word can wield the matter; Dearer than eyesight, space and liberty; Beyond what can be valued, 22 or rare; No less than life, with grace, health, beauty, honour; As much as 23 e'er lov'd or father found; A love that makes breath poor, and speech unable. 24 all manner of so much I love you." So, in essence she says she loves him absolutely more than 25 and, for this, he gives her a third of the kingdom. And the next sister, Regan, um... says... you know... you know, my sister stole my 26 . I love you even more than she does and, you know, she spoiled my speech, and of course Lear 27 at this and he gives her a whole bunch of his kingdom as well. The third daughter is... standing 28 listening to all this and she... she's the one who truly, truly does love her 29 ... and, as she's listening to it, she's thinking, you know I can't say 30 stuff. It may be true, but she says my heart is heavier than... than my tongue. I... I can't go through with this stupid show. So 31 he comes to his turn to talk to her.. um... he says, you know... what... what do you have to say? You know, speak... speak and get 32 better. Because she's actually his favorite... and he says "Say something" and "What 33 you got to say?" and she says, "Nothing. I have nothing to say." And he says," Nothing?! What do you mean 'Nothing'?" And because she says nothing, he believes that she doesn't 34 love him and cuts her completely off... um.. gives her absolutely no property and divides her property among the 35 sisters. So, in essence, what happens here is love is what you say, not love is what you do. And if you say everything, you 36 everything, and if you say nothing, you get nothing. And... this is what the world is like according to Lear. But, of 37 , the world that starts this way doesn't go anywhere nice. So what he discovers... um... in the end is that... his two daughters don't love him 38 all, and he ends up with little things being taken away from him... um... and he discovers eventually that real 39 is not in what you say to someone, or love is not what you bestow on anyone. Real love is actually what you DO. And... there's a moment during... this little... well, after this little conversation. There are two 40 who want to marry Cordelia, the youngest one that says nothing, and they're the lords of France and Burgundy and... King Lear announces to them that he's totally cut her off, that she doesn't have any money or any wealth, and... um... Burgundy immediately goes "Oh... well, then. I'm not 41 her." And France says one of the most romantic things I think I've ever heard. He says, "She is herself a dowry," meaning that all of her worth is intrinsic and 42 of her and he takes her and he marries her, and this whole thing is lost on Lear. He thinks that France is an idiot.... And... really... I mean, the whole thing's lost on everyone in there who's 43 on greed and materialism. But, you know, later on in the play, Lear finds himself without anything and, if you 44 this scene, he ends up completely mad, 45 dressed... dressed in leaves and stuff on a beach. He's completely lost his mind, and Cordelia finds him wandering mad on the beach, and she takes him in, and she... helps heal him... and it's at that time 46 he sort of regains his sanity that he realizes what true value is, and he realizes who 47 loves him, and... it's the one who he didn't give anything to. And... um... he realizes at that point that really saying nothing meant everything, and having nothing is really having everything because he finds love and he finds 48 . of course, you know, all of this finding love and finding happiness and discovering the true nature of love doesn't really help anyone in the play because... at the end of the play... you know... yes, Goneril and Regan both die because they're evil and they have no good 49 or anything, but Lear and Cordelia also die too. And I suppose what the whole lesson of the thing is supposed to be is that... you know... we need to pay 50 to what true love is and take it away from materialism.


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