Evaluations on Critical Arguments of King Lear Essay Example

Lear and contrast to Shakespeare’s other works, Bamber is able to make a solid case for her theory. Certainly it is obvious that the female aspect of the play (even that of a ‘female’ nature) are some to blame in the madness of Lear, but one might also argue that the King’s own poor choices caused his loss of power and eventual madness.

Margot Heinemann in her essay ‘Demystifying the Mystery of State’: King Lear and the World Upside Down, the author proves that King Lear is a political play. Through examples and contrasts of other Shakespearean works, Heinemann shows that King Lear is about individual loss of power as well as the “the complete breakdown of a social and political system…” Heinemann believes that by creating contrasts between absolutes, that the problem of the times is highlighted.

She supports this with examples that show the contrast of madness and folly in the King, clothes and nakedness, sight and blinding, power and justice and injustices and, of course, the have and have-nots. She works with theories of upside-down power throughout the essay and pushes this point to the end where she claims the ultimate show of this upside-down world is the King becoming the fool. This essay forces the reader to reimagine Lear through a political lens and realize that it is indeed probable and perhaps even fitting today.