Purpose
Person #1: In order to fully understand the play King Lear you must understand the topic of Chaos and Order. Chaos is a condition or place of great disorder or confusion, and order is the opposite and in the play is the established system of social organization.
Now that you know the general definitions and ideas of chaos and order it will be easier for you to understand situations in the play where this topic is presented.
Person #2: For example throughout the play chaos and order are presented through the use of the chain of being. As you know the chain of being is the natural order of people from top to bottom starting at the top would be the King and at the bottom would be peasants. As the …show more content…
In the end of the play, Lear and Cordelia’s relationship has a turning point. Lear is grieving Cordelia’s execution, finally seeing her love for him. Cordelia had respected the “King” as one should. Her feelings towards him are the typical orderly fashion of a king’s daughter. Lear’s realization of his respectful daughter and evil daughters put things back into order. Another example of an attempt to keep things in order is when Edgar goes into disguise to try to prevent Gloucester’s suicide on the cliff. This was done to further prevent Edmund gaining Gloucester’s title, which would put things out of …show more content…
In this quote, Lear`s insanity is taking over because he feels venerable and useless with his lost of authority. Shows the chaos building inside of himself. Here, Gloucester demonstrates how everything in nature and the chain of being is in a state of chaos. Person #1: Lear is taking command over the situation where it's not his place. Prisoner is below the guards commands, chaotic by disturbing the correct order of the chain. Kent states that the wheel of fortune is out of place and is to be turned again. Chaos is occurring.
Literary Critics
Person #1: Literary critics give their own insight to give the reader new perspectives about the play and to help further understand it. These critics relate to our theme of chaos vs. order. G.K. Hunter, a British Shakespeare scholar, wrote:
“[King Lear] is seen as the greatest of tragedies because it not only strips and reduces and assaults human dignity, but because it also shows with the greatest force and detail the process of restoration by which humanity can recover from degradation.