When was King Lear written?
Around 1605, between Othello and Macbeth
First printed in 1608
Historical and Political context
The Great Chain of being
Religion and humanism
Shakespeare’s exploration of religion is complex. The play is full of Christian theology and images. For example, Cordelia’s characterisation echoes Jesus. She offer forgiveness, is completely pure, and dies even though she is innocent. However, despite these religious ideas the play does not actually mention God or Christianity. So, the play is full of ambiguity around whether a good God is in control of the world. Instead, the characters reference ‘Gods’ in the plural and fate more generally. Different characters have different views of the world. In medieval times, before Shakespeare, people were expected to accept a black and white religious world view but in Shakespeare’s time, Humanism was on the rise. Humanism was a school of thought that valued human understanding and reasoning. So the contradictions in the play regarding religion, reflect the complexities of real life. Shakespeare is inviting audiences to wrestle with the nature of justice for themselves, which was an important aspect of Humanist thought.
What current real life events might’ve inspired Shakespeare to write King Lear?
Sir Brian Annesley lawsuit
William Allen case
What was the change in rule during this time?
In 1603 a power transfer occurred from Elizabeth I to James 1
The Great Chain of Being
- A common Jacobean ideology originating from Greece where everything had an order in society. God and angels were highest, followed by Monarchs and then commoners. Your place in the chain of being was fixed, and trying to alter it was believed to result in great misfortune.
- People believed monarchs were above ordinary people as they were thought to be chosen by the gods (could explain Lear’s hubris with commanding the gods)
The wheel of fortune
The wheel of fortune was said to be spun by the goddess Fortuna and whatever it landed on would be the fate dealt to the individual in question. This solidified the belief of fate and that your destiny is determined from birth, which is why people felt they couldn’t change their societal position.
King Lear set in pre-Roman catholic Britain (eighth century BCE,) - what was the dominant religion?
Paganism - defined by the worship of space, stars and nature. Involved worship of multiple gods.
Jacobean gender attitudes
- Women were subordinate and seen as property
- Men valued higher over women, would be the default for inheritance
- Fathers and husbands would take responsibility for the women in their family.
- If there wasn’t a father then the next man in line (be it son or uncle) would resume responsibility.
- Women had very little free will and choice and were often betrothed at young ages for financial gain (rich)
- Girls from poorer families were married normally by their mid-20’s.
- Widows were the exception and were allowed to continue their lives undisturbed.
- Women taught domestic and mothering duties
The preceding monarch
- The English society was anxious about the new monarch as Elizabeth I was unable to provide a familial heir for the throne.
- The anointment of James VI of Scotland caused worry as it was defiance of the natural order.
- Queen of Scots ‘Bloody Mary’ was ruthless and cruel, British public anxious of the nature of her only son.
Sir Philip Sideny’s ‘Arcadia’ of 1593
Story of a Paphlagonian King who is dethroned and blinded by his illegitimate son, however is forgiven.
Sir Brian Annesley 1603 court scandal
Sir Brian Annesley’s eldest daughter tried to commit her father to asylum so that she could take his property however his youngest daughter, Cordell, fought and won against her in court.
Sir William Allen - former mayor of London
Divided his estate by his three daughters, but ended up being badly mistreated by them.
Illegitimacy in Jacobean society
- Illegitimate children (alongside disabled) were thought destined for evil paths.
- Terms like illegitimate, ‘degenrate’ and ‘bastard’ were used as insults
- They were denied basic rights like entering churches and inheriting property - which was inherited by the next legitimate heir.
The Monarchy
- King James I of England aka King James VI of Scotland, became king after the end of Elizabeth’s reign, as she left no heirs to continue the throne
- His desire to unite Scotland and England created disharmony and distrust in the English public, who did not share his ideas.
- Lavish lifestyle - spent more money in one year than Elizabeth did in her entire reign, and when he run short deducted from the national tax; this created a corrupt society and made living conditions for commoners worse.
- Susceptible to flattery - he was rumoured to have favourites in court (parallels Lear in the love test).
- James avoided his own laws and regulations via the court of justice, as he believed that God’s election of him as king made him of a different substance than commoners and therefore entitled to do as he pleased.
The disintegrating social system
The previous idea of fixed wealth and workmanship started to evolve as new avenues for wealth and commerce emerged which lead people to climb up the social ladder (in opposition to the great chain of being)
Poverty in Jacobean society
Poverty, unemployment and food shortages were common in Jacobean life, riots and protests broke out across the country, people had little faith in the new king
Bedlam Beggars
Figures Jacobean audiences would have been accustomed to. People who roamed the country begging for charity, either impoverished and mentally ill or pretending to be so.
- Significant beggar ‘Tom O Bedlam’ - perhaps influenced Edgar’s portrayal of Poor Tom.
- Used to call out ‘Tom’s a cold’
King James and Politics
- James lacked Elizabeth’s finesse in governing , was dangerously neglectful of public opinion, and failed to realize the limitations placed on the Crown by weak finances and the need to cooperate with parliament.
- Parliaments lengthy unproductive debates and lack of support for royal policies was largely a result of the King’s weak leadership.
- The King’s good relations with parliament were not helped by his pedantic lectures on the divine right of kingship and royal prerogative. It was this tactless blundering, which led the king of France to describe James as “the wisest fool in Christendom.”
- James’s articulated belief in the absolutist theory of monarchy and divine right of Kings, desiring to command not only complete obedience but also complete devotion, led to difficulties in his relations with the Parliament and these difficulties eventually led to the English Civil War (1641-1651), and ultimately to the execution of James’ son and heir Charles I in 1649.
King James and parliament
There were many reasons for James I’s disputes with his parliaments. Underpinning all of the conflicts
was a fundamental distrust between James and his parliaments fuelled by the king’s apparent belief in
the divine right of kings. Financial issues were the main cause of disputes, but this resulted from
parliament’s lack of trust in James and was closely linked to the issue of his prerogative rights. There
were other issues, such as their differing views over the king’s desire for a union between England
and Scotland and over foreign policy matters, which also caused problems — particularly when the
latter was linked to religion. However, distrust was the most important factor and as such prevented a
resolution of financial problems as seen in the failure of the Great Contract
