Learnt
I've just had a night out at King Lear, with a bunch of absolutely lovely people and with Ian McKellen acting the lead role. The Tragedy of King Lear is one of Shakespeare's most powerful and emotionally intense plays. It is elemental to the extreme; lightning and storm are used elsewhere in Shakespeare (as in the Scottish play), but never with the sense of overwhelming chaos, the overthrow of the natural order, that is found herein.
I've a few thoughts on this play, one of my father's favourites and a long-time staple of family discussions.
1. Lear is a mythological figure, an elemental source himself – he is originally Llyr or Leir, the Celtic sea-god. It is thus obvious why his insanity leads to the elemental disruption of the natural order.
2. The folkloric idea of a powerful solar or elemental deity who distributes his powers among his womenfolk is a fairly common one. So also are the fairy-tale tropes of the youngest daughter who is mistreated while actually being the most loyal, and the faithful and talented servitor who attempts to defend that daughter and is exiled.
3. When I am old, I hope the god-daughter doesn't mind helping to look after the decrepit ruin I will by then have become. Sigh.
The Company were wonderful. The company was wonderful. I am thankful for all I've received from the Great Hand.
I've a few thoughts on this play, one of my father's favourites and a long-time staple of family discussions.
1. Lear is a mythological figure, an elemental source himself – he is originally Llyr or Leir, the Celtic sea-god. It is thus obvious why his insanity leads to the elemental disruption of the natural order.
2. The folkloric idea of a powerful solar or elemental deity who distributes his powers among his womenfolk is a fairly common one. So also are the fairy-tale tropes of the youngest daughter who is mistreated while actually being the most loyal, and the faithful and talented servitor who attempts to defend that daughter and is exiled.
3. When I am old, I hope the god-daughter doesn't mind helping to look after the decrepit ruin I will by then have become. Sigh.
The Company were wonderful. The company was wonderful. I am thankful for all I've received from the Great Hand.
Labels: Daughters, King Lear, Mythology, Shakespeare
etched with acid at 10:59:00 pm
1 Comments:
Decrepit ruin? I hope you can at least hobble out, leaning on your disguised staff of power, to a sunlit park and yak about old times. Or at least be available for a game twice a week. How else are we ever going to go through all those modules we have? : )
Perhaps servitor robots will be available then, for our support. Judging from what I have seen (and I have seen much!) of today's youth, I seriously doubt we can expect much from the next gen. Too many of us and too few of them, unless the trend reverses itself by some miracle. Then again, I have been called a pessimist.
And since I have a daughter, as opposed to a god-daughter, I find myself somewhat depressed over the whole thing. She'll prefer to go shopping with her mother, I think, than to spend time with her old man.
Sigh.
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