论李尔王性格的发展_英文

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On the Development of King Lear ’s Character

○Liang

Junqing

（Inner Mongolia University, Huhhot, Inner Mongolia 010021）

［Abstract ］King Lear is one of the most successful tragic characters created by Shakespeare. From tyranny to re －

morse, King Lear ’s character is gradually developing, as the plot of the play is unfolded. This essay analyses this process of character development.

［Key words ］King Lear; character; development; plot

［中图分类号］I106.4［文献标识码］A ［文章编号］1672-8610（2009）05-0044-02

tell him what he wants to hear and do what may please him.

Everyone seems to be extremely loyal to him and he can get whatever he expects. When he gets old, Lear decides to divide his kingdom among his three daughters, allotting each daughter a portion in proportion to the eloquence of her expression of love for him.

This decision is so selfish and irresponsible for the people of his kingdom. He regards the territory as his private property, and divides it simply like playing a game.

The eldest daughters Regan and Coneril express their love for their father in most grandiose words, convincing Lear of deep and undying love. Both daughters are rewarded for their “love ”. It ’s time for Cordelia, Lear ’s most beloved daughter to speak of her love. Cordelia is an honest and straightforward girl. She refuses to entertain Lear with insincere answers that he is looking for. In fact, it is Cordelia who truly loves Lear. But she doesn ’t want to fulfill her father ’s irrational wishes. So her answer is simply one word “nothing ”. Lear can ’t be －lieve this. In fact, his arrogance and vanity are terribly smashed. So he requires her to mend her speech:

Lear:How, how, Cordelia! Mend your speech a little,

Lest it may mar your fortunes.

(I.i.)

In fact, it is the unrivalled power and position that has isolated King Lear from the real life and it is the illusory court －ly life that has failed him to tell truth from hypocrisy. He doesn ’t know the meaning of true love at all. So he is pleased to be cheated and annoyed when people speak out the truth. He can ’t put up with Cordelia ’s answers, so he disinherits her and drives her out. Even the Earl of Kent is banished because of trying to dissuade him from folly.

2.Madness

Lear is driven mad by the lies and betrayals of Regan and Coneril. He rewards his hypocritical daughters with the sovereignty of the kingdom and is prepared to retire. But every －thing is not going on as he expects. Losing the crown means losing everything. When he becomes an old powerless man, his daughters begin to reveal their true colors.

When Coneril scolds Fool and Lear severely and decides to cut down the number of his knights, Lear can ’t believe that

Ⅰ.Introduction

William Shakespeare is one of the most remarkable play －

wrights the world has ever known. In the past four hundred years or so, books and essays on Shakespeare and his works have kept coming out in large quantities. Among his works, the four great tragedies have been given the highest praises by var －ious scholars and critics the world over. And among the great tragedies, King Lear is said to be the most successful one.

In about 1606, according to the story of an ancient British king Lear and his three daughters, Shakespeare reshaped the figure of Lear and produced his greatest play King Lear. King Lear shared some common characteristics with the other tragedies:each portrays a noble hero, who faces the injustice of human life and whose fate is closely connected with the fate of the whole nation. And each hero has his own weakness in character and the flawed character leads to his tragedy. There －fore, the interest of many scholars who study King Lear lies in Lear ’s character, especially his madness.

According to the Renaissance medical theory, four humors exist in human bodies and different characters are attributed to different humors:melancholy (blackbile), choler (yellowbile), blood and phlegm. According to this theory, King Lear is cho －leric by nature and it is likely that an excess of yellow bile causes his madness.

Today ，it sounds absurd to attribute one ’s flawed charac －ter to physical imbalance. It is without a doubt that one ’s character is not fixed physically; instead, it might change un －der non-physical forces, especially social forces. In one word, social environment plays a key role in shaping and changing one ’s character.

From tyranny to madness and to remorse, King Lear ’s character is gradually developing, as the plot of the play is unfolded. This essay analyses this process of character devel －opment.

Ⅱ.The Development of King Lear ’s Character

1.Tyranny

Lear is a tyrannical monarch, who has been living in the splendid court all his life, surrounded by sycophants who will

［作者简介］梁俊青，女，内蒙古大学外国语学院英语系讲师。

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his eldest daughter who “loves ”him so much can treat him like that. Then he places his hope on Regan, his second daughter. But Regan treats him no better. When Kent tells him that Regan has mistreated him, Lear still doesn ’t want to be －lieve:

Lear:They durst not do ’t

t; tis worse than murder They could not, would not do ’

To do upon respect such violent outrage.

(II.iv.)

When Regan stands by her sister and asks Lear to apolo －gize to Coneril, he realizes that he has been cheated by their sweet words. Feeling desperate, Lear rushes out into the storm and tempest. It is in the tempest that Lear goes mad; and it is in the tempest that Lear begins to recognize his true self. He cries out his desperation against his daughters and his pes －simism for life.

s loyalty Just as Gloucester sees the truth about Edgar ’

s evil only after Cornwall blinds him, Lear learns and Edmund ’

the true meaning of love only after he goes mad. Awakening accompanies madness. But unlike Gloucester who tries to com －mit suicide to escape reality, Lear hates his two daughters and wants to revenge. With regards to how to revenge, he is not certain yet.

In the tempest, Lear begins to learn about the hard lives of the populace, which he has never experienced or even thought of before. Now what he thinks of is no longer limited to his own sufferings and hatred. Instead, he begins to realize the injustice of the whole society:

er you are, Lear:Poor naked wretches, whereso ’

That bide the pelting of this pitiless storm,

How shall your houseless heads and unfed sides, Your loop ’d and window ’d raggedness, defend you From seasons such as these?

(III.iv.)

Not only does he begin to understand his failure as a fa －ther, Lear begins to realize his faults as a king. So he feels shameful for the “poor naked wretches ”and confesses, “O, I

en too little care of this ”. So, Lear holds a “trial ”in have ta ’

the forest to judge the injustices in society. But in reality, law or court cannot bring justice, as long as money is the real ruler. Lear has realized this:

Lear:Through tatter ’d clothes small vices do appear;

Robes and furr ’d gowns hide all. Plate sin with gold, And the strong lance of justice hurtless breaks:Arm it in rags, a pigmy ’s straw does pierce it.

(IV.vi.)

Only through his madness does Lear break his false illu －

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sion of the courtly world. So Lear ’s madness can be seen both as the result of and the remedy for his arrogance and vanity. Only through madness does he accomplish his spiritual awak －ening. He realizes that his “wits begin to turn ”and asks the Fool, “How dost my boy? Art cold? ”, indicating a concern for others which has never been shown by Lear before.

3.Remorse

s madness is not only due to the lies and betrayals Lear ’

of Coneril and Regan but also due to his sorrowful and bitter regret for Cordelia. Cordelia ’s forgiveness is the only cure for

s madness. So, when Lear reconciles with Cordelia and Lear ’

acquires her forgiveness, hope and love arise in Lear ’s heart. After so many experiences, he has already known the meaning of true love and loyalty. Although he has no crown, he is a rich old man, with his youngest daughter who loves him so much and Fool and Kent who are truly loyal to him. In his

s death we can see that he is brief monologue before Cordelia ’

already a different man:

ll kneel King Lear:When thou dost ask me blessing, I ’

down,

And ask of thee forgiveness:so we ’ll live,

And pray, and sing, and tell old tales, and laugh At gilded butterflies, and hear poor rogues Talk of court news;

(V.iii.) Ⅲ.Conclusion

We live and learn. It would be a mistake to think that our characters are determined physically. We learn from experi －ences and modify our characters from time to time. Otherwise, no one can make progress. Lear is a perfect example to illus －trate the point. He achieves spiritual progress through suffering.

m going to quote a few lines Finally, though reluctantly, I ’

from the mouth of the evil Regan to end my essay:

Regan:O, sir, to wilful men

The injuries that they themselves procure Must be their schoolmasters.

(II.iv.)

———————————————【References 】

[1]Bradley, A.C.. Shakespearean Tragedy [M].New York:Fawcett

World Library, 1965.

[2]Liu Binshan. A Short History of English Literature[M].Zhengzhou:

He Nan People ’s Press, 1998.

[3]Shakespeare, Willian. King Lear [M].Beijing:The Commercial

Press, 2001.

论李尔王性格的发展

梁俊青

（内蒙古大学外国语学院，内蒙古呼和浩特010021）

［摘

要］李尔王是莎士比亚塑造的最为成功的悲剧人物之一。他的性格随着剧情的展开而逐渐发展。本

文分析了李尔王从暴戾到醒悟最终到忏悔的性格发展过程。

［关键词］李尔王；性格；发展；剧情

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