King Lear’s Battle with Existentialism

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Naimah Ali Ap Literature Period 6 10/27/14 KING LEAR’S BATTLE WITH EXISTENTIALISM The novel King Lear demonstrates concepts of existentialism. Existentialism is a movement or tendency that emphasizes individual existence, freedom, and choice. Therefore, individuals must fashion their own sense of meaning in life instead of relying thoughtlessly on religious, political, and social conventions. In doing so individuals can minimize their suffering in this world. King lear by the phenomenal Shakespeare showcases how quickly a person can wither away when they are not able to come to terms with life. In the novel, we watch the main character King Lear struggle with reasoning, fear and agony, nothingness, which ultimately lead him to his undoing. Existentialism states that human reasoning is weak and imperfect, and that there are dark places in human life which are “ non reason” and to which reason scarcely penetrates. We see this concept in the novel King Lear, when Lear demands that his daughter compete for the inheritance of land by articulating their love and loyalness towards him. His daughter Goneril is the first to speak and uses big fancy words such as, “ Sir, I love you more than word can wield the matter”( 1,1,60). From this profession of love Goneril gets her hefty share of land. Next is Regan, who says that her sister comes to short in describing the love held for their father. She is also given her share of inheritance. Next is the youngest daughter of the bunch, Cordelia who does not have much to say, but that “ she cannot heave my heart into my mouth”(1,1,100-101). King Lear uses his daughters
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