king Lear

Response to 1:
I am not sold on this idea of hysteria being a feminine force in this play. The hysteria King Lear is feeling is certainly due to his quick loss of power combined with the elements of nature and the lacking of a proper diet. I would not say that this hysteria he is feeling is a feminine side or the woman in him, as mentioned in the first question. King Lear was losing his mind, not becoming more feminine. However, I do feel that as King Lear and Cordelia were reunited he was able to have feeling and show his emotion because his pride had fallen to the wayside. He was no longer a proud king, passionate about his power, but a man who was hurting. To say that this was a more feminine trait is not true; I know plenty of power hungry and proud women. Am I to just assume that they are more in touch with the man in them? No, I am to assume that they need control and maybe care too much about the things that mean nothing. King Lear was feeling more humble and with humbleness comes thankfulness and often times with thankfulness one will feel love toward those helping; these qualities are not necessarily qualities of a woman, but qualities of a humble human being.

Response to 2: A women’s weapon is her tears, according to King Lear, and he is crying, but why would this make him more in touch with his feminine side, more of a mother, because he uses her weapons? Maybe the fact that he is crying and that he feels crying is a way for a woman to win, often women are stereotyped as criers to get out of tickets and such, but this alone does not allow Lear to be more in touch with the mother/woman in him. This again means that King Lear has humbled himself and this line makes me think that Lear feels women use tears as a means of defense and he is now crying himself and his “man cheeks” are becoming moist with a woman’s weapon, a sign of weakness for him, but I see it as a sign of humbleness. He has reached a point of no pride, regret maybe even a bit of self loathing, but I still do not see this line as him giving in to the mother, or woman, in him. He is still calling the tears a woman’s weapon, not a women’s emotion. If anything Lear has simply borrowed a lady’s gun and will return it when he regains control of his mind and his emotions.

Response to 3: Yes, I agree with this quote more than the other two, King Lear is crying and his tears almost force him to admit that he needs help. King Lear needs his daughter, for once he needs someone to save him and not fall to their knees “honoring” him at a simple wave of his hand. Now he needs someone to carry him and be strong because he can’t be. Again I am not certain these qualities are that of the mother in him, but maybe of the broken, sickly old man. King Lear has never acted like a lady, nor should he; King Lear acted as a proud, pompous king who had ever lie told to him sweetly and felt safe on top of all the people willing to carry him through his reign. Eventually he lost his power and started dealing with the truth. Not everyone loved him for him, in fact only a handful would stick around after his riches became rags and his once active mind became an imaginative mess. Lear was humbled, humiliated even, and needy. These traits come from his losing everything that was held dear, hysteria would set in with anyone man or woman if they went through this madness. It does not make you more of a man or more of woman to admit you need help. It makes you more of a human, a humble human. I do not feel King Lear ever came to know the mother in him or the woman in him, but maybe came to know the emotion in him. He came to feel love beyond his money and beyond his power. He grew up from his tantrum throwing days. We watched a man mature, not a man who got to know the woman in him.