Month: January 2016

LEAR

Lets get straight into things. Pass that map of the London boroughs. You must have been told by your mother and father that I have three apartments in this city yet, because of my old age, I am leaving my three apartments to you so I can live on The Isle of Wight. However, they are in different places. One in Mayfair, one in Islington and one in Peckham. Gonreil, Regan and Cordelia, married to Mr Ratmundi, Mr Jones and Mr Sykes respectively, will have to prove yourself to me to get my precious possessions. In order to find the choice order, you will have to answer a very simple question. Who loves me the most? Gonreil, Speak first.

GONREIL

Grandpa, I love you more than any pleasure. Being with you is the biggest joy I have everyday, you are my heart and soul. You are so handsome, I’m surprised you got a divorce with Nan, she was so stupid to get a restraining order. You have such amazing interests, Radio 4 should just invite you on every day. Your wisdom has inspired millions and your badminton tactics are off the charts. I love you more that chocolate biscuits, and I really really like chocolate biscuits.

CORDELIA

[Audience]  What will you do Cordelia?

I’m just going to be honest.

LEAR

That was a fantastic reading Gonreil. Now Regan, I proud of you for getting a fantastic job as a Tesco Salesperson, so I want you to know that I’ll be proud of you no matter what happens, and you should be able to afford a lovely bedsit soon. So, Regan, married to Mr Jones, speak.

REGAN

I love my sister and all, and she loves you, yet I love you way more the she does. What she said is absolute rubbish and she has no idea what I have in stock for you. Generally, I’m an enemy to everything that isn’t you, your warm embrace and your amazing toothless smile. I hope you understand what I am saying, and you surely aren’t foolish enough to accept her dishonest lies. If you give her this apartment, you will never see her again. She will tint her windows and never send you a lousy, badly written letter. I doubt she will go to your gracious funeral and, in fact, I don’t think she will ever find out that you have died! If you give me the best apartment in Mayfair, I guarantee that I will be the best granddaughter ever. I will visit you every quarter, make you some delicious Tesco Finest breakfast on your birthday, and, more importantly, I will love you more than all of my sisters for ever and ever.

LEAR

Thank you so much Regan, so touching. Next, which will settle everything once and for all, Cordelia. Do you, married to Mr Sykes, believe that you are even more loving than both of your sisters? Speak.

CORDELIA

Nothing,Grandpa.

LEAR

What the hell?! Nothing?! Are you serious?

CORDELIA

Yes Grandpa.

LEAR

Nothing will come of nothing; speak again.

CORDELIA

Even though I will probably get the Peckham bedsit, I can not lie to you. I love you for yourself, I wouldn’t go and say a load of rubbish and deceive you just to get a simple apartment. It may set me up for life and give me something to help if I fail as a Biologist, yet I would rather have nothing than be known as a liar.

LEAR

Oh Cordelia. If you change what you said, it might help you get a better apartment than what you are getting apartment wise, which isn’t so good right now.

CORDELIA

My love doesn’t come from my mouth, it comes from actions, which you should surely notice.

LEAR

I knew you never loved me Cordelia. You spent too much of your teenage years studying to your stupid PhD, and never had time for me. Visiting me every so often isn’t good enough compared to your sisters. Gonriel spent every day recovering from a motorcycle accident, and Regan gave me her dying dog for her birthday. Cordelia, you simply don’t love me enough. This competition has closed!

Shakespeare has created a ton of masterpieces. King Lear is one of them. The story bases it self on honesty, and how far you are willing to go to get something, a piece of land in this case. The three daughters of King Lear are being given three bits of land, yet they aren’t the same size. There is one large, one medium and one small, so to decide which daughter gets the largest and beautiful piece of land, King Lear wants to finally find out who loves him the most. The natural reaction is to lie and say wonderful things that even the King should know is absolute rubbish, so two of them did, while one of the daughters decided to be honest and true. This essay is about my opinion on the matter, and who should get the land.

The first one to speak was Gonriel. She obviously was desperate to own the largest piece of land, and was prepared to lie continuously until she got it. What she said came across as very manipulative, which says a thing or two about her personality. She said things that obviously weren’t true like “I profess myself an enemy to all other joys”. No one would ever say that to anyone, as it is just petty. I think that once she got the land, she wouldn’t speak to the slowly dying King again. Another thing that helps my point is how she used a triplet to exaggerate her point. Even in those days, you could just say I love you on the spot, so it makes it look like she was planning to say that and you could easily identify a false comment by seeing a triplet of exaggerated words.

The next is Regan, who is at least a tiny bit more honest that Gonreil. Yet unlike her rival, she decides to not say much about herself, and instead put her rivals down such as ”Only she comes too short”. That makes her sound like a disastrously horrible person, yet King Lear doesn’t see it.She didn’t say much compared to Gonreil, yet what she said, in my opinion, was even more dishonest than Gonreil, yet what she said was in moderation, causing it to sound slightly more normal. What puzzled me was how on earth she thought that she could do better than both of the other sisters love wise, even though she brags just as badly as Gonreil, and used exhausting metaphors that even a deaf man could recognise it as false.

Cordelia was the last sister to speak, and the expression last but not least describes what she said. ”Nothing my lord”. Compared to what her sisters said, it was an honesty overload. Four words told King Lear how much she loved her, yet it came across a bit weird to her father and sisters. This tells me that she thinks that the land isn’t needed to make herself happy, and she wouldn’t risk getting caught lying for, in her views, a small prize. It proves she is a loving person, and unlike the other sisters, an incredibly honest person.

This was a very easy decision to make. It was obvious that the others were being dishonest so, if King Lear really understood, I think that Cordelia should get the largest piece of land.