Shakespeare's "King Lear"

Paper Summary:

This paper looks at the references to animals within Shakespeare's "King Lear" and attempts to understand the choice of animal motifs and the role they are intended to play in conveying the playwright's message.

From the Paper:

"In his discourse with the king, the Fool refers to an animal again in the lines, "Fools had ne'er less wit in a year/ For wise men are grown foppish/ They know not how their wits to wear/ Their manners are so apish" (1.4.152-155). Here, too, the fool is making fun of the king's paying heed to wrong advise and people by comparing his behavior with that of an ape's propensity to imitate. In other words, the Fool is implying that the king is imitating other foolish people instead of retaining his own counsel.
The Fool, as is already evident, is very fond of drawing comparisons to animals to make his point. And so, again we hear him say, "For, you trow, nuncle/ The hedge-sparrow fed the cuckoo so long" (1.4.207-208). The fool uses the analogy of the hedge-sparrow feeding the cuckoo too long to King Lear's decision to carve up his kingdom between his daughters, implying that the King was doing more for his children than he should."

More papers on Shakespeare's "King Lear":

• Analytical Essay # 31382 : "Madness in "King Lear" and "Twelfth Night"
• Analytical Essay # 49467 : "Deception in "King Lear"
• Term Paper # 92861 : "Inversion as a Literary Device in 'King Lear'"
• Analytical Essay # 119804 : "The Destruction of the Body Politic in "King Lear"

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