Analyze the techniques used in Act 3 Scene 4 - paying close attention to the interactions between Lear and Tom as well as the ever-present storm - to develop an answer to the question: How should a person be classified as "mad"?
Well, twice in this act did the storm still (stage directions) right after Tom's speech to Lear. For example, after Tom says that he was led by the devil "through fire and through flame, through ford and whirlpool" (III, iv, 56-7). Through this hyperbole, he creates a tone of extreme torture and condemnation. However, Lear then says, "Has his daughters brought to this pass?" (III, iv, 8), attributing his own causes to Tom's problems. In the middle, the storm had stood still. Thus, the storm is symbollic of Lear's current mind, for Lear's ideas were determined right after the storm stilled. Thus, the seeming epiphanies of Lear reveal that the storm acts as Lear's mind does (So if Lear acts aimlessly/angrily, then the storm is wild, but if he gains calm, the storm is calm). -Jessica K.
Looking at the progression of events between "Poor Tom" and Lear in the storm, it seems as though as "Tom" rambles on in what seems to be nonsense, Lear comes to realizations about his own situation. "Tom" rambles about being once being a wealthier man, "proud in heart and mind" yet "false of heart, light of ear". See how this mirrors Lear's situation, (he was once a wealthy King too proud to give up knights or listen to the truth of his daughters.) Then on he very next page, Lear's madness seems to reach its peak as he tries to tear off his clothes. The sequence here makes it almost seem as if in response to "Tom's" stort about the false rich man without the clothes, he tries to rid himself of his own fine garments. Perhaps it seems to him a way to cleanse himself of the wrongs he discovers abouut himself--he doesn't necessaril have to be mad at all Perhaps it is like the saying "Sometimes you have to lose your mind to come to your senses" -Brianna Ma.
I agree with you Brianna when you say that an individual needs to lose their mind to come to their senses. I think another example of this is with Gloucester and blindness. It seems as though once Gloucester became literally blind, he actually gained the ability to figuratively see. Gloucester was blind to the lies of Edmund, however once he became blind, he gained the ability to see the truth about his son. So just as Lear has to lose his mind to come to his senses, Gloucester needs to become blind to truly see what's going on around him.
I would like to build off of and slightly refute what Brianna said about King Lear's actions in the storm. I can see by simply looking at his actions how they could be interpreted as cleansing or trying to help a poor beggar. However, looking at his lines in conjunction with the stage directions in Act III, I believe this is actually his precipice of madness. Lear personifies the storm and connects himself with it as he says, "Rumble thy bellyful. Spit, fire. Spout, rain./ Nor rain, wind, thunder, fire are my daughters." The stage directions between the lines - such as when Shakespeare says, "storm still" to transition between mad Tom's ranting and Lear's (in my opinion) mad chants. Here I believe actual madness is shown through verbiage and weather cues.
Sunni, the point that you mentioned - "storm still" - is I think very importantly placed throughout the passage, and is meant to signify the storm as ongoing, not calming, or stilling, as Jessica said earlier. I think that the stage directions are meant to emphasize what is being said in order to point out the more "mad" lines. For example, when Tom is ranting at himself, "and there - and there again - and there" there appears a stage direction. When Tom reverts to nonsensical words, "suum, mun, nonny. Dolphin my boy, boy, sessa!" there appears a stage direction. And I think all these minor details add up to the one of most importance. By placing the stage directions after arguable "mad" rantings, the audience learns to associate the stage directions with madness, and so when Gloucester (discussing Lear) says "Canst thou blame him?" and has his line followed by the exact same stage direction, then those silent words appear as an answer to his question: no, one cannot blame Lear for his actions, because he is acting out of madness. So, madness appears to be a condition that prevents one from acting reasonably.
Well, twice in this act did the storm still (stage directions) right after Tom's speech to Lear. For example, after Tom says that he was led by the devil "through fire and through flame, through ford and whirlpool" (III, iv, 56-7). Through this hyperbole, he creates a tone of extreme torture and condemnation. However, Lear then says, "Has his daughters brought to this pass?" (III, iv, 8), attributing his own causes to Tom's problems. In the middle, the storm had stood still. Thus, the storm is symbollic of Lear's current mind, for Lear's ideas were determined right after the storm stilled. Thus, the seeming epiphanies of Lear reveal that the storm acts as Lear's mind does (So if Lear acts aimlessly/angrily, then the storm is wild, but if he gains calm, the storm is calm).
ReplyDelete-Jessica K.
Looking at the progression of events between "Poor Tom" and Lear in the storm, it seems as though as "Tom" rambles on in what seems to be nonsense, Lear comes to realizations about his own situation. "Tom" rambles about being once being a wealthier man, "proud in heart and mind" yet "false of heart, light of ear". See how this mirrors Lear's situation, (he was once a wealthy King too proud to give up knights or listen to the truth of his daughters.) Then on he very next page, Lear's madness seems to reach its peak as he tries to tear off his clothes. The sequence here makes it almost seem as if in response to "Tom's" stort about the false rich man without the clothes, he tries to rid himself of his own fine garments. Perhaps it seems to him a way to cleanse himself of the wrongs he discovers abouut himself--he doesn't necessaril have to be mad at all Perhaps it is like the saying "Sometimes you have to lose your mind to come to your senses"
ReplyDelete-Brianna Ma.
I agree with you Brianna when you say that an individual needs to lose their mind to come to their senses. I think another example of this is with Gloucester and blindness. It seems as though once Gloucester became literally blind, he actually gained the ability to figuratively see. Gloucester was blind to the lies of Edmund, however once he became blind, he gained the ability to see the truth about his son. So just as Lear has to lose his mind to come to his senses, Gloucester needs to become blind to truly see what's going on around him.
ReplyDeleteI would like to build off of and slightly refute what Brianna said about King Lear's actions in the storm. I can see by simply looking at his actions how they could be interpreted as cleansing or trying to help a poor beggar. However, looking at his lines in conjunction with the stage directions in Act III, I believe this is actually his precipice of madness. Lear personifies the storm and connects himself with it as he says, "Rumble thy bellyful. Spit, fire. Spout, rain./ Nor rain, wind, thunder, fire are my daughters." The stage directions between the lines - such as when Shakespeare says, "storm still" to transition between mad Tom's ranting and Lear's (in my opinion) mad chants. Here I believe actual madness is shown through verbiage and weather cues.
ReplyDeleteSunni, the point that you mentioned - "storm still" - is I think very importantly placed throughout the passage, and is meant to signify the storm as ongoing, not calming, or stilling, as Jessica said earlier. I think that the stage directions are meant to emphasize what is being said in order to point out the more "mad" lines. For example, when Tom is ranting at himself, "and there - and there again - and there" there appears a stage direction. When Tom reverts to nonsensical words, "suum, mun, nonny. Dolphin my boy, boy, sessa!" there appears a stage direction. And I think all these minor details add up to the one of most importance. By placing the stage directions after arguable "mad" rantings, the audience learns to associate the stage directions with madness, and so when Gloucester (discussing Lear) says "Canst thou blame him?" and has his line followed by the exact same stage direction, then those silent words appear as an answer to his question: no, one cannot blame Lear for his actions, because he is acting out of madness. So, madness appears to be a condition that prevents one from acting reasonably.
ReplyDelete