King Lear Act One: Nature, Politics, and Self-Knowledge

Here is the first of five sessions on King Lear! This was conducted with the noble King Bolingbroke who you should follow. You can find a recent new interview of his right here. We discussed Much Ado About Nothing here.

Here is an outline:

1. Bolingbroke exhorts you to read Shakespeare.

2. I summarize Act One.

3. We discuss the ways in which Lear may understand himself as a kind of god.

4. We read out loud Lear’s “Meantime,” speech where he gives an account of why he wishes to split up his kingdom now. We discuss the soundness of the plan and how it reflects Lear’s self-knowledge or lack thereof.

5. We discuss Cordelia’s truthful response to Lear’s account and whether it was the right thing to do.

6. We read out loud Edmund’s speech on nature and discuss nature in general and whether or to what to extent Edmund has a coherent understanding of nature and himself.