7.

In an essay on King Lear, Nicholas Brooke declares that in the play, all moral
structures, whether of natural order or Christian redemption, are invalidated by
the naked fact of experience. Which characters in King Lear uphold these moral
structures, and at which point(s) in the play are they challenged by the naked
fact of experience?
Just as we suspect it hidden somewhere in the words of Nicholas Brooke, throughout
the play we see Shakespeare establish certain moral structures and values that are
represented as natural, human and right. However what is right does not always turn
out to be the best option. What structures exactly are we talking about? For example,
that of family ties and filial duty, or fellow-feeling, human integrity, loyalty,
uprightness, kindness, and so forth. The characters that show respect and obedience
for these structures and values end just as badly, or even worse, as the ones that do not
abide by these laws of the decorum of society. Therefore the question arises whether
the structures, the values, that is, the laws, are legitimate, that is to say valid, or not.
And the answer is given in the play itself, where one may easily conclude that the
naked fact of experience invalidates these structures by proving over and over again
that they are ineffectual. It is very simple actually, there is no real tangible advantage
in upholding these strucures (other than that of moral superiority), while the same
cannot be said for doing the opposite.
The characters in King Lear that uphold these structures and that are in return
challenged are Cordelia, Gloucester, Edgar, Kent and, up to a point, Lear.
KentBanished by the king for telling the truth (zauzeo se za Cordeliu, koju je Lear
disownao zato sto mu nije laskala ko Regan i Goneril), he chose to serve his king
nonetheless and returned in disguise. So despite of him being an honest and loyal
servant to his king, and a decent man, he is challenged two times - once when the king
banishes him in spite of the fact that he was only concerned for the kings own good,
and the second humiliation when he comes to one of the kings daughters, Regan,
bearing a note from the king about what had occurred in the castle of Goneril, the
eldest daughter, and has a little confrontation with Gonerils messenger Oswald. On
being asked what the confrontation was about he speaks openly and honestly (as
always, to je tipicno za njega) and is considered a brute and is put into the stocks
(mislim da se tak speluje inace to je na spanj deletrar, a a to je, ma to je ono kad
su ih na trg stavili u one drvene okove za glavu ruke noge I gadali paradajzima I kao
ti ljudi trpe javnu sramotu za kaznu neku, eto).
EdgarA formidable character, righteous, but strangely uncharacterisedfirst nave, then
brave, loyal, vengeful, victorious in the end. He is characterized in many different
ways that it is hard to say what he is like really, but there is no doubt that he is one of
the good guys. His father believes him to be a traitor and banishes him and puts a
price on his head so he is forced to walk around disguised playing a madman and a
beggarIn these situations, or situation in general, he is punished/challenged. He
helps his father afterwards when he reaches the bottom, he takes care of him, leads
himHe gets his revenge, but there is almost nobody alive in the end, so he cannot
really get a kick out of it

LearHe gives his power away naively thinking that it is not on that that his authority
depends. From that point on everything goes downhill. He is robbed of his pride and
dignity and driven into madness. But it is in that state where he begins to distinguish
right from wrong and what really matters. In his madness he finds wisdom and gets
the opportunity to redeem himself in Cordelias eyes. However, this helps him not,
because he and his beloved daughter end tragically.
He is a somewhat passive character. He is the king and is used to being served and
listened, he can allow himself to be impulsive and rash, that is, until he gives his
power away by foolishly giving away his land dividing it unjustly (that is harming
Cordelia for not being able to find words for what lays in her heart). He thought that
his authority of a king and a father will not disappear, but he was wrong. Regardless
of the fact that it is questionable (???? NE ZNAM STVARNO; MATEJA KAJ TI
MISLIS?) whether he upholds these values or not, the fact is that he finds them normal
and expects other people to show them. So we can apply this to him as he really is
challenged as a result of the inexistence of the same in some other characters. He is
stripped first of his royal power, then of human dignity, and of the necessities of life.
This all results in his utter madness, which actually is the voice of wisdom for him.
What do they do exactly to him, Goneril and Regan (tak se pise Nina, da se ne
zaletis!) start restricting his freedom in their houses (Goneril does this), then reducing
the number of his knights for which theyll provide, they start treating him as a senile
old man, a bit condescendingly, they manage to push him away and drive him insane,
and wage a war against him as Cordelia comes to his rescue. But he is seen walking
around naked and crazy.
CordeliaDisowned by her father, she is the daughter that loved him the most and the only one
who loved him honestly for being her father (and yes, a king also-but respectfully and
loyally) and not for his royal power, her transgression was speaking in a way that puts
patriarchal order in danger of being shorn of its ideological legitimation. Her husband
does marry her for her values alone, regardless of her father having taken her dowry,
she is the character that is always in the readers mind as the one that suffered
injustice that needs to be undone, but that never occurs. She always does the right
thing but ends up dead by the hand of a servant.
The play starts with the scene of dividing the territory between the daughters,
Cordelia being the favourite is about to get a bigger share, but when the king asks
each daughter how much she loves him, Goneril and Regan say marvellous things,
and Cordelia, finding it hard to express her love and respect, says she loves him
according to her bond and that she returns those duties back as are right. Since the
king values the verbal expression and decoration and ceremony of this statement as
some kind of representation of the respect for the ideological imperative of power/his
persona in this case, he becomes extremely angry and renounces her and disowns her.
This is a very great injustice; one that after being realized awaits redemption
throughout the play.
This is pretty much it, we think of Cordelia all the time. Kent lets her know of what is
happening to Lear, and she, heartbroken and disgusted by the behaviour of her sisters,
comes to the rescue. She finds her father, nurses him, wages a war for his name
against her sisters, but she is captured, taken as a prisoner to a cell where a servant
(mslim, mooozda je guard, al ne bih rekla) that was instructed by Edmund (and her
sisters agree I think) kills her.

Ona je apsolutno olicenje svega dobroga I prevednoga u ovom djelu, besprijekorna

a popusi.. tu je blempro ne..
GloucesterHe is the perfect example. A morally strong righteous man driven to the edge (I
figurativno I doslovno (or so he thinks)). A loyal servant of his king that abhors doing
wrong, who is punished for no obvious (right that is) reason. The first big
disappointment is when he finds out that his legitimate son Edgar wants him dead,
that of course is not so, but still, it is a great punch for him. He is betrayed, but by his
other son, betrays him as a father and then in a political sense. Gloucester is disgusted
by the way Regan and Cornwall treat Lear. Edmund, his bastard son, betrays him in
order to gain his power, property, and title. As a result of that he loses his title (and all
that goes with it), eyes, and dignity.----scena kad ga edgar vodi da se ubije
He is the character that makes the right/moral decisions, and in a way he gets to
redeem himself to?? Edgar-or not, he gets to ask and receive? forgiveness, but still he
ends up a blind old manand then dies.
On je bas primjerak, isto ko I Cordelia nam, dobroga, casnoga, pravednoga. Osim te
male jelte zabunice kad naivno povjeruje Edmundu bastard sinu da ga je Edgar
izdao, on nista ne skrivi. Cak I taj cin nije tako strasan jer on kakti jednako vjeruje
obojici, samo sto Edgar ne dobije priliku da se objesni jer Edmund mutikasa I njemu
naprica neke lovacke, a ocu njihovome cak I kao dokaz izdaje neko pismo lazno
podastrijeI otud graja. Gloucester je uvijek na pravoj strain..odan je kcerima
Learovim I muzicima njihovim jer eto su mu one nadredene, sve dok ne vidi kako
tretiraju oca svog. Tad zakljuci da je pravedno, a I oportuno jelte (posto ce ove da
padnu majcicu im njihovu beskicmenjacku) da on stane na Learovu stranu. I tako bi.
On pomogne svome kralju da se spasi. Zauzvrat ga izda Edmund bastard I Cornwall
(Reganin muz) mu oci iskopa ( da dobro ste culi). I tako on zgiba slijep, krene jadan
bez para I ociju I naleti na Edgara koji ga skuzi I padne mu mrak na oci (jer on jos
svoje ima) kad vidi sto mu ucinise s ocem. On se previ englez (ha ha, to vec je, ne neg
se pretvara da je lud I prosjakI tak) I na Gloucesterov zahtjev da ga odvede do neke
litice da bi se ovaj ubio on pristine al sve odglumi..e to je bas groteska neka jer ovaj
glumi d se vere uzbrdo, dize visoko noge, G-ju se cini da se ne penju al ovaj njemu
kaze da o cemu on to, sta ne osjeti kako je strmo, I kako tesko idu..i kad kakti dodu on
mu kaze da je pred ponorom I G se baci I padne na nos na livadu na kojoj je, I onda
Edgar pocne pricat s njim ko da je vidio kako pada s litice.ludilo. uglavnom, no G
ne pozivi, ali sazna da ga je to Edgar vodio I moli ga za oprost (opet mislim, ja
ispocetka opce nisam bila skuzila da umre on, tak da sam se spetljala).
So he is never rewarded directly, and Im not sure whether indirectly either, for what
he is and what he represents. He is challenged every step of the way, and what
happens-they gouge his eyes out, and in the end he dies.