Theme Of Blindness In King Lear - 1046 Words

Blindness; there is a number of ways that someone could be blinded such as, blinded by love, by ambition, or by beliefs and traditions, there is also just plain old blindness, the inability to see. With these causes of blindness a great deal of chaos could be sprung up. The theme of blindness is intertwined within the theme of chaos in the play King Lear by William Shakespeare which ultimately leads people to their demise. King Lear’s own blindness and desire for flattery from his daughters lead him through a prolonged madness and finally to his death. Also, Edmunds own blindness towards the inheritance caused him more trouble than he had asked for and lead him to die by the hand of whom he betrayed. Finally, the blindness shown by Regan†¦show more content†¦We also see a form of misogyny, Goneril has the authority and does not allow Lear and his entourage into her home. Through a psychoanalytic lens we see a form of denial, Lear believes that he is still the king, an d that they should honour him but he is really their senile father. However, Edmunds blindness towards his absent receival of the inheritance caused him to betray his older and legitimate brother who then killed him for his betrayal. In a quote from Edmund saying â€Å"well then, legitimate Edgar, I must have your land.† Edmund is beginning to plan against Edgar so that he may receive the inheritance over Edgar the legitimate son of Gloucester. Through the psychoanalytical lens we see Edmund following his Id. The Id pertains to the instincts and desires. Furthermore, Edmunds desire and blindness for the inheritance will cause Edmund to listen to his id and instincts to get rid of Edgar from the family. However, in a second quote from Edmund stating â€Å"if this letter speed, and my invention thrive Edmund the base shall top th’ legitimate. I grow, I prosper.† Edmund wishes to be better than Edgar and so in his plot against him he forges a letter from Edgar stat ing that he is plotting against Gloucester’s life. Through a Marxist lens we see a resistance of oppression because Edmund is pushing back against the societal norms and the bourgeoisie class to receive theShow MoreRelated King Lear - Theme of Blindness Essay846 Words   |  4 PagesKing Lear - Theme of Blindness In Shakespearean terms, blinds means a whole different thing. Blindness can normally be defined as the inability of the eye to see, but according to Shakespeare, blindness is not a physical quality, but a mental flaw some people possess. Shakespeare’s most dominant theme in his play King Lear is that of blindness. King Lear, Gloucester, and Albany are three prime examples Shakespeare incorporates this theme into. Each of these character’s blindness was the primaryRead MoreEssay The Theme of Blindness in King Lear926 Words   |  4 PagesThe Theme of Blindness in King Lear In the tragedy King Lear, the term blindness has an entirely different meaning. It is not a physical flaw, but the inability of the characters to see a person for whom they truly are. They can only read what is presented to them on the surface. King Lear, Gloucester and Albany are three prime examples characters who suffered most by having this flaw. Lear was by far the blindest of the three. Because Lear was the King, one would expect him to have superbRead MoreTheme Of Blindness In King Lear1576 Words   |  7 PagesThe term blindness is defined as the state or condition of being unable to see. In Shakespeare, it is described as blindly placing trust in people and the mental flaws they possess. Blindness is quite symbolic as it is seen through the characters of Lear, Gloucester and Albany. Lear is blinded by Goneril and Regan’s treachery. Gloucester’s blindness is more literal when his eye were plucked out by Cornwall. He is unable to see the goodness in Edgar and the evil in Edmund. Albany is blinded from theRead MoreEssay on The Theme of Blindness in King Lear by William Shakespeare862 Words   |  4 PagesThe Theme of Blindness in King Lear by William Shakespeare Shakespeares King Lear tells of the tragedies of two families. At the head of each family is a father who cannot see his children for what they are. Both fathers are lacking in perceptiveness, so the stories of the two families run parallel to each other. In Lears case, two of his daughters fool him into believing their lies. Lear shuts out his third daughter because she cannot her love into words the way he wants her to. GloucesterRead MoreA Consideration of the Way Shakespeare Presents and Develops the Theme of Blindness in King Lear1563 Words   |  7 PagesDevelops the Theme of Blindness in King Lear Introduction ============ Throughout ‘King Lear’, Shakespeare uses the play’s characters to make judgements on society using blindness as a metaphor that runs through the play. He does this in a number of ways portraying characters that can be fooled by others’ flattery, or are easily manipulated or deceived, or simply have a lack of wisdom. As well as the horrific physical blinding of Gloucester, blindness is used asRead MoreSight and Blindness in King Lear1615 Words   |  7 PagesSight and Blindness in King Lear In King Lear, the recurring images of sight and blindness associated with the characters of Lear and Gloucester illustrate the theme of self-knowledge and consciousness that exist in the play. These classic tropes are inverted in King Lear, producing a situation in which those with healthy eyes are ignorant of what is going on around them, and those without vision appear to see the clearest. While Lears blindness is one which is metaphorical, the blindness of GloucesterRead MoreBlindness Of King Lear By William Shakespeare1077 Words   |  5 PagesENG4U March-9- 2015 How is the theme of blindness explored in King Lear? The play King Lear, written by William Shakespeare, the theme of blindness is clearly illustrated in the characters of King Lear and Gloucester. Both characters are blind to the truth because of their unwariness and poor judgment of character. These two characters refused to see the truth about the ones that are loyal to them. This type of blindness in this play is mental. Mental blindness can also be described refusingRead More Sight and Blindness in Shakespeares King Lear - Lack of Vision1477 Words   |  6 PagesSight and Blindness in King Lear      Ã‚  Ã‚   In King Lear, the recurring images of sight and blindness associated with the characters of Lear and Gloucester illustrate the theme of self-knowledge and consciousness that exist in the play.    These classic tropes are inverted in King Lear, producing a situation in which those with healthy eyes are ignorant of what is going on around them, and those without vision appear to see the clearest. While Lears blindness is one which is metaphoricalRead MoreKing Lear by William Shakespeare803 Words   |  3 PagesBlindness is a theme that we see throughout King Lear in many characters including King Lear, Gloucester and Albany. Although blindness is a theme it is also a psychological metaphor and can be defined as not having sight.2 Shakespeare forces us to see that being blind is a mental flaw just as much as it is a physical flaw. Lear is not only metaphorically blind but is also blind toward nastiness and loyalty . We see Gloucester’s blindness in more literal terms as he is literally blind but he canRead More Blindness and Sight - Lack of Insight in King Lear Essays1082 Words   |  5 PagesBlindness as Lack of Insight in King Lear   Ã‚  Ã‚   Blindness can normally be defined as the inability of the eye to see, but according to Shakespeare, blindness is not only a physical impairment, but also a mental flaw some people possess.   Shakespeares most dominant theme in his play King Lear is that of blindness.   King Lear, Gloucester, and Albany are three characters through which Shakespeare portrays his theme of mental blindness, that blindness which was the primary cause of their poor

The Storm, Theodore Roethke - 1336 Words

The descriptive poem written by Pulitzer Prize-winning poet Theodore Roethke, deals with an aggressive storm and all its effects on the environment: the surrounding nature and the people experiencing it. The storm is described in a disorganized manner to highlight the big chaos the storm causes. Nature is precisely illustrated, because it reacts on the storm and thus is an important factor for the description of the storm. The people simply give an extra dimension to the poem, and the theme of men versus nature in the form of a storm. As the title tells us, the poem is about a huge raging and destroying storm, going through a little town, ‘up Santa Lucia . The poet has chosen for an enormous unusual vocabulary of verbs to describe the†¦show more content†¦Furthermore, the presence of people is shown occasionally through the lines or through the description of the storm and nature. There are different lines and words that give us hints about the presence of the people living there where the storm is wandering about. ‘And the small streetlamp swinging and slamming against the lamp-pole. / Where have all the people gone? are the first signs, next there is: ‘one light on the mountain , ‘a child , ‘an alley , ‘Santa Lucia , ‘flat-roofed houses , ‘The walls, the slatted windows , ‘the last watcher , ‘the cardplayers and so on. These people are the population of Santa Lucia, which might be a fictitious town, an island or a peninsula, surrounded by a wild and angry sea. And storms like the one being described in the poem, seem to take place on a frequent base in Santa Lucia. It is not a little town where a hurricane occurs every decade. Theodore Roethke describes the hurricane in such an extremely real and believable manner, which may possibly suggest that he is an inhabitant of Santa Lucia or that the town truly is an invention and that he is part of the made up community. The unlike situation of a poet describing such a ‘usual event is easily explained by the reason thatShow MoreRelatedComparing My Papa s Waltz And Porphyria s Lover908 Words   |  4 PagesThe poems that I chose to compare are â€Å"My Papa’s Waltz† and â€Å"Porphyria’s Lover,† both of which use a dark tone and end rhyme to tell a story of painful love through symbolism. â€Å"My Papa’s Waltz,† written by Theodore Roethke in 1942, tells of a relationship between an alcoholic father who abuses his son. In â€Å"Porphyria’s Lover,† written much earlier in 1836,† Robert Browning describes a chilling tale of a madman who murder’s the woman he loves the most. Both poems have th e same theme of love with anRead MoreWhat I Am Writing: Portraying the Life Through the Works Essay1806 Words   |  8 Pagesdescribing their picture. There are very few aspects that contrast their work to their actual lives. Can a writer’s life and experiences predict and/or validate their works? The child/ parent relationship that is portrayed by Kincaid, Lorde, and Roethke in â€Å"Girl, â€Å"From the House of Yemanjà ¡Ã¢â‚¬ , and â€Å"My Papa’s Waltz† is closely related to the relationship they experienced with their parents. These poems show much relevance between the writers and the relationship they shared with their parents, eachRead MorePoetry Essay Prompt2545 Words   |  11 PagesAP Literature Poetry Essay Prompts (1970–2011) 1970 Poem: â€Å"Elegy for Jane† (Theodore Roethke) Prompt: Write an essay in which you describe the speakers attitude toward his former student, Jane. 1971 Poem: â€Å"The Unknown Citizen† (W.H. Auden) Prompt: In a brief essay, identify at least two of the implications implicit in the society reflected in the poem. Support your statements by specific references to the poem. 1972 NO POEM 1973 (exam not available) 1974 Poem: â€Å"I wonder whether one expects

Change for the Better free essay sample

In contrast, Shanker contends that changing the traditional academic letter grading scale will surely encourage mediocrity and decrease work effort in students. Author John Staddon, who has spent his professional life studying adaptive behavior-how changes in the environment lead to changes in the ways humans act (Staddon 307), and much time in both the U. K and the U. We will write a custom essay sample on Change for the Better? or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page S, has noticed a disturbing fact about the American roadways. often when I return to the U. S. , I see a fender bender or two within a few days. Yet I almost never see accidents in the U. K. I begin to think that the American System of traffic control, with its many signs and stops, and with its specific miles tailored to every bend in the road, has had the unintended consequence of causing more accidents than it prevents. (Staddon 306). Research and years of observation by Staddon in both the U. K and the U. S, show that when drivers spend so much of their time and attention seeking out all the signs on the roads in the U. S. , they 1 re more likely to get into a wreck. The more you look for signs, for police, and at your speedometer, the less attention you will be to conditions (Staddon 306). Though it appear in reading Staddons essay that driving in the U. S is hazardous to health, he does offer some suggestions for changing and improving the situation. What Staddon proposes is a more modest adoption of the British traffic system one British alternative to the stop sign is just a dash in the road on the pavement (309) in the drivers line of sight. Another alternative to the ever present stop sign in the U. S. is the roundabout. Though roundabouts can be found in the U. S. , they are typically large. But us drivers get used to them, as they have in the U. K.. they can be made smaller and smaller. Small white dots in the middle of intersections in the U. K. give instructions for the driver to yield to traffic from the right (Staddon 309). Though Staddons essay points out the flaws in driver safety and excessive signage in the U. S. his premise that our roads could be made safer by adopting a more European relaxed attitude that would ultimately make the driver more aware of their surroundings gives hope for American drivers. In contrast, Shankers essay concerning changing our traditional grading system, proposes that the change will do more harm than good to students. According to Shanker, Grades used to tell a ninth grader and his parents how successful the student was in mastering algebra. They also distinguished between level s of performance, showing who was doing well and who was not cutting it (Shanker 312). Traditional letter grading scaled were excellent indicators of where a child falls in knowledge of a particular subject. Parents, teachers, and students all understood the difference in an A, and a C or an F, however, new worded grading scales are much 2 more difficult to understand and interpret. On the new grading scale, words like emerging, developing, meeting, exceeding, and extending are much harder to interpret and also much more subjective. The new grades are the educational equivalent of the familiar smiley face (313) shares Shanker. Proponents of the new grading scale claim now there will be no more hurt feelings or damaged self-esteembecause somebody got a D or an F and no more swelled heads because of a straight-A report card (Shanker 312). Shankers essay further reveals that much more than self-esteem will be lost if we let the new grading scale take over. The real reason school officials insist on blurring the distinctions between students is that they think it is somehow unfair to acknowledge that some students have achieved more academically than others. If this is our attitude towards academic achievement, we will never convince students that working hard in school is worthwhile (Shanker 313). Ultimately, the difference between failure and success will lead to less effort on the part of the learnesr who do the best academically. Finally, Shanker contends they will work only if we get rid of the smiley-face approach to academic achievement and attach real stakes to what students do in school when it comes to graduating from high school and getting a job or getting into college (Shanker 314). Staddons expectations are that with decreased signage and regulations governing speed zones, drivers in the U. S would pay more attention to the current conditions and traffic on the roads rather than all the signs everywhere but on the road where the drivers eyes should be focused. Shanker on the other hand, is adamant that changes to the traditional grading system would have the opposite effect than the one intended by those 3 initiating and pushing for the change. While change can be perceived as a good thing, many times the reason for change does not hold the best intentions of all the parties involved.

Understanding Food Label free essay sample

Understanding how to read food labels is important and also healthy. This can help you to maintain a healthy diet. Reading food labels at first can be confusing, however it will help you to select foods that will provide you with the accurate amount nutrients and energy that your body needs. Eating healthy can offer your body the energy and nutrition that it needs to function. Eating healthy can also have health benefits as well. According to the â€Å"Food Label and You† video the 5/20 rule is â€Å"a food that has 5% or less of the daily value of a nutrient, say a bottle of juice that contains less than 5% calcium, then that food is not a good source of that nutrient, calcium in this case. But a food with 20% or more of a nutrient means is a good source. So, a glass of milk that has 25% calcium is an excellent source. This rule also works for nutrients you may not want a lot of, like saturated fat or sodium†. We will write a custom essay sample on Understanding Food Label or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page Reading the nutrition labels is the key to calories, serving sizes and daily values that follow the 5/20 rule. Calories and serving size should be checked. Checking the label will tell you how many calories and nutrients you are getting. An example of the 5/20 rules from the pantry is a fiber one bar that contains 35% of fiber, which is an excellent source of fiber. Another example would be peanut butter, which contains 10% of vitamin C. In this case it is not a good source of vitamin C. There are six food label facts presented in the â€Å"How to Understand Nutritional Food Label† article that can help consumers understand food labels more effectively. The first is the serving size, which are standardized to make it easier to compare similar foods; they are provided in familiar units, such as cups or pieces, followed by the metric amount, e. g. , the number of grams. The serving on the food package influences the number of calories and all the nutrient amounts listed on the top part of the label. The second is calories (and calories from fat). Calories provide a measure of how much energy you get from a serving of this food. The calorie section of the label can help you manage your weight (i. . , gain, lose, or maintain. ) The third and fourth is the nutrients and how much. IT is divided into two parts. The first is limit these nutrients which are, saturated fat, trans fat, cholesterol, or sodium may increase your risk of certain chronic diseases, like heart disease, some cancers, or high blood pressure. The second is getting enough of these nutrients, which are dietary fiber, vitamin A, vitamin C, calcium, and iron. The fifth is understanding the footnote on the bottom of the nutrition facts label. This tells you %DVs are based on a 2,000 calorie diet. This statement must be on all food labels. It is recommended that the % daily values are followed in order to stay within public health experts recommended upper or lower limits for the nutrients listed, based on a 2,000-calorie daily diet. The sixth is the percent daily value (%DV). The DV are based on the Daily Value recommendations for key nutrients but only for a 2,000-calorie daily diet not 2,500 calories. The %DV helps you determine if a serving of food is high or low in a nutrient.