O, reason not the need! Our basest beggars are in the poorest thing superfluous. Allow not nature more than nature needs. This quote can be considered to be the foundation of the film Tragedy of King Lear directed by Richard Eyre in 1998 where it relates to one of the major themes, nature. It clearly explains that a complexity of that notion is that humans would be no different from the animals if they did not need more than the necessities of life to be happy. From the film, the storm scene can be seen to bring about an abrupt change to create the climax of the story where insanity, madness and blindness reach its peak. Through the themes in this scene, it can relate to the entire film itself where nature plays an important role in conveying these ideas through the use of camera techniques, symbolism, characterisation, quotes, emotions and behaviours of characters.
The storm scene begins with a lightning strike instantly symbolising pathetic fallacy where the weather is used to reflect the mind of the protagonist, King Lear. We see Lear and the Fool lying in the mud with a strobe light like effect creating black divisions in the film when the thunder strikes and creates a blurry effect, focusing on the painful feelings of Lear. The use of Eyres fast cut editing, represents the chaos in Lears mind where his emotions are as violent as the storm which removes Lears act of kindness towards the Fool. as he never gets Lears kind of love of clothing or shelter. This setting also consists of rain and steam where Eyre allows the audience to establish the fear, confusion and bleakness of Lears mental statement while the blurry focus distorts his figure. Psychoanalytically, when Lear raises his hands up to the sky symbolising a god like figure, it clearly conveys the insanity and madness of Lear of not wanting to discuss about his daughters as they were the ones who made him suffer these consequences when he initially stormed out of the castle. Eyres choice of a close up shot of Lear when hes talking about his daughters and descending into madness instead of a long shot allows the audience to be directly involved in the situation. Psychoanalytically, when Lear cries Blow winds, and crack your cheeks! Rage! Blow!, he rages as the storm does, becoming wilder and wilder which vividly portrays both the mental and physical emotions that are overpowering him.
The amount of exclamation marks contained in Lears three speeches indicates how agitated he has become. It reflects the properties of the storm as his speeches are full of anger and suffering where he talks about violent images of high engendered battles and unwhipped of justice. However, without interaction with his two most loyal friends, Kent and the Fool, it illustrates how isolated Lear has become in his insanity.
When the Gentlemen enters the scene, he describes the storm in terms of how it tears Lears white hair demonstrating that nature is more powerful than even the strongest of men. He continues to describe how Lear Strives in his little world of man to out-storm the to-and-fro conflicting wind and rain. This quote could be applied to humanitys attempts to control nature or Lears personal struggle with the elements.
When Kent enters in disguise, Lear ends up hugging him where he is at a lower level than Kent which suggests Lear having less power. The use of a long shot shows them facing towards the right. From Eyres perspective, he is able to demonstrate how both characters are looking towards the future through the technique of time. They are positioned towards the right of the screen with the storm taking up all the space from the left. The use of time suggests that Lear wants to leave the past behind him and focus on the future in an attempt to amend his situation with his daughters which would end his madness and insanity.
As Lear, Kent and the Fool exit the first half of the scene, all walking in a line, it conveys they are all in the same situation and have a bond they all share. At the same time, the camera is behind them reflecting their point of view which then cuts to the parallel scene. From Eyres perspective of choosing to cut to the parallel scene, it creates a cliff hanger for the audience which makes them anxious to find out where their heading to.
Returning to the storm scene, Kent is encouraging Lear to enter the hut however, Lear refuses. This is because in the storm he can scream to release his anger over his daughters mistreatment of him but when he settles down he will realise his insanity and that part of him will have some guilt in the matter. I am a man more sinned against than sinning. Psychoanalytically, Lear is afraid of admitting what he did was wrong and that his behaviour was childish for storming out of the castle. Eventually, he finally realises he did not take enough care of the kingdom and begins to see what the poor endured. Poor homeless creatures suffering the storm with no roof over their heads When I was king I didnt do enough to help you. Through this turning point, it portrays how the nature of Lears surroundings influenced how he perceived his kingdom. For e.g. as Lear had 100 knights surrounding and protecting him when he was in power, he assumed everything was OK and nothing was wrong. Lear continues to talk about the poor naked wretches of the world, saying what little defence from the storm their raggedness must offer. Through the sight of ragged Poor Tom, he asks desperately, Is man no more than this. This vividly depicts that even though Lear reaches madness and insanity he can still say meaningful things.
Only once his madness has reached its peak does Lear show some consideration for others, and the effects which his actions have on them. The first sign we see that the old man may be regaining some control over his wits occurs when Lear shows tender concern for the Fool even though he is still far from sane. He affectionately asks the Fool How dost my boy? Art cold?. This illustrates he is actually caring about someone else other than himself and is beginning to change/develop. Even before Lear lost his sanity we did not hear him speaks so lovingly to anyone around him not even his daughters. This suggests that it has taken a severe mental disruption for Lear to feel concern for others and the nature around him.
Through the themes in the storm scene, it can be directly linked to the whole film itself. Eyre clearly emphasizes that human nature is either entirely good or entirely evil through the subplot of Gloucesters illegitimate son, Edmund and legitimate son Edgar as well as other characters. Some characters experience a transformative phase where there is a change to their nature. This applies to Edmund who is wholly evil, Cordelia who is wholly good, Lear whose nature is transformed by the realization of his insanity and his descent into madness, etc.
The opening scene of the film positions Edmund looking through a curtain at Edgar in a cynical way where the lighting is half light and half dark. Through Eyres perspective he only allows the audience to see half of Edmunds face which vividly portrays Edmund as evil, shadowy and darkness. In addition to his black clothing, it also enhances his character as a villain. When Edmund calls Father, Father as he is pretending to fight with Edgar, there is a repetition of fire symbolising burning of hell and trust. However, this now makes Edgar look like at villain and he therefore experiences a change in his nature whereby Gloucester now disowns him. The burning of fire represents a motif as it was first seen in the early scenes. Inside Lears castle are torch lit fires which create a funeral eeriness that seems linked to Lears line I think the worlds asleep. Walls, floors and furniture are all covered in a vivid orange shade. From Eyres view, he wants the audience to feel submerged in a kind of no mans land where sanity has disappeared.
Madness in Edmund is clearly conveyed when he forged a letter explaining that Edgar was planning to kill Gloucester for his power. The use of camera techniques demonstrates this idea. There is a close up of Gloucesters unbelieving face followed by a close up of Edmund face which gradually wears an evil smile. Therefore, Edmunds jealousy and madness at being the illegitimate son can be paralleled to the anger felt by Regan and Goneril who have been unfavoured by Lear.
Blindness is often defined as the inability of the eye to see, but according to Shakespeare, blindness is not a physical quality, but a mental flaw some ppl possess. The main characters that endure blindness are Lear and Gloucester. In the case of Lears high position in society, he was supposed to be able to distinguish between good from bad but because of his lack of sight, it prevented him to do so. His blindness to Cordelias respect is matched only by his vain misreading of Regan and Gonerils arrogance.
It is appropriate that the play brings them together near Dover in Act 4 to empathize about how their blindness to the truth about their children has cost them dearly.
-he wanted to kill Edgar (edmund blinded him). Only near the end of the play did Gloucester recover his sight and see that Edgar saved his life and that Edmund was trying to become the new Earl.
The final lines of the play suggest an emotively tone of the film, Do you see this? Look on her! Look, her lips. Look there. These lines demonstrate Lears unwillingness to accept Cordelias death, dying empty of reason and sustaining an emotional illusion.
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