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Nature, Grace, and Loyalty
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natural for animals is unnatural for humans. Cf. also III.7.86-88, where Gloucester mistakenly assumes that the "sparks of nature" will drive Edmund to avenge his father's blinding.
10
Gloucester reiterates his view that the self-interested rejection of proper bonds of
allegiance is "unnatural" in his criticism of Goneril and Regan's treatment of their father in III.3. In various ways, other characters contribute to this debate throughout the play. Lear's declarations that his daughters' treachery is unnatural are too numerous and obvious to require citation. The Fool, on the other hand, makes frequent ironic comments to the effect that Lear should have expected this (for example, I.4.101-106, I.5.39-45, or II.4.66-76), thus implicitly confirming the partial truth of Edmund's view about how humans naturally act. Albany agrees with Gloucester that Goneril's betrayal of her father is unnatural (see IV.2.29ff.); Goneril, for her part, responds with an echo of Edmund's view that only cowards and "Fools" (a reminder, perhaps, of Lear's Fool?--it is instructive to follow the many uses of the word "fool" and its cognates throughout the play) do anything other than pursue their own power and self-interest (IV.2.50ff.).
11
Paul Cantor, "Nature and Convention in King Lear," in Joseph M. Knippenberg and
Peter Augustine Lawler (eds.), Poets, Princes, and Private Citizens: Literary Alternativesto Postmodern Politics (Lanham, MD: Rowman and Littlefield, 1996), p. 223. For a discussion of these issues, framed in terms of the contrast between "nature" and "nothing" throughout Shakespeare's body of work, see Northrop Frye, "Nature and Nothing," inGerald W. Chapman (ed.), Essays on Shakespeare (Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1965), pp. 35-58. Frye devotes special attention to King Lear because "[t]hese two words ['nature' and 'nothing'] are so prominent" in it (see pp. 44-47; the quotation is from 44).
12
Edmund too appears to maintain his view from beginning to end; it is interesting to
note that even his dying attempt to do "some good" by stopping the executions of Lear and Cordelia is described by him as done "despite of mine own nature" (V.3.245-6).
13
Note that this act of Lear's is anticipated by his two preceding gestures of kindness
towards the Fool; see III.2.72-3 and III.426-7, together with his more generalized subsequent reflections at III.4.28-36.
14
In what follows, I am much indebted to the fascinating discussion in Harold C.
Goddard, "King Lear," in The Meaning of Shakespeare, vol. 2 (Chicago: The University of Chicago Press, 1951), pp. 136-171. On the issue of "spirit," see esp. pp. 163-71.
15
Goddard makes much of Cordelia's being called a "spiri," and argues persuasively that
even in her absence, her presence hovers over the entire play like a spirit (see esp. 166-7), but he does not point out the earlier, parallel identification of Edgar as also a spirit.
16
Many have wondered why the Fool simply vanishes from the play. (Goddard
comments on this question on pp. 162-3.) My own best guess, suggested here in the text, is that following Lear's encounter with Tom, the Fool is no longer necessary, because
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| | Authors: Meilaender, Peter. |
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39
natural for animals is unnatural for humans. Cf. also III.7.86-88, where Gloucester
mistakenly assumes that the "sparks of nature" will drive Edmund to avenge his father's
blinding.
10
Gloucester reiterates his view that the self-interested rejection of proper bonds of
allegiance is "unnatural" in his criticism of Goneril and Regan's treatment of their father
in III.3. In various ways, other characters contribute to this debate throughout the play.
Lear's declarations that his daughters' treachery is unnatural are too numerous and
obvious to require citation. The Fool, on the other hand, makes frequent ironic comments
to the effect that Lear should have expected this (for example, I.4.101-106, I.5.39-45, or
II.4.66-76), thus implicitly confirming the partial truth of Edmund's view about how
humans naturally act. Albany agrees with Gloucester that Goneril's betrayal of her father
is unnatural (see IV.2.29ff.); Goneril, for her part, responds with an echo of Edmund's
view that only cowards and "Fools" (a reminder, perhaps, of Lear's Fool?--it is instructive
to follow the many uses of the word "fool" and its cognates throughout the play) do
anything other than pursue their own power and self-interest (IV.2.50ff.).
11
Paul Cantor, "Nature and Convention in King Lear," in Joseph M. Knippenberg and
Peter Augustine Lawler (eds.), Poets, Princes, and Private Citizens: Literary Alternatives
to Postmodern Politics (Lanham, MD: Rowman and Littlefield, 1996), p. 223. For a
discussion of these issues, framed in terms of the contrast between "nature" and "nothing"
throughout Shakespeare's body of work, see Northrop Frye, "Nature and Nothing," in
Gerald W. Chapman (ed.), Essays on Shakespeare (Princeton: Princeton University Press,
1965), pp. 35-58. Frye devotes special attention to King Lear because "[t]hese two words
['nature' and 'nothing'] are so prominent" in it (see pp. 44-47; the quotation is from 44).
12
Edmund too appears to maintain his view from beginning to end; it is interesting to
note that even his dying attempt to do "some good" by stopping the executions of Lear
and Cordelia is described by him as done "despite of mine own nature" (V.3.245-6).
13
Note that this act of Lear's is anticipated by his two preceding gestures of kindness
towards the Fool; see III.2.72-3 and III.426-7, together with his more generalized
subsequent reflections at III.4.28-36.
14
In what follows, I am much indebted to the fascinating discussion in Harold C.
Goddard, "King Lear," in The Meaning of Shakespeare, vol. 2 (Chicago: The University
of Chicago Press, 1951), pp. 136-171. On the issue of "spirit," see esp. pp. 163-71.
15
Goddard makes much of Cordelia's being called a "spiri," and argues persuasively that
even in her absence, her presence hovers over the entire play like a spirit (see esp. 166-7),
but he does not point out the earlier, parallel identification of Edgar as also a spirit.
16
Many have wondered why the Fool simply vanishes from the play. (Goddard
comments on this question on pp. 162-3.) My own best guess, suggested here in the text,
is that following Lear's encounter with Tom, the Fool is no longer necessary, because
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