Shakespearean’s Tragedy: A Descriptive Study on King Lear by William Shakespeare

This study concentrates on comic relief at Shakespearean’s tragedy. The problem facing EFL students at the English language department with Shakespeare's plays is the harsh language used and understanding the themes he treats. Although King Lear is thought to be one of the most challenging works of Shakespeare, the play is accessible to progressive high school students and most university students. The study aims to break down the classic language in King Lear to make it easy for students to understand the play and thus enjoy the entertainment aspects of the story. The authors used the action research- documentary research. The nature of the study demanded that we had to collect documentary evidence from reference material prescript by the University of Benghazi for the instruction of literature at undergraduate and postgraduate levels. Such material was only available on the internet and course instructional material used by lecturers of the English language department at the faculty of Arts and Science Kufrah. At the end of the study, the authors offered several recommendations.


Introduction 1
Reading and enjoying literature is an academic exercise not only reserved for the westerner or the well-educated. Libyan learners of English should study plays. English literature is particularly very important for their vocabulary improvement and linguistic expression. In their entire study at the faculty of Arts and Sciences Kufrah, the students have been given a chance to read the history of English literature with its accompanying prose, drama and poetry genres.
The students love all these genres of literature, but their complete understanding of English literature can only come with a full reading of Shakespearean drama. The language may be somehow outdated as compared to the modern English the students are taught at the undergraduate level, but they find the literature great interesting. Besides the language improvement they gain, the life and works of the great English dramatist; William Shakespeare is something we cannot neglect as Libyan EFL learners and lecturers.
The problem EFL students at the English Language Department faced with Shakespeare's plays is the difficult language and understanding of the themes he treats. This study tries to address these two problems because we believe that a better understanding of these issues will help literature students and Arab readers understand Shakespearean drama correctly.

Questions of the Study
1. To what extent is the theme of tragedy in King Lear reflected in Shakespeare's life and day? 2. How does the theme of tragedy in King Lear enhance students understanding of the playwright's point-of-view towards the society he wrote about? 3. Why do EFL students find it difficult to understand Shakespearean literature? 4. What should be done to make EFL students love reading Shakespearean literature?

Objectives of the Study
The objectives of this study are: 1. To help Libyan readers and students of King Lear see King Lear's cultural richness and show how the play's values are similar to those of Libyans and Arabs in their modem age. 2. To break down the classic language in King Lear to make it easy for students to understand the play and thus enjoy the entertainment aspects of the story. 3. To show the richness in the language used by Shakespeare and enable students to improve their native-like language abilities by using the saying in the play during speech and writing.

Motivation
Shakespeare was a famous playwright. In all his plays like King Lear, he wanted to entertain the reader and audience, but he also wanted to educate them of the day-to-day social realities -good and bad time. For our love for literature, we wanted to understand other people's (European) cultures in order to compare it with ours and see what we could do to improve or preserve it with our Lives today.
We realise that Shakespeare's plays are very entertaining and easy to understand if one takes time to read them. We knew that if we chose any topic that had to do with Shakespeare's works, it would be easy to find reference material on the Internet, although this was not quite the case at the end of our study.
However, other lecturers at the English language department and friends encouraged us to conduct this study. All the moral and material support we had and the motivation to conduct the study were high

Justification of Study
Libyan students study English as a foreign language. Their drive to attain native-like status is difficult, but many try to make a difference in the end. Reading and understanding English literature, therefore, is a challenging exercise. Most literature is written in plain English; still, they find it hard to understand the language. The case of Shakespearean literature (English) is made much harder due to the classic and poetic nature of the English Shakespeare uses.
The misconception is that Libyan students cannot understand Shakespearean literature. This is wrong. On this fact lies the justification for which we chose to conduct this study in the first place. We wanted to give Libyan students a different image of Shakespeare's works, the greatest playwright that ever lived.

Significance of Study
Although Shakespeare's plays are very interesting to watch on the film stage to native English speakers, it is not the case with Libyan and most Arab non-English speakers who study English as a foreign language. Many students think Shakespearean literature is impossible to understand -the most difficult area of literature.
This study will be of great help to students because the detailed explanation of the story and the analysis of the theme of tragedy will make Shakespeare's plays not as difficult as they think. This study will encourage students to read Shakespeare's plays and thus understand his messages. We have also examined the history of drama in general and English drama in particular. The study is not a historical study, though we should point out that all these side topics have only been analysed because they have some significant degree of importance to the research problem.

Limitations of the Study
The authors regret that they could not research deep into the story of King Lear as they would have loved to. As such, they acknowledge that the study has some weaknesses. They would have loved to discuss, but they could not go that far due to lack of time and references. They would have also loved to discuss other topics like the role of characterisation in the development of the themes of the play, but for obvious reasons, they were not able to. Therefore, they have suggested that future researchers at the Faculty of Arts and Sciences Kufrah conduct further research on the issues left out.

Method of Study Action Research: Documentary Research
The nature of the study demanded that we had to collect documentary evidence from reference material prescript by the University of Benghazi for the instruction of literature at undergraduate and postgraduate levels. Such material was only available on the Internet and course instructional material used by lecturers of the English department.
This study was, in every sense, an action research study. Action research is defined as the type of research in which teachers or would-be teachers at an educational establishment identify a teaching or learning problem affecting students' performance, then together -as a team find a solution. According to the principles of action research, such a solution benefits all those involved in the study.

Review of Literature 2.1 Technical Expressions and Terms used in the Study
• Drama: Drama is a literary composition written to be performed by professional actors on stage (or theatre), before an audience. It involves conflicts, actions and a particular theme. Eye-catching makeup, facial expressions and body language of the artists are prominent features of a live drama -performance. It is largely held that Shakespeare was probably educated at the local grammar school. As the eldest son, he ordinarily would have worked at his father's shop to learn and eventually take over the business, but according to one account, he was apprenticed to a butcher because of reverses in his father's financial situation. According to another account, he became a schoolmaster.
It is believed Shakespeare arrived in London about 1588 and by 1592 had attained success as an actor and a playwright. Not long from that time, he secured Henry Wriothesley, 3rd Earl of Southampton (1573-1624). The publication of Shakespeare's two fashionably erotic narrative poems Venus and Adonis (1593) and The Rape of Lucrece (1594) and of his Sonnets (pub. 1609, but circulated previously in manuscript) made him popular as a poet in the Renaissance manner.
The Sonnets describe the devotion of a character, often identified as the poet himself, to a young man whose beauty and virtue he praises and to a mysterious and faithless dark lady with whom the poet is infatuated. This line of writing seems to have some link with the story of King Lear. The ensuing triangular situation, resulting from the attraction of the poet's friend to the dark lady, is treated with passionate intensity and psychological insight.
However, Shakespeare's modern reputation is based mainly on the 38 plays that he apparently wrote, modified, or collaborated on. Although generally popular in his day, these plays were frequently little esteemed by his educated contemporaries, who considered English plays of their day to be only flashy entertainment.
Shakespeare's professional life in London permitted him to share in the profits of his acting company, the Chamberlain's Men, later called the King's Men, and its two theatres, the Globe and the Blackfriars. His plays were given a special presentation at the courts of Queen Elizabeth I and King James I more frequently than those of any other contemporary dramatists. It is known that he risked losing royal favour only once, in 1599 when his company performed "the play of the deposing and killing of King Richard II (The life and death of King Richard the Second)" at the instance of a group of conspirators against Elizabeth. They were led by Elizabeth's unsuccessful court favourite, Robert Devereux, second earl of Essex, and Southampton's earl. In the subsequent inquiry, Shakespeare's company was absolved of complicity in the conspiracy.
After about 1608, Shakespeare's dramatic production lessened and it seems that he spent more time in Stratford. There, he had established his family in an imposing house called New Place and became a leading local citizen. On April 23, 1616, he died and was buried in the Stratford church.
Although the precise date of many of Shakespeare's plays is in doubt, his dramatic career is generally divided into four periods: (1) the period up to 1594, (2) the years from 1594 to 1600, (3) the years from 1600 to 1608, and (4) the period after 1608. In all periods, the plots of his plays were frequently drawn from chronicles, histories, or earlier fiction, as were the plays of other contemporary dramatists.
Four plays dramatizing the English civil strife of the 15 th century are possibly Shakespeare's earliest dramatic works. These plays (e.g. Henry VI, Parts I, II, and III (c. 1590-92) and Richard III (c. 1593)), deal with the evil results of weak leadership and national disunity fostered for selfish ends. The cycle closes with the death of Richard III, a study in satanic malignity, and the ascent to the throne of Henry VII, the righteous founder of the Tudor dynasty, to which Elizabeth belonged. In style and structure, these plays are related partly to medieval drama and partly to the works of earlier Elizabethan dramatists, especially Christopher Marlowe.
In Finally, Shakespeare's employment of poetry within the plays (typical of King Lear) to express the deepest levels of human motivation in relation to individual, social, and universal situations is considered one of the most astounding accomplishments of the human intellect. Oswald: Steward to Goneril. He relays messages between Goneril, Regan, and Edmund when plotting to take over the country.

King Lear: Summary and Plot
Act I The play opens with Kent and Gloucester discussing whom they think will inherit the kingdom after King Lear steps down. King Lear comes in and announces that he is going to divide his kingdom up between his three daughters. But first, his daughters must express how much they love him. Goneril and Regan quickly tell Lear how much they each love him. When Cordelia, the youngest and most liked daughter, is asked to speak, she says that she loves her father, but she cannot express the depths of her love in words.
Lear is outraged and quickly disinherits her. Kent tries to tell Lear that he is foolish, but Lear accuses him of treachery and throws him out of the kingdom as well. The Duke of Burgundy says he will not take Cordelia for a wife without a dowry. Gloucester leads the group to better shelter before heading off to find help. Lear holds a mock trial for his daughters' treasons. He becomes enraged and suffers a great outburst during the trial. Kent tries to calm Lear down and urges him to be patient.
Gloucester returns and urges Kent to keep Lear protected, as there have been death threats. He tells them that help is waiting to take the group safely to Dover.
Cornwall orders Goneril to bring him the letter about the French invasion and orders his servants to seek out Gloucester. Edmund is asked to go with Goneril. Oswald enters and tells everyone that Gloucester has successfully moved Lear and his company to safety. Gloucester enters accompanied by servants and Cornwall immediately has him bound to a chair.
Gloucester calls for Lear's daughters to have revenge brought upon them. In a rage, Cornwall blinds one of Gloucester's eyes. A servant tries to stand up for Gloucester but is quickly stabbed by Regan with Cornwall's sword, but not before he wounds Cornwall. Cornwall then blinds Gloucester's other eye. Gloucester calls out for Edmund only to hear Regan reply that it was Edmund who turned him into Cornwall. Regan has Gloucester thrown out of the castle.

Act IV
Gloucester is led through the woods by an old man and laments that he wants to see his beloved Edgar once again. Soon, Edgar shows up dressed as Poor Tom and Gloucester asks Tom to escort him to Dover, committing suicide. Edgar tricks Gloucester by telling him that they have reached the top of the cliff, but when Gloucester tries to jump, he only falls flat on his face. Edgar then runs up pretending to be someone else and says, what a miracle it is that Gloucester did not die from the fall. Gloucester becomes depressed that he is not even allowed death.
At Gloucester's castle, Oswald finds Goneril and Edmund. He warns them that Albany's attitude about everything has changed. Albany is displeased by Edmund's behaviour and is happy about the French invasion. With a vow to unite as lovers and rule the kingdom, Goneril sends Edmund to find her husband Cornwall. She finds Albany very angry at her for the treatment she has given her father. Albany learns that Edmund supplied the information that got Gloucester blinded and that Cornwall died from a wound inflicted during the blinding. He promises to avenge Gloucester's blinding.
Regan greets Oswald and tells him that they should have just killed Gloucester because the blinding left too much room for sympathy. She also explains that she is worried about her sister uniting with Edmund. Regan tells Oswald to remind Edmund of the promises he made to her.
Kent finds the gentlemen he had sent ahead to Dover and learns that Lear and Cordelia have not yet been reunited because Lear feels ashamed at his treatment of her. Lear comes upon Edgar and Gloucester and comforts Gloucester about his blindness, saying that pretence is the biggest flaw in authority. When Cordelia's gentlemen find Lear and try to bring him to Cordelia, Lear fears he is being captured and runs away.
Oswald finally finds Gloucester and attempts to kill him, but Edgar steps in and kills Oswald instead. Edgar takes the letter Oswald was carrying to Edmund and reads it. He becomes enraged to learn about Goneril's wishes to kill Albany and marry Edmund.
Cordelia has found Lear and ordered him to be cared for by a doctor, who has to drug him to settle him down. Cordelia expresses her thanks to Kent for sticking by her father through all the turmoil. She expresses her anger at her sister's treatment of Lear, who wakes up a bit confused at where he is.

Act V
Regan interrogates Edmund about his relationship with Goneril. He tells Regan that she is the only sister he is intimately involved with and that the partnership with Goneril is just business. Regan says that she would rather lose the war with France than lose Edmund to her sister. Goneril and Albany talk about the importance of staying united with Regan while facing France. However, Edgar's disguised sneaks in and gives the letter he took from Oswald to Albany.
Edgar tells Albany to send word if he needs help at any time. Edmund ponders which sister he should choose, finally deciding to stick with Goneril if she can manage to kill Albany. He expresses that all he wants is to rule a reunited Britain.
When the war begins, Lear and Cordelia lead the French. Edgar leaves Gloucester while he goes off to fight with Lear and Cordelia. He quickly returns with the news that Edmund has taken lear and Cordelia prisoner. Edmund gives a death sentence to his captain to carry through. Albany praises Edmund's valour but reminds him of his position in the state. Regan declares her partnership with Edmund and calls him an equal. This makes Goneril jealous. Albany accuses Edmund of treason and challenges him to a duel.
Regan mysteriously falls ill. A disguised Edgar shows up to fight Edmund. Edmund falls but is kept alive until he can be fully incriminated. Albany reveals his knowledge of Goneril's letter, and she flees in anger. Edmund admits that he is guilty and Edgar reveals himself. Edgar tells Albany how he cared for Gloucester in disguise until he died shortly after Edgar revealed his true self.
He tells them that Gloucester died overwhelmed with joy and sorrow. Edgar is also met by Kent, who reveals his disguise and tells of his loyalty to Lear and Lear's impending death.
A gentleman brings in the knife that Goneril used to kill herself after admitting that she poisoned Regan out of jealousy. Kent comes hoping to bid Lear farewell and ask about his reunion with Cordelia, but Edmund reveals that he and Goneril ordered Cordelia to be hanged, so it would appear to be suicide. Lear enters carrying the lifeless body of his precious Cordelia. He tells them all that he killed the executioner but was still too late. He is overcome with grief and inconsolable. They are all informed that Edmund has died. Lear then dies mourning over the body of his daughter. Albany's hands shared the rule of the kingdom to Kent and Edgar, but Kent says that he will soon follow the others in death. Edgar is left as the next King of Britain.

Elements of Tragedy in King Lear
True to Shakespearean tradition, King Lear borrows its tragic elements from several types of tragedies that were popular during the Elizabethan Renaissance. Even though King Lear is classified as a chronicle play (a type of drama that draws its English historical materials from the sixteenth-century chronicles-such as Holinshed's), Shakespeare uses elements of Senecan tragedy sometimes called Classical tragedy, and the morality play.
As a tragedy, King Lear portrays a protagonist whose fortunes are conditioned by his hamartia. As defined by Aristotle, the protagonist of a tragedy should be a person "who is not eminently good or just, yet whose fortune is brought about by some error or frailty." This error is not necessarily a character flaw; hamartia can be an unwitting misstep indefinite action or the failure to perform a definite action. Lear's hamartia is the capricious division of his powers and kingdom before his death-more particularly, the disavowal of Cordelia because she will speak "nothing." To enhance this chronicle with a tragedy of character, Shakespeare incorporates a few Senecan elements: (1) the use of stock characters-a faithful male servant (Kent); (2) the employment of sensational themes drawn from Greek mythology, involving much use of "blood and lust;" and (3) stichomythia-dialogue that is conducted by two characters speaking in alternate lines (though strict regularity is not maintained).
To balance the stock characters, Shakespeare also used characters that were consistently good or evil in their intent, echoing the pattern of a morality play. Edmund, Regan, and Goneril embody avarice, envy, anger, lust, and pride, while Edgar and Cordelia embody faithfulness and unconditional love.
Other elements which became unique to Elizabethan tragedy make King Lear a psychologically horrific viewing: most horrors are executed off stage to be reported by a messenger, yet Shakespeare keeps the blinding of Gloucester in full view of the audience, pandering to popular tastes. In all, the Senecan influence on English tragedy is seen most in drama as a field for studying human emotion.

King Lear: Themes & Analysis 2.5.1 Analysing Shakespeare's King Lear
Like all of Shakespeare's tragedies, King Lear is a complex play that can be understood on many different levels and from various critical perspectives; it cannot be said to have one particular meaning. The reader can sometimes feel overwhelmed by its depths. This is a play about a King and his three daughters in broad terms.
Lear alienates Cordelia, the loyal daughter, while her two sisters plot to seize power. Add to that some nobles, both loyal and treasonous, and you have a plot with plenty of conflicts.

Good vs Evil
One of the broadest themes to emerge from this play is the classic conflict of good vs evil. Cordelia, the wronged daughter, only does what is right, and the villainous son, Edmund, plays every underhanded trick in the book to rise to power. But it is not so simple as that. King Lear is complex, and that means nothing is black and white.
This play explores all those shades of grey between good and evil. Regan and Goneril don't start as the wicked sisters, but they're corrupted by greed. Lear himself starts as a jerk who banishes his one good daughter but learns to be a better person by the final act.
Gloucester does the same thing and only realizes how metaphorically shortsighted he was after literally losing his vision. Even Albany, a character married to the wicked Goneril, and allied with the villains, shows honour by the play's end. King Lear is not only an exploration of good and evil. It is also a look at whether redemption is possible.

Natural Order
Shakespeare often deals with the balance of order in his plays. In comedies, something happens to upset order, and then the characters enter a state of lawlessness where anything can happen until the order is ultimately restored. The marriage that typically happens in the final act of a comedy is symbolic of the restoration of order, and the audience leaves satisfied that all is right in the world.
The tragedies operate on a different wavelength. They call the order into question, and while the order is restored in the end, it does so in a way that does not feel very satisfying or permanent. King Lear challenges order from the opening scenes. Lear tests his daughters and values the exaggerated proclamations of love from Regan and Goneril. These unnatural (and untruthful) statements carry more weight with him than Cordelia's heartfelt silence. Regan and Goneril continue to break natural order by turning against their father and plotting to rule the kingdom. They even go so far as murder and suicide -huge crimes against the natural order.
On the other hand, Cordelia remains true to her role as daughter and refuses to rebel against her father, even after he mistreats her. While her sisters attempt to get their way through subterfuge and treachery, Cordelia returns to Britain at the head of an army to righteously rescue her father and save his kingdom. In a comedy, Regan and Goneril would get what was coming to them, and Cordelia would marry the hero; but Shakespeare avoids the obvious happy ending in this play. While the biggest offenders do die, Cordelia is also killed. The order that would have spared her life arrives too late, and Lear dies of a broken heart.
The conflict between the brothers Edmund and Edgar also represents a test of order. Edmund is illegitimate, so even his birth goes against the order; but he offers an interesting counter-argument. He says that he represents a different type of order, the survival of the fittest. His ambition and ruthlessness represent nature's way of establishing the rule. Edmund doesn't need some accident of birth to give him legitimacy. He tricks his father into banishing the legitimate son, Edgar, thus breaking the order of the family and nearly succeeding with his plan.
In the end, however, Edmund dies and Edgar takes power. Those who attempted to usurp power meet with justice, but it's not as easy as that. Albany stands to take the throne at the end of the play, and although he was Goneril's husband, he was also allied with the villainous characters for most of the play. Order is restored, but it's a tenuous balance and the audience is left doubting whether the fragile peace will last.

Other Interpretations
The play can also be understood as a study of a family in turmoil. Lear's family is in shambles due largely to Lear's selfish and reckless actions. Shakespeare seems to suggest through his characterization of Lear, that a strong family unit depends, at least in large part, upon a strong parental figure to keep the family in order. And yet, Lear's family falls apart because the one strong leader makes poor decisions. This implies a strong leader isn't necessarily a good one, and that he or she must be able to consider other opinions.
The play might also be understood as an extended lesson in humility. Lear is, on the surface, a man who seems to have it all: wealth, power, and nobility. However, when Lear loses everything (and is forced to encounter those who are true without the sort of power and privilege that he once took for granted), he learns to empathize with common people. Lear's encounter with the tremendous storm also teaches him of the power that the natural world exerts over humankind, and how weak even the most powerful person is in the face of it. In a larger context, the play shows humanity's place in the grand scheme of things, and how it's not as high as we'd like to think.
Some critics consider the play to be sexist, something which Shakespeare is often accused of. They find the character of Cordelia to be idealized, simplistic and rather unrealistic in her goodness. Also, the main villains in the play are mostly women, leading some critics to complain that the world of King Lear is one in which women are either angels or devils. However, others argue that Shakespeare does not idealize women and instead shows them as capable of greed and evil as men.
King Lear is a Shakespearean tragedy open to many critical interpretations. One major theme in the play is the conflict between good and evil and the grey area between those opposites. Another theme is the upset and eventual restoration of order. Some characters defy the traditionally held natural order, and others uphold it. Unlike comedies, tragedies such as this play ends with the order in doubt. The conclusion does not tie everything neatly together, and the audience is left to question whether the order will remain for long. King Lear can also be read as an examination of family, and a lesson in humility. Some critics find the female characters to be sexist representations, while others see them as breaking from stereotypes.

Character Analysis King Lear
Lear is the protagonist, whose willingness to believe his older daughters' empty flattery leads to the deaths of many people. In relying on the test of his daughters' love, Lear demonstrates that he lacks common sense or can detect his older daughters' falseness. Lear cannot recognize Cordelia's honesty amid the flattery, which he craves. The depth of Lear's anger toward Kent, his devoted follower, suggests excessive pride -Lear refuses to be wrong. Hubris leads Lear to make a serious mistake in judgment, while Lear's excessive anger toward Kent also suggests the fragility of his emotional state.

Recommendations
According to the above-mentioned findings, the authors recommend the following: 1.
Teachers should break down the classic language in King Lear -literature to make it easy for students to understand the play and thus enjoy the entertainment aspects of the story. 2. Teachers should help students of King Lear-literature to see the cultural richness of King Lear-literature and also show how the play's values are similar to those of Libyans and Arabs in their modem age. 3. Teachers should also make students read extra texts such as new papers/magazines, articles, poems, short stories and make learners sum them up, paraphrase them and speak about them to their classmates or in social events organized by the school. 4. The introduction of university theatre in all Libyan universities enable students to write and produce plays that are culturally, linguistically and communicatively rich in bringing out students' speaking ambitions within the university and other out-of-class social activities.