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King Lear: A Shakespearean Tragedy - Online Paper

King Lear: A Shakespearean Tragedy

There has been many different views on the plays of William
Shakespeare and definitions of what kind of play they were. The two most
popular would be the comedy and the tragedy. King Lear to some people may
be a comedy because they believe that the play has been over exaggerated.
Others would say King Lear was a tragedy because there is so much suffering
and chaos.

What makes a Shakespearean play a comedy or a tragedy? King Lear
would be a tragedy because it meets all the requirements of a tragedy as
defined by Andrew Cecil Bradley. Bradley states that a Shakespearean
tragedy must have to be the story of the hero and that there is exceptional
suffering and calamity slowly being ...

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alone but creates a chain reaction which affects
everything below him. There must also be the element of chance or accident
that influences some point in the play.

King Lear meets all of these requirements that has been laid out by
Bradley which is the most logical for a definition of a tragedy as compared
to the definition of a comedy by G. Wilson Knight.

The main character of the play would be King Lear who in terms of
Bradley would be the hero and hold the highest position is the social chain.
Lear out of Pride and anger has banished Cordelia and split the kingdom in
half to the two older sisters, Goneril and Regan. This is Lear's tragic
flaw which prevents him to see the true faces of people because his pride
and anger overrides his judgement. As we see in the first act, Lear does
not listen to Kent's plea to see closer to the true faces of his daughters.
Kent has hurt Lear's pride by disobeying his order to stay out of his and
Cordelia's way when Lear has ...

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King Lear: A Shakespearean Tragedy. (2004, November 10). Retrieved January 10, 2026, from http://www.essayworld.com/essays/King-Lear-A-Shakespearean-Tragedy/17250

"King Lear: A Shakespearean Tragedy." Essayworld.com. Essayworld.com, 10 Nov. 2004. Web. 10 Jan. 2026. <http://www.essayworld.com/essays/King-Lear-A-Shakespearean-Tragedy/17250>

"King Lear: A Shakespearean Tragedy." Essayworld.com. November 10, 2004. Accessed January 10, 2026. http://www.essayworld.com/essays/King-Lear-A-Shakespearean-Tragedy/17250.

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PAPER DETAILS

Added: 11/10/2004 01:13:21 AM
Category: Arts
Type: Premium Paper
Words: 1189
Pages: 5

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