The Dysfunctional Family of King Lear Essay - 1631 Words

The Dysfunctional Family of King Lear In his tragedy King Lear, William Shakespeare presents two families: a family consisting of a father and his three daughters, and a family consisting of a father and his two sons, one of which is a bastard son. While he has the sons basically come out and admit that one of them is good and the other evil, the Bard chooses to have the feelings of the daughters appear more subtlely. At no point in King Lear does Shakespeare come out and blatantly tell his audience that Cordelia is the most caring and loving daughter, while her two sisters are uncaring and greedy, and love their father only when they stand to gain from it. However, via the three daughters’ speeches throughout King Lear, he does†¦show more content†¦To compound matters, he makes a little game out of it. Whoever loves him the most gets the most land. This does not make Lear look like a very good father. Nevertheless, his daughters, or at least two of them, seemingly have no qualms about telling their fathe r of their love. The first daughter to profess her love to her dear old dad is Goneril, and she lays it on so thick it is almost sickening: ‘Sir, I love you more than words can wield the matter; Dearer than eye-sight, space, and liberty; Beyond what can be valued, rich or rare; No less than life, with grace, health, beauty, honor; As much as child e’er loved, or father found; A love that makes breath poor, and speech unable; Beyond all manner of so much I love you.’ (Act I, scene i, lines 49-55) In this soliloquy, the audience gets its first glimpse of the character of Goneril. The full spectrum of her greed and selfishness will not be revealed until later, but this is certainly a good sample of her personality. Her profession of love is so large that it seems almost artificial, and it also seems motivated by the fact that possession of land is involved. Still, Lear seems immensely pleased by her statement, and requests a similar profession of love from his other daughter, Regan. She obliges, and in her declaration she tells her father that she loves him even more than Goneril does. Regan emerges from herShow MoreRelatedEssay The Dysfunctional Family of Shakespeares King Lear2578 Words   |  11 PagesThe Dysfunctional Family of King Lear      Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   One of the reasons why Shakespeare is so thoroughly read today is because of his ability to portray human nature so accurately through his characters.   Shakespeares play, King Lear shows us that humans are treacherous and selfish.   We can also relate to the play because of the family issues that Shakespeare incorporates throughout the work.   Lears family is definitely a dysfunctional one.   However, the disrupted family unit is the basisRead MoreWilliam Shakespeare s King Lear846 Words   |  4 PagesShakespeare s King Lear, families are torn apart and are dysfunctional. 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Merchant of Venice—justice vs. mercy v. King Lear—aging parent, greedy children, a wise fool 7. †¦Or the Bible a. Before the mid 20th century, writers could count on people being very familiar with Biblical stories, a common touchstone a writer can

Our Difficult Journey Towards Universal Suffrage - 958 Words

Our difficult journey towards universal suffrage As the text book defines it, franchise or suffrage is the right to vote. In the United States, it took many years to gain universal suffrage, or the ability of all citizens to have the right to vote. In the late 1700’s only about 5% of Americans were eligible to vote (wealthy, white, males of certain religious affiliations). By the early 1800’s, the properly ownership and religion requirements were dropped allowing most white males to vote. Even though the 14th amendment gave citizenship to everyone born or naturalized in the country, the first real legislation towards giving men of color the right to vote was the 15th amendment. The amendment ratified in 1870 stated that the â€Å"right of citizens of the United States to vote shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any state on account of race, color, or previous condition of servitude [library of congress, 1]. Technically speaking, this federal legislation should have been given the blacks the right to vote regardless of their status. However, this was not popular with the white establishment in the southern states in particular, as they quickly found loopholes and other techniques until 1965 to effectively block the votes from being cast. Although this was meant to affect the black population for the most part, these techniques affected the whites who were poor as well. Among others, the most common ways to disenfranchise were the use of violence, pollShow MoreRelatedAfrican Americans: Past, Present, and Future1976 Words   |  8 Pagesbeing put down for having a darker skin tone than â€Å"the man†. Although things of this sort occurred, it never brought an end to hope, and now the horrific past has become a promising future. Slavery was one of the first mishaps to occur in our American history. 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Gorre island Essay Example For Students

Gorre island Essay Well goree island Was used to keep slaves from the mid 1500s to the Mid 1800s it was thought that this island was used to keep slaves in storage sort of like a where house and kept there a lot of people died before they were even sold into slavery do diseases women and children were put in an 88 sq. ft. these people were subject to abuse and many people where beheaded and killed vicously and murderd but it all ended in the mid 1800s but this was a tragic time innocent people were killed for no damn reason i wish all this slavery thing would have never happend alot of social problems could have been avoided if people could be kind to one another all this could have been avoided if people would stop being jerks but thats ok cause that was alll just bad karma its like the saying says what goes around comes around and it commes back to bite you where the good lord split you i wish there was something i could do to have done something so all theses innocennt people would have never had to suffer but shit happens we cant go back and change the future unfortunatetly but if i could every person that had to do slavery trades i would kill every single last one of those bastards and burn up their bodies so no one would ever know what happend to those stupd pieces of shit they where

Cive Rights time capsule free essay sample

The 1960’s was a cultural decade that consisted of the civil rights movement, culture of music, first steps on the moon, and unspeakable assassinations of great leaders. As we can see from the items in this time capsule, the 1960’s was an important decade in our history; significant changes were made during that time frame that shaped our American culture that we see to this day. The Civil Rights movement alone has carried on past the 1960’s and changes are being made to this day to ensure equality among everyone. A picture of John F. Kennedy and the date of his assassination, November 22, 1963 written under it, are among the other items in the time capsule. Prior to the death of JFK , he had great plans for equal rights, â€Å"He wished America to resume its old mission as the first nation dedicated to the revolution of human rights† (Freidel sidey, 2006). â€Å"In a nationally televised address on June 6, 1963, President John F. We will write a custom essay sample on Cive Rights time capsule or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page Kennedy urged the nation to take action toward guaranteeing equal treatment of every American regardless of race. Soon after, Kennedy proposed that Congress consider civil rights legislation that would address voting rights, public accommodations, school desegregation, nondiscrimination in federally assisted programs, and more† ( civil rights act (1964)). The assassination of JFK was devastating to the American people; he represented hope and change for a new generation. The time he spent with us is not to be forgotten. He started the blueprints to a movement that we will learn about in history classes and use going forward to provide equal rights to every person. What may be considered the most important piece in the time capsule is a printout of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 that was signed into law by President Lyndon Johnson on July 2, 1964. JFK’s proposal carried on through President Lyndon’s time, it was not forgotten. The Civil Rights Act of 1964 outlawed segregation in businesses such as restaurants and movie theaters, as well as public places such as swimming pools, public schools, and the library, and banned the use of discrimination in employment on the bases of race, religion, sex, and national origin. The Civil Rights Act of 1964 not only held importance by the act itself but with what came from it. The Voting Rights Act of 1965 is just one example of what was achieved after the Civil Rights Act of 1964. The Civil Rights Act proved the importance of equality in all aspects of life, these of which we are still figuring out to this day. The ability to openly be who you are in the office, and in public was something we were still struggling with in the 20th century. We make efforts each day to ensure equality among the citizens of the United States, without the Civil Rights Act of 1964 we may not have come as far as we have today. A transcript of Martin Luther King Jr. giving his famous speech where he talks about his dream lays in the time capsule, a highlighted portion of the transcript reads; â€Å"I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character† (FoxNew. com, 2013). Dr. King helped lead the Civil Rights movement in a way that used no violence, but instead he used the power of words to give hope and encourage change. His non-violent ways consisted of â€Å"protests, grassroots organizing, and civil disobedience to achieve seemingly-impossible goals† (Benedict, 2012). He is remembered all over the world, studied by school children of all races and memorialized by statues, streets named after him as wells as parks, churches and other public places. His courage to change the way we view equality is something to be remembered and learned from. Violence is not the way to get people to change, we do not need to go to war or fight. Dr. King’s nonviolent fight for equality and economic justice ended abruptly on April 4th, 1968 in a violent manor. Dr. King was assassinated at the Lorraine Motel in Memphis Tennessee. â€Å"He is the only non-president to have a national holiday dedicated in his honor, and is the only non-president memorialized on the Great Mall in the nation’s capital† (Benedict, 2012). It is important to remember Dr. King and how he led a successful campaign for equality that has forever changed our culture. A toy space shuttle found in the time capsule represents the day Neil Armstrong became the first man to land on the moon. Alongside a US flag a sign was placed on the moon that read â€Å"Here men from the planet Earth first set foot upon the moon July 1969, A. D. We came in peace for all mankind† (Canright, 2008). In 1961 John F. Kennedy wanted to land man on the moon in less than ten years, to beat the USSR and be the first to land man on the moon. Kennedy states, â€Å"But in a very real sense, it will not be one man going to the moon—if we make this judgment affirmatively, it will be an entire nation. For all of us must work to put him there†, â€Å"Third, an additional 50 million dollars will make the most of our present leadership, by accelerating the use of space satellites for world-wide communications† (Kennedy, 2013). Although John F. Kennedy was no longer with us, we made his wish come true. Landing man on the moon was an important moment in that it united our country. The amount of money spent on the mission was controversial, but it was an investment in our nation’s future that brought technological advances and created jobs. It was a victory for the United States, and something we should all be proud about. Throughout the 1960’s, music was seen as a way to protest against the war, and embrace an alternative lifestyle. The vinyl record in the time capsule represents the music movement and the impact it had on the youth in the 1960’s. One of the biggest musical events in our nation’s history is Woodstock â€Å"69, from August 15 to August 17 1969 close to half a million of Americas youth gathered for a music festival, â€Å"free love†, and drugs. The music festival was three days of peace and love and listening to musicians such as Jimi Hendrix, Joan Baez, and Janis Joplin. Woodstock of â€Å"69 was a â€Å"cultural movement of the 1960s that looked to change the world through its acceptance of values and beliefs that contradicted the established power structure of the United States† (Johnson). The 1960’s was a decade that shaped our nations equality, culture, and set us apart from the rest of the world with our technological advances. In that time our nation overcame segregation, which brought our country closer together. It set the stepping stones for what would lead us to a country that to this day works toward equality for all. It is a time period to remember because of the culture that was created from the events that took place. The Civil Rights movement turned our nation around, rather than working against each other based on our race, sex, gender, or religion, we work together to protect and serve our country.