There is the younger brother, for instance, in Beaumont and Fletcher's play of the Scornful Lady, on the one side, and Oliver in Shakspeare's As You Like It, on the other. Need it be said how heavy an aggravation, in such a case, the stain of bastardy must have been, were it only that the younger brother was liable to hear his own dishonour and his mother's infamy related by his father with an excusing shrug of the shoulders, and in a tone betwixt waggery and shame! But in this tragedy the story or fable constrained Shakspeare to introduce wickedness in an outrageous form in the persons of Regan and Goneril. He had read nature too heedfully not to know, that courage, intellect, and strength of character are the most impressive forms of power, and that to power in itself, without re- ference to any moral end, an inevitable admiration and complacency appertains, whether it be displayed in the conquests of a Buonaparte or Tamerlane, or in the foam and the thunder of a cataract. But in the exhibition of such a character it was of the highest importance to prevent the guilt from passing into utter monstrosity, — which again depends on the presence or absence of causes and tempta- tions sufficient to account for the wickedness, without the necessity of recurring to a thorough fiendishness of nature for its origination. For such are the appointed relations of intellectual power to truth, and of truth to goodness, that it becomes both morally and poetically unsafe to present what is admirable, — what our nature compels us to admire — in the mind, and what is most detestable in the heart, as co-existing in the same individual without any apparent connection, or any modification of the one by the other. That Shakspeare has in one instance, that of lago, approached to this, and that he has done it successfully, is, perhaps, the most astonishing proof of his genius, and the opulence of its resources. E 130 Notes on Lear Act i. Nothing can come of nothing : speak again. This is also materially furthered by Kent's opposition, which displays Lear's moral incapability of resigning the sovereign power in the very act of disposing of it. Kent is, perhaps, the nearest to perfect goodness in all Shakspeare's characters, and yet the most in- dividualized. There is an extraordinary charm in his bluntness, which is that only of a nobleman arising from a contempt of overstrained courtesy, and combined with easy placability where goodness of heart is apparent. His passionate affection for, and fidelity to, Lear act on our feelings in Lear's own favour : virtue itself seems to be in company with him. Warburton's note upon a quotation from Vanini. Shandy than of atheism. Notes on Lear 131 In this speech of Edmund you see, as soon as a man cannot reconcile himself to reason, how his conscience flies off by way of appeal to nature, who is sure upon such occasions never to find fault, and also how shame sharpens a predisposition in the heart to evil. Edmund's speech : — This is the excellent foppery of the world! Thus scorn and misanthropy are often the anticipations and mouth-pieces of wisdom in the detection of super- stitions. Both individuals and nations may be free from such prejudices by being below them, as well as by rising above them. The Steward should be placed in exact antithesis to Kent, as the only character of utter irredeem- able baseness in Shakspeare. Not a vice but this of baseness was left open to him. In Lear old age is itself a character, — its natural imperfections being increased by life-long habits of receiving a prompt obedience. Thus Lear becomes the open and ample play-room of nature's passions. The Fool is no comic buffoon to make the groundlings laugh, — no forced condescension of Shakspeare's genius to the taste of his audience. Click here to order! Or visit our site >> fight club bar scene More info about: free dissertation help about myself essay order custom term paper abortion argumentative essay college research paper writing papers order essay online essay on divorce and children
