Role of the Fool in King Lear Essay Example

Role of the Fool in King Lear Essay Wisdom and insight gives the ability to make common sense and to discern or judge what is true, right or lasting. Man is not logical and his intellectual capability is not complete without being compromised with wisdom and insight. In the play King Lear, William Shakespeare shows the journey of the once king of England as he falls from grace to despair.In his and insecure state King Lear steps out of his role by giving up all his power, reaches the peak of madness and loses his life just as he comes to understand it. The journey of King Lear of attaining wisdom and insight is necessary as he learns from the hardships of taking foolish actions in the beginning, progresses by realizing his mistakes and blindness, and gains wisdom and insight towards the end.In the beginning of King Lear, Lear steps out of his role and takes foolish actions and loses all influence by falling for the insincerity that surrounds him. King Lear begins the play by making the single, most foolish mistake of d ividing his kingdom and giving power to the wrong hands. The kings unwise decision of division based on the daughter who professes the most love for him causes the downfall of the play and starts his slippery slope towards madness. His actions are understood by all except himself as he asks the question, Who is it that can tell me who I am? (I, IV, 226) and is given the reply, Lears shadow. (I, IV, 227).Furthermore, Lear is blind to his two older daughters hypocritical pledges of love and is foolish enough to trust them with his livelihood. He values appearances over reality and cannot see the greed and motives of those who are supposedly closest to him. Regan and Goneril are both able to deceive him easily, as Lear hears only what he wants. Moreover, King Lear is quick to judgment of banishing not only his youngest and most beloved daughter, Cordelia, but also one of his most loyal servants, Kent. He cannot comprehend the sincerity of Cordelias echoed words of saying Nothing (I, I, 94) and then moves to strip her of his love and titles. Lears overreaction and foolish actions plainly show his getting old before becoming wise.As the plot of the play progresses, the fool acts as indirect guide to Lear who enables him to understand his situation as he learns of his blindness and madness and the forces working against him. Goneril and Regan surpass Lears threshold for sanity and he is thrown out into the elements and left to find himself. The fools first entrance shows the essence of his existence in the play. Lears descent toward madness is shown explicitly when he cries, O fool, I shall go mad! The fool indirectly leads the king acting as inner-conscience of the king. He draws the king towards and an example of this is when the fool exclaims to the king, Prithee, nuncleswim in.(III, IV, 113-114).The fool reveals truth and honesty to all. The fool shows the king the mistakes he makes as he expresses his thoughts about the decision the king made in the beginning, I have own breeches. (I, IV, 169-171). The king is blind to all this until the fool reveals it to him. The fool tells the king that he would be a good fool but if he was his fool he would have thee beaten for being old before they time. (I, V, 41). Through the guide of the fool acting as his inner conscience and revealing truth the king understand and realizes his own blindness.After being inspired by the fool, Lear realizes his new found insight, his ability to see beyond appearances, and understand his mistakes. In the end, Lear is finally able to notice how others have treated him. Through the mock trial he sorts out all the evil and comprehends all that happened during the play. It is after the trial that the fool leaves the play as his job is over and the king can see clearly for himself. Lear expresses his understanding when he says, they flattered me like a dog(III, VI, 112-116). He realizes his mistakes and regrets them.When Cordelia shows up he say, I pray weep notthey have not.(IV, VII, 81-85). In addition, he begins to see clearly of his surroundings. His ability to see is also evident towards the end when he finally recognizes Kent. In the end Lear gains wisdom and insight, however, dies out of a broken heart.King Lears journey can be traced through his absence of wisdom and insight which is replaced with the vital role of the fool who allows the king to come back to sanity with a clear insight of his surroundings. Through the play, King Lear, Shakespeare shows the necessity of the journey for gaining insight and wisdom. He portrays this in the role he gives to the fool of representing these two important qualities.Human beings tend to be misguided by their misinterpretations and lack of knowledge of their surroundings. It is not until they gain wisdom and insight that they begin to see through a broad and clear window. As is often done in reality, the life of King Lear is shaped by his own hands and his inability to make the wise decision at the b eginning of it.

race relations in america essays

race relations in america essays Somewhere in time America has seemed to have lost the ultimate goal of equal rights, and truly equal rights. In the early sixties great men took the stage in order to start paving the way to equality in America. Now in the twenty- first century people all over this country has forgotten what equal rights actually means. Equal rights is supposed to ensure equality for all people. Somewhere along the line we surpassed equal rights and have now begun to oppress whites. Through government programs such as affirmative action, race classification and his whole politically correctness idea, America has tipped the scales of oppression towards the whites of America. In 1973 a thirty-three year-old Caucasian male named Allan Bakke applied to and was denied admission to the University of California Medical School at Davis. In 1974 he filed another application and was once again rejected, even though his test scores were considerably higher than various minorities that were admitted under a special program. This special program specified that 16 out of 100 possible spaces for the students in the medical program were set aside solely for minorities, while the other 84 slots were for anyone who qualified, including minorities. What happened to Bakke is known as reverse discrimination. Bakke felt his rejections to be violations of the Equal Protection Clause of the 14th amendment, so he took the University of California Regents to the Superior Court of California. It was ruled that "the admissions program violated his rights under the Equal Protection Clause of the 14th Amendment. The arguments for and against the special admissions program are complicated. The arguments for special admissions and affirmative action are described by Dr Howard Stelcher former sociology professor at Harvard: Because of past injustices, compensation should be granted to minorities, and one possible form is as affirmative action, ...

Mark Twain Essays - Mark Twain, Picaresque Novels, Lecturers

Mark Twain Essays - Mark Twain, Picaresque Novels, Lecturers Mark Twain Russell 1 Jami Russell Mr. Saylor English 3 HN 18 November 1999 Mark Twain had an extreme love for the Mississippi River. His dreams were of becoming a steamboat pilot. Twain inspired others as they looked to him with great knowledge. He wanted to come home in glory as a pilot more than anything. Events in Mark Twains life come out in his writings and they are displayed in Life on the Mississippi. Mark Twain was the first American that appeared west of the Mississippi River. He was born Samuel Langhorne Clemens on November 30, 1835. Twain lived along the Mississippi River in the town of Hannibal until the age of eighteen. After his fathers death in 1847, Twain became an apprentice at two Hannibal printers. Most of Twains childhood is displayed throughout his work. He recalled his past in The Adventures of Tom Sawyer and The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn (De Veto 51). Twains career began when he was only eleven years old. He worked by editing copies. In 1861 Clemens served briefly as a volunteer soldier in the Confederate cavalry. Later that year he accompanied his brother to the newly created Nevada Territory, where he tried his hand at silver mining. After moving to San Francisco, California, in 1864, Twain met American writers Artemus Ward and Bret Harte, who encouraged him in his work. Later he found a job as a reporter at Territorial Interprise (52). Mark Twain had a life full of writing and full of dreaming. Twain had always dreamed of becoming a steamboat captain and he knew that one day he would accomplish that goal. He viewed the sight of the mighty Mississippi River as steamboats passed with all aspects of humanity. Twains dream of becoming a pilot never faded, although many other dreams did. Twain had a passion for the steamboats on the Russell 2 Mississippi River. A pilot was an important and popular way of living. Others thought that it was the best road to take for a career. Mark Twain was determined to become a steamboat pilot, and he would not return home until he had achieved this. He day-dreamed as a child and an adolescent about being a great pilot. Horace Bixby gave Samuel Clemens the name Mark Twain because it meant a depth of twelve feet. Twain wanted to navigate the Mississippi River. He paid Horace Bixby five hundred dollars to teach him how to achieve this (Bloom 155). Not only did Mark Twain have the ability to make others laugh, but he expressed his thoughts about life and his traumatizing realizations of the past through humor in his works. Twains style of humor has traveled throughout the world over the years. His broad but subtle humor was tremendously popular (165). Life on the Mississippi is more than just a book about life on the river. It is also reflections on Twains life. This book is a true experience of Mark Twains traumatizing childhood. It was also a book that was referred to as his steamboat book. Life on the Mississippi combines an autobiographical account of Twains experiences as a river pilot with a visit to the Mississippi nearly two decades after he left it. The whole town got excited when a steamboat was coming down the river. The Mississippi River is seen as the genius Loci of Mark Twains imagination. Twain was also a realist when writing his novels. Others became jealous of Twain and his accomplishments (De Veto 52). Not only his dreams but also his fears of the past were a part of this book. In other works of Twain, there was confusion about the audience that would and should be attracted to it. Some of his books were humerous for children but also serious issues for adults. While writing the books The Adventures of Tom Sawyer and The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, Twain was not sure if these were childrens books or those for adults. In these writings Twain stated that this was a new way of writing because the literary language was based on the slang of the American society. It took years of writing for the Russell 3 completion of these books and they were thought of as masterpieces that could not be outdone by any other works. The book The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, Hucks adventures provide the reader with a view of American life along the Mississippi River before the Civil War. Twains skill in capturing the rhythms of that life help make the book

Usage That Provokes Blackboard Moments

Usage That Provokes Blackboard Moments Usage That Provokes Blackboard Moments Usage That Provokes Blackboard Moments By Maeve Maddox The comments on my post about writing dates with or without terminals got me thinking about the way everyone who speaks English reacts strongly to at least one word or point of usage. The different ways that people write a date seem to excite curiosity without making anyone angry, but sometimes words or expressions evoke annoyance so intense as to constitute rabid aversion. (Im thinking of the responses provoked by my article on couldnt care less.) By a blackboard moment I mean a physical reaction similar to what we feel when the teachers hand slips and we hear a fingernail scrape against the board. Here are some of the words, pronunciations, spellings and expressions that produce blackboard moments of various intensities in me. (The preferred form is in parentheses.) standing on line (standing in line) light something on fire (set something on fire) Me and my friends swim. (My friends and I swim.) in hopes of (in the hope of) pronouncing the word pecan with a long e and a short a: /pee can/ (instead of with a schwa and the a of father: /pe kahn/) pronouncing the t in Bill Clinton (he pronounces his name with a glottal stop: /klin?n.) seperate (separate) dalmatien (dalmatian) shepard dog (shepherd dog) cemetary (cemetery) its tail (its tail) In that incidence he was right. (In that instance he was right.) Do you want some sandwich? (Do you want part of a sandwich?) How about you, Gentle Reader? What in the speaking or writing of English produces a blackboard moment for you? Want to improve your English in five minutes a day? Get a subscription and start receiving our writing tips and exercises daily! Keep learning! Browse the Expressions category, check our popular posts, or choose a related post below:The Yiddish Handbook: 40 Words You Should Know75 Idioms and Expressions That Include â€Å"Break†50 Tips on How to Write Good

Take-Home Final Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Take-Home Final - Assignment Example The species had a pelvis that demonstrated its join tree-climbing and bipedal movement adaptations. Its skeleton reproduces a human-African primate common ancestor, which does not appear like a chimpanzee (Lieberman 34). The scientists discovered the fossils next to faunal remains that indicated this species inhabited wooded surroundings. Scientists have established that Australopithecus afarensis grew fast to reach maturity earlier as compared to modern humans. This species displays characteristics that are similar to humans and apes. Australopithecus afarensis had a flat nose, projecting lower jaws, as well as a small brain, which is approximately a third of a modern human’s brain (Lieberman 48). The species had adaptations that enabled it to live on trees along with the ground. First, Australopithecus afarensis and modern Homo sapiens have a body that stands on two legs. Second, both these species had the ability to walk upright. Third, Australopithecus afarensis along with modern humans possess straight fingers (Lieberman 48). Modern humans can implement alterations in their brain sizes and organization, which was an adaptation from Australopithecus afarensis to adjust behavior patterns and ways of life. This approach is necessary because the exceptional brain improvement makes a significant contribution to mental abilities related to individual knowledge (Lieberman 48). According to scientific discoveries concerning Homo erectus, the species had body proportions that were similar to modern humans. Homo erectus possessed lengthened legs with shorter arms, which are significant adaptations that enabled them to live on land. Their adaptations explain their capability to walk and run for longer distances that were efficient in hunting and gathering (Lieberman 68). This species has been linked to originality of stone tool technologies like hand axes. Modern humans inherited body

What impact, if any, are sculpture parks and gardens having on the art Essay

What impact, if any, are sculpture parks and gardens having on the art world of today - Essay Example Jean-Francois Lyotard argues that realism in art is a form of conformism, and that the task of the modern artist is to produce â€Å"incommunicable statements† which cannot be fitted in to the easy flow of information within computerized society. In his ‘Appendix Answering the Question: What is Postmodernism?’, published at the end of The Postmodern Condition, he wrote that the â€Å"only definition† of realism is that â€Å"it intends to avoid the question of reality implicated in that art† (1979). It is associated in this account with those who â€Å"pursue successful careers in mass conformism by communicating by means of the ‘correct rules,’ the endemic desire for reality with objects and situations capable of gratifying it† (Lyotard, 1979, p. 75). This uncritical use of established methods of representation is contrasted with ‘avant-garde’ art, which, he argues, uses experimental innovations in technique and stru cture to attempt â€Å"to make visible that there is something which can be conceived and which can neither be seen nor made visible† (Lyotard, 1979, p. 78). This â€Å"something that can be conceived but not seen nor made visible† is often referred to as the sublime, a quality of transcendent greatness â€Å"with which nothing else can be compared and which is beyond all possibility of calculation, measurement or imitation† (Wikipedia, 2006). The presence of this sublime element, then, inspires the imagination in a specific direction based on which elements remain visible or understandable.

Comparing Iodine Based Contrast Drugs for Acute and Late Allergic Article

Comparing Iodine Based Contrast Drugs for Acute and Late Allergic Reactions - Article Example After reading this article, both the patients and the technologist will understand risk of contrast reactions, the frequency of occurrence of such risks, the associated side effects, and through this they will understand ways of minimizing the occurrence of ICM. This will ultimately help them to come up with an appropriate plan to manage and treat the ICM reactions effectively. Introduction Iodinated contrast media are one of the most injectable drugs radiology. Reactions from intravenous injections are either mild or self-treated. Most modern iodinated contrast media are used almost in any part of the body. It is because they are often used intravenously although they can be administered intraabdominally, intrathecally and intraarterially. They are reported to be safe and with mild and self-limiting adverse effects. Nonetheless life-threatening or severe reactions can occur. Radiologist who get involved in using iodinated contrast drugs should be aware of the associated risk factors for contrast media reactions. They need to be aware of the strategies to help minimize adverse events and must be prepared to promptly manage and recognize them. Iodinated contrast media can be categorized into four groups namely (1) ionic dimers (lower carboxyl group toxicity; lower osmotoxity: ration 3),include ioxaglate, (2) Ionic monomers (highest carboxyl group toxicity; highest osmotoxicity ration 1.5), Diatrizoate, ioxythalamate, metrizoate, iothalamate, and iodamide, (3) Nonionic monomers (no carboxyl group toxicity; same osmotoxicity as the ionic dimers), include hydroxyl groups: metrizamide iopromide, hydroxyl groups: iomeprol, iopetnol, ioxitol, and iopamidol), hydroxyl group: ioversol, iohexol), (4) Non ionic dimers (no carboxyl group toxicity; lowest osmotoxicity: hydroxyl group (iodixanol), and hydroxyl group: iotrolan. This literature review of scientific articles aims at evaluating whether there were variations in iodine based contrast drugs for acute and late aller gic reactions, other side effects and their frequency. Materials and methods Selection of Random Controlled Trails (RCTs) investigating immediate or non-immediate allergic reactions, other side effects and frequency of iodine based contrast (Iodinated contrast media (ICM)) were considered for inclusion. Iodine based contrast was defined as intravenous contrast (radiocontrast) agents based on iodine. Comparing Iodine Based Contrast Drugs for Acute and Late Allergic Reactions, and other side effects and their Frequency Results and Discussion Iodinated-based Contrast Drugs/Media (ICMs) for Acute and Allergic Reactions. Iodinated contrast media (ICMs) are one of the injectable drugs that are most commonly used. Recent studies have shown that each year more than 70 million iodinated contrast media are administered worldwide. ICMs are derivatives of tri-iodinated benzene. Due to the tri-iodinated benzene derivative, ICMs are characterized by non-ionic or ionic side chains and the dimeric or monomeric ring structure. Non-ionic monomers seem to be less complicated than the non-ionic dimaers in NHR, although some studies indicate that there is no difference between non-ionic dimers and non-ionic monomers. According to the iodine