King Lear and the GodsUniversity Press of Kentucky, 2014 M07 15 - 384 pages Many critics hold that Shakespeare's King Lear is primarily a drama of meaningful suffering and redemption within a just universe ruled by providential higher powers. William Elton's King Lear and the Gods challenges the validity of this widespread optimistic view. Testing the prevailing view against the play's acknowledged sources, and analyzing the functions of the double plot, the characters, and the play's implicit ironies, Elton concludes that this standard interpretation constitutes a serious misreading of the tragedy. |
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Aeschylus Albany analogous Arcadia atheist attitude Bastard beast belief blind Busson Calvin Cambridge characters Christian cites contrast Cordelia Cornwall cosmic daughters death declares deities Deus absconditus Dieu divine Don Juan dramatic Duchess of Malfi E. K. Chambers earth echoed Edgar Edmund Elizabethan English Epicurean Epicures Erasmus evil ex nihilo faith father fear folly Fool Fool's fortune Gabriel Harvey Gloucester Gloucester's gods Goneril Harsnet's hath heathen heavenly heavens human I.ii II.ii II.iv ironically irony James John justice Kent Kent's King Lear Lear's Lear’s Leir libertine Loeb Classical Lib Lucretius Macbeth man's Montaigne mystery Nashe naturalistic nature Oxford pagan play prisca theologia Prometheus protagonists providence recalls Regan regarding religion religious Renaissance scene seems Seneca sense Shakespeare Sidney's sigs skeptical Stoic Stoicism suggests superstitious thee things Thomas thou thunder Tilley tion topos traditional tragedy Treatise unto villains wheel William