1. Which currently famous actors and actresses would you cast in the following roles, and why?
- Cordelia: Emma Watson, she is the epitome of innocence. Her previous roles have given her the reputation of a gentle, beautiful person that values honesty, much like Cordelia.
- Regan: Scarlett Hannah Byrne, or better known as Draco's girlfriend Pansy Parkinson. She is the perfect mix of evil, down to her core.
- Edmund: Tom Felton, or Draco Malfoy, would be the perfect Edmund, all he needs is a new hair color. He is already incredible evil and manipulative, but he is also a genius. He knows how to work his enemy, and how to trick everyone.
- Albany: Matthew Lewis (perhaps you know him as Neville Longbottom?) is the perfect Albany. They are both genially good people, but struggle standing up for what they know is right. However, they're strength grows throughout the play, and in the end they try their best to be the hero.
- The Fool: Alam Rickman, or Severus Snape, is the perfect fool. He is rude and sharp, and he may seem like the villain, but in the end he is the wisest and best-friend.
2. Which character (out of all of them) do you most admire and why? I admire Cordelia the most. She is a character that I aspire to be more like. When her father offers her a third of his kingdom, she would rather be honest and true to herself and true to her love for her father than lie like her sisters. She values integrity over tangible items. Its hard for most people to say that they would tell the truth in a situation like this, which is why I admire Cordelia's honor so much.
3. Aristotle believes a proper tragedy will evoke a catharsis in its audience. Which scene induces catharsis? Can you explain why? (It will help to review the long definition of catharsis.) Catharsis is defined as strong emotional release, which is most present when Lear strips down to nothing and runs wildly in the rain. His insanity is caused my a realization that he make a mistake by giving complete power to the two daughters that don't care about him, and by banishing the one daughter that truly loves him. When he takes off his clothing, it could represent the striping of his sanity. His little strip scene is the catharsis of the entire play. We see it building up, his growing madness is represented through the growing storm. There are many instances where foreshadowing hints at Lear's insane fate. In Act I, Scene 5, Lear says "O let me not be mad, not mad, sweet heaven!" (1.5.38). We see this buildup throughout the entire play, so it doest come as much of a surprise to the audience when this catharsis occurs.
4. When Lear and the Fool are leaving Regan's and headed into the storm, Lear is concerned about going "mad" (crazy or senile). The storm is a symbol of the brewing madness in Lear's mind. What aspect of aging frightens you, and what could symbolize it? I am scared of going insane, of forgetting memories, and of being so confused and lost all of the time. I thing of aging somewhat like going back to being a kid. You don't have control of your surroundings anymore, your restricted by both your body's abilities and by the people surrounding you, and you lack some intelligence and common sense. While being a child and being old are very very different, and it is almost useless to compare the two, the only connection I can have with being old is being a kid. I never want to be surrounded by the same confusion that I had sometimes as a child, and I never want to forget my life.
5. How does reflecting on King Lear (its story and/or particular characters) make you feel "uncomfortably at home"? Everyone has their home-life problems. We all have disagreements with family members and we all have done and said things to our family that we later regret. When Lear asks his daughters to put into words how much they love him, it shocks me because I have never been asked that by my parents, and as a child when I asked my parents that question, they would say something like "to the moon and back an infinity amount of times". I cannot relate to Lear's seriousness in this situation, asking someone to describe their love is like asking someone to not fall asleep while reading the phone book front to back. Sorry, that was a weird metaphor. Anyways, King Lear forces us to recognize and think about our own problems that we would rather keep in a little box tucked away. Therefor, we are uncomfortably at home because we can relate to the story, but we would rather not.
