Ageism in King Lear
William Shakespeare’s King Lear has often been analyzed from a point-of-view focusing on its ageist attitude. The play’s title-character, King Lear, is the elderly king of Britain who has stepped down from his throne and imprudently bestowed all of his land and power to his two oldest daughters. As the tragedy unfolds, Lear shows signs of senility and is cruelly taken advantage of by his oldest daughters because of it. Throughout the play, Lear is meant to be judged harshly for his irrational and nonsensical behavior, characterizations often levied at other elderly characters in more of Shakespeare’s texts. Therefore, readers are left to wonder: is Shakespeare propagating these ageist opinions or merely guilty of supporting ageism by today’s standards. This paper supports the latter view, i.e., that Shakespeare holds ageist sensitivities appropriate to his time. Through analysis of the text, one can conclude that King Lear himself is a victim of ageist manipulation. This, of course, does not excuse his foolish and hash actions towards Cordelia; however, it does allow readers a different interpretation on Lear’s character and, in turn, Shakespeare’s portrayal.
Lear’s childish behavior during the first Act assumes dire consequences for Regan and Goneril throughout then play. “Dear daughter, I confess that I am old. Age is unnecessary” (II, iv). With these words, Lear is on his knees responding to Regan asking him to get forgiveness from Goneril and ask her forgiveness. With that, Lear acknowledges his old age that serves him as a great inconvenience. He realizes that due to ageing, he can no further fit the expectations of his daughters. The only things he cares now are basic necessities: “On my knees I beg that you’ll vouchsafe me raiment, bed, and food (II, iv). With these words, Lear still treats his daughters as children and wants to make them happy[1].
Shakespeare emphasizes ageism as the generation gap between old king and his daughters. With age, his daughters refuse to be with him and regard him as a mad man. Goneril and Regan even let him into the raging storm as the way to get their father away from the castle. Shakespeare’s main point, however, is that Lear’s ageism is about his old age rather than due to losing his mind.
By today’s standards, King Lear is an ageist text. In modern times, if a writer were to imply that an older character is incapable of living without being taken care of as a child again, the work would likely come across as ageist and insensitive. Nevertheless, in the 17th century, when Shakespeare penned King Lear, this was not the case for the English audience for which Shakespeare would have been staging. According to Phillipe Aries, the Elizabethans viewed death as “tame,” or as a natural part of life[2]. So, to say that Shakespeare is ageist is inaccurate.
Bibliography
Holloway, John. The Story of the Night: Studies in Shakespeare’s Major Tragedies. New York: Routledge, 2005.
Nisbet, Robert. “Death in the West.” The New York Times Archives, February 22, 1981. https://www.nytimes.com/1981/02/22/books/death-in-the-west.html.
Shakespeare, William. King Lear. Dover Thrift Editions, 1994.
[1] John, Holloway. The Story of the Night: Studies in Shakespeare’s Major Tragedies. New York: Routledge, 2005.
[2] Nisbet, Robert. “Death in the West.” The New York Times Archives, February 22, 1981. https://www.nytimes.com/1981/02/22/books/death-in-the-west.html.
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