I chose King Lear’s Reagan because I wanted to explore the middle child. Reagan is the second to go after Goneril, the first to die of the three daughters, and a widow by the play’s end. Despite this, she remains an involved and engaged figure, both personally and politically, hell-bent on securing the throne she feels the right to own. By exploring her motives and outlining her internal attitude, I seek to emphasize the depth that she possesses and deserves.
The underlying theme behind Dyer’s Death of England is a sensation of betrayal: both with Michael’s father, the country that he finds himself living in, and his own lack of values. Similarly, my imitation tapped into Regan’s rationale, for a glimpse at the world view that bound her so. Regan is determined to succeed, despite the presence of her father, the machinations of her sisters, and the envy that lurks within her own heart. Much as Michael has, she has defined herself in opposition to the qualities that had initially bound her as the daughter of a king, instead hoping to claim a reputation for herself, through her actions alone. Her choice of weapon, too, seems to act as a sharp distinction between Goneril and Cordelia. Whereas the former uses poisons, and the latter her husband’s armies, Regan is the only one of the three to ever lay hands on a weapon, and the only one to actively take a life. This factor further cements her as an outsider, not just to the behavior expected and exhibited by women, but by Lear’s children as well, as she had done so in defense of her husband. Given Goneril’s attempted betrayal of Albany, and Cordelia’s acquiescence to the will of France, Reagan shows dramatic distinction in her behavior.
Though the rivalry present between the sisters is a constant presence on and off stage, the intensity of it seems to have reached a head in the events of Act 1. The contrast between the Ingenue Cordelia and her bitter, selfish siblings is less a measure of their character, and more a matter of their time. As oft mentioned in Appropriate: “ No one tells you that the sugar runs out”. The ages between the siblings are indistinct, but, there is a significant enough gap between them given Cordelia’s status as an unmarried woman. Consequentially, it can be concluded that, as Greenblat has mentioned, the two sisters have had enough time to fashion themselves in the presence of their father’s authority, and the absence of his affection. They are the ‘outsiders’ towards Lear’s personal life. Cordelia, by contrast, starts the play as entirely an ‘insider’. She has not married, has had her suitors come to court, and seeks nothing but the love of her father. This lack of autonomous agency is most clearly illustrated when Cordelia is exiled: Rather than attempt to take fate into her own hands, and cast away her authority once and for all, she sits, tacitly accepting the transfer of authority from her father to her husband, at the former’s request.
The underlying theme behind Dyer’s Death of England is a sensation of betrayal: both with Michael’s father, the country that he finds himself living in, and his own lack of values. Similarly, my imitation tapped into Regan’s rationale, for a glimpse at the world view that bound her so. Regan is determined to succeed, despite the presence of her father, the machinations of her sisters, and the envy that lurks within her own heart. Much as Michael has, she has defined herself in opposition to the qualities that had initially bound her as the daughter of a king, instead hoping to claim a reputation for herself, through her actions alone. Her choice of weapon, too, seems to act as a sharp distinction between Goneril and Cordelia. Whereas the former uses poisons, and the latter her husband’s armies, Regan is the only one of the three to ever lay hands on a weapon, and the only one to actively take a life. This factor further cements her as an outsider, not just to the behavior expected and exhibited by women, but by Lear’s children as well, as she had done so in defense of her husband. Given Goneril’s attempted betrayal of Albany, and Cordelia’s acquiescence to the will of France, Reagan shows dramatic distinction in her behavior.
Though the rivalry present between the sisters is a constant presence on and off stage, the intensity of it seems to have reached a head in the events of Act 1. The contrast between the Ingenue Cordelia and her bitter, selfish siblings is less a measure of their character, and more a matter of their time. As oft mentioned in Appropriate: “ No one tells you that the sugar runs out”. The ages between the siblings are indistinct, but, there is a significant enough gap between them given Cordelia’s status as an unmarried woman. Consequentially, it can be concluded that, as Greenblat has mentioned, the two sisters have had enough time to fashion themselves in the presence of their father’s authority, and the absence of his affection. They are the ‘outsiders’ towards Lear’s personal life. Cordelia, by contrast, starts the play as entirely an ‘insider’. She has not married, has had her suitors come to court, and seeks nothing but the love of her father. This lack of autonomous agency is most clearly illustrated when Cordelia is exiled: Rather than attempt to take fate into her own hands, and cast away her authority once and for all, she sits, tacitly accepting the transfer of authority from her father to her husband, at the former’s request.