Essay traglear King Lear as a Bradley Tragedy - 1294 Words

King Lear as a Bradley Tragedy King Lear meets all the requirements of a tragedy as defined by Andrew Cecil Bradley. Bradley states that a Shakespearean tragedy has to be the story of the hero and there is exceptional suffering and calamity slowly being worn in. Also, the current time must be contrasted to happier times. The play also depicts the troubled parts in the hero’s life and eventually he dies instantaneously because of the suffering and calamity. There is the feeling of fear in the play as well, that makes men see how blind they are not knowing when fortune or something else would be on them. The hero must be of a high status on the chain and the hero must also possess a tragic flaw that initiates the tragedy.†¦show more content†¦Due to this flaw, Lear has given way to the two older daughters to conspire against him. Lear is finally thrown out of his daughters’ homes and left with a fool, a servant and a beggar. This is when Lear realizes the mistake that he has made and suf fers the banishment of his two eldest daughters. Lear is caught in a storm and begins to lose his sanity because he can not bear the treatment of his two daughters as well as the error he has made with Cordelia and Kent. Lear also suffers from lack of rest when he is moving all over the place and the thing that breaks him is the death of his youngest daughter, Cordelia. This suffering can be contrasted with other happier times like when Lear was still king and when he was not banished by his two daughters. The feeling of fear is when Lear is in the storm raging against the gods, I tax not you, you elements, with unkindness. I never gave you kingdom, called you children, you owe me no subscription (act #, scene #, line #), telling them to rage harder since he has not done anything for them and that he didnt deserve what he has received from his two daughters. The fear is how Lear in a short period of time went from king to just a regular peasant and from strong and prideful to weak and unconfident. This shows that men do not