Analysis of the dynamic relation between the main plot and the subplot in Shakespeare’s 'King Lear'

Abstract or Introduction

I write this essay within the scope of the seminar „Shakespeare’s King Lear” where I have dealt with the topic on several different levels. I got insight into aspects such as madness, cruelty, the role of nature within the play as well as the different versions of King Lear. All these topics were quite fascinating, but as I heard a lot about them in the course of the semester, I decided to pick up a different one in my term paper: Obviously in King Lear we have to deal with a double plot, a main plot and a fully developed subplot, which share important features, but also differ to some extent. I find it interesting to take a closer look on the dynamic relation between the two plots and analyse if and in how far our meaning and understanding of the play is influenced by the mesh between the two plots. As a first step I want to start with a brief summary of the play, presenting the main characters of the two plots. This way we get a rough impression about the protagonists’ involvement in the play and have a basis for the further analysis. Then I want to go deeper and point out how the two stories connect to each other, using some chosen scenes as examples. As a next step I will utilise the results of my analysis and come up with suggestions relating to the intention Shakespeare might have had in mind when he decided to put two plots in the centre of attention. Finally I want to take a critical look on my findings and come up with my own conclusion.