Importance of Clothing in King Lear Essays - 621 Words

Importance of Clothing in King Lear nbsp; nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp; Nakedness and dress in Shakespeares King Lear, represented the status of a character. Many scenes use clothing to show one characters dominance over another.nbsp; The more opulent the clothing, the higher the status, or the lack of clothing, the lower the status.nbsp;nbsp; A few characters go through many wardrobes. Lear and Edgar, both start the beginning of the play wearing expensive, luxurious clothing, but each at different times wear less glorious clothing or even no clothing at all. nbsp; nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp; Lear who is the most powerful and authoritive character in the beginning of the play, is also the best outfitted.nbsp; Lear during the†¦show more content†¦nbsp; nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp; Edgar, legitimate son to the Earl of Gloucester, is well dressed, not as much as Lear, but still above commoners.nbsp; Edgar is believed to be plotting to annihilate his own father.nbsp; So every one is after someone named Edgar, who is a well dressed noble.nbsp; In order to protect himself, Edgar becomes no one.nbsp; He becomes nobody by shedding his noble garments, and disguises himself by, My face Ill grime with filth,/ Blanket my loins, elf all my hair in knots,/ And with presented nakedness outface...nbsp; Now Edgar is nobody, and there is nobody looking for nobody. nbsp; nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp; Edgar, wanting revenge on his bother, must take the status of somebody, so he becomes a lunatic.nbsp; Still needing protection, but also needing to be somebody, Edgar chooses a person near nobody.nbsp; The person he chooses is given in the line, Poor Turlygod! poor Tom!/nbsp; Thats something yet! Edgar I nothing am.nbsp; Edgar becomes Tom of Bedlam, an insane lunatic.nbsp; Now that Edgar is somebody, he can once again mingle with the other characters in the play.nbsp; His first meeting with another character as Tom, is Lear, who is reaching madness himself.nbsp; By both Lear and Edgar being naked at the same time allows Edgar toShow MoreRelatedWilliam Shakespeare s King Lear922 Words   |  4 PagesInsanity occupies an essential place in William Shakespeare’s King Lear, and is associated with both disorder and hidden wisdom. As King Lear goes mad due to dementia, the turmoil in his mind mirrored the chaos that has descended upon his kingdom. He initiated the unnatural sequence of events when he proclaimed that he desires to relinquish his duties as a monarchy and conferring them onto his children. 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