During my time studying King Lear, I focused on Nihilism, which is apparent as I look back on all my previous notations. Having it all out in front of me has been a good help for analyzing the information. And the purpose of the nihilism, I believe, is aiding in the bleakness of the story.
On Slack, we had a couple people bring up Nihilism, and information on it. A quick google search also gave me some different sources, from Shmoop (http://www.shmoop.com/king-lear/nothingness-symbol.html) all the way to a powerpoint presentation on the topic. We also had someone bring up the Stranger, which reminded me that they really are similar in this idea of nihilism. These different sources will help me to have a well-rounded analysis.
Working Claims:
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[Definition Claim] Nihilism in King Lear is a representation of the nothingness that occurs at the end of King Lear's life.
[Policy claim]King Lear should be read as a nihilistic tale.
[Evaluation Claim] King Lear is a better story because of its' use of nihilism and the tone that this brings to the entire text.
[Casual Claim] King Lear's feeling of nothingness was caused by his loss of former power and title.
[Comparison Claim]King Lear and it's idea of nihilism is like The Stranger by Albert Camus.
I think we were supposed to have one of each of the five claims. I think that your first definition claim would be interesting to read though.
ReplyDeleteOh thanks! I totally missed that. I'll edit it now!
DeleteI like your comparison claim best, and maybe you could talk about how the nihilism in The Stranger affects your reading of the nihilism in King Lear.
ReplyDeleteI'm interested in your causal claim. I wonder if it would be more nuanced. What are the other options for why Lear feels nothing? Could Nihilism be the reason he lost his kingdom in the first place? It would be interesting to see more qualifiers in that claim.
ReplyDelete