King Lear (1 Viewer)

[Morgues]

Obviously you have to have knowledge of the usual things such as themes, plot, characters, quotes etc

How indepth do you have to know the readings and productions?
Is general knowledge of how certain scenes could be slanted to offer a certain interpretation (Such as feminist) enough?

And the productions, how indepth do we have to know them?

Last years hsc question seems rather difficult as its focus is on productions and I personally have only seen 2.......I would have no idea what to talk about

Ramble over

 

[flosh's gurl]

our teacher is focusing alot on the productions. mainly just making us chose one or two to know in detail. seems to think that since every paper since the new hsc like trial papers, specimum papers, hsc last year, have all focused on production that maybe thats the way they are just going to keep going. we've also been doing a fair bit on how we would produce certain scenes and things like that.. i dont know. i really dont know what to look at. i hate king lear

 

[Milly]

See this thread

 

[tinkerbell]

do any of u guys have anything on productions i could have a look at? i have a dickhead of a teacher and we havent even seen one production this whole yr! iv been trying to hire the movies but their all hired out and i wanna cry! king lear and emma and clueless are my worst eva!

 

[dazed&confused]

Just look up Peter Brooks on the net - his 1971 production, there is heaps of info on it, even if you don't get to see it - I haven't, but I've written about it.....
that's all I can tell u i think....
good luck

 

[aspagarus]

Productions

I don't know about you guys.. but in most of the questions I have seem, the talk about 'possible' productions.. So does that mean than we can just make one up. We had to write an essat for an assessment about the different possible productions of the play. I wrote about relationship between characters.. how Lear and the Fool could be the same person (like in a modern version, with all of the appropriate visual effects... like have Lear looking more and more like the Fool, until he becomes the fool.. when the fool 'disappears' from the play.. Could be done using voice overs, or a pause in background, as the Fool 'steps out of Lear' with Matrix camera moves.. Understand.. it would be cool. When the Feel interacts with other characters, it could be only in Lear's imagination.. like Alll mcbeal almost.. ).. and Cordelia and the Fool being the same person.. (There is definate connections between the two character.. when the Knight says something like : "Since my young lady's going to France, sir,/ the fool has much pined away" (I.iv.62-3) and "my poor fool is hanged" when Lear carries on Cordelia at the end... mmm. this one is hard to argue.. there is much conflict over whether the same person could play the two characters)
etc..
So i reckon you could just make up your own..
i don't know much about the different interpretations that can be placed on them (eg.. feminist..) we all have such different teachers.. i wish there was some 'standard' - things that we should all know.. then I guess there would be little use for this forum.. hehe..

 

[Arch-man]

That's very risky, making one up. Try to refer to a certain type of interpretation (eg Absurdist, Christian, Marxist, etc.) if you can't think of one specifically.

 

[jayjay]

Why hasnt my school given me anything on KING LEAR?
I MEAN its supposed to be one of the best schools in the state
it was 6 years ago anyways

THEY havent given us any production notes, any reading notes
just a bunch of irrelevant papers ive read through and thrown away

OUT of all those good schools i just had to choose that one

 

[RT]

Hi

This Q was on last yrs trial for our school:

'you have been asked to write an article on King Lear for a local drama club

select a scene that reflects a particular interpretation of the play and argue for or against its merrit as a valid representation of the major issues or dramatic structure of the play'

Does anyone know what to write for that Q?

thanx

RT

 

[Lobster]

On the Peter Brooks version, what category would it fall under - nihlism perhaps???

 

[Milly]

Originally posted by Lobster
On the Peter Brooks version, what category would it fall under - nihlism perhaps???

I heard it was supposed to be an Aristotleian tragedy, because they cut out the bit where Cordelia goes "oops, what should I say" so it makes her seem proud, and that's her fatal flaw.

 

[Arch-man]

My teacher said it was absurdist.

 

[gonzalina]

'you have been asked to write an article on King Lear for a local drama club

select a scene that reflects a particular interpretation of the play and argue for or against its merrit as a valid representation of the major issues or dramatic structure of the play'

First off, was that the EXACT wording of the question????

Well, personally, i would look at the first sene (but that necause i think we spent alot of time on it in class, but it also has alot of scope in terms of the theme of power.)

Don't forget who you are writing for, and the text type...therefore, must use correct conventions.

1) State what you view as the major issues and themes.
2) Which scene? Which interpretation (this is the bit that gets me, am i talking about one singular production? or how it could be done in general...that's why i want to know if that was the exact wording of the question...it doesnt make 100% sense to me) And how and why is it relevant to the theme? Perhaps show the marker that you have studied the whole text by saying why this is the best scene to use for your agrument.
3) argue your pros and cons
4) Conclude.

But as i said, i dont really get exactly what the question is asking of me..."a scene that reflects a particular interpretation of the play " I don't get that at the moment, although maybe it will make sense to me tommorrow, who knows?

Just don't forget when you answer your question, to say HOW it is done, ie - techniques!

hope that helped...and sorry if i made absolutely no sense whatsoever.

 

[Lobster]

While Peter Brooks' version may well include elements of Aristotlean or Absurdism, what would be the best interpretation of Brooks' version? Sure enough it could be Absurdism or Aristotlean but is there one which would single it out above the others?

 

[BlackJack]

On his interview i think Brooke said he did not think of a particular interpretation when producing King Lear. He thought it was the way King Lear was intended to be. So I wouldn't think there is one interpretation that suits Brookes production..

Some teachers (outside my school) said questions could be approached from the perspective of productions, and then stating what characteristics of interpretations exist in the production.

 

[Jan Kott]

it (Brooks production) is absurdism u gits.

he based his ideas loosley on the essay "king lear or engame" by

Jan Kott (the real jan kott), which required that Lear be judged

as a play devoid of any kind of morality or theodicy. look at what

Brook did after Gloucester's blinding, and for Gloucester's suicide,

as to why it is more absurd than Aristoltlian

 

[Jan Kott]

p.s. absurdism isn't a word

 

[gonzalina]

Originally posted by Jan Kott
p.s. absurdism isn't a word

If absurdism isn't a word, why am is studying it drama for my HSC?

 

[Jan Kott]

sorry my mistake, confused myself. tis a word. but i wouldn't

refer to Brook's lear as an example of absudism - rather an

absurdist drama. personal preference. but you the all know

gonzalina are correct, "absurdism" is a word and i

retract my last post.

 

[bex]

i thought it was ABSURDIST not ABSURDISM.. although you can have EXISTENTIALISM and EXISTENTIALIST... oh well

someone told me that Brookes links to existentialism quite well... but then Absurdist theatre does link fairly well to existenialism