Shakespeares Use of Subplots in King Lear - Essay Example

Shakespeare’s use of subplots Shakespeare’s use of subplots in his acclaimed play King Lear is to build a secondary basis that supports the main plot of King Lear and add a sense of resonance, contrast and complication to the general plot development by having characters such as Gloucester, Edmund and Edgar. King Lear main plot revolves around Lear’s bad decision making that sees him disowning his own daughter Cordelia who is faithful to him and awarding his two treacherous daughters Goneril and Regan with a portion of his immense wealth. The subplot kicks in when Earl Gloucester and his two controversial sons get introduced into the story of the play, the illegitimate Edmund and Edgar the loyal one. A clear relationship is seen between the main plot and the subplot by two characters who assume the leadership and fatherly role, King Lear and Earl of Gloucester, they are both deceived by their children (Bloom & Harris 56). Characters that constitute to the subplot in Earl of Gloucester, Edmund, and Edgar touch on the reflection on the major acts such as betrayal and madness hence highlight major themes. In William Shakespeare’s King Lear subplot development elaborated by Earl Gloucester, Edmund and Edgar characters has been influential in giving a strong sense of resonance, contradiction and complication to the major themes of father-child relationship, reconciliation and good versus evil hence strengthening the fact that subplot as a literature tool is an important asset in plays or stories plot development and helps to boldly portray the important message intended. Resonance as a subplot aspect in ‘King Lear’ resonates or binds the subplot and main plot and helps in bringing out the major theme the play was intended to portray. Father-child relationship is seen to be twisted in both positive and negative way. King Lear from the main plot and Earl Gloucester form the subplot are both faced with the challenges of father-child relationships. King Lear fosters a faulty father-child relationship platform with her daughters that make him blind to the betrayal that her two daughters cast on him, Goneril and Regan and to the love that her loyal daughter Cordelia “Unhappy that I am, I cannot heave My heart into my mouth” showing her immense love for her father (Bloom & Harris 86). Earl Gloucester faces similar challenge and fails to distinguish between Edmund and Edgar, which son is loyal and which son is not. Good versus evil as a theme in the King Lear shows the resonance between the main and the subplot. Earl Gloucester sons represent two sides, good and evil; Edmund represents the evil while Edgar represents the good, this is manifested when Edmund turns his father against his brother Edgar under the insinuation that the latter wanted the father dead. The subplot feeds into the main plot of the aging king Lear’s daughters who are also divided between good and evil lines. Two daughters are treacherous and evil while one is the good one that truly loves the father as opposed to the former two. The purpose of resonance in this subplot context is to validate and intensify the themes intended. Contradiction is a subplot function that enhances the general plot development of a storyline because it brings about variance of a state of equilibrium and disequilibrium and ensures a positive ending as opposed to a negative ending. King Lear story ends in a tragedy because he dies out of grief after learning of her loyal daughter’s painful death. This result in a negative ending that would rather leave the reader in a bad mood but the subplot changes the whole scenario by bringing a positive ending when Edgar kills his evil oriented brother Edmund in the climactic scene and gives a sense of triumph of good over evil that the readers would rather associate with (Bloom & Harris 202). Contradiction is also brought about by the fact in the main plot development the characters betraying the father being females, involving Reagan and Goneril. The loyal child to King Lear is a female as well, Cordelia, to change the tone of the play Shakespeare introduces a subplot that employs a different approach. Gloucester being the father has two sons with the same setting as King Lear’s but only that this time the off springs are of male origin, Edmund and Edgar, Edgar being the loyal and loving one while Edmund being the evil and jealousy one. The vital function of contradiction enhanced by subplot usage is to give the play or story by giving a solid dramatic thrust. Plot complication as associated with subplot usage eliminates the cliché involved with obvious story telling because it brings about unexpected turns of events that captivate minds of the readers or audience watching the play as opposed to a single plot that rather becomes predictable and boring. Complication in plot development is displayed when there is interconnection between the characters from the main plot and the subplot development in the play. Reagan and Goneril treacherous actions lead to them to close relation with Edmund which ultimately has negative consequences at the end by both the two sisters dying (Bloom & Harris 198). Gloucester comes to the rescue of Lear after learning of the treacherous attempts of Lear’s daughters a plot development that is rather surprising because it is not easily anticipated that the plot would result to the interaction of two different entities from different plot development. Good versus evil theme is brought about in in this entanglement because the extent in which every character can go either for good interest or bad selfish interest can go. The complication brings about plot development that interconnects the characters in a series of happenings. In William Shakespeare’s King Lear subplot development elaborated by the characters Earl Gloucester, Edmund and Edgar has been influential in giving a strong sense of resonance, contradiction and complication to the major themes of father-child relationship, reconciliation and good versus evil hence strengthening the fact that subplot as a literature tool is an important asset in plays or stories plot development and helps to boldly portray the important message intended. From the analysis of the importance of subplot usage in a plays or stories development because of it vital functions of resonance, contradiction and complication of the main plot hence adding a different twist that the readers can easily associate with. As an established writer like Shakespeare or an aspiring writer it is correct to say that usage of subplots especially in fiction works makes all the difference in showing prowess as a writer and delivery to the targeted audience. Works Cited Neil Heims, Harold Bloom. King Lear. New York: Blooms Literary Criticism, 2008. Read More