Dual Structure And Its Depth Cultural Context Of The King Lear

The traditional study of King Lear is mainly on its Christian images, its structural pattern which conveys the thought of misery and redemption, or the simple connection between its Christian cultural concept and western cultural concept. All above mentioned study is through the analysis of the text, without taking the influence of the renaissance cultural context and its values on King Lear into consideration, without dialectically relating the development of history, especially the development of Christian cultural concept to the study.The first Chapter deals with the dual structure of King Lear. On the surface, it seems to be a story of ungratefulness, but in the deeper structure, it shows that the natural relation between individuals is devastated.The second Chapter deals with the problems and dilemmas that human beings had to face in the time of King Lear. The problems and dilemmas were three as follow: first, the expansion of the evil in human nature would lead to terrible consequences; secondly, the harmony between individuals would never be reached with the obstruction of evil lust of human beings; thirdly, during the fight, selfishness would defeat one's endeavors to become a real man. He would be destroyed by others or by himself, so one could not solve the problems he had to face at all. The dilemma in the renaissance was that the old value system had been destroyed while the new one had not been set up, that was the problem of"to be or not to be".The third Chapter analyzes the social context and the value orientation of the time of King Lear. First, Shakespeare's drama deals with man through his feeling and experience of life instead of through a certain theory. He presents the theme of good and evil in human nature through a series of tragic conflicts. Secondly, Shakespeare makes comments on man according to the value of Christianity, but the progressing spirit and exploring spirit displayed through the conflict between love and hate in King Lear is not in correspondent with the advocate of ignorance and the Christianity's maintaining of convention and morality of that time.