Jonathan Sircy

King Lear: Symbols

Here is a brief overview of the five main symbols in King Lear. HEAVEN This symbol of transcendence has two meanings in play: grace and wrath. Positively, the heavens are a source of temper, patience, benediction, and sweetness. Cordelia most embodies these heavenly virtues. We are told “holy water” drops “from her heavenly eyes.” AsContinue reading “King Lear: Symbols”

King Lear: Plot and Context

PLOT Lear banishes the daughter who loves him (Cordelia) and gives his kingdom to his two unloving daughters. The daughters ignore the provisos of his inheritance and banish him. Meanwhile, Gloucester, an adviser of Lear’s, believes his “unlawful” son Edmund’s slander about Edgar, his legitimate son; Edgar gets banished before Gloucester discovers Edmund’s the villain.Continue reading “King Lear: Plot and Context”

Grace and Wrath in Shakespearean Tragedy

In my last post, I outlined two patterns in history: grace to wrath and wrath to grace. In literature, we call the former tragedy and the latter comedy. These terms appear in the Shakespearean tragedies I’ve been writing about for the last few months. In Julius Caesar we have these two key quotes that showContinue reading “Grace and Wrath in Shakespearean Tragedy”

Comedy and Tragedy

Dr. Gary North has written a book called The Biblical Structure of History. This work will inform the Western Civ literature curriculum I’m building. He writes: Biblical history is structured in terms of this pattern: the transition from grace to wrath, followed by the transition from wrath to grace. My book offers this thesis: theContinue reading “Comedy and Tragedy”

Macbeth: Actions Without Words

A thought experiment: let’s say that the audience of Shakespeare’s Macbeth could hear none of the play’s words. All they could do to infer the plot is see what happened on stage. What kind of play would they see? The play opens with a corrupt world presided over by the witches. Any hint that natureContinue reading “Macbeth: Actions Without Words”

Macbeth: Gospelling the Play

Reading Paul Cantor’s article “‘A Soldier and Afeard’: Macbeth and the Gospelling of Scotland” has provoked a series of questions about the play’s theme. Cantor argues that the play represents a clash between pagan and Christian values. Macbeth’s dilemma, in short, is that he is a pagan warrior who has been gospelled by Christianity justContinue reading “Macbeth: Gospelling the Play”

Macbeth: The Disorder of Creation

“Fair is foul, and foul is fair.” — we hear the witches say this in the first scene of Macbeth, and the moral confusion it describes dominates the play. Another word for “fair” is “good,” and another word for “fair” is “evil” or “ill,” so the witches are announcing their temptation strategy: get Macbeth toContinue reading “Macbeth: The Disorder of Creation”

Macbeth and Ambition

Lady Macbeth acknowledges that her husband has ambition. The question is: does he have the willingness to act on that desire? [Y]et do I fear thy nature;It is too full o’ the milk of human kindnessTo catch the nearest way: thou wouldst be great;Art not without ambition, but withoutThe illness should attend it… Macbeth wondersContinue reading “Macbeth and Ambition”

Macbeth: Act 5 Commentary

In the play’s final act, Macbeth receives the emotional and physical recompense for his crimes. Lady Macbeth signals her deep guilt over Duncan’s murder. Her suicide prompts Macbeth’s most famous soliloquy, a distillation of nihilistic despair. His fight against Macduff ends the play where it began: a rebel’s head paraded on a spear. Lady Macbeth’sContinue reading “Macbeth: Act 5 Commentary”

Macbeth: Act 4 Commentary

The consequences for Macbeth’s crimes are put in place here. The witches’ ambiguous prophecies make him confident that he won’t be punished. The assembled warriors in England show that he will. The witches identify Macbeth as “something wicked.” How evil are you when the witches discern your wickedness? Eternal punishment weighs on Macbeth’s mind. HeContinue reading “Macbeth: Act 4 Commentary”