I don't necessarily agree with Kahn's entire argument but I do agree with certain parts of it. I definitely agree with point #2 about how Lear finally manages to let the woman's feelings in after a lifetime of defense against it. The entire play is about how King Lear is finding himself and how things can change in an instant. I think that he is realizing that in order for him to succeed in relating to his daughters, he must try to think like them. Since there is no "mother" figure, Lear must assume that role also so he can try to understand how his daughters can do such terrible things to him in his old age.
I like the fact that Shakespeare makes King Lear realize how vulnerable men and women (fathers and mothers) are when it comes to their children. King Lear doesn't think that his daughters will do anything to hurt him and that they will take care of him. He expects it. That is not what happens though. He is very upset and hurt when he finds out that two of his daughters only want what is best for them. He realizes that he doesn't understand how they would not take care of their own father.
I definitely understand King Lear's hesitation to embrace the "feminine side" of his life. Shakespeare doesn't portray women very kindly in this play. Either women are wives (and in this play very sneaky and cunning) or they are courtesans which are to be enjoyed by men and then left.
Shakespeare portrays King Lear as an aging man who is crazy. Kent consistently refers to him as his wits being gone. I think that King Lear has always been a little off in his wits but that with his advanced age, it has gotten much more noticable. I think that this is why it is such a big surprise to me that his two daughters won't care for him. They can clearly see that his thinking is not rational but they won't even try to apease his sense of self. After he gives up his land to the daughters, he seems to have lost all value to them. It seems that they were only being nice to him to get what they wanted. I don't think that King Lear really understands what is going on in his life until he sees his daughters turn against him.
Monday, June 29, 2009
Sunday, June 14, 2009
the Moviegoer blog....S. Reining
I don’t think that Binx has resolved his search successfully. I think that he doesn’t really know what he is searching for. I think that he is trying to find something different in his world and he is not sure how to go about changing his normal day-to-day life. I think that he is feeling that he should be doing something meaningful with his life but he is unsure what he should be doing. I think that he is unsatisfied with his life choices and he wants to try to not be like everyone else. He doesn’t want to be “so sunk in everydayness that he might just as well be dead”. (p13)
I think that Binx is very intimidated by the thought of being responsible for someone else. He seems to go along with his aunt whenever she wants him to talk to or check on his step-cousin Kate to make sure that she is alright. It’s almost like Binx is still a child when he visits his aunt. He mainly sits and observes things that are going on in the house. He doesn’t really fit in with the other family members. He doesn’t particularly care for Mardi Gras and the activities that go along with the Carnival celebrations like his uncles.
Binx’s mother and aunt both tell him that he is just like his father. He says he doesn’t remember much about his father but he has the impression that his father didn’t fit in with the family either. When he is looking at a picture of his uncles and his father (p25) he describes “my father is not one of them”. He doesn’t quite know what sets his father apart from his brothers but he feels connected to his father because they are both different.
Walker Percy seems to make turning 30 a big turning point for Binx. By the time most people turn 30, they have a family, a career, and some inkling of where their life is headed. Most people seem content with following that path. Binx is not one of those people. He is still flirting with his secretaries and his step-cousin, Kate, and he has no desire to settle down and get married. He seems to enjoy managing the small branch of his uncle’s brokerage firm but he doesn’t seem to have any aspirations beyond that. He says that “it is not a bad life at all.” (p9) But he still is on this “search”.
By the end of the book, Binx and Kate have gotten married. He seems content to look after her and direct her life. She is looking for someone to tell her exactly what to do and when to do it. “What I want is to believe in someone completely and then do what he wants me to do.” Kate wants someone else to lead her. Binx has been a follower also in his life and he seems to be ok with leading Kate in their future. He has become comfortable with his life and it seems that his aunt has accepted that he is just “a very ordinary fellow”. (p237)
I think that Binx is very intimidated by the thought of being responsible for someone else. He seems to go along with his aunt whenever she wants him to talk to or check on his step-cousin Kate to make sure that she is alright. It’s almost like Binx is still a child when he visits his aunt. He mainly sits and observes things that are going on in the house. He doesn’t really fit in with the other family members. He doesn’t particularly care for Mardi Gras and the activities that go along with the Carnival celebrations like his uncles.
Binx’s mother and aunt both tell him that he is just like his father. He says he doesn’t remember much about his father but he has the impression that his father didn’t fit in with the family either. When he is looking at a picture of his uncles and his father (p25) he describes “my father is not one of them”. He doesn’t quite know what sets his father apart from his brothers but he feels connected to his father because they are both different.
Walker Percy seems to make turning 30 a big turning point for Binx. By the time most people turn 30, they have a family, a career, and some inkling of where their life is headed. Most people seem content with following that path. Binx is not one of those people. He is still flirting with his secretaries and his step-cousin, Kate, and he has no desire to settle down and get married. He seems to enjoy managing the small branch of his uncle’s brokerage firm but he doesn’t seem to have any aspirations beyond that. He says that “it is not a bad life at all.” (p9) But he still is on this “search”.
By the end of the book, Binx and Kate have gotten married. He seems content to look after her and direct her life. She is looking for someone to tell her exactly what to do and when to do it. “What I want is to believe in someone completely and then do what he wants me to do.” Kate wants someone else to lead her. Binx has been a follower also in his life and he seems to be ok with leading Kate in their future. He has become comfortable with his life and it seems that his aunt has accepted that he is just “a very ordinary fellow”. (p237)
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