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King Lear and Vivian Bearing: Discovering Life


Lear feels that allowing himself to cry will show weakness in his character, instead he curses his daughters and leaves Gloucester's castle in an effort to regain control. Lear refers to tears as "woman's weapons"; to him tears are a sign of weakness that will reduce him to a status lower than that of which his daughters have reduced to him (Lear 2.4.65). Control is very important to Lear; his sense of control became threatened when he divided his kingdom among his daughters Goneril and Regan. Goneril and Regan began to take any remaining bits of control that he had by decreasing the number of knights he had in his company and than shutting him out in the storm. Vivian's pain is a product of her disease, its treatment, and the realization of how empty her life is of both friends and family. Much like Lear, Vivian tries to hide her pain at the beginning of the play. Vivian conceals her pain by refusing any source of human kindness that she is offered. She does this is because she believes that showing her pain will reveal her weakness. "Well, she hasn't exactly been a cupcake here, either," Susie says in response to Jason's comment about why Vivian was hated by many of her students (Edson 75). This statement illustrates how well Vivian has succeeded in keeping herself distanced from others. Lear seeks praise and love from others, while Vivian on the other hand also seeks praise, but it is for her superiority over others. Vivian loves to hear of how great her work is and about her scholastic achievements, Lear, in contrast, loves to hear about what a great person he is as both a father and as a king. Vivian, much like Lear, tries to regain her control during the play. She continuously recites John Donne's metaphysical poetry as a way of maintaining control over her situation. .
             Both Vivian and Lear experience isolation, although their isolation may be different it still helps them to change psychologically.


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