William Shakespeare is one the leading playwrights. Although the literary world has witnessed the emergence of new playwrights, Shakespeare’s’ foundation has been essential in shaping drama. In most of his plays, Shakespeare focused on romantic and tragic plays. However, it is not easy for the audience to find a connection between the themes that William was addressing in the plays and reality. One of the significant elements to consider is that during Shakespeare’s reign art was as a form of entertainment. At that moment, the plays served little in helping the audience derive lessons from what the playwrights had written. When you look at most of Shakespeare's work, they address issues of love and how women are a significant component in the process of romance. Considerably, some of these issues appear to deviate from the sensitive matters such as economic exploitation that wealth owners were exercising against the workers. However, what makes Shakespeare be an ideal writer for this study is that through his plays he addressed some sensitive aspects of the society. Although people focused on the entertainment aspect of Shakespeare’s plays, through the tragedies and romantic plays, he captured some of the sensitive elements in the community. For this research, the paper will use one of Shakespeare's plays "King Lear" to demonstrate the level of realism that was espoused by Shakespeare in his plays. Although Shakespeare focused on tragedies and romantic plays that appeared not to reflect the realities of human life, close observation shows realism in his plays.
Theoretical Review
In "King Lear," Shakespeare used a lot of sarcasm. Sarcastic scenarios in a play intended to make the audience to laugh at themselves. Ya-dong reveals that tragedies are meant for the affluent (13). It is important to note that when the wealthy amass resources, they tempted to think that they are beyond some of the realities in the world. The philosophy of tragedies is anchored on the need to notice that in some instances one falls from his or her high position to a low one. Considerably, the rich are in a high social class, and because of their resources, they fail to recognize some of the realities in the society. However, with tragedies, people in high social classes will realize that they are dispensable. Commonly, people who are in the high societal cadre tend to despise others since they believe that they have enough resources to meet all their needs. As such, such people in leadership position appear to become arrogant and insensitive to those considered vulnerable.
The philosophy in tragic plays differs from that of comedies. Essentially, a comedy is meant to elicit happiness in the audience. Ya-dong argues that comedies target people who occupy low social class status (14). The argument behind this notion is that people from low-cost families experience a lot of problems in their daily life. With these challenges, they tend to lose hope. However, when they attend a theatre production where a play is being dramatized, then the laughter instills some hope in them. Laughter makes people forget about their problems, and it is in this case why it is recommended for people who appear not value life because of persistent issues.
The philosophies behind tragedies and comedies represent the realism literary movement. Considerably, in life, various aspects appear to obscure people from realities that are common with life. For instance, when a person is wealthy, he or she may become arrogant and disrespect the rights of others. The desire to increase or retain power/wealth makes people forget the need to support humanity. As such, when tragedies educate these people about the possibility of becoming like typical citizens, then, it supports the realism theory of literature. In this case, it makes the viewers realize that some of these possessions are temporary, unlike humanity that is permanent.
However, it should be noted that when playwrights produce plays that appear to disfavor a particular population, it may fail to command the desired audience. What most people tend to adopt is an approach where a single play has diverse philosophies, for instance, both tragic and comic events. With such an approach, Shakespeare was in a position to ensure that he addresses the issues of the vulnerable and those from the affluent families. When the audience is mixed, the message creates a huge impact to the target population. Evidently, a play that is tragi-comic will have people from low-cost and rich families. As such, when a particular message is meant to address behavior of a certain population, then, there is a neutral audience that acts as a judge; this is what Shakespeare achieves in his play "King Lear." The language that Shakespeare uses in the text serves both the needs of the low and high classes in the society. Considerably, a book that attacks a particular population directly may be considered far-fetched. Also, another aspect that made Shakespeare address realism through tragi-comic plays was as a way of warning the two populations. In this case, assuming that a person gets empowered financially, then, he or she should not think that that is the final step. On the other side, Shakespeare uses the tragi-comic approach as a way of warning the wealthy about the possibility of falling back to poverty.
Analysis of “King Lear”
William Shakespeare's prowess in comically handling tragic themes is tactically presented in his text "King Lear." However, in achieving this, Shakespeare uses a lot of literary approaches. What Shakespeare uses in this text is the use of a lot of literary devices that make some of these serious thematic concerns to be comical. Noticeably, Shakespeare handles some major concerns such as injustice in this play; "King Lear" has some level of brutality. In the play, the characters display cruelty in their bid to achieve their human intentions. Though in this text Shakespeare decides to deal with one of the sensitive themes in the society such as injustice, with the use of various literary approaches, Shakespeare still manages to make it friendly to the audience.
Shakespeare displays human beings as persons whose actions are motivated by ill intentions. For instance, the text indicates “As flies to wanton boys are we to the gods; / They kill us for their sport” (Shakespeare Act 4, Scene 1, Page 2). In this statement, Gloucester is laughing at those who think that human political and social activities are driven by the desire to make the universe a better place. The argument in this statement is that the same way children treat the death of flies this also applies to the relationship between gods and human beings. Essentially, this is a correct argument since it is a reflection of various cases that happen in the community. For example, there are cases where people are killed because of wealth or job positions. Alternatively, there are those individuals that have been accused of using others as bait for achieving certain positions in the society. Considerably, this is a true reflection of what happens in the community. However, as a playwright when Shakespeare uses direct language, it might affect the audience's reaction to the text. Similarly, in the above statement, Shakespeare uses a lot of symbolism as the euphemism that hides the truth in his words. In the sentence, Shakespeare compares the gods to wanton boys. However, in his comparison with gods, he indicates that gods kill us for their sport. As such, Shakespeare appears to allude that gods do not mean good for human beings. Archer, Turley, and Thomas argue that it is challenging for playwrights such as Shakespeare to attack spiritual matters directly (522). The society tends to believe that spiritual matters are sacred and that they should not be criticized. Evidently, the setting in this play has various events where people use spiritual positions to perpetuate injustice. However, this sensitive issue could not be handled casually by Shakespeare. When Shakespeare uses the example of wanton flies, it trivializes the entire debate. Here, the audience will stop concentrating on the issue of gods and focus on flies and the wanton boys; he has shifted from the more serious issue of spiritual injustices.
Shakespeare in this play uses sarcasm as a way of correcting human behavior in the society. In the text, it is written "women are sex machines below the waist, though they're chaste up above. Above the waist, they belong to God, but the lower part belongs to the devil” (Shakespeare Act 4, Scene 6, Page 6). Women are important members of the society. Severally, the society experiences various issues that relate to gender affairs. Women have been victims of abuse in the society, and it appears this is what Shakespeare is addressing in this sentence. In the community, women are considered to be less human. For instance, various societies do not grant women the rights of possessing wealth. However, in the same society, these women are perceived as vital partners in sexual processes such as procreation. When alluding to women as persons that are chaste above the waist, Shakespeare is using situational irony to mock the society. Carroll indicates that most societies take for granted particular issues (212). For instance, when the King wanted to divide his wealth the daughters were being overlooked (Brook 13). However, in some parts of the text women are being cherished for their contribution by siring more children for the society. In this case, Shakespeare is comparing two situations; one where women are despised and the other one they are praised. Here, the playwright uses situational irony to mock the community in the text as the status of women changes depending on the situation.
As a writer, Shakespeare cared about the content and his audience too. In the text, Shakespeare uses various literary devices to communicate to his audience. In the book, the writer uses symbolism to the theme of injustice. As a playwright, Shakespeare addresses certain societal matters that exist in the book King Lear. However, it is also tactical for Shakespeare to ensure that he deals with the emotions of his audience. In demonstrating the theme of injustice, Shakespeare uses symbolism. He compares gods to wanton boys with flies. Considerably, this is a tactical way of dealing with the matter. Spiritual matters require a lot of sensitivity since most persons in the society in the text is highly religious. As such, when Shakespeare is talking about the injustice that is perpetuated by the spiritual society in the text, he ought to be careful. Further, while addressing the issue of injustices done to women, Shakespeare uses sarcasm. He indicates that women are considered to be good in a particular case, but bad in another case.
Conclusion
In literature, playwrights are guided by certain philosophical backgrounds. William Shakespeare is one of those writers who focused on tragi-comic plays as a method of addressing some of the sensitive aspects of the society. Realism is a literary movement that exposed the actual happenings in the society blatantly. In the text "King Lear," Shakespeare addresses some of the atrocities that people in leadership perpetrate against those who are vulnerable. Considerably, these are common aspects of the society where the rich use their power to deny the poor opportunities. Another issue that demonstrates realism in the text is gender inequality. People tend to avoid this weighty because of some societal traditions. However, with the use of tragi-comic approaches, Shakespeare confronts the idea and presents to people who commit these acts. Shakespeare uses sarcasm and other stylistic devices to address the realities in the society that people are afraid to confront.
Works Cited
Archer, Jayne Elisabeth, Richard Marggraf Turley, and Howard Thomas. "The Autumn King: Remembering the Land in King Lear." Shakespeare Quarterly 63.4 (2012): 518-543.
Brook, Peter. The quality of mercy: reflections on Shakespeare. Nick Hern Books, 2013.
Carroll, Joseph. "An evolutionary approach to Shakespeare’s King Lear." Family (2013): 206-238.
Shakespeare, William. The Tragedy of King Lear. Cambridge University Press, 2005.
Ya-dong, J. I. A. O. "A Tragicomedy of Deconstruction." Journal of Guangxi University For Nationlities (Philosophy and Social Science Edition) 1 (2005).
