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The Research on Death in King Lear
WANG Wen-zhe
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DOI:10.17265/2159-5836/2021.10.002
Department of Foreign Language, Henan Police College, Zhengzhou 450000, China
As one masterpiece by Shakespeare, King Lear has been aroused a hot argument about its miserable ending since it come out to press. This paper will take this controversial ending as the starting point, focus on the seemingly unfair ending of Lear and Cordelia’s tragic death and making a thorough textual study on its death theme. By a systematic and comprehensive analysis of the ending, I attempt to reveal the deep-seated significance behind the characters’ forlorn death. The death of Lear and Cordelia are not the absence of “poetic justice”, but an elaborate arrangement by Shakespeare. With the death of a series of characters, the playwright expresses his own understanding on human existence. Shakespeare clearly makes his choice and assents the kindness of human nature.
Shakespeare, King Lear, death, humanism, existence, redemption
Journal of Literature and Art Studies, October 2021, Vol. 11, No. 10, 736-741
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