Re: The Plague of Thebes in King Lear -- Mimetic Theory and Literary Study

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Date Posted: 10:51:26 02/03/08 Sun
Author: Hwaet!
Subject: Re: The Plague of Thebes in King Lear
In reply to: Hwaet! 's message, "The Plague of Thebes in King Lear" on 22:56:20 01/31/08 Thu

The familial bond creates differences foundational to culture because it is also a boundary. The reason a mother and son can have a healthy relationship is because their familial bond prohibits them from behaving toward each other as they would toward other men and women. When Oedipus and Jocasta commit incest, they transgress the boundary that provided differences. Without these differences, cultural crisis (plague) ensues.

Lear commits "crimes that 'eliminate differences,'" the second stereotype of persecution, in that he trivializes his familial bond to Cordelia, but he does so inconsistently. He gets into trouble because he pays lip service to the father-daughter bond, when in fact he regards this bond as negligible.

Lear's scheme in 1.1 to divide his kingdom according to his daughters' love for him suggests that on the surface he thinks much of the father-daughter bond. Frequently after 1.1 he denounces Goneril's and Regan's ungrateful spirit toward their father, again showing at least Lear's partial respect for this bond. Lear's superficial respect for the bond, however, leads him to hatch his plan for dividing the kingdom (which, as it turns out, is also superficial, because evidence suggests that he has decided before 1.1 which portions he will give to whom), while his underlying disregard for the familial bond lead him to his two greatest mistakes. His first great mistake is rejecting Cordelia, the only daughter who actually respects the familial bond. His second is entrusting himself to Goneril and Regan, who reject the familial bond even more than Lear does.

One wonders if Lear would have gotten into less trouble if he had consistently rejected the familial bond. In this case he would not have divided his kingdom under the guise of respecting the bond. Nor would he have entrusted himself to his daughters while expecting them to care for their father according to a bond they reject. I don't know how far Girard would agree with this, since his point is that rejecting differences causes cultural crisis. Regardless, the best way for Lear to have avoided trouble would be for him and his daughters to have altogether embraced the familial bond.

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