Shakespeare

Explain how and why Shakespeare merges the main plot and the subplot in the opening acts

The main plot and the subplot are merged in several ways, some more subtle and some more obvious to the readers.

The main merge we see is the misjudgements of 2 characters. The first character is in the main plot, which is King Lear; he is the Tragic Hero in the play. In the main plot, King Lear misjudges the 2 daughters, Goneril and Regan to be good and loving to him and disowns Cordelia as she didn’t declare all of her love for him however; she was in fact the wise daughter who speaks only the truth. The catastrophe is therefore pretty much inevitable.

This is strongly linked into the subplot; Gloucester casts judgement on his loyal son, Edgar and is forced to disown him because of Edmund’s strong manipulative skills. The blinding of Gloucester is the physical equivalent of the blindness of King Lear. Both as a result of their terrible experiences achieve a great wisdom at the end of the play which is another strong merge. The blinding can be referenced to Oedipus Rex where he sees wisdom until he is physically blinded.

Lear suffers mentally throughout the play whereas Gloucester suffers physically. Although they suffer in different ways, it can still be linked. Essentially, the subplot re-in forces the main plot throughout the play.

There is a contrast however between Lear’s and Gloucester’s actions. Their error of understanding contrasts as Lear imposes his will without thinking about it whereas Gloucester accepts the will of the others without consideration.

The main definitive difference between Lear’s role and Gloucester’s is that Lear is active but Gloucester is very passive.

Both characters reject the true, loving and loyal character and instead if assisted by the false, wrongdoing siblings do inflict pain on themselves.

I feel Shakespeare merged these two plots together because he wanted the readers not only to see the story from a more obvious...