A Beautiful Ugly Tragedy

摘 要：矛盾在戲劇里是一門充滿智慧的哲學(xué)，莎士比亞的《李爾王》中運(yùn)用了大量矛盾的情節(jié)、語言、主題，目的就在于揭示獸性和人性的沖突。他創(chuàng)造了一個(gè)深入討論人性的偉大的戲劇家。在莎士比亞時(shí)代戲劇矛盾反映了現(xiàn)實(shí)不合理的地方。悲劇角色在戲劇中越變?cè)皆?不過，他們的精神越來越靠近真、善、美。我們可以得出結(jié)論:莎士比亞他致力于追求美好的人性，呼吁真、善、美，贊美和肯定人類靈魂。

關(guān)鍵詞：矛盾 莎士比亞 角色 追求

Introduction

Paradox， a kind of rhetoric device， is defined as a statement that seems controversial but contains truth in fact. As a language technique， paradox in an innuendo way attempts to achieve subaudition， so the truth hidden inside has to be detected by active thinking and imagination. Its typical feature is to put inconsistent and conflicting even contrary words， phrases or meanings together， superposing in a common truth. Paradox not only appears in poetry， but also occurs in other literature forms， such as drama， novel and prose. It uses languages in abnormal ways or twists violently the original meaning of language to achieve an unexpected effect. Sometimes， in order to get paradox， outlying even controversial things are usually put together to impact and react with each other， or some unseemly figures of speech are created. The disharmony and disagreement produced in these ways will further give birth to prolific and multiple meanings.

William Shakespeare is a most famous dramatist and poet in British renaissance"period， and a worldly-acknowledged language master. King Lear is Shakespeare’s transcendent masterpiece in all his tragedies， because this drama not only refracts the nobility and lowliness of human nature， but also displays the tremendous language artistic effect. Since the 20th century， King Lear has been considered as the greatest creation among all Shakespeare’s dramas because of its unchallengeable sublimity and incomparable tragic beauty.

In King Lear， Shakespeare employed many paradoxes to achieve tragic effect. His brilliance in playwriting lies on the method that he applies paradox not only to the plot design and characterization， but also to the language and theme so that he reveals the complexity of human life and the contradiction of human nature. Shakespeare uses special artistic methods to produce many paradoxical conflicts between different characters， reflects the rivalry and collision between human nature and personal desire， upholds humanitarian spirit and fustigates egoism. Readers will enjoy the infinite aesthetic feeling because of the uncertainty of the text language. This paper attempts to discuss how the playwright makes use of paradox to depict the tragic feature in King Lear from four perspectives: plot design， characterization， language and theme.

Paradox in plot design

Shakespeare’s time is a time full of contradiction， and his drama world is a world full of paradox. It is Shakespearean style to use paradox in designing the drama plot. The merchant of Venice can be taken as an anti-semitic drama as well as a drama of commiserating with Jewish people. Macbeth is both a hero and a careerist who killed the king， and we find brilliance of human nature from this inhumanity person. From King Lear， we can still find this kind of paradox.

At the beginning of this drama， King Lear divided his kingdom into three portions， and attempted give them to his three daughters as a present by examination. Finally， because of his perversity and peacockery， he excoriated and drove his youngest daughter Cordelia who was honest and warmhearted but got nothing from his father. King Lear delivered his land to his two elder daughters but was neglected and abandoned by them. This is a paradox: the kind youngest daughter got nothing but curse from her father， but the two elder snaky daughters got all the possession from Lear. Another plot is the conflict between Gloucester and his two sons. Gloucester was cheated by his bastard son Edmund， and wanted to catch and punish his elder son Edgar. The two old men， Lear and Gloucester， called white black and got themselves into trouble; finally， they were both driven into the open field and encountered the fury storm. After enduring the unbelievable and oppressive torture in body and spirit， and after company with madman， beggar， and natural storm， they began to exam themselves and regret the past. At last， only after Gloucester was blind did he see clearly of the truth， and only after Lear was mad， did he understand his life root and branch.

It is clear that there is a big paradox here: mad ration and rational mad. At the starting part of this drama， there appears a reversed and disordered world:

“Love cools， friendship falls off， brothers divide. In cities， minutes; in countries， discord; in palace， treason; and the bond cracked ’twist son and father…” “we have seen the best time of our time. Machinations， hollowness， treachery， and all ruinous disorders follow us disquietly to our graves.…” (Scene 2， Act 1)

This is a strange world: a unified country was divided， the honest daughter was abandoned and the righteous son was forced to go into exile. The normal moral order was overturned: if one wants to stand in the society， he should first learn to be hypocritical; if one keeps naive and honest， he will be reviled and driven.

This drama displayed the feature of human world: reaction of good and evil. The representatives of evil are cattish Edmund， heartless Goneril and Regan and atrocious Cornwall. At the end of the drama， these evil persons all died because of their greedy and malevolence. The other group of characters， such as Cordelia， Fool， Edgar and Kent， stand for goodness and human love.

Paradox in characterization

This drama also is full paradox in characterization， such as Lear， Glaucester， Fool and Edgar.

King Lear is both the sufferer and the creator of the tragedy. When he had the crown， he was an absolutist and paid no attention to citizens’ hardship. King Lear， after experiencing the natural and spiritual storm， became a madman and beggar and learned to endure， love and sympathize. In this dramatic process， a paradox was displayed: Lear looks like a madman when he has clear mind， and he understands the truth and get the life wisdom when he became mad. He transformed into a beggar from a powerful king who could control other people’s fate， and he only could learn to be a common person and distinguish what was the true value of human life. He became an old man who pitied all the suffering human beings from a foolish， arrogant and headstrong Pharaoh. His words in mad are full of sympathy:

“Poor naked wretches， wherever you are， that bide the pelting of this pitiless storm， how shall your houseless heads and unfed sides， your looped and windowed raggedness， defend you from seasons such as these? O， I have ta’en too little care of this! Take physic， pomp; expose thyself to feel， that thou mayst shake the superflux to them and show the heaven more just.” (Scene 4， Act 3)

After experiencing the spiritual purgatory， Lear got the rebirth， and he again became a rich man—spiritually. Lear’s death is not a tragedy， but a victory.

Glaucester is similar to King Lear: when he could see， he did not distinguish the rights and wrongs， nor tell evils from goods; when he was blind， he became clear of the world. In normal sight， he was captivated by his bastard son Edmund and determined to persecute his elder son Edgar. At that time， he could not see anything true even though he had eyes. Adversity fell on his head， and he was gouged two eyes. However， only after this incident， he could see clearly the truth of the world. Finally， he died in the great joy of meeting his escaping son Edgar. Glaucester told a truth of life after he suffered from the horrible misfortune:

“I have no way， and therefore want no eyes; I stumbled when I saw. Full oft’ tis seen our means secure us， and our mere defects prove our commodities. O dear son Edgar， the food of thy abused father’s wrath! Might I but live to see thee in my touch， I’d say I had eyes again!”(Scene 1， Act 4)

Sometimes people will make some mistakes when they have the ability， because they will not think much about carefully. Only when they have some defects and suffer from the ill things， can they understand that they could have done many things better.

Fool is a paradoxical model in this drama， because he is the embodiment of absurd fool and extraordinary philosophy. On the one hand， he was low in position. Fool from the lower class came to the palace to please the royal family. In European history， the royal family will keep several mimics to make fun. These people usually have bad situation and even they are discriminated and insulted. Fool in the drama had very low position that he even had no name. He pretended to be mad， found the absurdity of the life， lived in the absurdity and became the symbol of absurdity. On the other hand， Fool had high intelligence. He was funny， but always told truth. Sometimes， he made joke of the king， encouraged King Lear and followed him. Fool was mad on surface but wise in mind. His screwy words shined sapient spark.

“Winter’s not gone yet if the wild geese fly that away. Fathers that wear rages do make their children blind， but fathers that bear bags shall see their children blind. Fortune， that arrant whore， ne’er turns the key to the poor. ”(Scene 4， Act 2)

“Why， to put’s head in; not to give it away to his daughters， and leave his horns without a case.”(Scene 5， Act 1)

“For you know， nuncle， the hedge-sparrow fed the cuckoo so long that it had it head bit off by it young. So out went the candle， and we were left darking.”(Scene 4， Act 1)

King Lear and Fool are totally different in position and intelligence. “Marry， here’s grace and a codpiece; that is a wise man and a fool.” One is a fool with foolish wisdom， and another one is a king who is mad of losing power. However， with the development of the plot， the two roles changed positions: King Lear looked like a fool and Fool like a wise man. The paradox of position and wisdom is full of lampoon.

Edgar， a pitiful character， had a whole variety of disguises after slander of his half-brother and manhunt of his father. First he acted as poor Tom. In the stormy heath， the king had nowhere to go and reduced to be a beggar. It’s poor Tom who spoke out the bitterness and the poor， and woke up the concern about the lower class. Tom’s philosophical words eased Lear from complete desperation and insaneness. Lear was baptized in the natural violence and taught a good lesson by Tom. Later， after he led his blind father to the cliff， and cheated him to jump off there， he pretended to be a passerby at the bottom of the cliff and persuaded him not to die. When his father Gloucester was threatened by Oswald， Edgar shifted to a countryman speaking yokel dialect， and fought Oswald to death. When Edgar sent Albany the letter explaining the circumstances of his challenge， he dressed himself with clothes of a poor but respectful man. At last， when he challenged Edmund， he was armed with helmet and sword. Then， after he hurt Edmund fatally， he reclaimed his original name which has been buried under a variety of disguises. Here we can see a paradox. A righteous man can not use real name but fake to be different identities. He even can not meet his own father with real name. It is really a tragedy and pity of that period.

Paradox in language

Paradox in language level reveals the truth under the surface of absurdity by displaying the logic contradiction by words. Emergence of truth is not by itself， but is detected by the readers though careful thinking and digging the surface.

“Fairest Cordelia， that art most rich， being poor; most choice， forsaken; and most loved， despised; thee and thy virtues here I seize upon. Be it lawful I take up what’s cast away. Gods， gods! ‘tis strange that from their cold’st neglect my love should kindle to inflamed respect. The dowerless daughter， king， thrown to my chance， is queen of us， of ours， and our fair France.” (Scene 1， Act 1)

Rich and poor， choice and forsaken， despised and loved， these logic and commonsensible contradictions will attract and call the readers to think deeply of the text during reading. The context will help readers read between the lines， and also stimulate their imagination， sympathy and even indignation. When readers saw King of France think high of Cordelia’s beauty and good， they might in another observe the decrepitude of the old Lear. King Lear measures love by capricious language and smooth tongue. It looks very ridiculous. However， aren’t these things popular in our daily life? To the same Cordelia， King Lear abandoned her， but King of France took it as a treasure. This is totally opposite judging value.

“The noble and true-hearted Kent banished; his offence， honesty.”(Scene 2， Act 1)

How can honesty be an offence? The absurd words are worth readers reading carefully. Shakespeare mocked the society by strong irony style. In the world， “Plate sin with gold， and the strong lance of justice huntless breaks”(Scene 6， Act 4) It is clearly that this world is disordered in a mess.

“Didst thou give all to thy daughters? And art thou come to this?…what， has his daughters brought him to this pass? Couldst thou save nothing? Wouldst thou give ‘em all? ” (Scene 3， Act 3)

King Lear gave all his things to his two daughters and had nothing left. When he was abandoned by his two elder daughters， he could go no place but to the wild field with the beggar. That is why the richest and most powerful king comes into being an old poor beggar. When people are in deep sad， their words are very curt but full of affection.

Paradox in theme

From the above analysis， it is clearly that King Lear is full of paradox. The objective of paradox is not only to add the artistic effect， but also to reveal the theme: rivalry and conflict between human nature and bestiality.

In the renaissance period， with the rapid development of society and economy， discovery of geography and astronomy， and progress of knowledge and culture， humanistic ideas based on human beings began to sprout， shaking the control of church and breaking though the feudal bondage. This idea thought people can become God and can also corrupt to animal. Human beings are between angel and devil and they have free will to become god or animal.

Shakespeare， an outstanding playwright in the social transformation period， pays great attention to human beings and human nature. In all his life， he devoted himself to this everlasting topic. He hated disloyalty， darkness and chaos of the society， fierce and cruelty of human relationship， and subversion of the traditional value and fair faith.

Shakespeare pays a tribute to glorious human nature. Cordelia spoke frankly， and vindicated her dignity: “I love your majesty according to my bond， no more nor less.”(Scene 1， Act 1) when her father was abandoned by her two elder sisters and came down in the wild， she led a troop to save his father. Her bravery， true love and beautiful soul comforted his father’s broken heart. Shakespeare endowed Cordelia with human glory， and set a perfect example of the true， the good and the beautiful. However， it is Cordelia who was first driven out of her society， and finally died in the jail. This paradox pieced into human beings’ marrow like a knife. Readers and audiences have to reconsider their life after seeing the drama.

In another way， Shakespeare criticized human bestiality by some insidious characters such as Edmund， Goneril， Regan and Cornwall and some animal images. In this drama， the playwright used many images of animals and insects. There are 64 animals in 137 places mentioned in King Lear. These animal images represent human bestiality in a direct and vivid way.

Shakespeare is a great playwright. Though doleful and indignant he is， he never loses heart and makes readers despairing. Some readers may ask “what is the difference between human and animal?” after reading King Lear. However， in another way， some characters with bright good nature warm the cold world， such as Lear， Glaucester， Fool， Edgar， and Kent.

Conclusion

Paradox in this drama is full of philosophical wisdom. Shakespeare employed many paradoxes in King Lear， set all kinds of contradictions in plot design， characterization， language and theme， in order to reveal the conflict between human bestiality and human nature. He makes an in-depth discussion of human nature with a broad view of a great dramatist. The contradictions in drama reflect practical illogicality in the reality at Shakespeare’s time. The tragic characters in the drama get worse and worse in destination; however， their spirits get closer and closer to the true， the good， and the beautiful. We can conclude that Shakespeare devotes himself to pursue good human nature， to call for the true， the good， and the beautiful， and to praise and affirm human soul.

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