'KING LEAR' Excerpt: "O, reason not the need: our basest beggars
Are in the poorest thing superfluous:
Allow not nature more than nature needs,
Man's life's as cheap as beast's: thou art a lady;
If only to go warm were gorgeous,
Why, nature needs not what thou gorgeous wear'st,
Which scarcely keeps thee warm. But, for true need,--
You heavens, give me that patience, patience I need!
You see me here, you gods, a poor old man,
As full of grief as age; wretched in both!
If it be you that stir these daughters' hearts
Against their father, fool me not so much
To bear it tamely; touch me with noble anger,
And let not women's weapons, water-drops,
Stain my man's cheeks! No, you unnatural hags,
I will have such revenges on you both,
That all the world shall--I will do such things,--
What they are, yet I know not: but they shall be
The terrors of the earth. You think I'll weep
No, I'll not weep:
I have full cause of weeping; but this heart
Shall break into a hundred thousand flaws,
Or ere I'll weep. O fool, I shall go mad!"........................Wm Shakespeare
--In the ongoing discussion of Lucas and Sarah's complicated relationship, and the Spooks writer's apparent visual comparison with the continuing strong emotional hold on him by his former Russian prison interrogator, there's a fascinating piece of trivia.
In ep 2, Lucas threatens Sarah by warning her to backoff and she responds to him using a quote from Shakespeare contained in the passage above from 'King Lear.' Can anyone identify the lines Sarah uttered? Did the writers put the excerpt in her mouth in order to yet again demonstrate why/how his lover seems to have a strong hold on LN? We would very much like to hear your opinions on this topic. The answer to this trivia question can be found HERE
King Lear full on-line text HERE
Highly unique dramatic interpretation:) HERE
7 comments:
It's been a while since I read Lear,but if I recall correctly, he was very weak when he made that statement, so it was not a credible threat. It was merely a helpless old man raging at his situation. That's why Sarah quoted it to Lucas after he threatened her. She sees him as weak, and he's so clueless about it, that it made no difference that she was pointing out his threat as hollow. So yeah, it could definitely be foreshadowing for what's going to play out between them and for Lucas in general.
BTW, it's one of the things that makes me wonder if Lucas will survive. If we see a storm, that might be a sign. LOL!
Seriously, if the writers have somehow patterned Lucas after Lear, this could be a brilliant series of Spooks.
I meant to say that a storm might be a sign that he's not going to make it. Now I gotta go read Lear again. :D
Thank you, bzirk, I didn't know that. I haven't read Lear. I am hoping that Lucas is aware of Sarah's intent and is hiding his suspicions. I can't see him being totally trusting of anyone.
Well, Lear wasn't trusting either. He descended into madness. You should read it. It's a fantastic play. Might just be Shakespeare's best. But that might be my age and experiences talking. When I was younger, I thought Hamlet was the best, and for my age, it was. I could totally relate to his character. Then when I got older, I was partial to MacBeth, but now I've lived a few years more and I understand Lear much better. I didn't really appreciate it as it should have been appreciated when I read it in college. I've actually been meaning to reread it to see if it's even better than my memory of it.
bzirk, the full on-line King Lear text is now available in the post above. Also a very unique modern interpretation:) On another topic--are you hopeful Richard will not be discouraged from his dream to participate in a modern interpretation of Richard III?
I'm very hopeful. I would love to see what he would do with that, but I don't think he's physically appropriate for Richard III. However, he's such a fine actor, that I think he could pull it off. Besides most people don't have a clue about Richard III anyway, so I'm not so sure it would matter that he's not the right stature even though his facial features strongly resemble the Plantagenets. Wouldn't shock me if he were descended somehow from that bunch.
I can see a resemblance in their noses for Richard and King John (Plantagenet):) The ancient painting used to make the comparison is on Wikipedia.
http://schools-wikipedia.org/wp/j/John_of_England.htm
Wasn't Lady Diana Spencer descended from the Plantagenet Dynasty?
As far as Richard III's appearance, isn't there some doubt about the reliability of ancient historians' description of his physical handicaps? I've seen websites where it's speculated that as the last monarch of his dynasty, the incoming Tudors probably used a broad brush to paint him with negative strokes. Politicians today use the same strategy in an attempt to diminish their predecessors.
Post a Comment