A House Divided//Emily Otts

The words Jesus spoke in Matthew 12 remind me so much of this play: "Every kingdom divided against itself is laid waste, and no city or house divided against itself will stand." (Matthew 12:25) King Lear, at the end of the day, is about a family being divided multiple ways. These divisions arise over greed and hatred for one another and cause the whole family to be ruined because of it. King Lear first divides the kingdom after his daughter Cordelia does not proclaim her love to him, so he banishes her. Later, his daughters go against him for not doing as they asked, believing he is unfit and unworthy to be king, secretly plotting against him. But all of this comes to a head in Act 5.

After capturing King Lear and Cordelia, Edmund plans to have them killed. You would believe the sisters would be able to work together because their plan is working, but an even greater division has risen between them. Both of them wish to have Edmund for themselves, and they plot against each other for it. Goneril has Regan poisoned in order to have Edmund, but later kills herself. Such greed over a man has ruined the possibility of either of them ruling and having their plan fully work out. Instead it has "laid them to waste", in this case, caused them to die. The greater division between Lear and his two older daughters does not end without destroying the rest of the family. Edmund, who was working with the sisters, has Cordelia killed, as seen when Lear walks in holding her and later dies. Such divisions among the family have killed them all. It stays true to the words of Jesus, showing an awful tragedy. 

I commented on Abigale Bell's and Emma Kate Patterson's posts.

Comments

  1. Bug OlsenAugust 30, 2021 at 6:38 PM

    The title of your blog and the comments about Matthew 12 clearly remind me of Abraham Lincoln's famous "A house divided against itself cannot stand" speech, and shows how this is a common theme throughout both literature and real life. Greed and dishonesty are always key players in this type of treachery, and I liked how you mentioned both of these in the post.

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  2. Braylan StringfellowAugust 31, 2021 at 9:30 AM

    Everything Jesus says is true. It has always amazed me to see how different things regarding what Jesus says plays out. You did a really good job relating this work to what Jesus said. The outcome of them killing each other in the end should be enough to motivate us to not let personal interest cause us to hate each other.

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