Shakespeare's "King Lear"
Age of Shakespeare
Guidelines and Topics List
Format: Make sure your document is in doc or docx format only
Notating Acts and Scenes: Please use the system given in the syllabus:
III.ii.100-114 = Act Three, scene two, lines 100-114
Quoting Lines: If you quote a short passage from a play, there is no need to set it separately. But you must indicate, with a slash and by a Capital letter, where the line-breaks occur if they are in verse. Ex: As flies to wanton boys are we to the gods,/They kill us for their sport.
If you are quoting a long passage, five lines or more, set it off from the body of the text by a double indented paragraph and quote it exactly as it appears in the text.
Citations-Footnotes: This is not a research paper which requires you to engage secondary material beyond the occasional readings given on Canvas. However, if you are quoting or borrowing an idea from an author, you are obliged to credit the source using proper citation of sources. (Review the plagiarism warning below.) Please use the Chicago Manual of Style: Author-Date system (look it up online).
Plagiarism Warning: If I suspect plagiarism in your essay I will hunt it down and I will confront you with proof of this violation of your integrity and others’ integrity. Don’t go there. Know yourself.
The final essay addresses the last three plays studied in our course: Macbeth, King Lear, and The Tempest.
Judicious selection and nuanced interpretation of specific lines and speeches in the plays are vital to your essay. Talking in a vague and general way has nothing to do with serious essay writing.
Write a five-page essay on one of the following topics. You can also write on a topic of your own invention but if you choose the latter, you must discuss your topic and thesis with me at least one week before the essay is due. No one has permission to write on their own without first discussing their idea with me.
Title
Your Name
Subject and Section
Professor’s Name
Date
The Bible says, “The heart is deceitful above all things and beyond cure; who can understand it?” (Jeremiah 17:9-10, AMP). It emphasizes the human heart’s inherent deception and moral turpitude. We encounter significant issues concerning the roots of malevolence, the complexities of our moral direction, and the ongoing quest to understand the depths of our nature as we travel through the enigmatic terrains of the human heart.
Ladies and gentlemen, distinguished educators and learners, please join me in delving deeper into Shakespeare’s exploration of malevolence, revealing the various layers of Macbeth’s character and the profound insights gained from my immersion journey as an actor. As we gather here, we recognize that evil resonates across history, philosophy, and literature, leaving a lasting effect on the human journey. The ongoing desire to comprehend the motivations behind individuals performing acts judged wicked has endured from the first moral investigations to the nuanced portrayals in literary classics. What causes a person to acquire malevolence, push the boundaries of morality, and willingly navigate the shadowy realms of human behavior? Today, we aim to delve deeper into this enigma, drawing inspiration from timeless philosophical reflections and the rich array of human narratives intertwined throughout nations and civilizations. For millennia, philosophers, artists, and scholars have been captivated by this subject, inciting inquiry into the dichotomy of good and evil embedded inside the human soul. In commencing this study path, let us approach it with a genuine interest in understanding the elements, motives, and conditions that contribute to what we perceive as human