Join us before the King Lear matinee performance on September 27 for a discussion led by Phyllis Rackin, Professor of English Emerita.
"Do you see this? Look on her, look, her lips, Look there, look there!" These are the last words Lear speaks, and they have never received a definitive interpretation. What does Lear see, or think he sees? Since there is no stage direction, Shakespeare's intention remains obscure. Is Cordelia dead, or does Lear somehow see that her soul still lives? Critical and directorial interpretations range from a mystical vision of divine grace to a horrified realization of unmitigated chaos. This discussion will review some of the evidence the play offers for understanding Lear's last words and, with them, the larger issues raised by the play as a whole.
