The Villains of King Lear
The Villains of King Lear
“A villain must be a thing of power, handled with delicacy and grace. He must be wicked enough to excite our aversion, strong enough to arouse our fear, human enough to awaken some transient gleam of sympathy. We must triumph in his downfall, yet not barbarously nor with contempt, and the close of his career must be in harmony with all its previous development.” -Agnes Repplier
What makes a villain a villain? Some people might say that it is maniacal laughter and a personal vendetta against the protagonist in a story; others may say that it is just someone who is evil. It is actually much more complex than that and no one really stops to think about what makes that villain truly interesting. Villainy can usually be summed up under five main categories; powerful, intelligent, immoral, determined and wounded. A villain must be powerful, in that he or she has a way of making situations and people bend to his or her will; intelligent, though not specifically an evil super-genius. He or she must in some way be immoral; not necessarily sociopathic, but he or she must be willing to violate their morals to either get what is wanted, or in order to achieve what is perceived as “the greater good”. A villain must be determined, or willing to do almost anything in order to attain his or her goals; determination is a key aspect in creating a “proper” villain. Finally, a villain must be wounded: not necessarily physically, but emotionally. This supports the idea that no one is born evil; rather, villains are made that way by circumstances or events in their lives. Villains who are multidimensional and exhibit all five components to their character are by their very complexity, interesting. “King Lear” exhibits three villains: Goneril, Regan and Edmund, who portray many of the main characteristics of villains. Although all three are quite villainous, Edmund is definitely the most interesting of them. One of the villains in “King Lear” is
“A villain must be a thing of power, handled with delicacy and grace. He must be wicked enough to excite our aversion, strong enough to arouse our fear, human enough to awaken some transient gleam of sympathy. We must triumph in his downfall, yet not barbarously nor with contempt, and the close of his career must be in harmony with all its previous development.” -Agnes Repplier
What makes a villain a villain? Some people might say that it is maniacal laughter and a personal vendetta against the protagonist in a story; others may say that it is just someone who is evil. It is actually much more complex than that and no one really stops to think about what makes that villain truly interesting. Villainy can usually be summed up under five main categories; powerful, intelligent, immoral, determined and wounded. A villain must be powerful, in that he or she has a way of making situations and people bend to his or her will; intelligent, though not specifically an evil super-genius. He or she must in some way be immoral; not necessarily sociopathic, but he or she must be willing to violate their morals to either get what is wanted, or in order to achieve what is perceived as “the greater good”. A villain must be determined, or willing to do almost anything in order to attain his or her goals; determination is a key aspect in creating a “proper” villain. Finally, a villain must be wounded: not necessarily physically, but emotionally. This supports the idea that no one is born evil; rather, villains are made that way by circumstances or events in their lives. Villains who are multidimensional and exhibit all five components to their character are by their very complexity, interesting. “King Lear” exhibits three villains: Goneril, Regan and Edmund, who portray many of the main characteristics of villains. Although all three are quite villainous, Edmund is definitely the most interesting of them. One of the villains in “King Lear” is
Bibliography: Shmoop Editorial Team. "Edmund in King Lear"Shmoop.com. Shmoop University, Inc., 11 Nov. 2008. Web. 2 Dec. 2012. Shmoop Editorial Team. "Regan in King Lear"Shmoop.com. Shmoop University, Inc., 11 Nov. 2008. Web. 2 Dec. 2012. Shmoop Editorial Team. "Goneril in King Lear"Shmoop.com. Shmoop University, Inc., 11 Nov. 2008. Web. 2 Dec. 2012. SparkNotes Editors. “SparkNote on King Lear.” SparkNotes.com. SparkNotes LLC. 2002. Web. 30 Nov. 2012. Antonio del Drago. “5 Characteristics of an Epic Villain.” mythicscribes.com. Dec. 2012. -------------------------------------------- [ 1 ]. Shakespeare, William, King Lear I.ii.55-61 [ 2 ]. ibid. 71-77 [ 3 ]. ibid. 371-373 [ 4 ]. ibid. 19-21