"Nature" is the word with the longest definition in the Oxford English Dictionary because it is used in so many ways. Several of these are woven into King Lear.
Find examples of Shakespeare's uses of words like "Nature," "nature," "natural," "naturalness," "unnaturalness," and related words or terms. Quote and cite them with Act, scene, and line numbers (e.g., 1.2.3-4). Give examples not yet provided by anyone else in the class, and explain what Nature, etc., means in the context of the passage in which it appears.
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Act 1, scene ii, line 1-Edmund is reading a letter that states that he only worships natural things, not manmade things. In this context I think that what Edmund means is that he does not need to put up with the manmade social customs that are bringing him down. He doesn't need to put up with the way that these people treat him when "nature is [his] goddess"
ACT 1 Scene 4 starting at line 274 Lear mentions Nature in what i believe as being Mother Nature as he refers to it as a goddess. During this scene Lear has discovered how big of a mistake it was to give Goneril power and is angered when she demands that he cut his Knight force in half. He realizes how power hungry she truly is and pleads with what he calls nature to leave Goneril childless so that her tyranny will not be passed on. So in this context Nature is refered to as a super natural being a goddess that has control over our physical world. This being the case the goddess Nature has control over such events as child birth and most likely weather, harvests, and anything else that occurs within the natural world.
Act 5 Scene 3
Edmund in talking to Kent and Albany about the death of Regan and Goneril.
I pant for life: some good I mean to do,
Despite of mine own nature. Quickly send,
Be brief in it, to the castle; for my writ
Is on the life of Lear and on Cordelia:
Nay, send in time.
Shakepeare is using nature to refer to Edmund's life and choices he has made.
In 4:6, lines 205-207, the Gentleman states: “Thou hast one daughter / Who redeems nature from the general curse / Which twain have brought her to.” Throughout the play “nature” is often mentioned, especially as pertains to the three daughters of King Lear. King Lear mentions of Edmund, in 4:6, lines 114-116, “Gloucester’s bastard son / Was kinder to his father than my daughters / Got ‘tween the lawful sheets.” Even though Edmund had betrayed his father and allowed his eyes to be plucked out, King Lear still says that this treatment was better than the treatment that he received from his daughters. This is what this mention of nature is talking about—the two daughters who had puffed him up with praise and supposed love had now betrayed him—“nature,” or the natural love and obedience that daughters should feel toward their fathers (because they share blood), had been upset, but Cordelia’s love, above and beyond what nature would assume, made up for the lack of the two others.
Act 2, scene 4 starting at line 147, Lear cries "My curses on her!" Regan then says "Oh, sir, you are old; Nature in you stands on the very verge of his confine. You should be ruled and led by some discretions that discerns your state better than you yourself..." To me, the reference to nature here is like a force of some sort. Througout the play I get the impression that Nature is kind of a creator, a goddess or god that is apart of human life and inside the soul. Nature in this context as described by Reagan suggest Lear as being weak maybe stubborn, and the life force in him(nature) should be brought under control.
I'm gonna go with Act 1, Scene 1, once again, and use lines 51 to 53.
Lear says: "Which of you shall we say doth love us most, that we our largest bounty may extend where nature doth with merit challenge?"
The book states that the meaning of this statement is that the one with the natural affection and the most merit will get the best prize. There is, however, a hidden meaning. If you use this as a bit of foreshadowing, it seems to say that Lear gives the kingdom to the daughters whose natural affection, the affection they are expected to give to their father by custom, is at odds with their merit, which they have very little of. In this way, Lear is seeming to predict that he will give the bounty of his kingdom to those whose evil intents outweigh the love that nature instills in children for their parents.
To Blake: when I read that part, I also took it to mean that nature's catching up with the old man, that he is nearing the end of his life and so cannot be trusted to rule in soundness of mind like his young daughters can. Boy, this is what all us young people think, isn't it? Those old people are crazy and old-fashioned so we need to teach them a lesson... although Lear is kind of crazy.... And I think that nature being "on the verge of its confine" means that his life is going to end--that his spirit is going to leave his natural body which "confines" it.
In Act 1, Scene 1 (173)the theme of "nature" in King Lear is made apparent when Lear is about to abolish Kent for sticking up for Cordelia. He believes that it is the nature for the King to have Divine Authority over the people , and that it takes a ("strained" defined as "excessive" in the footnotes)pride to "come betwixt our sentence and our power, Which nor our nature nor our place can bear." Basically saying that a subject is defying human nature, the nature of social heirarchy, to question the judgment of the King, is perhaps parallel to defying the judgment of God, who "naturally" chose the King. Another aspect of nature that I noticed, that doesn't perhaps deal with direct quotes, is the overall nature that King Lear does not represent: that of wisdom of a king, as a father, as a leader, as a friend. It is unnatural for a King to retire his crown, to divide his country, to basically retire his Divine Right Monarchy. It is also unnatural for an old man to not attain wisdom with age. King Lear does not possess wisdom until he loses his mind. It is the nature, also, of daughters to love loving fathers. Everything that should come "naturally" seems to be reversed in this play, and I suspect that Shakespeare perhaps is suggesting that the unnatural is truly natural.
Act 2,3. Lear: Blow, winds, and crack your cheeks! Rage,blow! You cataracts and hurricanoes, spout till you have drenched our steeples, drowned the cocks...."
Here the image of nature can be referred to the decaying mind of Lear. His mind (and feelings, hurt by of Regan and Goneril) is mixed up like the weather. The state, his kingdom, is also in a special and worse position. His whole cosmos experiences a crisis, and Lear can see no end to the cruel storm which shakes his life.
He says the flood will kill his "steeples", that may mean that everything which had a certain value for him is nothing to his greedy daughters and they throw the things (morales) away which he taught them and which he conveyed to them.He literally sees the drowning of his kingdom.
In Act II scene ii lines 54-55, Kent speaks of nature. He says to Oswals, "no marvel, you have so bestirred your valor. You cowardly rascal, nature disclaims in thee. A tailor made thee." In these lines, Kent is speaking about oswalds character. He is saying that Oswald is not showing his true nature. He is acting as he has been instructed by his masters.
Regan: „…Nature in you stands on the very verge/ Of his confine. You should be ruled and led/ By some discretion that discerns your state/ Better than you yourself […]“ (2.4.147-52).
“Nature” in this passage of the play does not mean the nature (trees, flowers,…) we think of at the first moment when we hear that word. In this context it points at King Lear’s age. When Regan utters this comment, she simply means that King Lear is already very old. She suggests to him that he should contact Cordelia in order to apologize and say that he treated her wrong. Regan apparently wants Lear to recognize that maybe, if he waits any longer, it could be too late for him (that he might then already have died, for he is already that old).
In addition to that, you could also interpret that here nature means – besides Lear’s age – his mind. This passage is taken from the beginning of Lear’s becoming mad, so we – as the readers – can also read these lines as “Your ‘healthy mind’ stands on the very verge of his confine…”.
I think nature plays a very important role in Shakespeare’s King Lear. However, I mean not only “nature“ in its physical presence but also as someone’s being, or state of mind.
That becomes clear in 2.4. 99-117:
“Infirmity doth still neglect all office/Whereto our health is bound; we are not ourselves/When nature, being oppressed, commands the mind/To suffer with the body. I’ll forbear,/And am fallen out with my more headier will,/To take the indisposed and sickly fit/For the sound man.
In these lines, the downfall of Lear becomes obvious. He was a glorious king, who has done a big mistake when dividing his kingdom into three parts. Later, he even disinherits his most beloved daughter Cordelia. In the course of the play, after he has been banished from his own estate by Goneril and Regan, Lear is becoming mad. His nature, his inner self, falls apart. This becomes clear in the scenes where he reacts very harshly and is raged: In 2.4 he has had a fit of rage because Regan refuses to speak with him. The quote I chose shows that Lear’s nature is also oppressed. He does not have himself under control anymore. His nature has always been weak and Lear reacts more than once stubborn and childish. As nature dies away so does life. Nature in this quote is also a hint on Lear’s age. He doesn’t seem to know himself and his flaring temper. He should have noticed through his aging that he can easily become angry. Old people should be wise, but Lear is not: “Thou shouldst not have been old till thou hadst been wise” (1.5.43-44). Nature in this context can also mean that his life is nearing the end. Both, nature and body are suffering. Ironically, Lear, who always made rash and ill-considered decisions, seems to be wiser the madder he gets. In these lines you can see that Lear notices how ill-considered his decision, to banish Cordelia, has been: I “am fallen out with my more headier will, to take the indisposed and sickly fit for the sound man.” Shakespeare shows in King Lear the constant decline of Lear’s mind, his being, and his nature. In the end, he hardly recognizes Cordelia (“You are a spirit, I know. Where did you die?”), and in contrast to former times he even loses his “real nature”, his rash temper. Kent: “The great rage, you see, is lost in him” (4.7, l.82-3).
"And let not women’s weapons, water-drops,
Stain my man’s cheeks! No, you unnatural hags" Act 2 Scene 4 Shakespeare uses variations of "nature" from lines 259-281. In this quotation, Lear is finally realizing what Goneril and Regan have been doing. They have been oppressing him and his abilities. He is saying that he will not allow women to injure him in anyway. He realizes through this quote and a bit further on that he is infact powerless, having given all his power to his eldest daughters. He can do nothing but basically kick himself for giving them everything.
One of the most striking references to both the nature of humans and the unnatural ways in which the characters in this play act is Albany's criticism of Goneril in act 4 scene 2.
"Oh, Goneril,
You are not worth the dust which the rude wind
Blows in your face. I fear your disposition;
That nature which tontems its origin
Cannot be bordered certain in itself.
She that herself will sliver and disbranch
From her material sap perforce must wither
And come to deadly use" (30-37).
Here, Albany is criticizing the sleazy ways in which Goneril has treated her father and husband. He is saying that he fears the manners in which she acts, and the motives behind these acts. He is fearing whatever makes her revolt against her origin (her father) and act in such horrific ways. I also believe that it is here that he is beginning to realize that she is conspiring against him with Edmund as well. When he refers to her straying from her material sap, I believe that he is referencing her straying away from him. In the end, he is saying that nothing good but death will come from the actions that she is taking.
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