Allusions at work

Throughout our study of King Lear, it has become blatantly obvious that Regan and Goneril are meant to represent Adam and Eve. They are the beginning of the chaos cycle. They commit the original sin in lying to their father. Once their lies became so grand, Cordelia knew she could not say anything more than they had said without lying to her father and being just as bad. Thus spinning the wheel of fate and putting everyone else's live into a downward spin. The second piece of evidence that they are allusions to Adam and Eve occurs when Goneril originally becomes infatuated with Edmund and then Regan suddenly ignites feelings for him as well. Both sisters fell into temptation for evil. However, Regan did not fall for him until after Goneril did. Does that make Goneril, Eve; and Regan, Adam? Edmund is the serpent offering the sisters his forbidden fruit in exchange for power. The simple fact that these two princesses would risk their safe and cushioned lifestyle for a chance at more power, doesn't make sense. Which leads me to my third point. Adam and Eve were tricked into wanting something that was never really important to them. Regan and Goneril already had quite a bit of power. They had no true motivation for needing anymore. Edmund was the bastard son of a man that had an older, legitimate, son that would later inherit his power and authority; whereas, Edmund would get nothing. Edmund, like the devil, saw something he wanted and found two people that insured that whichever one he'd end up with, he'd gain more power than he ever dreamed.

The Falling action of King Lear- 2/06/12

               In a typical play format there is the introduction/background section, the rising action, the climax, the falling action and the ending. In King Lear we have read all the way up to Act IV in class. We have seen how it all began, Lear's disowning of Cordelia, his daughters' betrayal, and the climax where Lear realizes that having a lot and having beautiful things does not necessarily mean you have everything. Tom's raw humanity made Lear see that it truly is better to be yourself fighting against the constrains of society than to be unnatural. Now in the falling action, I am starting to wonder if it is really a "falling." With Cornwall dead, Regan is single and wants Edmund. With Albany and Goneril in an unhappy marriage, Goneril wants Edmund. Sisters fighting in this time can draw blood. In my opinion there is no way this is a falling action, it seems to be more action than what was preceding it. Tragedies, both Shakespearean and not, end with death and sometimes there are multiple deaths. A death is not a falling action. Sisters fighting to death is not a falling action. And having multiple realizations , as done by Lear, is not a falling action. Do tragedies truly have a falling action until the deaths are all finished? Or are the tragedies simply cliffhanger stories that leave you wondering what it is going to happen now? What will happen to the people that are left behind and what could have been done to change the outcome? There is not a falling action to this tragedy. There is simply an end.