Representations of the Patriarchy in King Lear Anonymous 12th Grade

The patriarchy denotes a system within society whereby men are provided with a dominant role over their female counterparts. Shakespeare composed his critically acclaimed play ‘King Lear’ in 1606, a time when society was deeply engrained within a patriarchal system, and therefore it was inevitable that the theme of female repression would infiltrate Shakespeare’s works. The majority of the men, within the play, are presented as inherently cruel characters, which could be due to their natural characteristics, or due to the way by which the patriarchy has shaped and conditioned men with a sense of entitlement due to their gender.

It cannot be argued that Shakespeare presents all of the male characters within the play as affected solely by the patriarchal system, as this would not create a plausible character. It is evident that the playwright would have constructed multi faceted characters and therefore in order to assess the reasons why these male characters would be cruel, one must assume that it would be engrained within their inherent characteristics. Lear’s character, however, is not presented with a great deal of his background and therefore the audience is unable to possess the knowledge as to whether he was consistently...