Act 3 scene 4. The climax. In class we discussed what we thought the exact climaxtical passage was. All of the groups picked the same passage that ends with Lear stripping himself of his clothes. For me, I believe this passage is the turning point because taking off clothes symbolizes a natural state for a human. Lear realizes that underneath his title and materialistic belongings he is no better than anyone other man but he doesn't have to be ashamed of it.Also the fact that in act 2 kent disguises himself or puts on clothes to fit in and now Lear is taking off his to accomplish the same thing could have significance. Lear is beginning to be humbled in the sense that he is realizing that he is no longer the man he was and is starting a new chapter in life. Also the stage directions after lears monologue say that Gloucester comes in carrying a torch symbolizing either chaos or light (truth). Of course, we learned tha this is in fact not the actual turning point but no matter what this point on the play is still very significant and Defintley has meaning to it. I would also like to touch on our discussion question about Blank equals insanity. At first, my group filled in family because it seems that lears family is ultimately what made him crazy but later thought that maybe the unnatural equals insanity. Think about it. Everytime someone tries to go out of the ordinary or mess up the natural flow of things chaos breaks out. Maybe this play is commenting on how we as humans should not mess with the natural flow of life or we are destined to go mad.

Fools get a bad rep

In my reading of  King Lear, i have played close attention to the fool. Whenever reading one of Shakespeare plays that includes the character of the fool, i always pay close attention, mainly because the fool although meant to be funny, often gives the most important information. In King Lear, the fool often says how hes not allowed to speak the truth, how he gets whipped for speaking the truth, however, he often says the most truthful lines of the entire play. I can relate a lot to the fool because i feel like he's that one friend that always bluntly says what he or she is thinking, not meaning to be rude, but just blurts out the truth (which is usually humorous). I feel like in my friend group, I'm definitely "the fool". In Shakespeare's plays, and often in life, we need that comic relief that makes light of what seems like such a dramatic situation, when in reality its not that big of a deal. Also, because the fool is a reoccurring character in many of Shakespeare's plays, i believe that must have some significance, meaning that the fool is in fact a very important role. The irony of him being called the fool could also have significance because nobody expects the fool to say anything worth while or important, when in fact, he does. Maybe that could tie into the whole "ignorance is bliss" or the idea of how children usually have a better understanding of hard to comprehend subjects because they see things in a simpler way- foolishly.

The character Joy in "Good Country People" is a great example of a physical representation of the burden everyone struggles with in the search to obtain "joy." For southerners, or people in general, being happy and finding joy in life is basically what everyone longs for. But so many are blinded to or unable to see how to acheive this because so many falsehoods are in the way. For example, the character Joy had a fake leg, maybe this could physically represent what all the falsehoods in the search for finding joy are like. Without the leg, Joy was unable to be stable, she couldnt walk and became physically incapable of going anywhere or moving forward. I dont really have an exact answer for what all this could mean, but i defintley think it means something. Maybe its showing how people are perfectly capable of obtaining joy, they just have to rid their lives of falsehoods. Or maybe it means that without these falsehoods we would be unstable, and unable to move forward because we've already gone as far as we could go.