King lear essay which explores readings of a family and psychoanalytical perspective

Shakespeare's King Lear is valued and received in many different contexts and in a myriad of ways. Peter Brook, a noted psychoanalytical critic asserts " A writer can write a text and stick by it, even when a new edition comes out. Whereas if you are making this living material, which is making a bridge between and old text and actors, audiences of now, everything from values, concerns and character positioning must be changed." A family …

…hang him instantly", which is met with Goneril's thirst to "pluck out his eyes". Therefore an audience, which understand and share common values, which are reflected in the Eyre production, will value and understand the play king Lear differently to an audience, which appreciate Brook's opinions of absurdity and grotesqueness. Therefore one can conclude that the context of an audience or responder will result in a plethora of understandings and interpretations of this controversial play.