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Jane Blanchard: ‘Lear’

Jane Blanchard

Dec 30 2019

1 mins

Lear
“I am a man / More sinn’d against than sinning.”
(Act 3, Scene 2)

He would say such—to minimize his own
mistakes—until the claim no longer will
suffice. Poor Lear, of course, is not alone
in this regard, since Gloucester lacks the skill
of self-appraisal, too, and neither can
assay another person better. Good
is bad, and bad is good, whatever man
or woman is somehow involved. Love should
have given pause to anger and revenge,
but humans (or their gods) delight in sport
at any home or hovel, heath or henge,
where ill intentions gather and consort.
What errors parents make! And children, too!
If only conscience governed what they do.

Jane Blanchard

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