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The tragic end to King Lear and his daughters

by Gwen Herat

Lear 'Pray, do not mock me, I am a very foolish fond man,

Fourscore and upwards, not an hour more non less.

And to deal plainly, I fear I am not in my perfect mind.

Methinks, I should know you, and know this man,

Yet, I am doubtful; for I am mainly ignorant.

What place this is, and all the skills I have

Remembers not these garments; nor I know not.

Where I did lodge last night. Do not laugh at me.

For, as I am a man, I think this lady to be my childCordelia.

Cordelia 'And so am, I am'

- ACT. 111 Scene V11

A simple plot set in England's Dover with many characters with hardly a story value, Shakespeare extends the play to great length compared to many of his other plays.

‘Upon such sacrifices, my Cordelia. The gods themselves throw incense. Have I caught thee ‘ACT. V. Scene 111.

A royal father testing the virtues of his three daughters and his subsequent death that result from disappointment and frustration.

King Lear is full of sorrow, pathos and tragedy and not without human frailty. Good as a stage production or as a film, King Lear never made it to the top as against the Bard's other tragedies.

It is filled with harrowing dialogue that can pierce the heart of a daughter if she finds herself akin to Goneril and Ragen.

Shakespeare is very blunt and direct in his dealing with the three royal daughters and their suborbordinates, twining one to another in a bond of hatred, jealousy as well as love and tenderness towards the end of the story.

As a textbook, King Lear has many challenges in the classroom because of its moral values.

The saga of a royal father and his two treacherous daughters and another, faithful and loving.

The king in his good faith trusting his two daughters, Goneril and Ragen who profess their unending love for him, gives each one third of his kingdom and hold back the other third because Cordelia his younger princess is direct and truthful in her love for the father because she has to share it with her husband.

The ageing king fails to recognise the truth and with many bad experiences at the hands of his two older daughters, end up being raving mad.

However, Cordelia who marries the King of France because of her morals and virtue, come in time to rescue her raving father. The story takes a dramatic turn when Goneril poison her sister Ragean and commit suicide.

As expected for the story to end happily, it turns out to be a tragedy when Cordelia is thrown to prison by the imposter king of Britan and dies.

Before King Lear dies, the Earl of Kent who masqueraded as his faithful servant tries to explain what transpired between his daughters without success.

The king is raving mud and would not comprehend the situation. So, Caius (Earl of Kent) too ends his life because of his great devotion to the king.

It is a touching scene when King Lear tells Cordelia 'Pray do not mock me'.

It is at this point that the king's madness gives way to pathos. It is a touching tender moment between a father and a daughter. Shakespeare seizes this moment to cause high emotion and does it with excellent propriety.

Many literary historians believe that King Lear of All English dramas get closer to the Greek ideal.

Therefore it is upheld that the literary academics chose King Lear as the nearest restraint and concentration of the Greeksnot that it matters or enhance English literature. As incidents of his plays are varied, he excludes nothing from his purview.

In King Lear Shakespeare in his own master unlike in many of his other plays where he has been influenced directly or indirectly or from incidents and characters from history. He elevates his characters with strong eloquence at delivery of dialogue.

He may borrow a theme or two but never ever the strong dialogue that is his signature. He is a vocabulary unto himself and the world has with great fervour and reverence, accepted the 'Shakespearean' language.

For someone without a formal education, Shakespeare remains an enigma. Not only his infinite variety of speech and drama that makes him apart from other writers, the literary world has not yet produced a writer even to a striking distance.

Dylan Thomas who is quoted most next to Shakespeare, is only a literary shadow trailing him. Thus Shakespeare remains the icon of words and emotion.

Shakespeare believed in vengeance as well a retribution for the wicked and amply displays it in King Lear as in most of his plays. The judgement of heavens sat on the evil Earl of Gloucester whose treachery was exposed at the end. He is slain in a single combat by his brother the lawful earl.

There was good in the Duke of Albany who was innocent of the death of Cordelia though he was the husband of Goneril. He never encouraged her in her wickedness towards her father the king. By his good deeds, he ascended to the throne of Britain after the death of King Lear and his three daughters.

"My father watches: O' Sir, fly this place,

Intelligence is given where you are hid.

You have now the good advantage of the night.

Have you not spoken 'gainst the Duke of Cornwall?

His coming hither now if the night is the haste

And Ragan with him; have you nothing said,

Upon his party 'gainst the Duke of Albany?

Advice yourself'...

- ACT. 11 . Scene 1

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A truly royal performance

The school has come a long way towards a national musical tradition, as evidence when East & West SAGA was staged at the BMICH on November 4.

This performance had the semblance of a professional outfit. When the songs of mega artistes like Rohana Weerasinghe, Edward Jayakody, Nirosha Virajini, Nelu Adikari were backed by the college orchestra comprising 28 violins, tabla, sitar, keyboards, western drums, guitars and many more that filled the air of this large hall.

A lot of hard work put in by the modest Music Director Visharada Asoka Pushpakumara gained fruition and was well conducted and blended well. Apparently every instrumentalist was trained by him and it bore evidence to the wealth of talent in the school.

The selection of songs was appropriate and pleasing to the ear. The mixing desk sound technician, could have done better had the orchestration not drowned the voice.

The programme opened with Sarasavi Pooja and a playlet choreographed by Mrs. L. D. Samaranayake, where the dresses and decor was reminiscent of a theatrical production at Convent Garden in London.

The many girl actors were, I am told, boys of the school draped in rich attire. The stage lighting was appropriate and the back stage drops were exquisitely painted. I feel the smoke machine could have been used much less as it made the scenes look gloomy.

Another playlet 'Re Chat' was appreciated with great applause from the junior school. Songs like 'Hotel California' and 'Countdown' got the rock and soul fans thrilled and the presentation of the songs was done with maturity beyond the under fifteeners.

The surprising package of national dances and singing from our Colombo school was exquisite.

Dances of the Udarata tradition, Devol, Vannam were professionally portrayed. The credit of training these youngsters goes very much to the teachers responsible. The attire and colour of the costumes added extravagance to the whole show.

These dances from a premier Colombo school equalled the dancing capabilities of outstation schools who are more adept at traditional dance forms.

Colombo or not Royal have set a very high standard at this show, which is a spur to reactivate the 'Performing Arts' among all island schools.

A programme of four hours duration kept the audience on their toes and I am sure everyone went home very proud of the children's performances.

I am told a repeat performance would be staged at the Navarangahala on November 25 at 6.30 p.m. All old boys and the public should not miss this show.

- Dr. M. Tennekoon.

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European Union Chamber Orchestra to perform in Sri Lanka

The world famous European Union Chamber Orchestra (EUCO) will be in Sri Lanka shortly and will perform two concerts in Colombo.

Stemming from their previous visits to Sri Lanka in 2001 and 2002 the EUCO will once again thrill local audiences and classical music lovers.

EUCO concerts will be held on November 24 and 25 at the Galadari Hotel and Bishop's College Auditorium respectively.

The concerts will include music from Mozart, Bach, Haydn, Telemann, Albinoni, Nielsen and Dvorak and guarantee to be "The Ultimate Musical Experience of 2004" Guest Director of the EUCO will be Mark Gothani who will also perform solo on violin.

Other soloists include Mark Paine and Samuele Bertocci on horns and Jesus Garrigues and Arco van Zon on oboes.

The EUCO gave its first concerts in 1981 and has since gained a worldwide reputation as a musical ambassador for the European Union.

Regular tours take it worldwide and performances have included those in the presence of Queen Noor of Jordan, the King and Queen of Belgium and its own Patron, Queen Sofia of Spain.

In 1999 EUCO gave a concert to mark the 77th birthday of King Sihanouk of Cambodia in the Royal Palace at Phnom Penh and in 2000 performed for the birthday of Princess Galyani in Bangkok.

An annual schedule of some 70 concerts includes many prestigious halls such as the Amsterdam Concertgebouw, Frankfurter Alte Oper, Brussels' Palais des Beauz Arts and Symphony Hall in Birmingham.

The Orchestra has appeared at international festivals such as Val Gardena, Flanders, Echternach, Bodensee and Mecklenburg Vorpommern and regularly tours within Europe.

With assistance from the European Commission, EUCO intercontinental tours regularly cover Asia, both South and Central America and the Middle East.

At the invitation of the European Commission Delegation, it toured Mexico six times and in 1996 was the first "European" Orchestra to give concerts in Belize and Cuba. in 1997 EUCO's tour of Canada celebrated 500 years since the landing of John Cabot and in 1998 EUCO toured India in celebration of 50 years of Indian independence and the British presidency of the EU.

Following two successful visits to Sri Lanka, EUCO returned in 2002 to the Indian sub-continent, as well as to the Persian Gulf and Vietnam.

The orchestra has performed with many distinguished artists including Cyprien Katsaris, James Galway, Severino Gazzeloni, Lazar Berman, Mischa Maisky and Igor Oistrakh and commissions works from leading European composers. It has to its credit 18 CDs on ASV, Carlton, Hyperion, Koch and Regent.

The orchestra performs with the support of the European Community budget line, 'Support to organisations which promote European Culture."

The EUCO's visit to Sri Lanka is organised and sponsored by the European Commission, Galadari Hotel and Jetwing Travels.

Tickets are priced at reasonable rates to encourage music enthusiasts to experience classical music at its best. Tickets for both performances are now on sale at the Galadari Hotel.

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Kandy Alliance photo exhibition 'Splendour Through The Lenses'

“Tentacles in the sky”

Alliance franchise de Kandy is sponsoring "Splendour Through The Lenses," an exhibition of selected works of eminent photographer Ananda Bulathgama from November 19 - 26, 2004 at its Gallery, No. 642, Peradeniya Road, Kandy.

The exhibition will be opened by Dr. D.S.A. Wijesundera, Director, Royal Botanical Gardens Peradeniya at 6.30 p.m. on November 19. Ananda Bulathgama, art educationist and an eminent photographer hails from a reputed, culturally oriented family of famous artists, poets, and men of letters from Ratnapura, the country of gems with a prehistoric significance.

After he completed his primary education in the village school, he joined Sivali College Ratnapura, a College with a proud history of producing giant figures in our cultural landscape.

His maiden love for photography surfaced while being a student which led him to form a photographic society in the College. With firm determination and commitment he learnt the finer points in theory and practical aspects of photographic art quite successfully under arduous conditions.

Since leaving school he worked as a science teacher for a brief period and after successful completion of the examination qualifying for the English Teachers' Certificate in Art he emerged into the field of teaching art while being in service he also followed a training course in art education.

As an eloquent testimony to his proven ability in his chosen field, he was appointed to the post of instructor in art in the Department of Education. Ananda was also entrusted with the responsibility of preparing question papers on art for the Departmental Examinations conducted in Kandy, Anuradhapura, Kurunegala, Nuwara Eliya and Matale Districts.

At an early stage, while working in the Department of Education, he joined the Times of Ceylon Group of Newspapers and afterwards Independent Newspapers Group as a press photographer and a provincial correspondent. The articles and photographs he contributed were mostly on themes connected with culture and Buddhist activities.

He won many awards and certificates of commendation for his visually stimulating creative photographs he submitted for photographic exhibitions, organized by Ceylon Tourist Board and Provincial Photographic Associations.

Since 1967 Ananda has been registered as a photographer for Ceylon Tourist Board. Sinhala and Buddhist Encyclopedia and publications of the Ministry of Buddhist Affairs have chosen Ananda's creative photographs to enrich their publications.

He was also responsible for organizing the 'Buddhist Heritage' exhibition in collaboration with the National Photographic Art Society of Sri Lanka to mark the ceremonial opening of the new wing of the Dalada Maligawa when H.B. Uduravana was functioning as Diyawadana Nilame. Ananda has afforded us a pleasant opportunity to enjoy a visual record of unique specimen of his photographic art captured by his versatile lens.

Yet another visual treat for lovers of photographic art in Kandy.

- Thilak Palliyaguruge

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