Abstract:
“‘Take (Meta) Physic, Pomp’: King Lear and (Dis)oriented Ontology” negotiates the intersection between ontology—our abstract, philosophical conception of reality—and practice—how characters relate to objects in the play. In chapter one, I use Object-Oriented Ontology to demonstrate that Lear’s interaction with human and non-human objects does not fundamentally change from act one to act five, which supports the conclusion that the king’s cognitive resistance to resolution echoes the play’s dramatic desolation. By examining several of Lear’s object-oriented speeches alongside their representations on stage and film, I show how Lear’s preoccupation with the superficial aspects of objects—as opposed to their interiority—indicates his perceptive crisis. I argue that analyzing King Lear using Object-Oriented Ontology exposes Lear’s philosophical framework as a basis for the play’s cosmic tragedy. In the second chapter, I examine the diverse ways productions have depicted objects in the play and how these depictions modify each production’s thematic and dramatic structure. I analyze the coronet and map in the first scene, and the glass and feather in the last scene, to argue that Peter Brook’s minimalist production beautifully intensifies the play’s tragic, irreconcilable ending. I suggest that a minimalist aesthetic appropriately amplifies Lear’s emphasis on nothing, value, and irresolution.
