Month: September 2024

By: Nathan Walz, Mia Hendrickson, Samantha Kim, Lauren Bieniek, Caleb Martin, Madelyn Perry

In class, we have focused on these three key terms: liquid/liquidity, swapping, and of course, expulsion. We talked about how language has multiple meanings and can be interpreted in many different ways. For example, Investopedia defines liquidity as the efficiency or ease with which an asset or security can be converted into ready cash without affecting its market price. Google, on the other hand, defines liquidity as “the availability of liquid assets to a market or company.” Interestingly, the word liquid itself also refers to “a substance that flows freely but is of constant volume, having a consistency like that of water or oil.” As for swapping, Investopedia defines swap as “a derivative contract through which two parties exchange the cash flows or liabilities from two different financial instruments.” A more general definition from google says, “an act of exchanging one thing for another.” In King Lear, these terms interact in a way that produces an outcome of expulsion from positions of power, homes, countries, and ultimately, life.

In King Lear, what marks the whole chain of events throughout the play starts at the very beginning in Act 1 Scene 1 where there is a significant swap of power. Lear, a King who is getting too old to hold power over his entire kingdom, decides he is going to divide the power between his three daughters, Goneril, Regan, and Cordelia based on how much they say they love him. This gives the first example of swapping, with King Lear swapping positions and power with his daughters. Goneril, the eldest daughter, starts off by saying to her father, “Sir, I love you more than the world can wield the matter” (1.1.60a), meaning she loves him more than words could ever describe. When it is Regan’s turn, she gives a very similar speech and it seems that the two of them may be acting in bad faith when saying their love simply because they want power over parts of the kingdom. When it gets to be Cordelia’s turn, she has a harder time overemphasizing her love for her father and says, “I love your majesty According to my bone, no more nor less”(1.1.102) She basically states that she loves the king because he is her father and not for the over exaggerated reasons Goneril and Reagan shared. In return, Cordelia gets expelled from the kingdom by Lear while the other two sisters are granted power over sections of the kingdom. Lear, having turned away his favorite daughter, Cordelia, when she did not fulfill his wish and claimed her heart could not be only for him, also cost himself his only ally. Lear utterly rejected Cordelia, disowning her from both his realm and his heart. This swap of power is the beginning of the end for King Lear.

It is impossible to trade without some sort of sacrifice. There will always be a consequence to follow as shown in the beginning of Act 3. We see time and time again that the search for power and status through liquidity and swapping only causes harm and suffering. Having been repeatedly expelled from the castle and treated worse and worse by his daughters, King Lear finds himself stranded out in a storm. Throughout scenes 1 and 2 Lear devolves more and more into a manic state, rambling and crazed. His state of mind is much like a liquid losing its form and spilling uncontrollably. He had traded his land and crown for the dream of freedom, only for it to cost him his status and power. Lear’s rapidly devolving mental state is a direct consequence of ultimately swapping his daughters for his status, “I am a Man more sinned against than sinning.” (3. 2. 62)  Lear’s belief that his daughter’s “love” was something that could be traded only led to the suffering and expulsion that follows in the rest of the story. We see this through Lear and his loss of status and family, as well as Gloucester and his relationship with his sons, and the many deaths that end the tragedy. As Edmund attempts to swap himself and his brother Edgar as Gloucester’s favored son, he only serves to tear apart their lives. Initially, his expulsion of his brother, and ultimately his father does serve to upgrade his status as he grows closer to Goneril and Regan, it ends with himself and his father dead and Edgar at the top. He sacrificed everything he had only for it to turn against him in Act 5. Lear’s choice to liquidate his land was only the catalyst, as following Edmund’s fraud and the expulsion of everyone and their status we see nothing but death and pain. In King Lear, Edmund questions the fairness of existence, Lear starting after witnessing Cordelia’s death, “Why should a dog, a horse, a rat, have life, / And thou no breath at all?” (5.3.370). His early questioning of the fairness of life and status foreshadows his terror throughout the tragedy. Similarly to Lear, his selfish pursuit cost him his status, his relationships, and his life. 

In comparing Shakespeare’s play King Lear to the 2008 Global Housing Crisis, it becomes ever more clear how Lear’s warning to Cordelia that “Nothing will come of nothing” (1.1.99) proves false in both the play and for those expelled from their homes. Despite the fact that the very definition of swap should make it abundantly clear that the transaction demands sacrifice to make a gain, there are points in which people are plainly and simply taken advantage of. That is to say, just as Lear sacrifices his kingdom to his daughters with the expectation that he will be able to effectively retire, there is the “fine print” of this transaction: his expulsion. His other expectation, that he is to be loved as much as his daughters first proclaim, also proves to be opposite in execution. Lear is left without that which is promised to him, thus illustrating how nothing can come from something. This experience is not unlike those of people who enter into loans and mortgages that are constructed for the sake of being confusing. The homeowners of 2008 that assumed they would be capable of paying their loans because the bank deemed them worthy of receiving said loan, like King Lear, learned that nothing can come from something- the nothing coming in the form of the loss of a home, and the something being a loan that homeowners thought they could pay off. Despite there being a clear chain of events which begins with the liquidation of Lear’s kingdom, progresses into multiple swaps of identity, and ends with total expulsion, compared to the Global Housing Crisis of 2008, the chain of events is much less capable of being organized. Ultimately, however, in both instances it is clear that despite the order in which they occur, liquidation and swapping result in expulsion. 

Kyle Mele, Kyle Footer, Mekail Boyer, Natalie Schuey, Rylie Cappezuto, Cassidy Hand, Joshua Irizarry

Throughout King Lear, background knowledge surrounding concepts such as liquid(ity) and swap(ping) allows for a deeper understanding of the characters and their journeys. To consider the importance of such concepts, we need to understand their definitions, as many words have multiple meanings. Liquid may refer to one of the three states of matter, like water, for example, or could be referred to in a financial sense as “the efficiency or ease with which an asset or security can be converted into ready cash without affecting its market price” as given by Investopedia.com. Additionally, swap(ping) can simply be referred to as an exchange. Investopedia describes swap(ping) as “a derivative contract through which two parties exchange the cash flows or liabilities from two different financial instruments.” Typically, a swap also benefits both parties, something appearing highly inconsistent throughout the play. Together, the ideas of liquid(ity) and swap(ping) contribute to a central theme of expulsion among the characters and ultimately result in their demise. 

The concept of liquidity can easily be applied to King Lear’s character as we progress throughout the play. We first see the concept of liquidity appear when Lear’s kingdom is divided amongst his daughters following a confession of their love. Cordelia, unlike her two sisters, stated her true feelings for Lear, stating, “I love your majesty according to my bond no more nor less (pg 13).” Her statement of truth is far from Lear’s expectations, and as a result, she is stripped of her inheritance and banished from the royal family. Cordelia experiences losing the liquid assets of power and land through her profession while her sisters prospered. Although the definition of liquid(ity) does not apply in a literal sense to land nor power as neither can be converted to cash quickly, however, both land and power are assets that have high demand amongst Goneril and Regan, a factor outlined by Investopedia when defining a liquid asset. As readers, we can also analyze how quickly both power and land are given and taken away from the characters, fitting a more literal sense of liquid. Additionally, the transition of power from Lear to his daughters also represents a loss of his power and land and would result in Lear’s character experiencing a dramatic downfall. Following the transition of power, we can see Lear’s character breaking down and we can express the definition of liquid in a more literal sense. We see the effects of the transition following Lear’s expulsion from the homes of Goneril and Regan, which leaves him stranded in a storm. From a broader perspective, the storm represents Lear’s world falling apart; he once had all the power, he had his land, and he had the affection of his daughters, which was found to be insincere. The storm can then be classified as a sense of hopelessness; each raindrop may feel like a tear. “But yet I call you servile ministers, that have with two pernicious daughters join’d your high engender’d battles ‘gainst a head so old and white as this. O! O! ’tis foul!” (Act 3 Scene 2). (The punctuation allows you to envision.. something like that) From Lear’s speech, you can almost hear the pain in his voice; the storm expresses his feelings perfectly and shows how much has changed in his life after distributing his land and power to his daughters. 

The liquidation and redistribution of King Lear’s Kingdom introduces the Medieval concept of the “wheel of fortune.” Each person assumes their place along the wheel of fortune, where the fortunate will one day find themselves desolate. The wheel of fortune also intermixes with the concept of fate—regardless of how much a person resists, their position along the wheel is impermanent. As the play progresses, King Lear’s circumstances become increasingly more unfortunate. This trend is alluded to in Act 2, Scene 2, where Kent comforts the disgruntled King—who recently expulsed his daughter, Cordelia—bidding him farewell, saying, “Fortune, good night. Smile once more; turn thy wheel” (page, 95). Although, from this point forward, King Lear did not receive fortune, his wheel did turn. It is perhaps ironic that it is only when King Lear is reunited with Cordelia that he states, “I am bound Upon a wheel of fire, that mine own tears Do scald like molten lead” (pg. 217). It seems as though King Lear is alluding to his excruciating cycle along the wheel of fortune. An inverse example involves Edmund, the disenfranchised bastard who found himself atop the wheel of fortune and on the precipice of King Lear’s Kingdom. Nevertheless, toward the end of the play, seeing his machinations crumbling before him, Edmund finds himself once more at the bottom of the wheel, “The wheel is come full circle; I am here,” again highlighting the impermanence of fortune (pg. 249).

Following Lear’s misfortune, we see a behavioral swap that follows the swapping of power among his daughters. Most importantly we follow Regan and Goneril, who once obtained the land and power they wanted, revealed their true selves. Did they really love Lear? After being expelled from the homes of Regan and Goneril and watching his life spiral out of control, we can see how quickly their “love and affection” became a burning hunger for power. Following his expulsion, Lear also experiences a major character swap, and we see this within the storm he is caught in as King Lear experiences a change of heart as he begins to recognize the struggles of the lower class and how he had dismissed these and should have been a better king. We see this new Lear following his interaction with poor Tom which we know as Edgar who swaps his identity in light of a manhunt for him. Through their interaction, Lear states “how shall your houseless heads and unfed sides, your looped and windowed raggedness defend you from seasons such as these? O, I have ta’en too little care of this” (pg. 137). It is interesting to note that instances of swapping—whether it be a swapping of fortune or identity—are followed by moments of clarity. At their lowest points along the wheel of fortune, both Edmund and King Lear find clarity—Edmund recognizes his position along the wheel (“The wheel is come full circle; I am here), and King Lear realizes his neglect of the impoverished.
In “King Lear”, liquid(ity), swap(ping), and expulsion all come together to show how chaotic and unstable things become when power and loyalty are constantly shifting. Together, these themes highlight the instability and treachery that come with the pursuit of power and the breakdown of family bonds. In deciphering why these concepts matter concerning the play, many people ask themselves so what? Who cares? When answering this question, it is beneficial to incorporate the benefits of outside information into your thinking in the context of reading. Within King Lear, the definitions of liquid(ity) and swap(ping) all offer a sense of complexity amongst the characters, and we can analyze their journeys in a broader context which allows us, the readers, to interpret scenes in a more meaningful way. Lear, after giving his land to his daughters, lost his power, and eventually, his daughters which then contributed to the lives of those around him changing indefinitely. Each character’s personal experiences speak for themselves, following the transfer of power, we saw many characters swap their identities, with some characters gaining in the short term and all losing in the long term. The story of King Lear emphasizes the importance of applying outside knowledge to the context of our reading. Through the concepts of liquid(ity) and swap(ping) we got to know each character and followed their journeys as the concepts listed before affected the lives and outcomes of the characters within the play.

By: Maggie Kiernan, Cole Kominiarek, Sarah Lyons, Jordan Welker, Nyna Garduño, Abbigail Woodworth

King Lear is a Shakespeare play that is a tale of power, love, deception, and mental rage. It all starts when King Lear decides to divide his kingdom among his 3 daughters; Regan, Goneril, Cordelia. However, these divisions aren’t of equal amounts of land and he must decide which daughter is more worthy of the biggest plot of land. King Lear determines that he’ll divide his land by simply having the girls express their love to him, and whoever loves Lear the most gets the biggest piece of land. Regan and Goneril are first and second to express their love. Their expressions are extravagant and feel a bit scripted. However, Lear loves their expressions and hopes Cordelia’s expression will be similar to that of  her sisters. Cordelia is quick to disappoint her father as she says she doesn’t need words to show how much love she has for her father. She expresses that her love for her father is more than a scripted extravagant tale. Lear is enraged by her response and expels her from the kingdom to never return. With Lear’s beloved Cordelia expelled he is left to divide the kingdom among the 2 remaining daughters; Regan and Goneril. Regan and Goneril love their newfound power and kingdoms. However, they don’t enjoy their father being around. So they each expel their father from their kingdoms, giving Lear to the outside and casting him out of his own and known society. During Lear’s time in the elements, side character Edmund the bastard child of Gloucester is up to his own scheme. There’s someone in Edmunds way; Edgar. Edmund falsifies a letter from Edgar which gets Edgar expelled. Edgar becomes unrecognizable and is referred to as Poor Tom to the community. As the storyline continues Lear’s mental state continues to deteriorate and war breaks out. Regan and Goneril start to fight over Edmund. Edmund and Edgar fight because of Edgar’s need for revenge on his brother for what he did to their father. Then in true Shakespeare fashion the ending is bloody and full of death. 

In King Lear the concepts of liquidity and swapping are apparent. Liquidity can be defined in multiple ways. One definition that correlates to King Lear is liquidity in relation to how efficiently assets can be turned into cash. The more general definition is liquidity in the sense of a free-flowing substance, like water.  Another concept that is important to the play is swapping, which can be defined as the exchanging of something. 

Liquidity and swapping interact with King Lear. Throughout the play, swapping represents the multiple shifts in power from inferior to superior or vice versa, as well as swapping of characters, and swapping of emotions. Swapping is shown when Edmund forges a note and pretends to be Edgar, which concludes in Edgar getting expelled. Another example of swapping of characters is when Edgar swaps to poor Tom when he gets expelled. King Lear’s position of king gets swapped to nothing when he is expelled by his daughters. Swapping is also shown in the play as a swap of powers. For instance, Lear’s power is swapped into the hands of his two daughters, Reagan and Goneril. Swapping of emotions is shown by King Lear and Cordelia. Cordelia is the favorite daughter at the beginning of the play, but once she says she does not need to express her love through words, she turns into the least favorite. The swap of emotions also occurs with the daughters and King Lear. The daughters express their love for Lear to inherit his power, but once they gain his power, they kick him out. It seems as though the love they verbalized is swapped to nothing when they allow Lear to be expelled. As there are many examples of swapping in King Lear, liquid(ity) is also a key concept expressed in the play. Liquid or liquidity can have a literal or metaphorical meaning and both can be seen and expressed throughout the King Lear play. There are specific ties to the literal meaning of liquid in many scenes throughout the play. Some of these examples can be found when Cordelia cries when she receives news that she was being expelled by King Lear as well as Gloucester crying over Edgar and losing his eyesight. Another example of the literal definition of liquid in use would be the big storm in Act 3. All of these interactions seem to be tying back in the concept of physical liquid representing either a change or sadness in the storyline. The metaphorical meaning of liquid is also often referenced through examples in the play. Specifically from the beginning of the story to the end there is an ever-changing shift in the mental state and thinking of King Lear. We believe this is a representation of the concept of liquid being unpredictable and ever-changing. 

Both liquidity and swapping interact with expulsion throughout King Lear. Throughout the play, swapping interacts with expulsion in many ways. The extreme situation of the swapping of powers between the daughters, Reagan and Goneril and King Lear results in the expulsion of Lear from his once owned kingdom. Lear begins the play with all of the power. As Lear divides the power between his two daughters, he is left with none. Expulsion connects to swapping as Lear gets expelled by his daughters when he no longer holds power. Lear gets expelled and left in the storm outside with no power remaining. Liquidity has a connection with expulsion throughout many instances in the play. But a major concept of the play being the division of King Lear’s kingdom between his daughters ties into liquidity. According to investopedia liquidity refers to the efficiency in which an asset can be converted into cash. This has a connection to expulsion because the division of the kingdom can be viewed as Lear’s way of getting rid of his assets and responsibilities and in turn expelling himself from the kingdom and his duties as king. Another way this connects to expulsion is one of the daughters will not be receiving the kingdom therefore being expelled. 

This exercise raised many questions relating to the similarities between King Lear and the 2008 housing crisis. During the 2008 housing crisis big banks were carelessly granting loans to under qualified people, this led to a housing bubble that collapsed and ended up backfiring on both sides.  Due to King Lear’s carelessness when dividing his kingdom to his daughters who were  under-qualified, he ended up alone with no resources. We can relate this to the swiftness of homeowners when applying for a NINA (no income, no assets) loan. These homeowners were granted loans that they knew they would never be able to pay off inorder to delay being foreclosed upon. After reading King Lear we were able to relate these loans to the two daughters of Lear having no true love for their father, but with a simple short talk where they lied about how much they loved him, they were given half of the kingdom. This again brings up the NINA loans where people who normally wouldn’t qualify for large loans were getting them with no questions asked.  As the play continued King Lear’s mental state continued to decline due to his expulsion not only from the “love” of his daughters but also his power. We can also relate his declining mental state and his distress to how residents of homes reacted when they were being foreclosed upon. When reading future texts that may seem like they have no similarities to the housing crisis, we can think of the questions raised in this exercise and use them while reading to help us spot the similarities right away. After this exercise, anytime someone in power acts a certain way we can be conscious of how his or her decisions will affect their outcomes.

Looking at the terms liquid(ity) and swap(ping) in the context of King Lear brings literal and metaphorical definitions to the story. King Lear tells the story of an aging king ready to retire his kingdom. He decides to split his kingdom between his three daughters – Goneril, Regan, and Cordelia – based on their professions of love. When Cordelia refuses to exaggerate her love unlike her other sisters, Lear expels her from the inheritance. Shortly after, Goneril and Regan betray Lear and strip him of all power. Parallel to this storyline, the play also follows Gloucester who is betrayed by his illegitimate son, Edmund, and suffers greatly. Throughout the story, Liquid(ity) is present particularly concerning power, loyalty, and the nature of relationships. As we see in the play, The storms in the play serve as a metaphor for emotional and political turmoil. The chaotic weather mirrors the instability of Lear’s reign and his relationships, emphasizing how external forces can disrupt the balance of power and sanity. We also see swap(ping) in the story which can be defined as exchanging, bartering, or trading, one thing for another. After initially professing love for Lear, Goneril and Regan swap their outward displays of affection for ruthless ambition. Their betrayal of Lear highlights the swap from loyalty to treachery. In King Lear, the themes of liquid(ity) and swap(ping) manifest through Lear’s tragic decisions and the fluid nature of power. Lear’s initial control over his kingdom symbolizes financial liquidity; he easily redistributes power based on his daughters’ declarations of love. However, as he descends into madness and loses authority, this liquidity evaporates, illustrating how quickly one can lose power and respect. The act of swapping is evident as Lear trades genuine affection for the illusion of loyalty, leading to betrayal and tragic consequences. Ultimately, the play explores liquidity, expulsion, and the swapping of relationships.

Swapping, liquid, and liquidity are all very different terms with meanings that cover a vast majority of topics. In the play King Lear these terms interact with each other constantly, The idea of liquidity and swapping are both brought up in the action of losing or gaining power. In the play we see Edgar who started out as a favored son turns into a crazy beggar and is removed from the kingdom almost entirely. On the other hand Edmund starts out as the bastard and casted out by the kingdom slowly works his way into the top and gains his power, but in the end his hunt for power ends up getting him expelled from the kingdom. The action of losing or gaining power is the main idea of the interaction between swapping and liquidity not just in this example but throughout the entire play. A wheel of Fortune is a great example that Beth mentioned in class on September 11, 2024. Lear, who started out as the king and ruler of his kingdom, took a spin on the wheel, divided his kingdom to his daughters and in turn gave away his power. We would later see Lear lose his sense of reality and spiral into a deep madness, losing all of his fortune and now with none of the power he once held. This same wheel can be used to describe the journey of many of the characters in the play, some starting with power and losing it as the wheel begins to spin, while others start with none but gradually gain it throughout the play. We also follow Edgar, true son of Gloucester, who is deceived and lied to. Edgar again loses his power and swaps places with his half brother Edmund, both Edgar and Edmund are examples of swapping. Edmund swaps his brother’s trust in him for his personal ambitions and gains, while Edgar is deceived and casted out, forced to change his identity. This example is not only showing swapping but also the liquidity of relationships, where loyalty can quickly change.The bond between Regan and Goneril is marked by a deceptive fluidity. They begin as allies, but their relationship becomes increasingly competitive. As they swap accusations and manipulate each other to gain favor, their sisterhood becomes strained, highlighting the liquidity of familial ties when power is at stake. The action of someone losing power seems to be followed by another gaining said power. Swapping and liquidity are two terms with definitions that seem to interact with each other in almost every aspect of the play, demonstrating this relationship between losing and gaining power. 

Pulling out direct dialogue from the text we can begin to paraphrase the most important way King Lear makes connections between liquid(ity) and swap(ping) and how that relates to expulsion. The first example of this is when Lear states, “How, nothing will come of nothing.” – Lear begins the play by asking his daughters to declare how much they love him. His youngest daughter Cordelia has “nothing” to say. This line is Lear’s response. His repetition of the word “nothing” introduces an important theme of the play. Lear will be stripped of his kingdom, his power, and his family, and left with nothing. King Lear asks whether there is anything to be learned or gained by the experience of having nothing, or whether, as Lear says here, nothing comes of nothing. Later in the text, we hear, “O, reason not the need! Our basest beggars are in the poorest thing superfluous;  Allow not nature more than nature needs, Man’s life is cheap as beast’s” – The line foreshadows that Lear will soon be living side by side with the “basest beggars.” One of the central themes of King Lear is the question of whether poor and powerless people can live with meaning and dignity, or whether wealth and power are the only things that make life bearable. The next deep connection between the themes of Lear comes from Edmund as he states, “Brother, I advise you to the best. I am no honest man if there is any good meaning toward you. I have told you what I have seen and heard, but faintly, nothing like the image and horror of it. Pray you away.” (Edmund, Act 1 Scene 2). This illustrates the connection between Edmund and the expulsion he casts upon his brother by wishing to be able to pray him away after swapping roles with his brother. “I am a very foolish, fond old man,  Fourscore and upward, not an hour more nor less; And to deal plainly, I fear I am not in my perfect mind.” – Lear begins the play blind to the reality of his position. He believes he will always be a king, even if he gives up his power. Over the course of the play, he discovers his mistake. Finally, he learns to see himself clearly, and in this speech, near the end of the play, he is able to describe himself accurately. In Lear’s realization, “I am a man more sinned against than sinning.” In this moment of clarity, Lear reflects on his loss and the expulsion from his former self. He recognizes the depth of his suffering and the misguided nature of his previous authority. He starts to understand the damage he is doing and how his life is based on wealth and status. After he lost everything and gave up his kingdom and wealth, he realized he didn’t have much meaning to anything or anyone. Clearly, he realized this too late as he went insane and lost his family. 

We may relate to the themes of liquidity and swapping in “King Lear” because they mirror our own issues with authority and fraud. We are prompted to reflect on how we handle our own lives by the play’s portrayal of power relations, which are a reflection of real-life interactions. Empathy is sparked by Lear’s journey into insanity, which serves as a reminder of the emotional complexity of personal failings and family relationships. What happens when we lose sight of our principles; such as leaving a friendship you had for years, emotions and drama can come up from that. Considering these topics prompts us to consider crucial issues such as how we manage loyalty and disagreement in our own relationships. What may we infer from Lear’s mistakes? Shakespeare’s creativity is made stronger by these reflections, which also encourage us to think critically about our own decisions and experiences. In conclusion, King Lear powerfully illustrates the fragility of authority and human relationships through the themes of liquidity and swapping. Lear’s initial ability to fluidly distribute power among his daughters represents financial liquidity, but as he descends into madness, this liquidity evaporates, highlighting how quickly trust can be lost. The act of swapping is evident as Lear exchanges genuine love for flattery, leading to betrayal and tragic consequences. Ultimately, the play reveals the dangers of misjudgment and the profound repercussions that arise from trading meaningful connections for superficial gains, leaving a lasting impact on both characters and audiences alike.

Lily Scobbo, Lily Gallagher, Joey Latella, Ava Patelli, Zach Simons, Jayden Prashad