Cultural Context is an Important Form of Storytelling, in Relation to Power Discuss This in Relevance to King Lear.

In 'King Lear' cultural context is an important form of storytelling, in 'King Lear' cultural context and the theme of power are intrinsically linked, those who have power is relative to the time, this is present in King Lear due to the text being set set in the Elizabethan period the power is held by men and their legitimate sons. In this essay i will discuss power and who hold power in King Lear, through the characters of Cordelia, Regan and Edmund.

In 'King Lear', power is held by men. This is seen from the beginning, when Lear s dividing his kingdom between his daughters. The women are entitled to their inheritances firm their father because the are women, their inheritance belongs to their husbands . This establishes the position of women in this text and the little power they can hold.In this scene the relationship of power with gender can been seen when Lear disowns Cordelia and retracts her dowry. Lear as her father, has total control over Cordelia, he owns her until she is married off. Due to Lear disowning her and leaving her no inheritance which was meant to act as her dowry should be detrimental to Cordelia. And as a woman at that time, it is virtually impossible to be independent, her dowry should have been vital to her getting married. Lear holds all of the power over her and her life, he owns her and can at any time take away her dowry to prevent her from getting married, when he decides to do this she is left with nothing. In seconds Lear took everything away from her because he had total control over her.She was no power over herself and her life

As woman in the time of the text Cordelia has little power,when two suitors arrive, Lear asks the suitors France and Burgundy what is the lowest dowry they would accept to marry Cordelia for. she is traded because she was property owned by, first her father and then her husband, because Lear was upset with her he could take her dowry from her, her dowry reflects her value, as a person her whole value is this sum of money, which because she upset him Lear can totally irradiate. Cordelia is being totally controlled by Lear, she has no power. Her inheritance was never hers, from the beginning it belonged to her future husband. Her future husband has not been decided but he already owned anything she was entitled to. Cordelia has so little power this is reflected in the value she is seen by the men around her to hold, her value to Lear is very clear because it is reflected in her dowry. Cordelia's value (through her dowry) is totally controlled by Lear, showing what little power she has over her own life.

Cordelia's value is totally reflected by her dowry, this shows how little respect women had at the time."When she was dear to us we did hold her so". Having a sum of money reflect your total value is dehumanizing and reflects the societal view of women.Her value is reflected to her suitors through her dowry, by taking her dowry away all of Cordelia's value that is recognised by society is removed. However France sees other value in Cordelia, "She is herself a dowry". Other than her dowry, the men in the text recognise Cordelia's beauty as the other aspect of her that is valuable. As a woman her beauty is valued but she is not valued by society, she is seen as lesser and her beauty the only aspect of her that is valued. Because she is not valued by her society she is not seen as equal this is another contubuting factor to her lack of power in teh text. In teh text she is seen as lesser becuse she is a woman, therefore she cannot hold any power. 

The theme of power with relation to cultural context is also seen in the character Regan .Similarly to Cordelia, Regan does not own her inheritance from Lear.  Anything Regan is entitled to, belongs to her husband Cornwall. She has no power over her property or entitlement to gain power. When Lear is dividing his kingdom, he adresses Cornwall instead of Regan, "our son of Cornwall", Regan is blatantly excluded from the discussion because even though it is her property she will never touch it because she is a woman and belongs to her husband. She cannot hold any power because the society that she lives in will not allow her the same freedoms as the men in the text.

When in the final scene Regan decides to marry Edmund, she tries to exercises the little power she does have. She can decide if Edmund gets to rule with her. She seems to despise the men in her life, first her father Lear and secondly her husband. These men in her life hold power by

Comparative Essay

Both Matthew Warchus' 'Pride' and Shakespeare's 'King Lear' have the theme of power . In both texts the theme of power is relative to the time, with minority groups holding little power. In 'Pride', the minorty groups who do not have power are the miners (such as the the Welsh mining village of Dulais) and the LGBT (such as the LGSM) communities. In 'King Lear', the minority groups who do not hold power are women (such as Goneril, Regan and Cordelia) and illegitimate children (such as Edmund). In both texts there are minorities who old little power because of social attitudes and structures of the time and attempt to join together to help  each other overcome adversity.

Both 'Pride' and 'King Lear' have examples of characters who show the power minorities held at the time the texts are set. Joe from 'Pride' and Cordelia's in 'King Lear'  power and freedoms are restricted by their families in the text because of the cultural context. They defy the social norms and subsequently their families. In 'King Lear', Cordelia does not have a lot of power because she is a woman. Her father, King Lear, owns her before she is married because of the way society operated at the time. After she is married she belongs to her husband and her inheritance from her father belongs to her husband, France. She has little power and is not entitled to her own property. Cordelia cannot have power if she cannot be independent, her voice and opinions will all no hold the same weight as a man's because she is seen as lesser. Cordelia's life is always in a state of instability because she is a woman. This is seen in the first scene, where Lear strips her of her dowry . A similar situation can be seen in 'Pride'. Joe's life is in a state of insatiability because of his sexuality. He has little freedoms because he feels under control of his parents. Like Cordelia, he doesn't want to upset his family. But he has to in order to live his truth and be honest. Before he comes out he was little power, his choices are made with his family in mind, he wants to please them . As a young adult he is is very reliant on his parents like Cordelia is reliant on Lear and like Cordelia he tries to keep them happy by pretending to  be someone he's not. When Joe comes out he leaves home because his parents won't respect and love him the same . This shows the lack of power held by both Joe in 'pride' and Cordelia in 'King Lear'. 

Both texts have characters who experience oppression which is reflected in the laws at the time. Lear's daughters (Cordelia, Goneril and Regan) in 'King Lear' and Joe in 'Pride', are restricted by the laws of the time because in 'King Lear' they are women and in 'Pride' Joe is a gay man.The laws reinforce In 'King Lear', Lear's daughters are not able to own land or have significant power. Instead a man (either their husband or father), owns their property. The laws in the text restrict women and contribute to the unequal society which is seen in the text, where women hold little power. This situation is also  seen in 'Pride'. In 'Pride' Joe, as a gay man is held to a different standard than his straight peers. The age of consent is 21 for gay men . This like 'King Lear' shows a minority group being othered and restricted by the laws which are strict reinforcement of societal beliefs and norms. The lack of power held by minorty groups in 'Pride' and 'King Lear' is refected in the laws that reinforce the societal norms which are restricting both groups.

In both texts women's voices do not carry the same weight as the men in the text, the women in the texts fight to be heard and hold power equally to the men in the text. In 'King Lear' this is seen in Cordelia, Goneril, Reagan and the men who try to defend them. In 'Pride' it is seen in the lesbians in LGSM who feel like they aren't being listened to.In 'King Lear', Regan and Goneril desperately want the power that their husbands hold on their behalf. Cordelia is seen as a perfectly idealistic and moral figure for refusing to deceive her father to come closer to gaining power. Lear asking his daughters to express how much they love him is an exercise of power, he has so much power over them he can do what he wants and this degrading demand shows that. Regan and Goneril, while they are deceiving him, are trying to gain power in whatever way they can in a world designed to make sure they cannot gain power. The text its self frames Cordelia as a heroin and Regan and Goneril as villains and immoral A simliar situauion is seen in 'Pride'. In 'Pride' 

The Themes of Friendship in Pride (2014)

One of the major themes of the film Pride is that of friendship and unity.
Although the mining community in Wales and the homosexual activists in London are culturally opposed; they realize that through their unity, they are stronger against the opposition.
When the 'Lesbians and Gays Support the Miners' first arrive at the Welsh mining community, they are ostracized by the local members. Through the kindness, understanding and acceptance of Dai, Hefina and Cliff; the Welsh locals begin to accept and bond with the LGSM members and a bridge of unity is built between the two groups.

Lear's control and power over his daughters

         Lear's respect towards his daughters and the control he                                               has over them

The novel I've studied and will be writing about is King Lear by Shakespeare.

In King Lear, in terms of cultural context, we see just how much control and little respect fathers can have for their daughters.

Fathers had complete and utter control over their daughters, their life choices and usually had little respect towards to them because women were seen as inferior compared to men. We see this in King Lear through out the play.

 Lear has complete and utter control over his daughters and their future. The example that I'll be using is Act I, Scene II when King Lear is choosing his daughters suitors.This is cultural context in a sense that fathers got to choose their daughters husbands and the daughters had absolutely no say in whether they wanted that husband, let alone if they wanted that husband at all. This is completely normal for women and are very much so used to it as we don't see any of them protest against is, indicating they're used to have absolutely now power in their life and the choices they make. We can see that this affects women as Goneril hates her husband, Albany. We can see that she despises him because at the end of the play she falls for Edmund and orders him to kill Albany so they can be together. This could have been avoided if Lear had let Goneril choose a man who she actually liked but that realistically would have never happened in that time period.

Lear also has usually very little respect for their daughters and their dignity. The example I'm going to use is in the same scene, when Lear spirals into a fit of rage after Cordelia doesn't tell him how much she loves him. In the scene, we see how quickly Lear snaps at Cordelia even though he refers to her as his favorite. After calling her many hurtful names in front a room full of potential suitors, her sisters and important individuals, he then begins to offer to the remaining suitors. He doesn't do it a pleasant way but he makes her out to be burden and as if she's a cow getting auctioned off at a farmers market. "Take her or leave her" he says to Burgundy who turns her away considering she's now powerless and has nothing to her name. Cordelia probably isn't used to this considering Lear openly exclaims that she is his favorite. How much did he actually love Cordelia if he was able to disown her so quickly? This shows how little respect for her.

We sometimes see Lear intertwining the two (the two being having little respect and having power over his daughters. The example I'm going to use is when Lear curses Goneril to be infertile.This is a huge deal as back in Elizabethan times women were seen to be practically useless to society so their main purpose was to birth and raise children for the husband so for Lear to take this away from Goneril is an act of pure hatred towards her and power over her, not only because he's her father but also because he's King which makes him think he's got more more of an advantage when it comes to talking to the gods. I think that the reason why Goneril and Regan have so little respect for him when he really was vulnerable is because of how little he had towards them when they were growing up considering Cordelia was noticeably his favorite which must have made them feel worthless if your father, the one who's meant to love and protect you, makes you feel second best.

Comparative Essay:

The origin of parents respect and power over their children is seen in both texts. Both texts have characters who have parents who have so much control over them yet little respect towards them. 

In King Lear, Cordelia especially is the character who Lear had so much power over and so little respect towards. Even in the first scene we see how Lear gets to choose who Cordelia marries. He's choosing who Cordelia is going to spend the rest of her life with and isn't factoring in her happiness or who she actually likes. In terms of respect, when Cordelia refuses to tell Lear how much he loves her as she doesn't feel the need to, he spirals into a fit of rage and then somewhat raffles her off to the remaining suitors leaving Cordelia mortified as it was in a room full of her sisters and other powerful figures. Lear disowns Cordelia in a sense here. He no longer wants anything to do with her as she defied him and went against what he wanted. A similar situation is seen in the movie Pride. Joe, a gay man, is growing up in a homophobic England where being gay is the ultimate no-no. After Joe's dad find out he's gay his parents, especially his father, spiral into a fit of rage. We cant exactly tell what's being said because the scene is blurred out but we know that his parents are furious with him. They aren't factoring in that Joe can't help who he loves, but they want to force him to like women. Similarly, Lear is choosing who Cordelia and not factoring in her preference. Therefore, there is power and control over children in both texts. 

The Theme of Disguise in King Lear

Red =Example

Yellow = point

black =Analysis  

Introduction

The topic of this essay is based on 'disguise'. Alongside this Deception seems like the most prominent theme but behind this disguises like Kent's and Edger can open up opportunities for other subplots within the story. 

Disguise

There are two main parts in 'King Lear' were we see the Theme of disguise, we have Edgar and Kent.

both of them have changed their outward and vocal appearance to continue to serve the ones they are loyal too, even though they have been cast away by them before. Alongside this, both are using their disguise to protect themselves from a threat. Edgar from his father and brother. Kent from Lear and his evil daughters. 

Why has Edgar picked this disguise? Maybe he had no choice, maybe he liked it. My view is the status of the disguise. On our daily journeys, we see people that are homeless and that are less fortunate than us and we don’t acknowledge their faces or who they are we just pity them and move on. I think that’s what Edgar is trying to achieve in this situation not only hide but not be acknowledged so he can stay closer to his father and his issues without being found out by either, his father or hid evil brother Edmund.
Edgar if framed by his brother Edmund and is left to flee the kingdom as the "Poor Tom" the beggar man.  Edgar has really gone to quite the extent to achieve this disguise. 



Edgar loves his father, but Gloucester doesn't see that. Gloucester sees Edgar as the son who planned to rid him of his rule of Gloucester. Edgar is trying soo hard to stay with his father cause he loves him, but at the same time he can't risk being found out as his father has yet to find out the truth 













First is Kent, kent changes his appearance   Lear is in the middle of making his great decisions where he splits the land among his daughters. Kent tells Lear he is foolish and is immediately exiled from the kingdom. Although we know Kent cares about Lear as that is why he dares to speak out about him.

With Edgar's disguise, he was forced into it by his brother, Edmund, 

Comparative : G.V.V - Key Moment 1

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General Vision & Viewpoint

Beginning of "Pride" and "King Lear"

The General Vision & Viewpoint (G.V.V) is important in the beginning of both "Pride" and "King Lear". Both texts set the tone for the rest of the story because of the relationships established between parent and child. In "King Lear",  Lear has an altercation with his youngest and dearest daughter Cordelia. Lear is old and weary, and has decided to divide his land between his three daughters, against the better judgement of his advisers. This is similar to "Pride" when Joe and his parents fall out when they find out he's gay.  His inflated ego leads him to ask his three daughters how much they love him. While Regan and Goneril lie to Lear, Cordelia is honest and tells him she only loves him according to her bond. "I love your majesty according to my bond; no more nor less". This sends Lear into a spiraling rage. As a result, he expropriates her portion of the land. The court is in shock. Even Kent tells him he is overreacting. "Be Kent unmannerly when Lear is mad".  This problem by itself would be enough to cast an ominous shadow over the G.V.V, but as well as this, Lear offers Cordelia to two suitors - the King of France and the Duke of Burgundy. Cordelia has no say in this situation. It's as if in this scene Lear is discarding his own daughter. While this all unfolds, Goneril and Regan are plotting to solve the "problem" that is their own father. This is like "Pride" when Maureen turns on the mining community to drive the LGSM out of Dulais. They reckon he is a liability and they need to "do something" about him. These situations set a dark, negative G.V.V.  The viewer doesn't know how Lear's decisions are going to pan out, but they know that with Lear's other two daughters conspiring against him, things are not looking good.

Similarly, the G.V.V of the beginning of "Pride" starts out negative, but turns bright. In the opening scene of the play, we see the police brutalizing the striking miners. However, the rest of the introductory segment of the film is quite upbeat and positive. We are introduced to Joe, who has recently turned 20. There are celebrations in the house, and he is gifted a new camera. All seems well in Joe's family. On his way to college, he gets swept up in a Pride march, where he meets Steph and Mike. He goes to the pub with them after, and joins the LGSM (Lesbians and Gays Support the Miners). The G.V.V here is optimistic. Joe has a healthy relationship with his parents, which is contrary to Lear and his daughters he has found a new group of friends and he is embarking on an adventure with them. In conclusion, G.V.V is important to establish the tone of the film and highlight the relationships between parent and child.

 
          
         
       

     

The G.V.V for power of the woman in King Lear

Red=Examples
Yellow=Making a point
Black=Analysis
Orange=Question
Blue=Quote

Introduction

Why do women possesses a deeper and more emotional role in King Lear ?

The role of women in “King Lear” Introduction King Lear is deservingly considered to be the one of the greatest works by William Shakespeare. A representation of the attractive and strong personalities of the main heroes is so bright that no reader stays indifferent after reading the play. The play makes us think about the deepness of people’s inner world. The difficult temper of King Lear is depicted along with the true and deep feelings of love. Love is a feeling, which is brightly expressed due to the most emotional creatures of the world – women. Women can feel deeply and like to brightly express their emotions. Women’s soul reflects all the humans’ feelings. In the play King Lear women help the king realize what true love really is. 

 

This can be seen as she calls off the French attack on England as readily as she instigated it. Cordelia was thus the ideal women in the play, respectful and dignified but still powerful. Cordelia's honesty and integrity contrast with her sisters' hypocrisy. Goneril and Regan were the two elder daughters of King Lear. After the banishment of Cordelia, Lear divides his kingdom between both these women. Throughout the play, they misused their power and continuously devised malevolent plans against their father. Shakespearean women were considered to be quiet, shy and submissive, which is the complete opposite of these two women. Their vicious and aggressive nature brings out the male characteristics in them, making them the ideal villains. Goneril was portrayed as the more cunning of the two, but as the play proceeds, Regan becomes just as vicious. Regan even suggested to plucking out Gloucester's eyes towards the end of Act 3.

Comparative essay

In King Lear, I thought the fate of Lear, Gloucester and Cordelia was extremely traumatic and I felt it was out of proportion to their faults. Lear had, in his foolish arrogance, insisted on his daughters publicly declaring their affection for him to gain land and power and to bolster his vanity, ‘Which of you shall we say doth love us most?’ Cordelia decides to ‘Love, and be silent’ and is subsequently banished. This unleashes a series of catastrophes not only for the central characters, but for society as a whole. The vision presented was bleak, ‘As flies to wanton boys are we to the gods’.

Lear loses his sanity and becomes a ‘ruined piece of nature’. Although in the concluding scenes, he is reunited with his beloved Cordelia and is longing for the moment when ‘We two alone will sing like birds i’ the cage’, his and our hopes are cruelly dashed. Cordelia is executed, ‘She’s gone for ever’. Similarly, Gloucester, who banishes his loving son, is blinded in one of the most gruesome scenes in any drama, ‘Pluck out his eyes’; ‘let him smell/ His way to Dover.’ Here I considered the vision of the play as bleak and pitiless, ‘Man’s life’s as cheap as beast’s.’ 

Yet Shakespeare presented another contrasting view. Through profound suffering, a character comes to a recognition and understanding of the truth about himself and his relation to others. Lear confronted by Poor Tom empathises with the poor, ‘Is man no more than this?’ – just ‘poor naked wretches’. But this insight I felt came at a terrible price, the loss of his sanity. The blinded Gloucester also gains insight, ‘I stumbled when I saw’, in the midst of his suffering. This terrible anguish aids the moral and spiritual development of these characters.

I found the relationships in the play not only dysfunctional but poisonous. Lear’s ungrateful elder daughters abandoned the old man, ‘unbonneted he runs’. But he also behaves terribly for a father, cursing Goneril with sterility, ‘Suspend thy purpose, if thou didst intend/ To make this creature fruitful!’ Even the relationship between lovers is nasty. Edmund cynically evaluates Goneril and Regan, ‘Which of them shall I take?’

Shakespeare also uses animal imagery to present the play’s dark vision, with references to ‘wolfish visage’ and ‘monsters of the deep’ contributing to this harsh world. I feel when I look at the modern world and the cruelty, violence and lack of justice, the inequality between the haves and have-nots, I can understand the view that ‘When we are born, we cry that we are come/ To this great stage of fools.’  

G.V.V - Start of "King Lear"

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Question

Start of King Lear : G.V.V

In this essay, I'm going to discuss the General Vision & Viewpoint (G.V.V) of the beginning of "King Lear" by William Shakespeare.

How does Lear treat his daughters at the start of the play?

Lear seems considerably harsh to his daughters, and seems to be foolish and insensible. He  decides to split his land evenly between his three daughters, against the better judgement of everyone in the court. "Know that we have divided in three our kingdom...to shake all cares and business from our age".  His inflated ego leads him to ask his three daughters how much they love him, and when Cordelia, his youngest and most loved daughter, says "Nothing, my lord", Lear is disgusted. As a result he renounces her part of the land, "Thy truth be thy dowry" and discards her as his daughter, "Here I disclaim all my paternal care, propinquity and property of blood". His other two daughters lie to him about how much they love him, perhaps because they are bitter about his preference to Cordelia. Kent even tells Lear that he is overreacting. The G.V.V at the start of the play is negative, and to the viewer can only get worse. It is never good to see a father treat his daughter so horribly. It's as if Lear is throwing her away. 

Do Lear and/or Cordelia make a bad decision/s?

The whole court discourages Lear's idea to split the kingdom and relinquish his power to his daughters. Lear is blinded by his pride and is unable to see the bigger picture of what he is doing. He is unaware of the consequences of both his egotistical behavior and his unorthodox decision to split his land. Even Kent, his most loyal servant, can see that Lear is being irrational. "Be Kent unmannerly when Lear is mad." "Reserve thy state and this hideous rashness." However, Lear will not be convinced to change his mind, only angered further. We see his mental state deteriorating already. This contributes to the desperate, negative G.V.V we see in the first scene. Lear makes the decision to relinquish his power, but does not want his royal status to change.

Identity In King Lear

The Theme of Identity in King Lear “By Jhus Orange 

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Question 1 

Identity is a major theme seen in the Shakespearean Text "King Lear" and is seen from the beginning to the end of the text. We first see Cordelia lose her Identity. 

At the beginning of the text, we see Cordelia lose her Identity as a Princess and as Lear's daughter as she refused to confess how much she loved her father King Lear; "Nothing My Lord". Lear says; "Here I disclaim my parental care, propinquity and property of blood and as a stranger to my heart and me hold thee, from this, for ever." But in losing her social identity and her father, she found her father's identity. Lear is so angered by Cordelia's defiance of his will that he took away her dowries on the spot this showed that Lear's Identity was a rash and irresponsible as he didn't think about his actions, both in disowning Cordelia and giving away his land and wealth before he died. This shows that Cordelia lost her identity at the beginning of King Lear.  

In this scene we also see the identities of Cordelia, Regan and Goneril, Lear's three daughters. Cordelia shows herself to be honest, she doesn't think she has to tell Lear how much she loves him, she's his father and he should already know that. Cordelia says "So young my Lord, and True"   in response to Lear basically calling her immature and she is correct, as compared to her two sisters throughout this text her identity is the most true. She says, "Why have my sister's husbands if they love you all?"  , Cordelia is questioning Lear here saying what's the point of the husbands her sisters have if they love him the most? Which is correct. Cordelia's sisters , Goneril and Regan lie to Lear about their identities by saying they love him; "more than words can wield the matter" ,which by the end of the play we see as being a blatant lie, their actions seem more like hate towards Lear during the play and we see this when they both refuse to give Lear and his Knights Asylum not long after this first scene. Goneril and Regan lie to Lear about their identities while Cordelia was honest with Lear, she didn't know what to say so she said nothing, "I am sure, my love's more ponderous than my tongue" she  couldn't express how much she loved her dad Lear because she loved him so much and in response, Lear scolded her and took away her dowries. Cordelia's identity is being a good and honest person while Goneril and Regan are the complete opposite. This shows that in this scene the identities of Lear's daughters are shown in this scene. 

  

Edmund's biological identity is the reason for all of his evil actions in the  play ,"King Lear". 

Edmund is an illegitimate son of Gloucester and at this point in time, illegitimate children were looked down upon society and maltreated. Edmund reveals his identity to us, the audience in the soliloquy he gives has in the second act of the first scene. During his soliloquy he says "Well then legitimate Edgar, I must have your land", when he says this he shows resentment and he mocks his brother saying "Legitimate Edgar" , referring to the fact that he is not the legitimate son he's a bastard child. In the same extract I took from the play Edmund says "I must have your land" Edmund has an evil revelation here and he decides to get his revenge on the world by taking his brother, Edgar's land and his dowries. Edmund's identity is the reason for  his evil actions throughout the play , he is the bastard child of Gloucester but he just want's to be treated like everyone else. After living a life of discrimination and maltreatment he has had enough and if you look at it through his perspective everything he did was right, lying to his brother Edgar, tricking Gloucester into turning against Edgar, and telling Cornwall about Gloucester's plans for the king. If Edmund was not a bastard child, he would have never felt angered by the world and he would have never done all the bad things that he did. This shows that Edmund's biological identity is the reason for his evil actions in the play , "King Lear".   

  Question 2. Comparing the Theme of Identity in both "King Lear" and "Pride". 

Identity is an Influential theme in both "King Lear" and "Pride". 

Both texts represent characters who are hiding their true identities from their families. 

In the Film "Pride" directed by Matthew Warchus we see the main protagonist Joe, hide his true identity from his parents. Joe is a gay man and he is afraid of telling his parents that he is gay. Joe chose to sneak out under the disguise that he was going to college while he was actually going to meet with the "LGSM" (Lesbians and Gays Support the Miners) group. Joe showed his fellow "LGSM" members his true identity but he hid it from his family. The first time Joe did a major thing to hide his LGSM membership from his parents was when he told his mum that he was going on a school trip to learn how to bake. Joe didn't actually go on a school trip, instead he went on a trip to visit the Dulais village in Wales with the LGSM . We see him truly embrace his identity in the "Pits and Perverts" ball he has finally been recognized as his own person, he's not known as "Bromley" anymore, "he's the official photographer". Joe has his first gay encounter at the "Pits and Perverts" ball and he wasn't planning on telling his parents ,but when he arrives at home his parent have found out that he's gay from all his "LGSM" photos he had hidden in his room. Joe's true identity had been finally revealed to his family. A silent scene follows where we see, but don't hear, his dad giving out to him and we are left to imagine all the horrible things he would have said to him .In conclusion, in the film "Pride" we saw Joe hide his true identity as a gay man from his family and we also saw how it affected his relationship with his parents. 

We also see characters hide their identities from their families in the play "King Lear". 

In the Shakespearean play "King Lear" we see Gloucester's son Edgar put on multiple different identities to fool his father into thinking he was a different person. The first time Gloucester meets Edgar after he loses his eyes , Edgar is still putting on the "Poor Tom" persona and Gloucester believes it ,as he literally cannot see who Poor Tom really is. Gloucester had met "Poor Tom" once before, at the hovel and when he remembers him he says "I such a fellow saw, Which made me think a man a worm." Edgar puts on this persona because poor people were looked down upon , people didn't pay attention to them so he thought, he should be a poor, mad person so that he could lay low thinking that his fathers men were after him. He chose to hide his identity in plain sight .Gloucester asks Edgar to lead him to Dover , intending on killing himself, Edgar agrees but really has his own agenda, he was going to save his father from himself. Edgar loses his own identity so that he could save his father's life. 

We also see Edmund; Gloucester's younger son hide his true identity from his father. Edmund is a vengeful person; he is angry at the world for treating him so badly because he is an "illegitimate" "bastard" child and he is determined to get revenge on those who wronged him for his biological identity. Edmund pretends to be a good son even though that is not his true identity, he fools his father into going against his half-brother Edgar. Edmund hid his identity as a vengeful person from his family, Gloucester, and we also saw Edgar hide his identity from Gloucester not to manipulate him, but to help him stay alive. To keep his father from trying to take his own life, Edgar convinced his father that he had jumped from a cliff and survived he told him that he saw a "Fiend" above him and the fiend is what made him jump ,”what was that thing which parted from you... it was some fiend”. Edgar used this false identity to inspire his father to live again after he had lost everything. 

In conclusion, both in "King Lear" and in "Pride" we see main characters hide their true identities from their families and this shows how influential the theme of identity is in both texts. In "King Lear" we saw both Edmund and Edgar hide their identities from their father, Edgar was pretending that he wasn't Gloucester's son by disguising himself as Poor Tom and by pretending to be a wandering man and Edmund was also hiding his true identity from his father because he pretended to be a good , loving son but he was not loving or good ,instead he was cunning and vengeful. In "Pride" we also saw Joe hide his true identity from his family he doesn't tell them that he is gay or that he is a part of the LGSM group. 

Identity is also an influential theme in the novel; “Silas Marner”. 

In the novel “Silas Marner” written by George Elliott we also see characters hide their identities from their families. In “Silas Marner” we see Godfrey Cass hide the fact that he is married to a drug addict called Molly  he was hiding the fact that he was really a married man and a father. His brother, Dunstan however knew about Godfrey’s secret family and he used it to blackmail Godfrey into doing whatever he asked him to do. Godfrey let Silas Marner adopt his daughter , without telling him that the girl was his daughter and he regrets this later when he cannot have children with his wife Nancy an all he wants is a child so he tries to take Eppie back from Silas but she refuses him. 

This is the opposite of  both King Lear and Pride. 

In both King Lear and Pride we see the children hiding their Identities from their parents, in “Pride we see Joe hide the fact that he is gay from his parents and in “King Lear” we see Edmund and Edgar hide their identities in different ways from their father as I stated earlier in the second question. But in “Silas Marner” we see Godfrey who is the parent hide his identity from his daughter Eppie by not telling her until she was much older that he was in fact her father. 

This shows that Identity was an influential theme in “Silas Marner”.