What I find to be so appealing about King Lear is his fragile vanity that only takes on idealized love and absolute obedience. King Lear seeks and demands the “pure attention” from his daughters but fail to assess the reverence behind the toxic and ostentatious expression of love, his process of bringing subconscious aesthetic appreciation to the consciousness is through verbal confirmation, which brings to the questions, how does King Lear express his paternal love toward his daughters and why?
In the video clip from the movie, “The Huntsman: Winter’s War,” Ravenna’s strange love toward her sister, Freya, is for her to be as powerful, ruthless and loveless as she is so that they can together conquer all kingdoms. This type of love may not bring the aesthetic appreciation to his sister, and it is twisted, selfish and inappropriate because the unconscious monster of fear, sense of betrayal, resides on the back of true aesthetic experience of love, like a switch, something might accidentally and easily trigger the off mode. King Lear’s expression of love toward his daughter is similar to Ravenna’s assertion of love toward her sister, share of power and authority, which are not being appreciated by their loved ones. In a sense, they are both narcissists; they maintain a false pride from the power they hold when such power is being taken or exploited, the “unexpressed emotions” will come in the uglier way, or maybe, the most authentic way. In the movie, Ravenna’s unconscious fear is virtualized into a magic mirror, brings the deepest, unexpressed thoughts and emotions to the surface, causing her to destroy her sister’s romance, and lead herself to destruction. On another side, when King Lear lost his power and authority, language becomes his only weapon to protect his dignity and deny the reality.
Beside Ravenna’s similarity to King Lear, Freya’s aesthetic experience with a nobleman, Andrew, also resembles King Lear’s desire to confirm Cordelia’s love toward him, which they both receive “betrayal.” Both characters know their loved ones love them, and they desire actions. “For love blinds even the clearest eyes,” when misinterpretation and misunderstanding crush into the conscious mind, the switch is off, and the strong sense of betrayal takes the ownership.
I suppose the reason I choose this video is that there are some commons between King Lear and characters from the movie. Both express unique and food for thought idea of love and aesthetic experience.