17, 18세기 정치 풍토 속 『리어 왕』 재현 양상에 대한 연구: 테이트의 『리어 왕』과 배리의 그림을 중심으로 한 고찰

Abstract

Nahum Tate’s History of King Lear replaced Shakespeare’s King Lear on the England stage from 1681 to 1838. Tate adapted Shakespeare's play severely according to the contemporary aesthetic sensibility. He restores Lear to his throne and makes Cordelia marry Edgar. By adapting like that, Tate tactfully avoided the abdication motif. Scott Paul Gordon suggests that Tate's Lear satisfies not only an aesthetic sensibility but also a political preference for orderly succession of the Restoration audience. On the other hands, James Barry who was a rebel against the art system of England challenged the contemporary political tendency as well as the artistic sensibility. He was expelled from the Royal Academy in 1799 because he severely charged his fellow artists on flattering patrons with their portraits instead of devoting themselves to history painting. He attributed the cause of stagnation of history paintings in England to the monarchy and then became a patriotic republican. He drew two paintings of Lear which represented the final scene of Shakespeare's play, not Tate’s adaptation. Barry's paintings of Lear reveal his political view showing a monarch's fall and the emergence of republican order. He delivers such a narrative through composition and stylistic codes. Barry pushed Lear weeping over the dead Cordelia to one side and put Edgar and Albany at the center. By using such composition Barry made the heroes of the new generation replace the old monarch Lear. Besides, he represented Edgar and Albany in Neo-classical style and Lear in manneristic style. Through the contrast of still young men and extravagantly overwhelmed Lear Barry made the shift of power natural and appropriate.