Physical to Psychological: A Critical Study of Edward Bond’s Politics of Using Violence in Lear

Abstract

Post-war Britain witnessed a drastic change in its society. After the catastrophe of
the Second World War a widespread violence started in Britain. While war and
violence have played pivotal roles in the formation of modernity, there is still a
common tendency to avoid delving into the sociological and psychological study
of the grim origins of contemporary social life. Edward Bond as a critic in his
profound reflections on the nature of social change mentions that British society
became irrational and in his ardent reformist fervour wanted to eliminate the deeprooted
irrationality. His portrayal of violence in his plays is used as an intelligent
theatrical device that hinges upon the idea of violence not only as a cataclysmic
force that is only blood, gore and carnage but is used as a prop to redefine its
psychological underpinnings. Post-war drama broke the myth of civilized Britain
and exposed the crudity and bestiality of European society. Bond wanted his plays
to work on the nerves of people and thereby to bring the subconscious of every
individual to the forefront of the readers and theatregoers. By showing crude
violence in his plays Bond wanted to make the people face the horrible skeleton of
so-called civilized British society devoid of false moral façade. Here in the play
Lear the politics of using violence brutally becomes very appalling to the psyche of
the audience and the readers. This paper offers an analysis of Bond’s use of
violence in terms of its transition from physical to psychological. This will also
analyse historical and contemporary impact of coercion and warfare on the
transformation of social life through the study of organized violence.