R O Y

but the first thing you need to know about this lear production is it's christmas-themed. it starts at a christmas party. it starts specifically with edmund at a christmas party in kind of a servant role, handing out drinks and cleaning up after people, while wearing a full rudolph the red-nosed reindeer costume.

then at the end of act 1, scene 1 goneril and regan have their conversation about lear while standing on either side of edmund. again he's acting as a servant here, they've both just taken drinks from him. and regan proceeds to slap him on the ass right before both sisters leave the scene.

we then transition straight into act 1, scene 2. edmund looks directly at the camera, says "thou, nature, art my goddess; to thy law / my services are bound." and then he removes his entire rudolph outfit, red nose included, and gives the rest of his soliloquy in his normal clothes.

"what the fuck?" you ask. good question. luckily i have a ba in english literature now and i am putting it to very good use.

so. i posit that rudolph the red-nosed reindeer is truly very bastard coded. his whole thing is that he's marginalized for the fact that he was born different from other reindeer and he's mistreated for failing to conform. JUST like edmund kinglear, you are probably thinking.

but you see! there's a difference! because rudolph never has to do anything to resolve this. because rudolph's universe is ruled by the ultimate benevolent authority figure, santa claus. and when it's foggy one christmas eve, santa sees that rudolph's nonconformity is valuable and allows him to serve an instrumental purpose to the rest of the community by guiding the sleigh. and then all of the other reindeer accept him for his difference and he's no longer an outcast the end.

HOWEVER. the word of king lear is NOT ruled by a benevolent authority figure. it's ruled by that stupid old man, who does not value difference and dissent at all but ruthlessly punishes cordelia and kent for failing to conform to his rules. if king lear were santa claus he would let goneril and regan guide his sleigh with their boring normal noses and then he would crash and die and christmas would be cancelled that year. that's the plot of the play, right? king lear and santa claus are narrative foils.

and edmund REALIZES THIS. because he's been trying to play rudolph's game, putting up with mistreatment on the grounds that he'll be rewarded if he only makes himself useful. but after seeing the love contest, and seeing how lear treats nonconformity, he says fuck that. he is NOT going to be rudolph-coded and just stand by until an authority figure rewards him. if all of the other reindeer laugh and call him names he's going to frame them for treason. as he should.

do you still need proof, reader, of my absolutely airtight interpretation? WELL. guess what happens in the next scene. kent (who's sort of combined with the fool in this production) enters. he finds the discarded rudolph costume. he puts it on as he gives his speech about disguising himself to serve lear.

kent has been ruthlessly punished for failing to conform. but kent, instead of getting angry, decides to make himself more useful than ever to win lear's approval back. kent has adopted the rudolph mindset.

oh and in the following scene lear whips his ass with a piece of tinsel.

the parallels to regan slapping edmund's ass are unmistakable. perhaps even to santa slapping rudolph's ass with a riding crop to make him go? the song does not specify so alas i am forced to infer. the point is that, while edmund has freed himself from being a degraded tool of his betters, kent has taken his place.