An important example of when diction is used in King Lear is when characters switch from verse to prose. Since diction is the choice of words and phrases in speech and writing, so when characters are switching between the two types of speech it feels fairly obvious and this has a strong purpose within the play, lemme explain. When speech is done in verse, it shows nobility, that’s why we see it most often in Shakespeare as most of the characters are of high power and are considered superior to the average citizen of the time. So prose was very infrequent in the play, however we do see it and that’s during when characters begin their downfall. The most obvious example is with Lear himself, during the exposition and rising action we see him talk exclusively in verse, however it’s when he exits to the storm, we begin to see his mental deterioration, as he continues to ‘fall from grace,’ the more he begins to enter prose speaking.
King Lear is the most obvious character who switches between verse and prose. Here is an interaction between Lear and Gloucester, where Lear is originally talking in prose however later changes his speech to be more verse.
What, art mad? A man may see how this world goes
with no eyes. Look with thine ears: see how yond
justice rails upon yond simple thief. Hark, in
thine ear: change places; and, handy-dandy, which
is the justice, which is the thief? Thou hast seen
a farmer’s dog bark at a beggar?
And the creature run from the cur? There thou
mightst behold the great image of authority: a
dog’s obeyed in office.
Thou rascal beadle, hold thy bloody hand!
Why dost thou lash that whore? Strip thine own back;
Thou hotly lust’st to use her in that kind
For which thou whipp’st her. The usurer hangs the cozener.
I chose this extract because it occurs after Lear has re-entered civilization. Before this moment, Lear had been in the wilderness and was loosing his sanity and it was as if he had forgotten who he was or how he was supposed to act. So once he begins to interact with Gloucester he is able to quickly snap back into sanity. Lear battles with his sanity and Shakespeare uses diction to display this. For an Elizabethan Audience, this improper speaking would be very noticeable, particularity when for so long, all the characters have spoken in verse.