Tell Me Sweet Little Lies

This play has been full of deceit and lies from the beginning, with Goneril and Regan undermining Lear, and then Kent and Edgar in disguise. Oh and Edmund committing treason. One interesting part of the script though is the use of the "aside". In just the fifth act alone Goneril has three asides to the audience. Moments where she steps out of the scene for a moment to remind the audience of her evil actions, or to clue them in to what is going on. Shakespeare could have simply had these same asides play out later, in the same scene even, but as actual actions within the play. For example, Goneril poisons her sister. She could have been seen administering the poison, or the play could have relied on the fact that they reveal this later. Instead, there are purposeful and obvious deceits that the audience alone is privy to for a moment. One possible reason for these choice could be that it drives home the them of lying that is prevalent throughout the play. Instead of having their actions simply lead to situations, etc., we see the characters pull themselves out of the action to acknowledge something that they are thinking or doing, but keeping secret from everyone else. The breaking down of the fourth wall actually heightens the drama in these situations, rather than alleviating it or simply involving the audience.