Blindness and Downfall in King Lear

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Not only is the audience able to see the dominating theme of blindness affect the lives of King Lear and the Duke of Albany, but one is also able to see the downfall of Gloucester due to his blindness and poor decisions on situations he is oblivious too. In King Lear, Gloucester is not only blind in mental terms, but he is also physically blinded by Goneril near the end of the play. Firstly, Gloucester’s blindness denies him the capability to see the good in his son Edgar and the evil in his son Edmund. Gloucester’s inability to see causes him to hunt down his son Edgar in order to try and kill him, when in reality the son he is trying to kill, is the son that has the right intentions. Edmund, Gloucester’s evil and illegitimate son plans to kill Gloucester to take his wealth and riches thought out the whole play. When Gloucester is angered by the letter Edmund claims Edgar wrote, he screams, O villain, villain! His very opinion in the letter! Abhorred villain! Unnatural, detested, brutish villain! Worse than brutish! Go, sirrah, seek him. I'll appre- hend him. …show more content…

If I could bear it longer and not fall To quarrel with your great opposeless wills, My snuff and loathèd part of nature should Burn itself out. If Edgar live, O, bless him!— Now, fellow, fare thee well (IV. VI. 36-43). Proving again how blind he is to the fact that his son is alive and well, and actually standing right in front of him without Gloucester even noticing. In conclusion, it is clear that blindness in terms of a mental weakness is the most prominent and destructive theme in Shakespeare’s, King Lear. This flaw is felt on a physical and a mental scale by several characters in the play such as King Lear, Albany, and Gloucester, leading each of them to their own demise in one way or another, proving that the outstanding theme of blindness is a dangerous and misleading one at

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