Theme Of Loyalty In Shakespeare's King Lear

William Shakespeare’s plays consist of complex characters which compare and contrast in a way that an analysis of these characters reveal the theme of the play. In King Lear, the play’s foils reveal the main theme of loyalty. A foil is a character who contrasts with another character to emphasize certain traits. In the play, the theme of loyalty is portrayed as a difficult quality to find among people and it is something that is demonstrated not just through words but through actions as well. Loyalty can be seen in Cordelia, who continues to respect her father, King Lear, in both his states of sanity and insanity. While Regan and Goneril only respect their father, King Lear, when he is in power.

Cordelia is the youngest of her sisters and

Both sisters are motivated by their desire for power they do not care the extent they must go to achieve this. They are dishonest to King Lear painting a false portrayal of their love for him, just so they gain the largest piece of the divided kingdom. Along with the land and the power over England, both sisters betray their promised responsibility to care for their father. Instead, Regan and Goneril plan to reduce their father remaining authority to feed their hunger for power. They disrespect King Lear by reducing the number of knights he is allowed to have and ultimately depriving him of shelter during a storm. They do not care nor are concerned with their father’s safety. King Lear, soon realizes their betrayal when he is expressing his sorrow to Cordelia stating “… for your sisters Have, as I do remember, done me wrong: You have some cause, they have not” (4.7.83-85). This line in the play demonstrates the evil Regan and Goneril portray, because throughout the play King Lear has not done anything to deserve the treatment they gave him, instead he gives them all of the kingdom and power he possesses. Ultimately Regan and Goneril’s appetite for power bring about their downfall. Both charters want to marry Edmund, that Gonerial goes to the extent to plan the murder of her husband and poisons Regan. Later Gonerial kills herself when she discovers that Edmund is dead and because she would rather die than face the consequences of her malicious