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Analysis of the tragedy of King Lear
Analysis of the tragedy of King Lear
King lear analysis essay
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The Tragedy of King Lear
King Lear is a tragic story by William Shakespeare is a story of a man King Lear and his decision that led to his fate and the fate of others. With every tragic story comes a tragic hero. The tragic hero of the story is King Lear. According to the definition of a tragic hero one must be born into nobility, endowed with a tragic flaw, doomed to make a serious error in judgement, fall from great heights or high esteem, realize they have made an irreversible mistake, and faces and accepts death with honor meets a tragic death. King Lear meets all of these qualities.
King Lear was a tragic hero that was born into nobility, endowed with a tragic flaw and doomed to make a serious error in judgement. King Lear was born into nobility. "He owned vast amounts of land and ruled over many people. Give me the map there. know that we have divided In three our Kingdom." Not only was King Lear born into nobility he was responsible for his own fate. He disowned his daughter Cordelia and made his other two daughters rulers of his land once divided into three now divided into two. His two daughters really did not love him they just wanted the land and power. They turned against their father and had him sentenced to death by Edmund. Lear's death was his own fault. This reason came about because of King Lear's tragic flaw, his pride. Pride is also his reason of how he is a tragic hero. "Tell me, my daughters,-- Since now we will divest us both of rule, Interest of territory, cares of state,-- Which of you shall we say doth love us most, That we our largest bounty may extend Where nature doth with merit challenge?" King Lear was egotistic in the first act where he asked his daughters who loved him most. When he found out his favorite daughter Cordelia did not have much to say about his love for him he disowned her and divided his land to his two evil daughters Regan and Goneril, "From whom we do exist, and cease to be; Here I disclaim all my paternal care, Propinquity and property of blood, And as a stranger to my heart and me Hold thee, from this, for ever." This was also the error in King Lear's judgement.
With Cordelia declared as banished, Lear states, “With my two daughters’ dowers digest the third...Only we shall retain The name and all th’ addition to a king. The sway, revenue, execution of the rest, Beloved sons, be yours” (Shakespeare 17). Lear’s fault here is that he believes that he can divide up his kingdom to his daughters and still retain the title as king; he wants to retire his position and responsibilities as a king but still remain respected and treated as one. His flaw in wanting to be superior leads to his downfall, as he is so blinded by his greed that he decides to divide up his kingdom to his two daughters who are as hungry for power as he is. They only want to strip him of his position and respect to gain more influence. Lear, not realizing the impact of such an impulsive decision, descends into madness when his daughters force him out of his home. After being locked out of his only shelter by his daughters, he states, “Filial ingratitude!...In such a night To shut me out?...O Regan, Goneril, Your old kind father whose frank heart gave all! O that way madness lies. Let me shun that; No more of that” (Shakespeare 137). Lear becomes fully aware of the consequences of his actions. He realizes how ungrateful his daughters are and how they have treated him unfairly even though he has given them everything; much to his dismay, he is left with
Social pressures change as time passes, therefore it is interesting to see how these three texts whom differ by almost four hundred years perceive society and the effect this has on the protagonists; Shakespeare’s King Lear which was first performed in 1606 during the Jacobean era, presents a patriarchal society. Whilst, Arthur Miller uses the characters in ‘Death of a salesman’ to show the failure of the ‘American dream’ during the “golden era” of America in the late 40’s. The ‘American Dream’ was a set of ideals which suggested that anyone in the US could be successful through hard work, and had the potential to live a happy life. The sense of the deterioration in the equality of opportunities links to the fall in power and hierarchy in King Lear. Arudanthi Roy, however, uses her contemporary Indian novel to illustrate, using a proleptic and coalesce structure, the lives of the protagonists living in a post – colonial society. In each of these three texts there are characters who fit the stereotypes that society has instilled in them, but then there are those characters who noticeably differ from the norm; According to 19th century novelist Alfred de Musset “how glorious it is – and how painful – to be an exception.” Hence this statement can be seen as applicable to these characters, because in all three texts these characters do end up losing a lot.
I think it is pretty evident that the relationships that King Lear had with each of his daughters were completely different from one another. In the end, although they went through some rough times, Cordelia still remained his favorite daughter. I think this play is not only a good display of different father daughter relationship but also, it can be taken as lesson learned. It can teach people that pretending just to get your way won’t get you far.
to show Lear as being an old man and that he does not know what is
Because of his high position as the king, people would think that he should be able to distinguish the good from the bad, but unfortunately, he was “blinded” by others. Lear’s first act of blindness came at the beginning of the play. He was fooled by his two eldest daughters’ sweet words, and then he was unable to see Cordelia’s true love for him. There he gave away his kingdom to the two daughters who lied about loving him and banished Cordelia who really loved him from his kingdom. “.For
The first flaw in King Lear is his arrogance, which results in the loss of Cordelia and Kent. It is his arrogance in the first scene of the play that causes him to make bad decisions. He expects his favorite, youngest daughter to be the most worthy of his love. His pride makes him expect that Cordelia’s speech to be the one filled with the most love. Unfortunately for King Lear’s pride, Cordelia replies to his inquisition by saying, “I love your majesty/According to my bond and nothing less';(1.1.100-101). Out of pride and anger, Lear banishes Cordelia and splits the kingdom in half to the two evil sisters, Goneril and Regan. This tragic flaw prevents King Lear from seeing the truth because his arrogance overrides his judgement. Lear’s arrogance also causes him to lose his most faithful servan...
King Lear is a perfect demonstration of the great consequences one man's actions can cause. While there are certainly religious Christian elements to the story, the story is not one of morality or hope. King Lear is a lesson, making an example of what can come of a single, foolish, egotistical action. King Lear's action is the surrendering of his throne to his daughters.
Shakespeare’s tragedy, King Lear, portrays many important misconceptions which result in a long sequence of tragic events. The foundation of the story revolves around two characters, King Lear and Gloucester, and concentrates on their common flaw, the inability to read truth in other characters. For example, the king condemns his own daughter after he clearly misreads the truth behind her “dower,”(1.1.107) or honesty. Later, Gloucester passes judgment on his son Edgar based on a letter in which he “shall not need spectacles”(1.2.35) to read. While these two characters continue to misread people’s words, advisors around them repeatedly give hints to their misinterpretations, which pave the road for possible reconciliation. The realization of their mistakes, however, occurs after tragedy is inevitable.
Shakespeare's King Lear is a play which shows the consequences of one man's decisions. The audience follows the main character, Lear, as he makes decisions that disrupt order in his Kingdom. When Lear surrenders all his power and land to his daughters as a reward for their demonstration of love towards him, the breakdown on order in evident. Lear's first mistake is to divide his Kingdom into three parts. A Kingdom is run best under one ruler as only one decision is made without contradiction. Another indication that order is disrupted is the separation of Lear's family. Lear's inability to control his anger causes him to banish his youngest daughter, Cordelia, and loyal servant, Kent. This foolish act causes Lear to become vulnerable to his other two daughters as they conspire against him. Lastly, the transfer of power from Lear to his eldest and middle daughter, Goneril and Regan, reveals disorder as a result of the division of the Kingdom. A Kingdom without order is a Kingdom in chaos. When order is disrupted in King Lear, the audience witnesses chaotic events that Lear endures, eventually learning who truly loves him.
King Lear, by William Shakespeare, is a tragic tale of filial conflict, personal transformation, and loss. The story revolves around the King who foolishly alienates his only truly devoted daughter and realizes too late the true nature of his other two daughters. A major subplot involves the illegitimate son of Gloucester, Edmund, who plans to discredit his brother Edgar and betray their father. With these and other major characters in the play, Shakespeare clearly asserts that human nature is either entirely good, or entirely evil. Some characters experience a transformative phase, where, by some trial or ordeal, their nature is profoundly changed. We shall examine Shakespeare's stand on human nature in King Lear by looking at specific characters in the play, Cordelia who is wholly good, Edmund who is wholly evil, and Lear whose nature is transformed by the realization of his folly and his descent into madness.
In the beginning of the play the reader learns that Lear is ready to give up his kingdom and retire from a conversation that two noblemen, Gloucester and Kent, are having. He asks his three daughters; Cordelia, Goneril, and Regan to express their love for him to help him make his decision as to who would inherit his kingdom. Cordelia has always been his “favorite” daughter and when asked how much she loved her father she does not lie to him and tells him “I am sure my love’s more ponderous than my tongue” (1363). Rather than being grateful for such love and honesty, Lear banishes her to France and divides his kingdom to his two other daughters. Kent does not agree with Lear’s decision and Lear banishes him too.
During the 1600s, Europe was standing between the scientific revolution and the the combined power of the Enlightenment and Industrial Revolutions. This time was filled with religious confusion fueled by the transitioning monarchs and the desire to divorce that King Louis XIV had. Through the confusion, William Shakespeare sat down and wrote the play, “King Lear” to provide some of the environment he grew up in to the audience. Although the play Shakespeare wrote was fictional, it did comply with the time it was written. It supported the customs and values of the time while it influenced its own milieu.
Although King Lear, by William Shakespeare, is a tragic tale; the main character, King Lear, does not posses all the required qualities of a tragic hero. Lear fails to face his death with courage or honor, which causes the audience to feel apathetic to him. This makes Lear a tragic character but not a tragic hero. Shakespeare makes Lear’s lacking qualities more apparent by Cordelia, a true tragic hero. In comparison with tragic heroes found in Shakespeare’s plays, Shakespeare makes King Lear’s death brief. After Lear rambles his last line, Shakespeare ends his life with the line “(He dies)” (5. 3. 375) without an explanation. Even in his death, Lear never accepts his responsibility in his own trady. Instead, he blames his misfortunes on his
To begin, King Lear makes the conscious decision to split up his land, but he choses the most egotistical way to decide which of his daughter’s received which piece of land. Near the beginning Lear says, “Which of you shall say we doth love us most,/ that we our largest bounty may extend/ Where nature doth with merit challenge,” (I.i.52-54). This quotation demonstrates how Lear was constantly seeking ways to build his ego, and was looking for reassurance that he was still the best man that he could be. It proves to the reader or viewer that Lear is clearly not in his right mind. Demonstrating that maybe this character cannot be trusted, as a true king would not be likely to enact this type of behaviour. Society has trained most individuals that someone who constantly seeks attention is not an individual that anyone should want to associate with. Lear’s attitudes in regards to giving up his land to his daughter’s show that he ne...