Throughout Shakespeare's story of King Lear, readers might see a similarity between King Lear and Gloucester. Initially, you feel as if King Lear and Gloucester are, in a sense, bad people for abandoning the individuals that care about them the most. King Lear banishes his daughter Cordelia because she doesn’t express her love for Lear the way he wants her to and he also banishes Kent for standing up for Cordelia in saying that she truly loves Lear the most. Gloucester banishes his son Edgar because he is manipulated by his illegitimate son Edmund into thinking that Edgar is trying to murder him so that he can take his throne. In the beginning, I feel as if King Lear is insecure and has poor judgment while Gloucester is easily influenced and very naive. Towards the end of the play, my opinions on both Lear and Gloucester changed. I began to feel sympathy towards them once they started going through traumatic events. Towards the end of the play, King Lear becomes a humble and caring individual while Gloucester later proves how he is capable of great bravery. In the end, it seems as though both Lear and Gloucester die from the guilt and sorrow that comes from the traumatic events that they experience. One might suggest that they both die from a broken heart.
In the beginning of the play, Lear exhibits his poor judgement and insecurities when he brings in his three daughters to see who he will give his kingdom to. The test that he puts his daughters through demonstrates that he desires a false public display of love over real love. He doesn’t ask “which of you doth love us most,” instead he says, “which of you shall we say doth love us most?” (Shakespeare, 11). Most readers would say that Lear is simply blind to the truth. Some wo...
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..., but the most important thing is how you learn from making that bad decision and using that experience to better yourself as a person. Although they both start off the story seeming very selfish and irresponsible, they turn out to show that they truly do have a good heart and show sympathy towards the people that they initially abandoned. My impressions of them change dramatically during the course of the play. In the beginning of the play I have no remorse for Lear or Gloucester. I am against them in the beginning simply because they were blind to the fact that they were pushing away the people that meant the most to them. When I began seeing how badly Lear and Gloucester were being treated by their “evil” children, I couldn’t help but feel sympathy for them. It made me realize that people do make mistakes and all we can do from that point on is learn from them.
Two powerful characters in the play, aging King Lear and the gullible Earl of Gloucester, both betrayed their children unintentionally. Firstly, characters are betrayed due to family assumption. Lear banished his youngest daughter Cordelia because he over estimated how much she loved him. When questioned by her father, she responds with, "I love your Majesty / According to my bond, no more nor less." (I,i, 94-95) Lear assumed that since Cordelia was his daughter, she had to love him in a certain way, but he took this new knowledge and banished her without further thought. Secondly, characters were betrayed because of class. Edmund, the first-born son in the Gloucester family, should have been his father's next of kin. He would have been able to take over the position of Earl upon his father's death if he did not hold the title of a legitimate bastard. In his first soliloquy he says, "Why Bastard? Wherefore base? / When my dimensions are as well compact/ my mind as generous, and my shape as true " (I,ii, 6-8) Edmund believes he is at least equal, if not more, to his father in body and in mind, but the title that his father regrettably gave to him still lingers. Lastly, characters were betrayed because of family trust. Gloucester trusted his son Edmund when he was told that his other son was trying to kill him. Upon reading the forged letter written by Edmund, he responded with, "O villain, villain! His very opinion in the letter! Go, sirrah, seek him." (I,ii,75-77) Gloucester inadvertently betrayed Edgar because he held so much trust in his one son that he was easily persuaded to lose all trust in his other one. These blind characters were unfortunately betrayed there children, but they did it unintentionally and will eventually see there wrong doings.
“King Lear” depicts several life lessons throughout the play that are still relevant to life today. During the play, Shakespeare emphasizes how evil some may be through acts, scenes, and characters. The lessons learned throughout the play build on top of one another, much like the problems in the play build on top of one another. The root cause to all the madness in the play stems from the multiple characters that are hungry for power. Ultimately, the characters’ flaws come to light, the bad outweighs the good, and only a few are saved from death. “King Lear” illustrates valuable life lessons throughout the play, lessons about greed, deception, and power.
In King Lear, love is shown as important and strong. The filial love between Lear and his three daughters is the driving force of the play. Lear orders his daughters to tell him how much they love him to divide the land between the three of them. His eldest daughter, Goneril states: “Sir, I love you more
Thus, then leading Gloucester to the loss of parental knowledge and understanding towards his own two sons. Alike King Lear, Gloucester too struggles with the identification of his children. Through his lack of communication between both Edmund and Edgar, Gloucester is unable to personify who and what his sons stand for as a person. This then disables him to realize that Edmund is the true cold-hearted son, while Edgar is the good son who has stood by his side till death. Further on, when too late, once losing his vey two eyes Gloucester begins to realize that when having sight, he was mentally blind. Gloucester was unable to see the truth behind his own sons, but now, not having sight he is able to see the truth that Edgar is the innocent child. This is proven when Gloucester speaks “I have no way, and therefore want no eyes;/ I stumbled when I saw. Full oft’tis seen/ Prove our commodities. O dear son Edgar,/ The food of thy abused father’s wrath;/ Might I but live to see thee in my touch,/ I’d say I had eyes again!”
Through Lear, Shakespeare expertly portrays the inevitability of human suffering. The “little nothings,” seemingly insignificant choices that Lear makes over the course of the play, inevitably evolve into unstoppable forces that change Lear’s life for the worse. He falls for Goneril’s and Regan’s flattery and his pride turns him away from Cordelia’s unembellished affection. He is constantly advised by Kent and the Fool to avoid such choices, but his stubborn hubris prevents him from seeing the wisdom hidden in the Fool’s words: “Prithee, tell him, so much the rent of his land comes to: he will not believe a fool” (Shakespeare 21). This leads to Lear’s eventual “unburdening,” as foreshadowed in Act I. This unburdening is exacerbated by his failure to recognize and learn from his initial mistakes until it is too late. Lear’s lack of recognition is, in part, explained by his belief in a predestined life controlled completely by the gods: “It is the stars, the stars above us govern our conditions” (Shakespeare 101). The elder characters in King Lear pin their various sufferings on the will of...
In King Lear, the subplot of Gloucester corresponds to the major plot of King Lear. Both fathers have their own loyal legitimate child and their evil and disloyal child. They are both honourable men, who have children that return to them in their time of need. Gloucester and Lear are both tormented, and their favoured child recovers their life. In the early beginning of the play, Cordelia says that her love for her father is the love between father and daughter, no more, no less. Unhappy that I am, I cannot heave My heart into my mouth. I love your Majesty According to my bond, no more nor less. (Act 1 Scene 1 Pg. 13 lines 93-95) In response, King Lear goes into rage, and divides Cordelia’s share of the kingdom between her two unworthy sisters. Such injustice is encountered by Gloucester in the subplot. O villain, villain! His very opinion in the letter! Abhorred villain! Unnatural, detested, brutish villain! Worse than brutish! Go, sirrah, seek him. I’ll apprehend him. Abominable villain! Where is he? (Act 1 Scene 2 Pg. 37 lines 75-78) Gloucester fool...
This is a comparison and contrast of two different views of the character, Gloucester in the play King Lear. It will show the different ways that Gloucester has his eyes ripped out. It will also show the different ways the lighting is used and what kind of scenery. It will also show the difference in the ages of the character. Let’s not leave out the wardrobe and the difference between both productions. It will show how Gloucester ages and has similar problems as that of the King.
King Lear is the figurehead of his kingdom with his power and command drawn from his crown. His crown is also a symbol for his kingdom which is essential to his ego and can be supported with the scene where he asks his daughters to tell him how much they love him. “Which of you shall we say doth love us most, /That we our largest bounty may extend /Where nature doth with merit challenge.” (I, i, 53-55) King Lear demands a public display of affection from his daughters because it demonstrates his dominance. The betrayal of Goneril and Regan destroys King Lear’s ability to command, as competition between the two sisters’ shatters his kingdom like an egg. Lear’s relationship to his crown can be compared to a hen and her egg; both mean the world to their owners, and bot...
For once in his life, he takes responsibility for his actions. He knows that he punished his only loving daughter for selfish reasons and willingly takes on the consequences of his egotistic actions, even if it means his death. Lear pushes towards his new notion of justice and wants to do whatever it takes to make things
When Lear tells Gloucester “A man may see how this world /goes with no eyes” (4.6.146-47) he displays both of their misfortunes, but it is too late to prevent ultimate tragedy. Shakespeare proposes that their tragic saga is a mere game to the heavens. “As flies to wanton boys, are we to th’ gods,/They kill us for their sport” (4.1.37-38). This line generalizes the overall simplicity behind the tragedy of King Lear. Even though Gloucester and Lear made terrible, fatal errors the reader feels at the end as if it is intended to be their destiny.
The tragedy King Lear by William Shakespeare ought to be seen as a lesson on what not to do as a parent. By picking favorites, King Lear and the Earl of Gloucester leave a lasting impact on their children 's psyche, ultimately leading to them committing horrible crimes. The rash judgments, violent reactions, and blindness of both Lear and Gloucester lead to both their and their children 's demise. As a result, all of the father-child relationships in the play begin to collapse.
Shakespeare expresses two major themes in King Lear: love and wisdom. King Lear’s struggle to recognize authentic love, love himself, and acknowledge the wisdom imparted on him, due to his weak emotional state, results in needless conflicts and the deaths of many. In the first scene of King Lear, Lear reveals his plan to split his kingdom between his daughters by asking them how much they love him. The daughter that proves she loves him the most receives the largest portion of the kingdom (1.1.46-50). Kent intends to calm Lear down, yet Lear’s unstable emotions at the time lead to him thrashing out against Kent, even threatening him.
No tragedy of Shakespeare moves us more deeply that we can hardly look upon the bitter ending than King Lear. Though, in reality, Lear is far from like us. He himself is not an everyday man but a powerful king. Could it be that recognize in Lear the matter of dying? Each of us is, in some sense, a king who must eventually give up his kingdom. To illustrate the process of dying, Shakespeare has given Lear a picture of old age in great detail. Lear’s habit to slip out of a conversation (Shakespeare I. v. 19-33), his brash banishment of his most beloved and honest daughter, and his bitter resentment towards his own loss of function and control, highlighted as he ironically curses Goneril specifically on her functions of youth and prays that her
...not truly be seen with the eye, but with the heart. The physical world that the eye can detect can accordingly hide its evils with physical attributes, and thus clear vision cannot result from the eye alone. Lear's downfall was a result of his failure to comprehend that appearances do not always represent reality. Gloucester avoided a similar demise by learning the relationship between appearance and reality. If Lear had learned to look with more than just his eyes before the end, he might have avoided this tragedy. These two tragic stories unfolding at the same time gave the play a great eminence.
Perhaps Lear's most difficult moment to endure is when he discovers his youngest and most prized daughter, Cordelia, dead. His initial reaction is of unbearable pain, but, being in his current state of madness, some of the anguish is alleviated when he "realizes" that she is alive. The king overcomes his earlier mistakes only after losing the one daughter who truly loved him. It's debatable whether Lear is completely conscious of his loss, but more plausible to suspect he is not fully affected by it as he is no longer in his right mind. Finally, Lear has dealt with the consequences of his decisions and is redeemed.