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Why did nice guys finish last analysis
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Nice Guys Finish Last- Although this play is full of not-so-nice characters, there a few noble gentlemen, and women, who remain true throughout the plays entirety. Edgar can be seen as a nice guy and he prevails over his evil brother Edmund in the end. Albany is portrayed as a nice guy because he is not involved in the major conflicts of the play. He and Edgar both live until the end of the play. Although Cordelia did not live until the final lines, she did overcome all of the obstacles placed in her way and ultimately did “finish last”. Blindness vs. Sight- This theme is realized toward the middle of the plot. When Lear and Gloucester are living well and in power, they are both treated with respect by their children. In the end, we find out that they had been blinded by their children all along, but this was after they had already treated their noble child so cruelly. In Gloucester’s case, he literally had to become blind in order to see. …show more content…
Or, what does a child owe their parent? In this case, the children may not realize that they owe their parents everything for being born into their high social classes. The parents also may not realize their debt to their children, or it takes them a while to figure it out. Lear finally realizes that he owes Cordelia everything once it is too late and she is close to
Lear becomes blinded by his flaws, leading him to make irrational decisions which ultimately cause him to go mad. After Cordelia is unable to state how much she loves her father and outdo her sisters exaggerated professions of
Within the poem there is another article that I read which is called, “I Stumbled When I Saw”: Interpreting Gloucester 's Blindness in King Lear”. Which talks about, Gloucester 's blindness is the same as Lear’s madness, both of the characters representing the destruction of themselves and their human existence. Both are major issues to the way the play works and its tragic clash with the characters themselves in the play as well. Shakespeare understands how human emotions work when they come out when Gloucester is blinded by Cornwall and what is the powerful meaning behind what is being done in the play. Another key element in the poem is, when Cordelia and Lear are imprisoned locked up together. Before, Cordelia is about to be killed, Lear kills the guard who is trying to hang him and next he kills the guard who strangles Cordelia to death. In an instance it is shown that Lear shows compassion and more faith and shows that he is a father more than a king in that instance when his daughter is killed right in front of his eyes. His daughter is the only thing that he cares about, even when they were jailed together, she was all that he thought about, “No, no,
King Lear, known as one of Shakespeare’s greatest tragedies, deeply affects its audience by playing out the destruction of two families. At the end of this play two of the protagonists, King Lear and his loyal friend the Earl of Gloucester, die after having suffered through major injustices at the hands of their own children. These characters’ deaths are incredibly tragic because they are brought on by their own actions instead of by the circumstances that surround them. Lear and Gloucester are not bad men but rather good men that make the fatal mistake of not acting according to their positions in life. In doing so, they ultimately force their children, Cordelia and Edgar respectively, to take on the roles that they cast off.
Lear begins to realize the fact that underneath the expensive clothes, there is a weak human being like any other. People in the society are judged and given a higher position based on how much luxury they have rather than for what they are. On the other side, regardless of how wealthy and powerful one is, one cannot escape from natural causes such as death. This reveals that even though there are boundaries between rich and poor people, they are all the same when it comes to issues like old, diseases and death. Hence, titles and clothes are the social illusions that separate humans in the name of the value and importance. Society also considers people with torn or poor clothes to be unimportant, while the ones with expensive clothes are considered valuable. The Fool calls Lear “fool” because the Fool clearly sees that Lear has lost his power. This is evident when the Fool points out that Lear has given away “All thy other titles thou hast given away; that/ thou wast born with” (I.iv.147-148). Lear no longer has the power and the title of a king since he has given his kingdom to his two daughters. Oswald, who is the chief servant in Goneril’s house, calls Lear “my lady’s father” rather than calling him a
...ility. I have explored these themes in this monologue, by talking about Lear’s apparent blindness, even though he never loses his eyes he cannot see what he has in his life already. Which is the love for Cordelia has for him. He chooses to see with his eyes, and not his mind. He is vain, and selfish, and this is why he chooses to favour Cordelia’s sisters rather than Cordelia herself. He did not see with his mind. The different variations of sight have enabled me to look deeper into the story, and improvise what Cordelia might think about her father’s mental stability due to this.
Lear’s lack of sight has been the most important theme that he is blindest one among all the characters. Due to his social situation, the king of British, he supposes to be the one who have extraordinary wisdom and skills to make sensible choices and to rationally manage his power. However, his mental blindness avoids him to do so. First of all, as a king, he has to be responsible for his kingdom that he should stay as a king until he dies, not ignoring to see the order of chain of being and renouncing his monarchial power and handing it over to his daughters. In Act 1, he plans to offer one of three parts of his kingdom to each of his daughters. According to the idea of “The Great Chain of Being”, “the structure of...
King Lear attained the highest position in society, and with the job he held of being king, he should have been able to distinguish the good from bad, very easily however due to his lack of sight this prevented him to do so. Shakespeare established Lears first encounter of blindness very early on in the play with his brilliant idea of a love test. The love test that King Lear requested both Regan and Goneril deceived him with lies that he was looking forward to hearing, but with Cordelia the one who actually loved him the most was not able to deliver such lies as her older sister King Lear banishes her from the kingdom with the following quote:
King Lear is a story, which deals with the idea of familial expectation and the roles in which parents and children play. Lear’s madness and his obsession with being praised blinded him to the child who was really the only one who loved him, Cordelia. The same with the Earl of Gloucester, he was blinded by his illegitimate child, Edmund, who set out to turn him away from his heir, Edgar. Within the story, these two children and a few loyal servants try to help and eventually try to save the King and Gloucester, but they are both too stubborn to recognize the goodness and true bond in these people. The story of King Lear deals with the turmoil of a chaotic world began by the boundaries of family and personal relationships being turn upside down.
This first glimpse into the world of Lear and his subordinates sets the premise for the whole play, unravelling within the first few pages, themes which I believe will become increasingly evident. The scene opens with the introduction of three characters – Kent, Gloucester and Edmund. Of these three characters the only one who seems not to have been shown in an unfavourable light yet, by this brief introduction, is Kent. This could be intentional to set It is made clear Edmund is a bastard, and therefore illegible for proper acknowledgement as the son of an Earl. Gloucester is no less tarnished as he admits he is embarrassed by having an illegitimate child (“I have so often blushed to acknowledge him..”) and also insults Edmund’s mother and, Edmund, with further ‘banter’.
But not only are Lear and Gloucester blind to those around him, they are blind to their responsibilities. Gloucester's adultery leads to the illegitimate Edmund who causes strife in his kingdom. Lear's abdication of the throne and handing over of power to self serving individuals, feeling entitled to a “retirement”, leads to his downfall, it is also apparent that Lear was blind to the needs of his people during his reign as evidenced by his remorse over not taking care of the less fortunate after his encounter on the moor. The theme of blindness is omnipresent in Lear and should be regarded as something of a cautionary message against our own blindness.
It is a well-known stereotype that “nice guys finish last.” I use the term “stereotype” loosely, because, at times, it can feel like a universal law of nature. Most of us know how it goes. Two guys, one nice; the other not, both vie for the attentions of the same girl. The nice guy is ever sympathetic, expressive, and kind, but for all his efforts, the other guy, effortlessly employing an uncanny maneuver called “Being a Jack-Ass,” gets the girl. Thus, in the most paradoxical of paradoxes, it is in being almost exactly what women claim to want that many respectable young men fail miserably. And it is miserable. There is no greater injustice or frustration than that which spawns from watching someone you care about: someone who is worth the world and more to you walk away with someone who, as often as not, couldn’t care less. I can think of no more appropriate context for the expression “like casting pearls before swine.”
Parallelism is greatly enhanced by the use of subplots, for it creates emphasis and suspense. The parallel between Lear and Gloucester displayed in the play cannot possibly be accidental. The subplot of Gloucester corresponds the major plot of Lear. The two fathers have their own loyal legitimate child, and their own evil and disloyal kin. Gloucester and Lear are both honorable men, who have children that return to them in their time of need, and are sightless to the truth. Like Lear, Gloucester is tormented, and his favored child recovers his life; he is tended and healed by the child whom he has wronged. Their sufferings are traceable to their extreme folly and injustice, and to a selfish pursuit of their pleasure. In the early beginning of King Lear, Cordelia says that her love for her father is the love between father and daughter, no more, no less.
For example, Gloucester’s open discussion of Edmund’s bastardy parallels Lear’s love test of having his daughters publicly proclaim ‘who doth love [him] most’, in addition, both instances leads to the humiliation of their offspring generating familial conflict and triggering their downfall. Therefore, one can argue that by analysing Gloucester’s tactlessness, one can surmise how Shakespeare has successfully portrayed the fragility of human relationships and in doing so, has allowed us to identify the relationship between human tactlessness and an individual’s undoing within the human
Lear's vision is marred by lack of direction in life, poor foresight and his inability to predict the consequences of his actions. He cannot look far enough into the future to see the consequences of his actions. This, in addition to his lack of insight into other people, condemns his relationship with his most beloved daughter, Cordelia. When Lear asks his daughters, who loves him most, he already thinks that Cordelia has the most love for him. However, when Cordelia says: "I love your Majesty according to my bond, no more nor less." (I, i, 94-95) Lear cannot see what these words really mean. Goneril and Regan are only putting on an act. They do not truly love Lear as much as they should. When Cordelia says these words, she has seen her sister's facade, and she does not want to associate her true love with their false love. Lear, however, is fooled by Goneril and Regan into thinking that they love him, while Cordelia does not. This is when Lear first shows a sign of becoming blind to those around him. He snaps and disowns her:
A Consideration of the Way Shakespeare Presents and Develops the Theme of Blindness in King Lear