Theme Of Self In King Lear

Her father sees this as direct and personal insult and banishes her as well as taking her dowry. Cordelia demonstrates through her genuine expression of love for her father that she in fact loves him the most and is not just taking advantage of the situation like her sisters. Cordelia emerges from this twist moral depravity exploitation of famil... ... middle of paper ... ...triumph of immorality and evil over the few noble characters. Despite the depressing nature of this scene, Shakespeare once again give the reader’s perception of human goodness a small victory when Lear accepts Cordelia and the father and daughter reconcile. There is a little optimism to be gained as by Lear dying with the belief that Cordelia is alive.

This may be one of the reasons why Hamlet was first attracted to Ophelia and now the reason why Hamlet rejects Ophelia. By disposition, Gertrude turns to the positive side of life and can’t bear to face pain. The pain she felt after her adultery with Claudius may have been what motivated Claudius to murder her husband. When the conditions were right for her to marry her lover, she was most happy and wished for the difficulties of the past be forgotten. The only thing left to make Gertrude unhappy is Hamlet’s refusal to forget the death of his father or to forgive her for remarrying so quickly.

Toward the end of the play, Lear realizes that he has been very unfair to Cordelia, and that the other two sisters have misled him. Cordelia, however, remains true to Lear, as she respects the relationship between them although he does not. Shakespeare expects family members to be true to one another and have a solid trust in each other. Lear doesn't do what Shakespeare expects: he no longer loves Cordelia after she confesses she loves him only to the extent a daughter should. All of his love is for Regan and Goneril because both of them tell their father what he wants to hear: that they love him more than anyone in the world.

Gertrude’s trust is betrayed by Claudius at that moment because Gertrude believes that Claudius loves Hamlet, when in fact, he despises him and wishes death upon him. Claudius is not the only character that betrays in the play Hamlet. Hamlets makes Ophelia believe that he loves her for a long time, until one day he tells her things that break her heart. Because Hamlet suspects that someone is listening to his conversation with Ophelia, he acts like a mad man and says cruel things to Ophelia. “Virtue cannot so inoculate our old stock but we shall relish of it.

When the Duke suggests that she should sta... ... middle of paper ... ... Commend me to my kind lord: O, farewell!" then dies (V.ii.149-150). Desdemona lies to Emilia in order to keep Othello from getting hurt, thus proving her unending loyalty to Othello; however, Othello does not speak up and declare that he killed Desdemona which would destroy his reputation, proving that his self-pride stays strong. The marriage between Othello and Desdemona fails to stay together as a result of Othello's growing self-pride.

In “King Lear” the outer influences of different characters contribute to the downfall of Lear and Edmund. Shakespeare’s play “King Lear” marks the start of the imperfect life of King Lear which has no absolute certainty. The beginning of the play sets the tone for Lear’s spiraling downfall into madness, and his tragic demise. King Lear appears to be a very self loving man, who expects everyone else to love and respect him as well. In the first act King Lear commands his daughters to profess their love to him as payment for their part of the kingdom.

Disowning her because she refuses to exaggerate her feelings for him, whereby she only says she loves Lear as a daughter should love a father is his first major mistake and it is mirrored in the sub plot through the actions of Gloucester. There we see that he too immediately casts judgement on his loyal son Edgar and disowns him as a result of manipulation by Edmund. Therefore although overall it could be said that the two tragic heroes in this play are King Lear and Gloucester, we see that in Act One Cordelia and Edgar are characters to be sympathised with as they too are engulfed in tragic circumstances. The main way in which the sub plot mirrors the main plot is through the tragedy that falls upon both King Lear and the Earl of Gloucester. King Lear can be seen as a tragic hero because we as the audience experience pity for him and feel that he does not deserve the severity of his punishment.

He reacts too hastily to Cordelia 's response which leads him to leave the kingdom in the hands of the eldest daughters who do not care for him at all. Lear makes the mistake of believing that his two eldest daughters were being honest when telling him how much they loved him. Lear 's character tends to base everything on what he feels sounds and looks the best. He loves to be flattered and praised, and in the end it hurts him, because he as not fully realized what he has given up when dividing his

Despite this realization, Lear’s pride keeps him from letting go of his power. King Lear wants the title and treatment of a king, but he does not want the work and obligations of the position. Therefore, when he makes the choice of letting his daughters to govern the kingdom, it foreshadows the strapping away of his p... ... middle of paper ... ... and reasons throughout the play. However, King Lear, Cordelia, and Edmund all had the same ending -- death. Shakespeare illustrates emotion and reason as the sides of a coin.

If Laertes was so concerned with her well being when she was in love with Hamlet then why didn't Laertes show concern with her life and protect her during her weak point of her life? I do believe that Laertes truly loved Ophelia and would do anything for her but at the time of her madness he was too concerned with the death of his father to pay attention to Ophelia. Polonius acts toward Ophelia with dispise and disgust. Polonius uses her as a tool to become closer and get on Claudius' good side. Polonius cares nothing for Ophelia: she is considered as a pawn in a chess game only to protect the king, Polonius.