Through the Eyes of a King

645 Words2 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: Transformation of king lear

Through the Eyes of a King

"Sir, I love you more than words can wield the matter, dearer than eyesight, space, and liberty, beyond what can be valued…" In this quote from King Lear, Goneril is proclaiming how much she loves her father, King Lear. The fact that she refers to eyesight as being a priceless thing foreshadows the whole "sight" theme of this play. Throughout King Lear, there are references to characters' sight and perception. The perceptions of King Lear and Gloucester are changing and expanding throughout this whole play.

When Goneril professes her "love" for her father, it is ironic that she says she loves him more than eyesight itself, because Lear is "blind" to the fact that he is being set up by her and her sister, Regan. In act 3, scene 6, Gloucester is literally blinded when Cornwall digs out both of his eyes. Although Lear isn't physically blind, he is unable to see which of his daughters really love him. Lear chooses not to acknowledge the fact that Cordelia really does love him. As the reader, we know that Cordelia truly does love her father. It is obvious because she says to herself in act 1, scene 1, line 86: "…since I am sure my love's more ponderous than my tongue." He is on a power trip and Goneril and Regan simply add fuel to the fire by telling him what he wants to hear.

Therefore, when Cordelia tells him she has no words to explain her love for him he just dismisses her and becomes outraged. Lear is blinded by his arrogance and power and chooses to accept his two daughters who make him feel loved.

In act 4, scene 1, Gloucester's speech (lines 19-25) shows the reader his revelation of how he was blind and now can see how Edmund has betrayed him and that he falsely turned against his son Edgar, even though he is physically blind. Throughout this play, characters' are faced with the dilemma of figuring out if what they are seeing is real or not. The old saying, "seeing is believing" does not apply to the characters in King Lear. Lear begins to go insane while wandering through the woods during the storm. Not only do the rain and the darkness of the forest alter Lear's vision, but also he is unable to "see" who he is or who the people are around him.

Show More
Related

  • Essay Comparing King Lear And Frankenstein

    1827 Words  | 4 Pages

    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

    Read More

  • Lear's Pride Creates his Madness

    1855 Words  | 4 Pages

    The focus in this scene is to show that Lear has so much pride that it made him blind to Cordellia’s love and the reason to why he loved. His pride made him think that flattery is love thus he gave everything to Goneril and Regan. This was his biggest mistake, leaving him completely dependent upon his two hateful daughters. He kicked Cordellia out so there is no hope of him being helped now.

    Read More

  • Feminist Criticism Of Feminism

    989 Words  | 2 Pages

    In Act 1, Lear has all this land that he needs to get rid of, and he chooses to divide it between his daughters. Cordelia is the youngest daughter, and she is very independent. Regan and Goneril are the older daughters, and they abuse their power in many ways. The daughters have to show their love for him in order to get land. Regan and Goneril suck up to him and tell him that they love him. In reality, they don’t love him at all. They just want more power. Cordelia is very straight forward with him. She tells him that she loves him but not as much as her sisters. Lear gets mad by her response, which shows that the daughters have enough power to make him feel whatever emotion they want. They can easily get under his skin, and strip him of his power. His power was at an all-time high, but over time it gets taken over.

    Read More

  • Effective Foreshadowing in King Lear

    1138 Words  | 3 Pages

    Much of the imagery in King Lear's first scene presages what is to come in the play. Often characters refer to senses, particularly sight, whether as a comment on the necessity of sensing consequences before acting (as Lear does not), or as yet another of Shakespeare's comments (most apparent in Hamlet) on "seeming." The destruction of Gloucester's eyes and his subsequent musings ("I stumbled when I saw" (IV.i.19) etc.) are a more graphical presentation of this basic theme which originally appears in Lear's first scene. Goneril declares Lear is "dearer than eyesight" (I.i.56) to her (though she is the one who later suggests putting Gloucester's eyes out for his "treachery"). Regan goes further, proclaiming "I profess / Myself an enemy to all other joys / Which the most precious square of sense possesses" (I.i. 72-74). Crossed in his wrath by Kent, Lear cries "Out of my sight!" (I.i.157), only to be reproved with Kent's "See better, Lear, and let me still remain / The true blank of thine eye." (I.i.158-9).

    Read More

  • Theme Of Loyalty In King Lear

    911 Words  | 2 Pages

    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

    Read More

  • What Are Our Duty To Our Father's Roles In King Lear

    971 Words  | 2 Pages

    King Lear had come so accustomed to his praise, that it is the sole thing he lived for, he needed it to survive, his treatment as a king was his Achilles heel in this play. He wanted to step down as king and divide his kingdom into 3 sections, giving them to his daughters to rule. Goneril and Regan were more than willing to accommodate his request to demonstrate their love for their father and king by professing their love to him in dramatic fashion combined with a good bit of exaggeration. While Cordelia on the other hand, found it a struggle to profess what she thought to be known by her father and king, she states, “Unhappy that I am, I cannot heave / My heart into my mouth. I love your majesty / According to my bond; nor more nor less (Scene 1.1, Lines 91-93).

    Read More

  • Analyzing King Lear's Tragic Flaws

    862 Words  | 2 Pages

    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...

    Read More

  • Disobedience in William Shakespeare's King Lear

    1686 Words  | 4 Pages

    Lear, like any king, Pagan or otherwise, would have been seen as the godhead on earth and therefore a man of exceptional power who implemented the gods' will on earth. Such a figurehead should surely command absolute respect and obedience. Yet Cordelia displeases her father, and Goneril's and Regan's actions following Lear's abdication can only be described as shocking, even to a contemporary and more liberal-minded audience. Act one, scene one represents the first emergence of filial disobedience, starting with Lear's vanity demanding that his daughters say how much they love him in a meaningless ceremony. Cordelia, his youngest and favourite daughter, will not be drawn into this.

    Read More

  • An Analysis of Gloucester

    1172 Words  | 3 Pages

    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.

    Read More

  • Transformation of Lear in Shakespeare's King Lear

    1682 Words  | 4 Pages

    This new Lear is certainly a far cry from the arrogant king we saw at the beginning of the play. Shakespeare has transformed Lear from an ignorant old king into some sort of god, using a seven stage process: resentment, regret, recognition, acceptance and admittance, guilt, redemption, and optimism. Lear’s transformation can be simply described as a transition from blindness into sight, he did not see the value in listening to others, but in the end he gained a sense of optimism and idealism. There is no doubting that Shakespeare has portrayed Lear as a flawed figure, who, through his misfortune and suffering, goes from a contemptuous human being to one who has been purified into an omniscient, godly type character, proving that ignorant people can truly change to become caring individuals.

    Read More

  • Tragedy Through Misreading in William Shakespeare's King Lear

    976 Words  | 2 Pages

    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.

    Read More

  • Blindness and Sight - Lack of Insight in King Lear

    1420 Words  | 3 Pages

    In Shakespeare's classic tragedy, King Lear, the issue of sight and its relevance to clear vision is a recurring theme.  Shakespeare's principal means of portraying this theme is through the characters of Lear and Gloucester. Although Lear can physically see, he is blind in the sense that he lacks insight, understanding, and direction. In contrast, Gloucester becomes physically blind but gains the type of vision that Lear lacks. It is evident from these two characters that clear vision is not derived solely from physical sight. Lear's failure to understand this is the principal cause of his demise, while Gloucester learns to achieve clear vision, and consequently avoids a fate similar to Lear's.

    Read More

  • Comparing Lear and Gloucester in Shakespeare's King Lear

    1980 Words  | 4 Pages

    ...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.

    Read More

  • Shakespeare's King Lear - The Redemption of King Lear

    740 Words  | 2 Pages

    Lear's relationship with his three daughters, Goneril, Regan and Cordelia, is, from the beginning, very uncharacteristic of the typical father-daughter relationship. It's clear that the king is more interested in words than true feelings, as he begins by asking which of his daughters loves him most. Goneril and Regan's answers are descriptive and sound somewhat phony, but Lear is flattered by them. Cordelia's response of nothing is honest; but her father misunderstands the plea and banishes her. Lear's basic flaw at the beginning of the play is that he values appearances above reality. He wants to be treated as a king and to enjoy the title, but he doesn't want to fulfill a king's obligations. Similarly, his test of his daughters demonstrates that he values a flattering public display of love over real love. He doesn't ask "which of you doth love us most," but rather, "which of you shall we say doth love us most?" (I.i.49). It would be simple to conclude that Lear is simply blind to the truth, but Cordelia is already his favorite daughter at the beginning of the play, so presumably he knows that she loves him the most. Nevertheless, Lear values Goneril and Regan's fawning over Cordelia's sincere sense of filial duty.

    Read More

  • King Lear

    733 Words  | 2 Pages

    In essence, Shakespeare incorporates both emotion and reason in his play “King Lear”. Revolving around a theme of blindness and insight, Shakespeare uses a character’s emotions to blind them mentally. This makes them act foolishly, guided only by their selfishness and yearning for self-pleasure, also prompting them to lash out against the people closest to them. Only those who retain their insight have the ability to think clearly, with virtue and integrity. Few are able to use their mind and heart together equally in their actions for a good head and a loving heart is always a strong combination.

    Read More

More about Through the Eyes of a King

Open Document