King Lear: Blind to bad parenting 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. In the first scene of the play, King Lear is excited to be publicly flattered by his daughters and relish in his own greatness as king. He asks “Which of you shall we say doth love us most?” (I.i.52). Lear doesn’t ask which of his …show more content…
After Kent delightfully brings the two together and Lear realizes who he is talking to, he begs for forgiveness: “Pray, do not mock me. / I am a very foolish fond old man, / Fourscore and upward, not an hour more nor less /....Do not laugh at me, / For as I am a man, I think this lady / To be my child Cordelia.“ (IV.vii.68-79). Lear has finally achieved self-awareness regarding his mistaken banishment of Cordelia, and proclaims to her in a surprising display of humility that he is just a “foolish fond old man.” Shocking the audience, Lear does not hold back his newfound sense of shame. He goes on: “Be your tears wet? Yes, faith. I pray, weep not. If you have poison for me, I will drink it. I know you do not love me, for your sisters Have, as I do remember, done me wrong. You have some cause; they have not.” (IV.vii.81-85). In another case of both humility and misjudgment, Lear believes that Cordelia no longer loves him due to his mistakes. Lear could not be more wrong because Cordelia 's love for her father is unconditional and still lives. Cordelia virtuously accepts his apology and assures him “No, sir, you must not kneel,” (IV.vii.67). Although the two do not live much longer, Lear intends to live out the rest of their lives being the best a father can
As the play progressed, Lear slowly came to clear vision. he realized that that his two eldest daughter did not truly love him after they locked him out of the castle during a tremendous storm. He also finally saw through that Cordelia’s love for him was so tremendous that she was not able to put it in words. Unfortunately, his blindness caused the dearth of Cordelia and his own.
As Shakespeare presents to us a tragic pattern of parental and filial love, in which a prosperous man is devested of power and finally recognises his "folly", empathy is induced in the audience. In "King Lear", it is noted from the beginning of the play that both Lear and Gloucester suffer from self-approbation and will consequently find revelation by enduring "the rack of this tough world". While Lear mistakenly entrusts the shallow professions of love from his "thankless" daughters - Goneril and Regan - instead of the selfless words of Cordelia, Gloucester shadows a similar ignorance by initially entrusting love in the evil Edmund, rather than Edgar, whom we consider to be a "truly" loyal "noble gentlemen".
In King Lear, Shakespeare portrays a society whose emphasis on social class results in a strict social hierarchy fueled by the unceasing desire to improve one’s social status. It is this desire for improved social status that led to the unintentional deterioration of the social hierarchy in King Lear. This desire becomes so great that Edmund, Goneril, Reagan and Cornwall were willing to act contrary to the authority of the social hierarchy for the betterment of their own position within it. As the plot unfolds, the actions of the aforementioned characters get progressively more desperate and destructive as they realize their lack of success in attaining their personal goals. The goals vary, however the selfish motivation does not. With Edmund, Goneril, Reagan and Cornwall as examples, Shakespeare portrays the social hierarchy as a self-defeating system because it fosters desires in its members that motivate them to act against the authority of the hierarchy to benefit themselves. A consideration of each characters actions in chronological order and the reasons behind such actions reveals a common theme among the goals for which morality is abandoned.
While most families display picture-perfect moments of a loving father and daughter relationship, in the tragedy, King Lear, William Shakespeare develops the initial moments of Cordelia and Lear’s interaction as strident, which removes all essences of love from their once loving family bond. Lear’s harsh attitude towards Cordelia’s disobedience emphasizing an intense usage of a callous tone during his cursing fit, imagery comparing the misery he wishes she felt to a serpent bite, and the natural symbolism of the poison of the serpent when Lear views Cordelia’s actions as poisonous, which impacts the family’s once loving relationship for the remainder of the tragedy.
Chaos and unnatural order, appear in many Shakespearian plays. Shakespeare's King Lear, portrays various occurrences unleashing disarray. Family bonds represent the natural order of King Lear and due to the disruption of the familial bonds, it leads to chaos throughout the play. The unnatural feelings and actions that prevail in Lear's family; dividing of the father-child bonds, ultimately create an implausible outcome.
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...
Absolute in every child’s mind is the belief that they are right, despite all the evidence to the contrary. Until children grow up to raise children own their own, a parent’s disputation only inflates that desire to prove. Part and parcel to this, as one may find out through personal experience or by extension, cruelty towards parents is a reflection of a child’s own inadequacy (whether in large or small scale). In this sense, King Lear is a story of children with a desire to break past their hierarchal status. Whether it is the belief that a woman shall take a husband, and with that guard her inherited land, or what role bastards truly deserves in a society that preemptively condemns them. Cruelty at the hands of children accounts for almost
At the start of Shakespeare’s play, Lear is accusatory, impulsive, demanding and obnoxiously authoritative in the eyes of many. As opposed to adhering to the advice of his advisers, King Lear, having “Grown senile, scoffed at the foresight of his advisers and declared that each [daughter’s] statement of her love for him would determine the portion of the kingdom she received as her dowry” (Rosenblum 163). Lear, early on in the play, shows a disregard for the opinions of others and relies solely on his own intuition. His egotism leads him to make childish actions and his superficiality; a regrettable choice. Instead of abiding by common morale and carrying out a more professional way of splitting his kingdom, Lear thinks only of himself by saying, “Tell me, my daughters— / Which of you shall we say doth love us
Like many of William Shakespeare’s plays, the inspiration for King Lear came from several different works and myths that existed during Shakespeare’s life. Though not a wholly original story, King Lear still remains one of Shakespeare’s greatest tragedies for its enduring themes involving speaking, mortality, and family. Shakespeare stresses these themes by mirroring the main plot surrounding Lear’s family with the sub-plot of Gloucester and his sons. The fall of characters in King Lear presents audiences with the frailty of monarchies due to rulers’ pride, while the message given after all the bloodshed provides some hope for redemption. Characters’ difficult relationships
Still in the first paragraph, he quotes the line from Lear that causes the interpretation problems, referring to it as Lear’s "desparing question" (361):
When Kent tries to confront lear about the mistake he is making about his daughters lear refuses to listen to Kent because he is still heated towards Kent while Kent being his devoted follower tries to tell lear that cordelia is the honest of his daughters. Lear still refuses to listen because of his pride as a king he won’t change his mind and is dead sure that he is right and everyone else is wrong about this opinion of his daughters betraying him and only loving him for his land and possessions like Reagan and goneril do.
King Lear as a Tragedy Caused by Arrogance, Rash Decisions and Poor Judgement of Character
The composition of Lear’s household and the events which unfold are used by Shakespeare to show the greed of man. Lear’s family constitutes, his three daughters and him. From the very start it is made obvious to the reader that there is no mother figure in the family. This fact compels the reader to infer that, it is from his daughters that Lear gets love. The first scene shows both the splitting up of the kingdom and a marriage proposal for Cordelia. This juxtapositioning of events shows that Lear holds a “darker purpose” (1,1,35) for doing so. Cordelia is Lear’s “last” (1,1,82) daughter, who is soon to be married to either, the “vines of France.. [or] the milk of Burgundy”. This foretells that after the events which transpire on this night there will be no reason for the three daughters to remain at home with the king. Lear uses the metonymy of the “vines... [and] milk”, both symbols of the power of the two lands, to show that only good awaits her if she is married off to any of these gentlemen....
Literature often provides an avenue for instruction on the human condition, and King Lear is no different. Perhaps the most important take away from King Lear, is the concept of recognizing true loyalty. The downfall of the play’s protagonists stems from the inability of leaders to recognize loyalty, and to be fooled by flattery. King Lear’s sin of preferring sweet lies is one that begins the entire play, with his inability to reconcile his favorite daughter’s refusal to flatter him. It is made clear that Cordelia does indeed love her father, but she refuses to exaggerate that love: “Unhappy that I am, I cannot heave/my heart into my mouth. I love your Majesty/ according to my bond, no more nor less” (2.2.100-102). Cordelia’s declaration is an honest one, but doesn’t venture into the realm of exaggeration. However, it is made clear that King Lear desires flattery not truth, as demonstrated by his demand that Cordelia “mend her speech a little” (1.1.103). Gloucester parallels King Lear in placing his faith in the wrong child. Thus, a common motif of blindness to truth emerges. The truth is something one should seek for themselves, and to recklessly doubt those who are loved without hearing them out is foolish. This idea expressed in King Lear is timeless, and thus is relevant even in the modern
To conclude, Act 4 appears to be the most important act in King Lear. This is because it shows all three phases of madness that the King has gone through; the first phase, his sinking into the depths of madness, as shown through his garments and conversations; the next phase, a realization and understanding of the reasons for his madness, and, the final phase, his overcoming his madness, as shown through his tragic vision.