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Loyalty and betrayal in king lear
Loyalty and betrayal in king lear
Loyalty and betrayal in king lear
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“King Lear” by William Shakespeare
William Shakespeare’s “King Lear”, the concept of justice a theme that many characters struggle with. Unforgiving justice results to serious punishments, in result of an individual’s immoral acts committed during the play. Furthermore, loyal is very hard to find among individuals in the play. It is shown to King Lear in both positive and negative perspectives. Loyalty plays off at the end of the play, when King Lear discovers who has been loyal to him all along. The greed of power is vividly shown in the Fool’s and King Leers point of view. After retiring his kingdom Lear discovers the loss of his power, and authority. Overall, justice, loyalty, and power are some struggling themes that progress the play,
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Gloucester knows that he will get in trouble for helping Lear. “Go to say nothing there is Davion between the dukes”. Edmund already knows of the strife between Cornwall and Albany. Gloucester has received a letter which promises that punishment will come to those who have hurt the King.” And a worse matter that than… I have received a letter this night-tis dangerous to be spoken-I have locked the letter in my closet”. Therefore, this results Gloucester to console Edmund to side Lear, telling him that Lear is bound to retaliate. Therefore, the army has arrived to aid the king.” Injuries the king now bears will be revenged name. There is part of a power already footed. We must incline to the king”. This proves Gloucester then tells Edmund that he will secretly find Lear and offer him support. He then asks Edmund to keep the king busy o be won’t notice that act of kindness.
Furthermore, Cornwall blinds Gloucester for being a traitor. “Sees’ shalt thou never.—Fellows, hold the chair.—upon these eyes of thine I’ll set my foot. He that will think to live till he be old, Give me some help! As servants hold the chair, Cornwall forces out one of Gloucester’s eyes of cruel your gods! One side will mock another Th’other too.” He declares a traitor because Gloucester is communicating with the king of France and Cordelia. Therefore, this shows he is loyal to the
Even after his clouded judgement, Gloucester admitted that “the grief hath crazed [his] wits” (III.iv.180). Due to Gloucester being a “credulous father / Whose nature is so far from doing harms / That he suspects none” (I.ii.187-189), he was deceived by the craftiness of his illegitimate son and believed that his good son Edgar was evil, thus proving that retributive justice did not win in this case. Gloucester was loyal to King Lear and wanted to help him despite Regan advising him not to do so. Gloucester, unfortunately was concluded to be a spy for France by Edmund to Cornwall. Instead of being sceptical and making a correct judgement, Cornwall immediately believed him and decided to arrest him. Edmund handed him a letter for further proof, but even without reading it, Cornwall proclaimed, “True or false, it hath made [Edmund] Earl of / Gloucester” (III.vi.18-19), and right after decided to arrest the true Earl. Even without his knowledge, his status was handed over to one who did not deserve it, a situation that Nemesis would never have allowed. Finally, after all of this chaos ensues, Gloucester comes to his own home where he is tied to a chair and was cruelly
In his kingdom Lear was practically a god, but he was a god that knew nothing of morals, humanity, personal identity, or love. Lear forces his daughters into open displays of verbal affection for the sole purpose of flattery. Lear’s self-centered mindset is amplified in his speeches to Cordelia after she refuses to participate with hyperbolic love. In his rage Lear says, “he that makes his generation messes / To gorge his appetite, shall to my bosom / Be as well neighbored, pitied, and relived / As thou my sometime daughter” (I.i.130-134). Lear feels closer to Satan than his own daughter since the cannibal that feeds on his children is Lear himself. Lear’s daughters are reduced to the status of food; they do not exist beyond the feeding of his ego. Lear continues with his tirade as he proclaims “I loved her most and thought to set my rest / On her kind nursery” (I.i.137-138). To Lear love is synonymous with being a caretaker. Lear does not understand love beyond utility. Before his tragic
Edmund, the bastard son of Gloucester is not pleased with his status as a bastard. Edgar the legitimate son of Gloucester stands to obtain the lands, wealth and power of his father. Edmund thinks this is unfair and begins a plot to banish his brother and obtain the lands of his father. He begins by writing a fake letter from Edgar saying that he wants to murder his father and wishes to take power by force. Edmund uses his deceiving abilities to make the letter seem genuine. He lies to his father about how he came into possession of the letter: “It was not brought me, my Lord; t...
William Shakespeare extensively explores central themes and issues in the play, King Lear. Shakespeare discusses fake and true filial love and the rarity of loyalty in King Lear. Shakespeare portrays the importance of fake and true filial love through Lear and his daughters. In King Lear, loyalty is portrayed through Kent 's service to King Lear. The central themes and issues are the focus of the play King Lear.
Family loyalty refers to the feelings of mutual obligation, commitment, and closeness that exist among family members (e.g., parents and children, grandparents and grandchildren and siblings). A loyal per¬son is ready to sacrifice even his own life for the sake of his master, friend, relative or the country. The significance of loyalty in family relationship is an integral part in both Macleod’s novel No Great Mischief and Shakespeare’s play King Lear. However, the characters in No great Mischief have demonstrated true devotion towards every family member whereas Lear’s stubbornness prevents him from being faithful which is shown by the characters.
The tragedy King Lear is centered on King Lear’s want to retire from rule and setting up his kingdom between his three daughters. Shakespeare presents the many characters of the play to show the complexity of the self. In this tragedy few characters change their intentions but many are deceitful in the path to achieve that goal. The characters who remain true to themselves are the characters with the best intentions and are also characters who are lied against. Shakespeare presents the self as one doing what is best for the individual regardless of the consequences to others. Therefore throughout the play many characters make decisions that surely affect the outcome of the play. Lear and Gloucester are two manipulated characters in the play
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...
The play begins with two noblemen, Gloucester and Kent, discussing the fact that King Lear is about to divide his kingdom. Their conversation quickly changes, however, when Kent asks Gloucester to introduce his son. Gloucester introduces Edmund, explaining that Edmund is a bastard being raised away from home, but that he nevertheless loves his son dearly.
King Lear is a Shakespearian tragedy revolving largely around one central theme, personal transformation. Shakespeare shows in King Lear that the main characters of the play experience a transformative phase, where they are greatly changed through their suffering. Through the course of the play Lear is the most transformed of all the characters. He goes through seven major stages of transformation on his way to becoming an omniscient character: resentment, regret, recognition, acceptance and admittance, guilt, redemption, and optimism. Shakespeare identifies King Lear as a contemptuous human being who is purified through his suffering into some sort of god.
Shakespeare's King Lear is a play which shows the consequences of one man's decisions. The audience follows the main character, Lear, as he makes decisions that disrupt order in his Kingdom. When Lear surrenders all his power and land to his daughters as a reward for their demonstration of love towards him, the breakdown on order in evident. Lear's first mistake is to divide his Kingdom into three parts. A Kingdom is run best under one ruler as only one decision is made without contradiction. Another indication that order is disrupted is the separation of Lear's family. Lear's inability to control his anger causes him to banish his youngest daughter, Cordelia, and loyal servant, Kent. This foolish act causes Lear to become vulnerable to his other two daughters as they conspire against him. Lastly, the transfer of power from Lear to his eldest and middle daughter, Goneril and Regan, reveals disorder as a result of the division of the Kingdom. A Kingdom without order is a Kingdom in chaos. When order is disrupted in King Lear, the audience witnesses chaotic events that Lear endures, eventually learning who truly loves him.
In Act 3, Scene 7, Gloucester is captured by Regan and her husband Cornwall. He is accused of being a traitor and is...
...don him in his madness. Edmund, the main force of 'evil' in the play, not only comes near to destroying the country the Lear has worked so hard to maintain, he also gives the order for the death of the King and his youngest daughter. This, of course, leads directly to Lear's own self-induced death. Therefore, while king Lear's sins were horrible, and cannot be fully excused by his madness or his redemption, they still pale in comparison to those committed against him. While he wallowed in pettiness, they succumbed to greed, evil, and murder.
"Royal Lear, whom I have ever honored as my king, loved as my father, as my master followed, as my great patron thought in my prayers../ Let it fall rather, though the fork invade the region of my heart. Be Kent unmannerly when Lear is mad....Think'st thou that duty shall have dread to speak when power to flattery bows? To plainness honor's bound when majesty falls to folly. Reserve thy state..." (Shakespeare, 139/ 144). Even though King Lear had banished Kent and banished him, he was still loyal and followed and helped King Lear throughout the whole play, just like a lost puppy, but this puppy was not lost, he was just helpful and very loyal. Kent's love for King Lear was unbelievable. "If but as well I other accents borrow, that can my speech diffuse, my good intent may carry through itself to that full issue for which I razed my likeness. Now, banished Kent, if thou canst serve where thou dost stand condemned, so may it come thy master, whom though lovest, shall find thee full of labors" (Shakespeare, 1-7). Kent is too loyal and caring to King
Edmund again shows this when he sells out his father to the earl of Cornwall for the position of earl of Gloucester. Well to say that was his original plan is to give too much credit. Cornwall never officially gave any intention he was going to name Edmund earl of Gloucester. Edmund had conveniently “found” the letter of his father form France. Now we know from his past experiences that he was probability setting up for him to gain Cornwall’s favor, not get his father blinded and he never said that he wanted his father harmed, “our fathers love ...
Edmund lusted for all of his father’s power, lying to his gullible brother and father aided him in his plan for total authority along with destroying their lives. As bastard son of Gloucester, Edmund wanted to receive all of the power destined for his brother, Edgar, who was Gloucester’s legitimate son. Edmund stated his disapproval of his brother, “Wherefore should I/ Stand in the plague of custom, and permit/ The curiosity of nations to deprive me/ For that I am some twelve or fourteen moonshines/ Lag of a brother? Why bastard?”(1.2.2-6). Edmund wanted the respect and love that Edgar received even though he was Gloucester’s bastard son. He claimed that he was not much younger or “moonshines lag of a brother” therefore he should be considered just as smart and able-minded as any legitimate son. He built up hatred toward Edgar and in order to get rid of him he convinced his father that Edgar had betrayed him through a letter. The letter that Edmund made read, “If our father would sleep till I waked him, you/ should enjoy half his revenue for ever, and live/ the beloved of your brother, Edgar”(1.2.55-57). Edmund portrayed Edgar as the son that would kill Gloucester only to inherit his money and share his inheritance with Edmund. Gloucester believed Edmund, sending out guards to kill Edgar for his betrayal...