Examples Of Madness In King Lear

Madness can be categorized in many ways and forms. A person might think something another person does as mad, while another person might think the same thing to be normal. Madness is the state of being mentally ill. Examples of madness are insanity, foolishness, idiocy and many more.

In the play King Lear, by William Shakespeare the characters in the play show many different symptoms and forms of madness. Three characters in King Lear show symptoms of some madness; King Lear portrays true insanity, Edmund 's madness allows evil and manipulation, while the Fools form of madness is used to hide truths that need to be told. Insanity, the state of being seriously mentally ill; is a form of madness. In the beginning, Lear displays one of his

He is the rejected illegitimate son of Gloucester, who only cares for his own blood-son Edgar. Edmund, In the beginning of Act 1, casts an illusion that his stepbrother Edgar is trying to kill their father. “If our father would sleep till I waked him, / you should enjoy half his revenue for ever, and / live the beloved of your brother.” (1.2.52-4) Edmund writes a letter to himself forging his brother 's signature to make it seem like the letter came from Edger. Edmund reveals the letter to Gloucester causing him to get angry at Edgar. Edmund also convinces Edgar to flee the kingdom because their father is angry at him, “My father watches. O sir, fly this place! / Intelligence is given where you are hid”(2.1.20-1). Edmund is trying to cast an illusion of being the good loyal son, while in reality he is trying to take over their father 's wealth. Edmund is the evil son. In addition, Edmund shows his true form of evil madness when he betrays his own father and tells Cornwall about the letter Gloucester gave him to hide, the letter that proves Gloucester 's allegiance to King Lear and tells of the invasion of the French army. “How malicious is my fortune that I must represent / to be just! This is the letter he spoke of, which approves him an intelligent party to the advantages of France.” (3.5.7-10) Edmund is power hungry and will do anything to get the power he thinks he deserves;

This is maniacal because he is ruining lives of innocent people and breaking family bonds. It shows that Edmund has a strong motivation and drive to accomplish objectives even though it 's the cost of others. Lastly, The Fool is a character whose job is to entertain the King and all royal audiences. The Fool in this play does that, but he also goes further beyond just entertaining the King; he educates and speaks the truth through hidden in paradox and riddles only the reader can understand. “There, take my coxcomb! Why, this fellow has banished two on 's daughters, and did the third a blessing against his will” (1.4.96-102). The Fool is talking about King Lear and he thinks that only a Fool would make the decisions Lear made, and mocks him by trying to give Lear his hat. The Fool does and says things to the king and other characters without being punished, things that would cause a lot of harm and punishment to regular people if they would say or do them. “Peace Kent! / Come not between the dragon and his wrath.” (1.1.124) Lear is angry at Kent for confronting him and disrespecting him on the matter of Cordelia and the other two daughters. The Fool is like Lear 's conscience; he tries to guide and consult with Lear on actions and decisions he makes. The Fool also judges Lear on the actions he makes, and why and how he came to the conclusion of making those