How Does Shakespeare Present Kent In King Lear

The Tragedy King Lear: An Analysis While almost everyone has heard of the name Shakespeare, very few people have read one of his scripts. Shakespeare’s plays, written in “Early Modern English,” provide quite a challenge for many who would consider themselves to be advanced readers. The complex plot, characters, language, and other elements are often difficult to decrypt. However, decrypting the script of The Tragedy of King Lear has been an extremely rewarding and exciting experience. King Lear is the story of the collapse of Lear’s kingdom, family, and most importantly his sanity. To begin, the University of Louisville Department of Theatre Arts and Commonwealth Theatre Center adopted a unique interpretation of the script. The use of Aristotle’s spectacle aids in unifying the scene with the entire

Specifically, Kent’s character provides the story with a perplexing plot of its own. Kent is a faithful servant to King Lear, however he is quick to disagree with Lear’s treatment of Cordelia in Act I, Scene I. Kent responds to Lear, “Be Kent unmannerly / When Lear is mad.” (Pg. 17) His words show a high degree of dedication to Lear that goes beyond his typical duties as a nobleman. Kent shows his loyalty to Lear through his return, even after Lear has banished him for speaking out. When Kent returns in disguise as “Caius,” this is a complex development of his personality and how he treats Lear with a newfound respect. As Caius, he shows no past resentment towards Lear for banishing him and maintains his sense of humor without being revealed as Kent. In the last scene of the play, after Lear dies, Kent says, “I have a journey, sir, shortly to go. / My master calls me. I must not say no.” (Pg. 261) The few lines suggest that he plans to soon die as to serve Lear in the afterlife. The depth of Kent’s character through his words and actions are exemplary to Aristotle’s element of