Throughout Shakespeare's story of King Lear, readers might see a similarity between King Lear and Gloucester. Initially, you feel as if King Lear and Gloucester are, in a sense, bad people for abandoning the individuals that care about them the most. King Lear banishes his daughter Cordelia because she doesn’t express her love for Lear the way he wants her to and he also banishes Kent for standing up for Cordelia in saying that she truly loves Lear the most. Gloucester banishes his son Edgar because he is manipulated by his illegitimate son Edmund into thinking that Edgar is trying to murder him so that he can take his throne. In the beginning, I feel as if King Lear is insecure and has poor judgment while Gloucester is easily influenced and very naive. Towards the end of the play, my opinions on both Lear and Gloucester changed. I began to feel sympathy towards them once they started going through traumatic events. Towards the end of the play, King Lear becomes a humble and caring individual while Gloucester later proves how he is capable of great bravery. In the end, it seems as though both Lear and Gloucester die from the guilt and sorrow that comes from the traumatic events that they experience. One might suggest that they both die from a broken heart.
In the beginning of the play, Lear exhibits his poor judgement and insecurities when he brings in his three daughters to see who he will give his kingdom to. The test that he puts his daughters through demonstrates that he desires a false public display of love over real love. He doesn’t ask “which of you doth love us most,” instead he says, “which of you shall we say doth love us most?” (Shakespeare, 11). Most readers would say that Lear is simply blind to the truth. Some wo...
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..., but the most important thing is how you learn from making that bad decision and using that experience to better yourself as a person. Although they both start off the story seeming very selfish and irresponsible, they turn out to show that they truly do have a good heart and show sympathy towards the people that they initially abandoned. My impressions of them change dramatically during the course of the play. In the beginning of the play I have no remorse for Lear or Gloucester. I am against them in the beginning simply because they were blind to the fact that they were pushing away the people that meant the most to them. When I began seeing how badly Lear and Gloucester were being treated by their “evil” children, I couldn’t help but feel sympathy for them. It made me realize that people do make mistakes and all we can do from that point on is learn from them.
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...
King Lear is the figurehead of his kingdom with his power and command drawn from his crown. His crown is also a symbol for his kingdom which is essential to his ego and can be supported with the scene where he asks his daughters to tell him how much they love him. “Which of you shall we say doth love us most, /That we our largest bounty may extend /Where nature doth with merit challenge.” (I, i, 53-55) King Lear demands a public display of affection from his daughters because it demonstrates his dominance. The betrayal of Goneril and Regan destroys King Lear’s ability to command, as competition between the two sisters’ shatters his kingdom like an egg. Lear’s relationship to his crown can be compared to a hen and her egg; both mean the world to their owners, and bot...
It tainted his familial bonds and gave him a sense of determination to escape society’s value of him. The notion of bastardy drives this aspect of the plot and is the single most important idea when looking into the phenomenon of cruelty between Edmund and Gloucester in King Lear. Edmund’s story is tragic because there is no resolution for his biggest grievance apart from a larger paradigm shift, marking a change in society’s value of the bastard. It is safe to say that Edmund and Gloucester’s relationship was plagued by powers greater than themselves. Shakespeare elevates their relationship to start a dialogue about family and societal values—creating a deeply layered and tragic
Two powerful characters in the play, aging King Lear and the gullible Earl of Gloucester, both betrayed their children unintentionally. Firstly, characters are betrayed due to family assumption. Lear banished his youngest daughter Cordelia because he over estimated how much she loved him. When questioned by her father, she responds with, "I love your Majesty / According to my bond, no more nor less." (I,i, 94-95) Lear assumed that since Cordelia was his daughter, she had to love him in a certain way, but he took this new knowledge and banished her without further thought. Secondly, characters were betrayed because of class. Edmund, the first-born son in the Gloucester family, should have been his father's next of kin. He would have been able to take over the position of Earl upon his father's death if he did not hold the title of a legitimate bastard. In his first soliloquy he says, "Why Bastard? Wherefore base? / When my dimensions are as well compact/ my mind as generous, and my shape as true " (I,ii, 6-8) Edmund believes he is at least equal, if not more, to his father in body and in mind, but the title that his father regrettably gave to him still lingers. Lastly, characters were betrayed because of family trust. Gloucester trusted his son Edmund when he was told that his other son was trying to kill him. Upon reading the forged letter written by Edmund, he responded with, "O villain, villain! His very opinion in the letter! Go, sirrah, seek him." (I,ii,75-77) Gloucester inadvertently betrayed Edgar because he held so much trust in his one son that he was easily persuaded to lose all trust in his other one. These blind characters were unfortunately betrayed there children, but they did it unintentionally and will eventually see there wrong doings.
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.
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
“King Lear” depicts several life lessons throughout the play that are still relevant to life today. During the play, Shakespeare emphasizes how evil some may be through acts, scenes, and characters. The lessons learned throughout the play build on top of one another, much like the problems in the play build on top of one another. The root cause to all the madness in the play stems from the multiple characters that are hungry for power. Ultimately, the characters’ flaws come to light, the bad outweighs the good, and only a few are saved from death. “King Lear” illustrates valuable life lessons throughout the play, lessons about greed, deception, and power.
Thus, then leading Gloucester to the loss of parental knowledge and understanding towards his own two sons. Alike King Lear, Gloucester too struggles with the identification of his children. Through his lack of communication between both Edmund and Edgar, Gloucester is unable to personify who and what his sons stand for as a person. This then disables him to realize that Edmund is the true cold-hearted son, while Edgar is the good son who has stood by his side till death. Further on, when too late, once losing his vey two eyes Gloucester begins to realize that when having sight, he was mentally blind. Gloucester was unable to see the truth behind his own sons, but now, not having sight he is able to see the truth that Edgar is the innocent child. This is proven when Gloucester speaks “I have no way, and therefore want no eyes;/ I stumbled when I saw. Full oft’tis seen/ Prove our commodities. O dear son Edgar,/ The food of thy abused father’s wrath;/ Might I but live to see thee in my touch,/ I’d say I had eyes again!”
In King Lear, the subplot of Gloucester corresponds to the major plot of King Lear. Both fathers have their own loyal legitimate child and their evil and disloyal child. They are both honourable men, who have children that return to them in their time of need. Gloucester and Lear are both tormented, and their favoured child recovers their life. In the early beginning of the play, Cordelia says that her love for her father is the love between father and daughter, no more, no less. Unhappy that I am, I cannot heave My heart into my mouth. I love your Majesty According to my bond, no more nor less. (Act 1 Scene 1 Pg. 13 lines 93-95) In response, King Lear goes into rage, and divides Cordelia’s share of the kingdom between her two unworthy sisters. Such injustice is encountered by Gloucester in the subplot. O villain, villain! His very opinion in the letter! Abhorred villain! Unnatural, detested, brutish villain! Worse than brutish! Go, sirrah, seek him. I’ll apprehend him. Abominable villain! Where is he? (Act 1 Scene 2 Pg. 37 lines 75-78) Gloucester fool...
No tragedy of Shakespeare moves us more deeply that we can hardly look upon the bitter ending than King Lear. Though, in reality, Lear is far from like us. He himself is not an everyday man but a powerful king. Could it be that recognize in Lear the matter of dying? Each of us is, in some sense, a king who must eventually give up his kingdom. To illustrate the process of dying, Shakespeare has given Lear a picture of old age in great detail. Lear’s habit to slip out of a conversation (Shakespeare I. v. 19-33), his brash banishment of his most beloved and honest daughter, and his bitter resentment towards his own loss of function and control, highlighted as he ironically curses Goneril specifically on her functions of youth and prays that her
Lear's vision is marred by lack of direction in life, poor foresight and his inability to predict the consequences of his actions. He cannot look far enough into the future to see the consequences of his actions. This, in addition to his lack of insight into other people, condemns his relationship with his most beloved daughter, Cordelia. When Lear asks his daughters, who loves him most, he already thinks that Cordelia has the most love for him. However, when Cordelia says: "I love your Majesty according to my bond, no more nor less." (I, i, 94-95) Lear cannot see what these words really mean. Goneril and Regan are only putting on an act. They do not truly love Lear as much as they should. When Cordelia says these words, she has seen her sister's facade, and she does not want to associate her true love with their false love. Lear, however, is fooled by Goneril and Regan into thinking that they love him, while Cordelia does not. This is when Lear first shows a sign of becoming blind to those around him. He snaps and disowns her:
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.
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
Shakespeare expresses two major themes in King Lear: love and wisdom. King Lear’s struggle to recognize authentic love, love himself, and acknowledge the wisdom imparted on him, due to his weak emotional state, results in needless conflicts and the deaths of many. In the first scene of King Lear, Lear reveals his plan to split his kingdom between his daughters by asking them how much they love him. The daughter that proves she loves him the most receives the largest portion of the kingdom (1.1.46-50). Kent intends to calm Lear down, yet Lear’s unstable emotions at the time lead to him thrashing out against Kent, even threatening him.
(3.4.35 – 39) Showing compassion towards the struggles of the poor was uncommon for members of nobility, but after Lear lost his power and his daughters, he realized that there are many people in the world who have even less than him. He recognizes that he should have taken better care of them by sharing his surpluses when he was a king and make the world a little fairer. Later on in the play, Cordelia comes back to Britain to find Lear, and when they meet, Lear is both incredibly shocked and remorseful. He feels ashamed to look at Cordelia, certain that he does not deserve her forgiveness and acts with his new outlook on justice: