Loyalty In King Lear

From the banishment of Kent and Cordelia till his death King Lear in William Shakespeare's play The Tragedy of King Lear is blind to the signs of loyalty. In the play, Lear has decided to step down from his throne and evenly distribute his kingdom to his three daughters : Goneril, Cordelia, and Regan. However, each of them must proclaim their love for him first, Goneril and Regan easily win Lear over by flattering and praising him. On the other hand Cordelia, Lear’s favorite, who truly loves him is left with a loss for words and he sees this lack of response as a sign of disrespect. His lack of judgment for her and others true loyalty leads to great torment throughout the development of the play. The recurring theme of loyalty in all aspects of the play is portrayed upon the characters of Kent, Cordelia and the Fool.

Loyalty is not cared for, but instead is ignored in The Tragedy of King Lear. In most cases, loyalty leads to death, and in all cases, it means great torture. Kent , Lear’s servant, always remained loyal to Lear even after he was banished. Kent always told Lear what his mistakes were even if there would be grave consequences. For example Kent attempts to declare his loyalty to Lear when he states, “Royal Lear,/ Whom I have ever honored as my king,/ Loved as my father, as my master followed,/ As my great patron thought on in my prayers-.” (1.1. 139-144) Lear is blind to Kent’s loyalty and fends him off by banishing him. When Lear banishes Kent he gives him all the reason to betray him but he remains on Lear’s side. Once he is banished he decides to disguise himself as Caius in order to still be along side of Lear. In the light of him going into disguise he states, “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 thou lovest,/ Shall find thee full of labors.”(1.4.1-7) Kent was never obligated to help Lear he did it on his own free will. Kent also remains loyal to Cordelia, Lear’s daughter, by giving her information on Lear’s state and whereabouts.
In the beginning of the play Lear is stubborn to the fact that his daughters Regan and Goneril are devoted to him. However, his third daughter Cordelia is disowned with her lack of response towards his request for her to state her love to him. Cordelia attempts to repair the damage of her lack of response by stating, “Unhappy that i am, I cannot heave/ My heart into my mouth. I love your majesty/ According to my bond, no more no less.” (1.1.90-93) He overlooks her response and reads it as a sign of disrespect he responds to her by saying that as of that moment there are no longer family ties between them and he now considers her a stranger.(1.1.113-115) Lear gives her all the reason to hate him and disown him but instead she decides to pick up his broken pieces when he realizes his terrible mistake. Cordelia demonstrates her loyalty by using actions in favor of him, she is one of the few that remains loyal to him even after his downfall and rollercoaster through madness. She is the epitome of loyalty, and holds out a hand to help him in his time of need without holding a grudge against him. Eventually with this play being a famous Shakespearean tragedy, Cordelia is killed but her death is evidence that loyalty most often lead to death in King Lear.
Another character who demonstrated the trait of loyalty is the Fool.

The Fool uses humour to criticize Lear on his every decision and mistake. He aids Lear and helps him come to the reality of things. In act one the Fool explains to Lear the nonsense in his decision of splitting up the kingdom by stating, “..When thou clovest thy/ crown i’ th’ middle, and gavest away both parts,thou borest/ thy ass o’ tho’ back o’er the dirt..Thou hadst little wit in thy/ bald crown when thou gavest thy golden one away.”(1.4.143-146) Lear once again turns the blind eye on his truthful words and sticks with his stubborn peace of mind. Even through all the harsh words from Lear the Fool decides to stay with him and help guide him in his journey into madness.The fool gives a speech to Lear in Act Two he claims to him that, “That sir which serves for seek and gain, /And follows but for form, /Will pack when it begins to rain/And leave thee in the storm. /But I will tarry. The fool will stay.”(2.4.68-72) The fool acts and speaks with true intentions and it is only till the end when he is hung for being allies with Lear does Lear realize how much he did him

wrong.
In final analysis, loyalty was a very reiterated theme throughout Shakespeare’s play The Tragedy of King Lear. Shakespeare shows that loyalty is not just kindness but is having good intentions and being beside someone in their time of need. He emphasizes the fact that those that Lear thought were disowning him were really the ones who were always on his side. Kent, Cordelia and the Fool were aware of the price that could have been payed for their loyalty yet they remained loyal throughout the play’s development. On occasion loyalty is seen as disrespect but when analyzing a situation it must always be taken into consideration.