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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
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.
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...
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
The play of "King Lear" is about a search for personal identity. In the historical period in which this play is set, the social structure was set in order of things closest to Heaven. Therefore, on Earth, the king was at the top, followed by his noblemen and going all the way down to the basest of objects such as rocks and dirt. This structure was set up by the people, and by going by the premise that anything that is man made is imperfect, this system cannot exist for long without conflict.
Edmund’s discontent with the notion of bastardy is brought up furthermore in his soliloquy at the beginning of scene two: “Thou, nature, art my goddess. To thy law/ My services are bound. Wherefore should I/ Stand in the plague of custom…” (II.1-3). The notion of bastardy in Lear pushes Edmund to place his faith in his born traits as opposed to the system that has labeled him an outsider his whole life. He believes he is equal to his brother in every way—his mind and shape as true—and the only reason he is not aloud to prosper is because of a preconceived idea of the ideal child. Inevitably, Edmund wants to rebel against the system that has stifled him for so long. Gloucester is primarily responsible for Edmund’s actions because he in no way raised him equal to Edgar. Edmund’s goal to usurp his brother and earn the power he believes he deserves is due to the notion of bastardy in the play; Edmund questions “why brand they us with ‘base, base bastardy’” in his first soliloquy (II.10) . After all, even Kent attested to his fine demeanour. But, the steadfast notion of bastardy at the time drove Edmund to the point of betrayal because there was no hope for him in playing by the rules as they are fundamentally opposed to a bastard’s prosperity. With this soliloquy, Edmund positions himself as the more disserving
...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.
In King Lear, Shakespeare portrays a society whose emphasis on social class results in a strict social hierarchy fueled by the unceasing desire to improve one’s social status. It is this desire for improved social status that led to the unintentional deterioration of the social hierarchy in King Lear. This desire becomes so great that Edmund, Goneril, Reagan and Cornwall were willing to act contrary to the authority of the social hierarchy for the betterment of their own position within it. As the plot unfolds, the actions of the aforementioned characters get progressively more desperate and destructive as they realize their lack of success in attaining their personal goals. The goals vary, however the selfish motivation does not. With Edmund, Goneril, Reagan and Cornwall as examples, Shakespeare portrays the social hierarchy as a self-defeating system because it fosters desires in its members that motivate them to act against the authority of the hierarchy to benefit themselves. A consideration of each characters actions in chronological order and the reasons behind such actions reveals a common theme among the goals for which morality is abandoned.
King Lear by Shakespeare portrayed the negative effects of power resulting in destruction caused by the children of a figure with authority. Through lies and continual hatred, characters maintained a greed for power causing destruction within their families. The daughter’s of Lear and the son Gloucester lied to inherit power for themselves. Edmund the son of Gloucester planned to eliminate his brother Edgar from his inheritance.
Through Shakespear's King Lear, the motif of loyalty over power is explored in King Lear, in many ways through many characters. Loyalty is something you cannot find in many people easily, it is shown through actions and their words. Loyalty is shown throughout the play by only some characters, such as Kent, the Fool and Cordelia. Whether King Lear was rude to them or nice, they all treated him with respect and were loyal to him.
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
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.
In Act 3, Scene 7, Gloucester is captured by Regan and her husband Cornwall. He is accused of being a traitor and is...
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.
King Lear gives the reader a bleak and lonely impression. People suffer unjustly and are killed by heartbreak. Albany points out that if left alone by the gods, "Humanity must perforce prey on itself / like monsters of the deep," expressing that justice and humanity do not house comfortably together. And how can there be meaning or purpose in life if there is no justice? Lear himself alludes poetically to this when upon Cordelia's death he asks, "Why should a dog, a horse, a rat have life / And thou no breath at all?" He also realizes that "I am a man more sinned against than sinning" when it is made obvious that the punishment for his mistake in scene one is harsher than it should be, making it unjust...
The play “King Lear” is a tragedy of an old king and the troubles of his broken kingdom; but the play illustrates, more than anything that lies and betrayal lead to ones desires but fails to last.