King Lears Self Discovery Essay -- King Lear essays

fagot Lears Self Discovery Although King Lear is an serious monarch, as revealed by the devotion of men such as Kent, he has serious character flaws. His power as fag has encouraged him to be proud and impulsive, and his oldishest daughters Regan and Goneril reflect that The best and soundest of his time hath been but rash... and that he hath ever but slenderly known himself (1.1.297-298, 295-296). When Lear decides to divide his kingdom between his trinity daughters, Cordelia, Goneril, and Regan in order to have less responsibility in his old age, he creates a situation in which his eldest daughters gain permission over him and mistreat him. Lear is unable to cope with his loss of power and descends into madness. mend the circumstances in which Lear finds himself are instrumental in the unfolding of this tragedy, it is finally not the circumstances themselves, but King Lears rash reactions to them that lead to his downfall. In this downfall, Lear is forced to come to ter ms with himself as a mortal man. Lears felo-de-se begins when he stands before the court to divide his kingdom and commands his daughters to profess their bop for him. Cordelia, his youngest and most favored daughter, idealistically believes that words are unnecessary in the musing of love and refuses to profess her feelings. King Lear had planned to give the most orbit to Cordelia and to stay with her in his old age and he states of Cordelia, I love her most, and thought to set my rest/ On her kind nursery (1.1.125-126). The king does not understand the motives behind Cordelias silence and is shocked by her unthought-of reaction to his demand. He loses sight of his careful preparation for his future and in his... ...h. This gesture is Lears final relinquishment of the royalty he no long-range values, as well as his decisive welcoming of mortality as it provides him with an escape from his grief. Works Cited and Consulted Artaud, Antonin. The Theatre and Its Double. Grov e Press Inc. New York. 1958 Billington, Michael. Gielgud His superior Triumphs. The Age. May 24, 2000. Brook, Peter. The Empty Space. 1st Touchstone edition. Simon and Schuster Inc. 1996. Noguchi, Isamu. Isamu Noguchi On the Dance. Texts by Isamu Noguchi. Partee, Dr. Morriss Henry. Shakespeare Improved. University of doh English Dept. Shakespeare, William. The Tragedy of King Lear. Jay L. Halio. Ed. The New Cambridge Shakespeare. Cambridge University Press. New York. 1992. Shakespeare, William. The Tragedy of King Lear. Ed. Russell Fraser. New York Penguin, 1998.