Analyzing An Annotating In Shakespeare's 'King Lear'

Often times we take our eye sight for granted. We never think about what would happen if we could not see and believe our eyes. There is an old saying that says, “Seeing is believing;” however, what we see is not always the truth. As we read King Lear it becomes clear that people can physically see events, believe that what is being seen is the truth, and be totally blinded to the truth. We choose to see what we want to believe because that is what we want to happen. Many times our emotions take over and what is right in front of our face is blinded by what we want the truth to be. There are several characters in King Lear who are blind to the truth, not because their eye sight is impaired but because they have selective sight and only see what they want to see. Sight or lack thereof, has many literary facets beyond the obvious physical meaning, as intricately portrayed in Shakespeare’s King Lear; where the ability to see the truth is clouded by mental blindness, love, greed, and ambition until a transformation occurs and the characters can truly see the truth.

Shakespeare's tragedy King Lear can be interpreted in many ways and many responses. The imprecision’s and complication of the play has led

beginning of the play proves to be false. Lear discovers that his necessity to keep

Cordelia is “gone for ever! ... She’s dead as earth.” (V,iii, ll. 308-310), mostly because of the way that King Lear treated her. Lear banished her out of the kingdom after Cordelia truthfully told Lear how much she loved him. Her death would be the promised end, because if she does not die, then there is no tragic fall, no death of Lear, and this play to be a tragedy. In order for King Lear to have a tragic hero, and therefore be a tragedy, then a well-liked character, Cordelia, would have to

The most truthful statements that the fool makes throughout the entire play comes when he says, “Truths a dog must to kennel; he must be whipped out, when the Lady brach may stand by the fire and stink” (I.iv.105). These incredibly strong words come from the fool after he has finished talking to the King about his poor decision of cutting Cordelia out of her share of the country after she told the truth. His words were used to tell Lear that by punishing Cordelia for being truthful, all he really did was allow Goneril and Regan to ascend to power through deception. While Goneril and Regan enjoy the comforts of their home, Cordelia was kicked out in the cold where she had to start a new life confined to far less luxuries than Goneril or Regan only because she chose to be truthful. This statement not only applies to King Lear, but it also applies to everyday life, as flattering often seems to get people further

King Lear fully portrays the weed and that no one wants people like him thus King Lear ends up being forgotten and treated as a poor person in society. Another person nature describes and compare is the physical traits of Edgar and his downfall from high social order similar to King Lear. During Edgar scenes with King Lear, Edgar is portrayed as a low person in society and an outcast. However, in Act 4 Scene 6 nature describes Edgar returning back to his normal position in society as Edgar transitions from a poor beggar to a peasant with better clothes. This shows that Edgar is given a second chance just as he gave his father a second chance to learn from the lessons he was given throughout his interactions and situations. In addition to nature’s description of the characters, it also reveals the important lessons that each learns throughout the play and not only how it has impacted them but also their new perspective on their personality and life as a whole. In Act 4 Scene 7, it shows the peaceful scene when Cordelia finally meets her

Although Cordelia appears in Act I, Scene I and disappears until Act IV, she has an enormous impact on the play as a whole. It is generally acknowledged that the role played by Cordelia in King Lear is a symbolic one. She is a symbol of good amidst the evil characters within the play. Since the play is about values which have been corrupted and must be restored, it is not surprising that the figure who directs the action must be embodiment of those values which are in jeopardy – love, truth, pity, honour, courage and forgiveness. Cordelia’s reply does not initiate the tragedy; Lear’s misguided question does that. Her “nothing” sets her father’s tragic journey in motion. There is nothing wrong with her remarks.

-Also, it is possible the Fool suspects that whoever counseled Lear to make the decision to split up his kingdom among his daughters was in fact an adversary (possibly Oswald) of either Goneril or

Shakespeare’s most prevalent theme within the play King Lear is moral blindness which is relevant in today’s society as a result of the expression of power and control. King Lear, Gloucester and Albany are three prime precedents that Shakespeare fuses being morally blinded into. Their actions of misjudgment of character prominent by Lear’s and Gloucester misjudgment of their children and Albany becoming persuaded by Gonerill and manipulated, which they find themselves in a situation of moral blindness leading to a tragic downfall by making powerful decisions which they will all eventually come to regret.

One of the major themes of the play is the inability to see things for what they are. Lear’s failure to recognize reality set the plot into motion: He falsely believed that Goneril and Regan loved him, and he falsely accused Cordelia of disloyalty, when in fact, she was the

Lear's entry into the play is similar to Gloucester's such that, through close analysis of the dialogue between the King and his daughters, the reader gains awful knowledge of the arrogance and ignorance that will soon become his downfall . The drama of his opening speech is at all points excessive; the reader discerns a man that is long accustomed to being listened to and indulged in every way. In a moral

Out of familial love, Cordelia shines the play in the sense that she continues to exhibits her virtue even she is “cast down” and even she is discredited by her father. Moving to the reunion, where Cordelia stays with her father to redress Lear’s faults and know better of himself, Cordelia’s noble character culminates in apt personification of kindness and virtue that persist even the most difficult and abject of times. Moving to the end of the play, where Cordelia is murdered in its most dehumanizing sense, Cordelia finally becomes a sacrifice to the heartlessness of a skewed, unjust world.

In working so hard to project this persona, Lear is untrue to himself, and loses sight of who he is. Even the scheming Goneril and Regan notice that their father “hath ever but/ slenderly known himself.” (I, i, 282-283) This makes Lear a very insecure person, which explains in part why he insists that his daughters stroke his ego before receiving any of his kingdom. His identity crisis is highlighted when he asks who can verify who he is, and the response by the Fool is: “Lear’s shadow.” (I, iv, 251) At this point in the play, Lear is sane and is still the monarch of the kingdom. Nevertheless, the Fool’s insightful comment insists that Lear is nothing more than a shadow of his true self. Plato would say that he is trapped in the shadow world of the cave, unable to grasp the true forms.[5] This self-imposed persona estranges Lear from his audience; his vulnerability as a human is masked by his rash behavior and unjust decisions. Bloom says that “before he goes mad, Lear’s consciousness is beyond ready understanding; his lack of self-knowledge, blended with his awesome authority, makes him unknowable by us.”[6] Without understanding a character, an audience is most definitely unable to sympathize with him, and here we run into a potentially problematic issue. Aristotle believes that

The opportunity to view both productions of King Lear has appeared twice for me in the past two years. The first time I viewed Trevor Nunn’s 2009 production of King Lear my review would have been based solely on my ability to understand the dialogue and my appreciation of the acting of Ian McKellen. Two years later I have a better understanding of the actual play and while I still enjoy the 2009 production the 1982 production directed by Jonathan Miller presents the words of William Shakespeare in a more accurate and period specific manor.

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