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Loyalty In King Lear

Decent Essays

“King Lear” by William Shakespeare is the play that I have studied in the course and it is one of William Shakespeare famous play. I found that this play is very interesting and I am impressed by one of the protagonists in the play, The Earl of Kent. The Earl of Kent is one of the main characters in the play and serves the role of Earl to King Lear. He demonstrates extraordinary loyalty throughout the play. First and foremost, Kent speaks up whenever he see Lear acting in a way that will do him no good. At the beginning of the play, when King Lear is going to disown Cordelia, Kent is the only one who trying to stop King Lear by saying “Good my liege”. Besides that, Kent stands up and urges King Lear, “Reverse thy doom, And in thy best consideration check this hideous rashness.” Kent asks King Lear to reverse his foolish decision to disown the only loving and loyal daughter, Cordelia. In addition, Kent also tells King Lear, “Thy youngest daughter does not love thee least, Nor are those empty-hearted whose low sound.” Kent points out that Cordelia loves Lear the most, and he can see that Goneril and Regan are “empty-hearted" and their flattering words mean nothing. As a consequence of speaking out all the truths, Kent is banished by King Lear. …show more content…

For example, at the end of the play, when Edgar trying to wake the King, Kent says “Vex not his ghost. O, let him pass. He hates him that would upon the rack of this tough world stretch him out longer.” Kent’s loyalty and pity for King Lear lead him to beg the others to not attempt to save the King’s life. In addition, after Lear’s death, Albany offered Kent to help rule the kingdom, but Kent refuses. He says,” I have a journey, sir, shortly to go: My master calls, and I must not say no.” This implies that Kent is going to commit suicide so he can be with the King. This also shows that Kent’s loyalty as a servant is

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