Oh Lear, if only you knew

King Lear presented to us a different type of tragedy. The other tragedies we have read are romantic and based off of love and relationships. King Lear is based off of different types of relationships, mostly between families and power. Shakespeare also had the readers’ minds completely changed about some characters in the end. Lear, who we initially saw as a power struck, greedy King. By the end, we feel sorry for him not only because he is in a way loosing his sanity, but also because of the physical and emotional attacks put on him. Another character that we pity by the end is Gloucester (Steve Corey). His old age, and the unfair attacks made on him for his loyalty to Lear also create a sense of pity among the readers.

When Lear made the decision of how he wished to divide his kingdom among his daughters who were expected to compete for his affection and love by lying and emphasizing their own love and loyalty to Lear. Upon Cordelia’s refusal to compete for his affection by lying, Lear is outraged and disowns his only true daughter who absolutely loves him and is not just trying to gain material possessions. Goneril and Regan do exactly what Lear wants them to do, so he divides the land among them and their husbands. These two sisters’ husbands are also part of the issue. We also write off Cornwall and Albany as bad too because of their wives. However, though Cornwall is of bad intentions too, Albany has good intentions and behaves admirably most of the time.

One of the other characters in Lear’s life who behaves admirably is Kent. Though Kent is banished, his dedication to Lear and love for his King told to disguise himself as someone else serving Lear to protect his King. Not only did Lear need to be protected against Goneril, Regan, Cornwall, and Oswald but also against Edmund, Gloucester’s illegitimate son trying to climb the social ranking pole and taking out anyone in his way of that. Edgar, the legitimate son, was good, but after Edmund’s deceit and turning people against him, Edgar was forced into disguise like Kent.

Some characters proved to be King Lear’s sense of reason when he had none, like Kent and even the Fool. The fool’s ability to say pretty much whatever he wanted without being punished allowed the readers to see how many issues there really are in the novel and in Lear’s mind. The fool proves to be a very important part of Lear’s life, because he was also one of the only people to stay with him after leaving his daughters. He and Kent show more dedication to and love for their King than his daughters, which emphasizes the good natures of Kent and the Fool, and the evil intentions of the daughters.

I have no doubts that King Lear was at one time wise and an amazing ruler. But by simply old age or a possible disease, he has lost his mind and the ability to make good decisions. This is probably the reason why he decided he is done with being King, but at the same time, he is in denial of his loss of reason. When he finally starts to come to terms with his clear growing disability, he is scared and almost shows a sense of being ready to be done with life. Today, we wonder if he had some sort of disease that is making him so senile, but either way, his loss of reality lead to his tragic demise. The sad ending which tragically kills off most of the characters, even the good ones, shows the readers a lesson about guilt, denial, trust, greed, and intentions (625).