How Does King Lear Change Throughout The Play
King Lear was once a powerful and mighty king, but is also a multi-faceted character who has weaknesses and flaws. Throughout the play the reader’s perception of Lear is constantly changing. In the beginning of the play King Lear is seen as a powerful monarch, but as the play goes on he becomes a character deserving of pity. In the beginning of the play and in the time before the play, King Lear was a formidable ruler with three daughters, Goneril, Reagan, and Cordelia. One day Lear decides he will split his sprawling kingdom between his three daughters, with the largest tract going to the daughter who loved him the most. Lear had hoped to give the best land to his youngest and favorite daughter, Cordelia. When the day comes for the daughters
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The one man who warned Lear that this was a bad idea, Kent, was banished for telling Lear something he did not want to hear. During his time spent between the two houses, Lear begins to realize that his two daughters do not love him as much as their baseless praises had suggested, and he eventually realizes that neither love him at all. Upon this epiphany Lear leaves his daughters and runs out onto a heath. It is on this heath that Lear hits his lowest point, and he also meets an old friend, the Earl of Gloucester. Gloucester too has been fooled by his children, but for different reasons. The Earl had two sons; a legitimate one in Edgar, who was the rightful heir to the throne, and an illegitimate one in Edmund, who had no claims to the throne. Gloucester constantly went around letting Edmund knows he was not a legitimate heir, and this did not sit well with Edmund. Edmund decides he will usurp his father and his half-brother and take the throne for himself. He convinces Gloucester that Edgar is trying to kill him, forcing Edgar to flea and take up a life of a beggar named Poor Tom. Poor Tom meets Lear on the heath right as a thunderous storm begins. This is the lowest point for Lear, as a disgraced king out in the middle of a storm with nothing, the same as a
The one man who warned Lear that this was a bad idea, Kent, was banished for telling Lear something he did not want to hear. During his time spent between the two houses, Lear begins to realize that his two daughters do not love him as much as their baseless praises had suggested, and he eventually realizes that neither love him at all. Upon this epiphany Lear leaves his daughters and runs out onto a heath. It is on this heath that Lear hits his lowest point, and he also meets an old friend, the Earl of Gloucester. Gloucester too has been fooled by his children, but for different reasons. The Earl had two sons; a legitimate one in Edgar, who was the rightful heir to the throne, and an illegitimate one in Edmund, who had no claims to the throne. Gloucester constantly went around letting Edmund knows he was not a legitimate heir, and this did not sit well with Edmund. Edmund decides he will usurp his father and his half-brother and take the throne for himself. He convinces Gloucester that Edgar is trying to kill him, forcing Edgar to flea and take up a life of a beggar named Poor Tom. Poor Tom meets Lear on the heath right as a thunderous storm begins. This is the lowest point for Lear, as a disgraced king out in the middle of a storm with nothing, the same as a