Madness Within King Lear

The opening of King Lear establishes the main ideas that will be unpacked throughout the rest of the play.
Identify ONE main idea; analyzing the way Shakespeare presents this to the audience-
Olivia Day

The idea of madness established within the opening of Shakespeare’s, ‘King Lear’ is fairly prominent.
This double plotted play utilizes this theme of madness in accordance to the allying themes of truth, deception and familial interaction. Lear and Gloucester, the central characters of these tragic plots are driven to some form of madness later in the play, with Shakespeare allowing glimpses of foreshadowing throughout, even from the very beginning. Moods of uncertainty, repeated motif’s and the introduction of verisimilitude allow Shakespeare to present this idea to the audience within the first scene, establishing the overall mood of the play almost immediately, as was Shakespeare’s contexts style.

The mood of uncertainty creates the pretense to the theme hastily, shown in the first 6 lines of the play. Gloucester and Kent discuss their opinions of the King’s preference in reference to inheritance and property divisions of the kingdom, both mentioning ideas of favoritism in relation to whom they believe the king would’ve given the larger portion of land too.

Kent: ‘I thought the king had more affected the Duke of Albany than Cornwell’
Gloucester: ‘It did always seem so to us…’

Although Lear had already promised two sections of equal land to his 2 eldest daughters, Gonerill & Regan, he still held one, which he was believed to give to his daughter once she had married. The idea of uncertainty continues further as two suitors are introduced, both craving Cordelia’s hand in marriage, and of course, the third and final division of Lear’s kingdom.
These examples of uncertainty enable a presentation of the loss of control within the Kingdom.

The recurring motifs of nothingness and sight are foreshadowing to the later events involving Lear and Gloucester. Lear: ‘… Nothing will come of nothing…’

Once again, the theme of uncertainty allows the perception of madness within the kingdom, and also within the identity of the King himself. The talk and repetition of ‘nothing’ leads an audience to believe that Lear is incapable of comprehending nothingness, and that he lacks sight in relation to his daughter’s verisimilitude.
Cordelia is portrayed as being virtuous & true in both her actions and her words, and she is a vessel in which Shakespeare is able to investigate the theme of verisimilitude within the play and within his context. Lear’s complete dismissal towards this truthfulness again enables the audience to believe that he is mad. 2 examples of this train of thought may stem from Lear’s rash responses towards his daughter, and one of his loyal followers, Kent.
The banishment of these two characters initiates a catalyst of madness, escalating quickly as each event passes another.

Shakespeare’s efficient introduction of this idea allows the audience to create an instant deeper meaning with the story & it’s characters, relating to their own lives and their own contexts. Making reference to familial structure, truth and deception, as well as madness, Shakespeare presents common ideologies of the tensions of the human condition as personified and exaggerated.