Symbolizing Ignorance In King Lear
Play writers and authors commonly use blindness to symbolize ignorance or the refusal to see the truth, and Shakespeare was no exception. In King Lear, Shakespeare brilliantly uses the blindness of characters to symbolize ignorance. In the play, there are two main characters among the main plot and the subplot; Gloucester and King Lear. Both Gloucester and Lear lead troubling lives, one is a narcissistic king, and the other a bad father, which blinds them to the truth because they somewhat neglect the feelings of others. Eventually, their children simultaneously think of plans to betray their fathers; Lear’s daughters, Regan and Goneril, hope to kick him out of his kingdom and Gloucester’s son, Edmund, attempts to trick him into killing his
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Since Regan and Goneril have had their chance to speak, Lear’s third and youngest daughter, Cordelia, is called upon to tell her father how much she loves him. Cordelia says that she can’t describe her love for her father; she feels that her love for her father is too deep put into words, and she does not want to attempt to explain it: “Unhappy that I am, I cannot heave / My heart into my mouth. I love your majesty / According to my bond, no more nor less,” (I.I.91-93). Since King Lear is blind to the truth and can only understand what he sees or hears, Lear becomes angry at Cordelia because he assumes that if she can’t describe her love for him, she doesn’t love him. He then orders Cordelia "out of [his] sight," because she is “ungrateful”, and his advisor, Kent, tells him: "See better, Lear," (I.I.179, 181). Lear then rewards Regan and Goneril with the honor of ruling his kingdom. From the beginning of the play, almost everyone sees Lear’s ignorance and the way he avoids seeing the truth; everyone except for Lear. Eventually, Regan and Goneril take over the kingdom and kick out their father. At this point, Lear starts to realize that his daughters had tricked him out of his kingdom; his sight is becoming more clear.
The sort of slow epiphany that King Lear has begins when he is kicked out his own kingdom by his daughters. Lear realizes that his daughters had not been honest with him and that they only loved him for his wealth. Lear loses his home, and is forced to live as a homeless
Since Regan and Goneril have had their chance to speak, Lear’s third and youngest daughter, Cordelia, is called upon to tell her father how much she loves him. Cordelia says that she can’t describe her love for her father; she feels that her love for her father is too deep put into words, and she does not want to attempt to explain it: “Unhappy that I am, I cannot heave / My heart into my mouth. I love your majesty / According to my bond, no more nor less,” (I.I.91-93). Since King Lear is blind to the truth and can only understand what he sees or hears, Lear becomes angry at Cordelia because he assumes that if she can’t describe her love for him, she doesn’t love him. He then orders Cordelia "out of [his] sight," because she is “ungrateful”, and his advisor, Kent, tells him: "See better, Lear," (I.I.179, 181). Lear then rewards Regan and Goneril with the honor of ruling his kingdom. From the beginning of the play, almost everyone sees Lear’s ignorance and the way he avoids seeing the truth; everyone except for Lear. Eventually, Regan and Goneril take over the kingdom and kick out their father. At this point, Lear starts to realize that his daughters had tricked him out of his kingdom; his sight is becoming more clear.
The sort of slow epiphany that King Lear has begins when he is kicked out his own kingdom by his daughters. Lear realizes that his daughters had not been honest with him and that they only loved him for his wealth. Lear loses his home, and is forced to live as a homeless