Theme Of Forgiveness In King Lear

People are unpredictable, but one aspect that remains true of all is that humans will surely care for themselves before they care for others. This causes impulsive actions to be made, actions that may result in hurting others to achieve what the single person wants. Not everybody apologizes or deserves pity, but it is generally best to forgive and move on. Although William Shakespeare’s “King Lear” teaches of betrayal, the main moral of the story is forgiveness. Forgiving oneself and whomever had done them wrong is an important aspect of this play.
Forgiving someone is not always an easy task, especially for Cordelia in “King Lear”. In the beginning, she and her two sisters are asked by the King to tell him how much that they loved him. When
Edmund, the illegitimate son of Gloucester, had set a plan into motion to remove both his older brother, Edgar, and his father from the picture in order to receive the inheritance that would have all been given to Edgar due to the birthright rules. Edmund tricked Edgar into being seen as an outlaw, and he was to be hunted down like wild game. Edgar was forced to disguise himself, risk dying, see the insane King, and watch his father die; however, Edgar decides to forgive his brother as Edmund lay dying, “Let’s exchange charity./ I am no less in blood than thou art, Edmund...” (V.3). Despite all Edgar was forced to endure just so Edmund could be happy for a few days, it is impressive that he forgave him at all. Edgar gave his brother a great compliment when he said that they were equal in blood, that was all Edmund had wanted. While there are several significant messages that Shakespeare’s “King Lear” teaches, forgiveness is the main point as there are ample scenes in which it occurs. Forgiveness is an arduous subject to teach, and forgiving is hardest without an apology, but, it is an important aspect of reality to learn, this is why Shakespeare chose to include it in this