Traglear's Egotistical Personality In King Lear
King Lear's egotistical personality gets in the way of many important decisions and inevitably leads to his own suffering. After deciding to divide his kingdom amongst his daughters and live out his life in peace, Lear chooses to base the amount of land given to each daughter off how must they love him. Or perhaps, how much they say they love him. Goneril and Regan cajole the King, using flattery and professing they love him "beyond all manner" (I.I.60). This warms the King's heart, but when Cordelia, his favourite daughter, cannot find a way to put her love for her father into words, Lear's ego feels bruised and he is offended. This decision is foolish as Lear cannot see that Cordelia is unconditionally loyal to the King and that Goneril and
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Soaked clothes, cold winds, and dangerous conditions, however, were the least of the former Kings concerns. His mind was fixated on the heartache of his daughters. He had given them everything he had, and yet they were ungrateful. Lear almost did not mind the storm, saying "where the greater malady is fixed/ The lesser is scarce felt" barely noticing the weather's effects as he was overwhelmed with a larger struggle (III.IV.8-9). Additionally, the betrayal by his daughters, foreshadowed by his blindness to their false flattery, breaks Lear down. He suffers gravely wondering how they could be so cruel. He questions if "there is any cause in nature that/ Makes these hard hearts" trying to make sense of how he got himself into this position (III.VI.76-77). He cannot make sense of the situation and slowly starts losing grasp on reality. His mental anguish causes him to fall into a state of madness. He notices himself losing sanity and prays "O let me not be mad, not mad, sweet heaven;" trying to cling onto reality and see clearly (I.V.41). It is this madness though, that stripped him down to nothingness. After an encounter with Edgar disguised as Poor Tom, the former King removes his clothing, rids himself of any royal pretensions, and covers his body with objects of nature. This symbolises him finding humility and degrading himself to a lower status in society. In summary, from his own egotistical and foolish decisions, Lear finds himself suffering the harsh conditions of the storm, the betrayal by his daughters, and his slow descent into insanity. Fuelled by his madness though, Lear begins to learn from his
Soaked clothes, cold winds, and dangerous conditions, however, were the least of the former Kings concerns. His mind was fixated on the heartache of his daughters. He had given them everything he had, and yet they were ungrateful. Lear almost did not mind the storm, saying "where the greater malady is fixed/ The lesser is scarce felt" barely noticing the weather's effects as he was overwhelmed with a larger struggle (III.IV.8-9). Additionally, the betrayal by his daughters, foreshadowed by his blindness to their false flattery, breaks Lear down. He suffers gravely wondering how they could be so cruel. He questions if "there is any cause in nature that/ Makes these hard hearts" trying to make sense of how he got himself into this position (III.VI.76-77). He cannot make sense of the situation and slowly starts losing grasp on reality. His mental anguish causes him to fall into a state of madness. He notices himself losing sanity and prays "O let me not be mad, not mad, sweet heaven;" trying to cling onto reality and see clearly (I.V.41). It is this madness though, that stripped him down to nothingness. After an encounter with Edgar disguised as Poor Tom, the former King removes his clothing, rids himself of any royal pretensions, and covers his body with objects of nature. This symbolises him finding humility and degrading himself to a lower status in society. In summary, from his own egotistical and foolish decisions, Lear finds himself suffering the harsh conditions of the storm, the betrayal by his daughters, and his slow descent into insanity. Fuelled by his madness though, Lear begins to learn from his