King Lear: Analysis of Lears Character and Role in the Play - Research Paper Example

?King Lear: Analysis of Lear’s Character and Role in the Play Shakespeare wrote many plays but one of the famous works by him is, King Lear. From thelegendary story of King Lear, Shakespeare extracted the different colors of parent and child relationship. Due to its captivating and tragic circumstances the audience is never distracted and its importance never withers in any era. King Lear was written between 1603 and 1608 and after the restoration, the play was often staged with the happy ending as the audience disliked tragic ending but somehow in the 19th century original version was revived and gained the popularity since then it is praised for its close observation of human fallacy and sufferings. King Lear a famous and renowned play of Shakespeare is read and staged all over the world for its tragic connotation. The story, as the name depicts; mainly revolves around the king and his miseries brought up by himself. King Lear descends into the state of madness after dividing his kingdom thoughtlessly among his two elder daughters leaving the youngest one absolutely nothing due to her declination to flatter her father for material assets. The impact of his wrong decision can be clearly seen soon after the realm is divided and the possession of the authority by Goneril and Regan. King Lear lived a peaceful and pompous life before his fate pushes him towards his fatal ending. He is regarded as the famous and the most righteous among his provision. Lear called for his own long-lasting suffering by believing his treacherous daughters Goneril and Regan, and leaving the honest Cordelia disinherited. King Lear is a story of such consuming force that it compels to call for the innumerable sufferings for those who gained something and lost everything in return. For instance Lear's elder daughters gained material assess and lost their father's love and consent of their followers, which eventually lead them to their pathetic ending. Cordelia lost his father’s love revived it in between and then was brutally murdered. Lear tolerated all the insolence from his daughters lost his beloved daughter in the end and followed her to her deathbed eventually. The theme of tragedy has a sound effect on the turns and twists of the play. Shakespeare portrayed a vivid picture of misery brought down on the royal family by the king himself. However, his intentions of writing a play also reveal the other side of royal life where money and power were the key source of grief and suffering brought on all. Heller (1984) suggests that Lear is a man who loves flattery and doesn't like to be objected on any view he has formed. He decides to divide his state among his three daughters on a foolish term of declaration of love by them. Though he is aware that his youngest daughter loves him most but he wants to hear the profound speech of flattery. Lear is not a wise king, since he knew the reality of his elder daughters but he chose appearance instead of honesty. Lear is not old enough to resign from his designation but he wants to enjoy the freedom with the title and wants to be free of all the obligations of governing. He has a stubborn nature and obstinate personality when it comes to decisions like that of heritage in the story (Heller 1984). This shows his non-serious attitude in making such a big decision about his state and treating his daughters’ responses simultaneously. Lear is not a humble and considerate king as he disinherits her daughter due to meager reasons of not coming up to his mark of love and banishes his trustworthy companion Earl of Kent who tries to put some sense into him (Goddard 1960). He expects high gratitude of love from his daughters and wants them to be grateful and obedient at all times. He takes decisions quick enough to analyze the consequences it will bring and the impact it leaves on others. He is weak and senile after the blows of reality and does not put a brave face into this trying situation. He could be tactful and could make the most out of the situation he suffered from but his impatience and wailing leads him to more complex circumstances (Kahan 2008). The peaceful life he dreamt for became his illusion and that made him far from a realist and into a senile old man. Soon after king Lear banishes her younger daughter Cordelia from her inheritance he starts regretting his decision because life with Regan and Gonerila was not an easy one for him, who soon start to treat him horribly and because of their attitude towards him. Lear starts losing his mind and he is compelled to leave the palace and find peace in woods, in this play king Lear is demonstrating his eccentric nature and challenges his own flesh and blood to show their affection in a different manner and outdo each other in this regard. It is his cruel childlike nature which allows him to do such a unlikable thing with his own family. According to the critics the exact opposite of King Lear is his own daughter Cordelia where King Lear shows cruelty, blindness and a flare for flattery Cordelia shows truth, love and hiding on emotions of her own. She could not even for his father’s satisfaction could indulge in deception of a minor sort. But her honesty takes her nowhere and she is left out of her inheritance. Many scholars and critics have shared the opinion of King Lear as a protagonist who has brought his own downfall due to his arrogant manners and stupidity in resigning the power. He derelicts his duty and calls for the wrath of God by such an unjust decision about the division of his kingdom. He considered as the passive sufferer due to which we are inclined to forgive his wrongdoings (Sadowski 2003). Lear is unable to judge characters; he is an imperiousness who is accustomed to bend others to his rule. His swings of mood and emotions lead the dramatic notion of the play on it verge (Moulton 2011). The outburst of love and hatred is volcanic. He is fond of pomp, homage and respect but is unable to sustain them by his foolishness. He is passionate about his emotions, the urge of flattery and the mock act of emotional debate by her daughters is a living example of Lear’s emotional twist. Coleridge is of the opinion that the silly act of declaration of love for the king, was the trick of old king, who wants to exercise his authority even over the affection of his children and followers. However, we can see him having fits of temper which are clearly evident before and after the division of state. “............. here I stand,your slave, A poor, infirm, weak, and despised old man.” Here Barker points out the storm were hastening madness in Lear. Lear wanted to forget, soothe but the storm was doing the opposite. The correspondence between the storm inside and outside Lear brings him back to realize his true state. As a king, he never faced the storm and it had an adverse effect on him. All the humiliation and hurt came out and stood before him. In King Lear the sense of compassion is exhausted the principal characters all suffer the same. Over here we observe several blows of fate accompanied by misery and suffering for Lear (Cameron & Shakespeare 2001). Lear has his own vast arrays of problems which cumulative effect is, troublesome. Lear says to cordelia" I know you do not love me:for your sisters Have ,as I do remember, done me wrong, you have some cause, they have not, Over here Lear is judging his actions and declaring his unjust and haste decision about the frailty of his elder daughters. He is admitting before Cordelia that your affection can be vanished due to my actions but Goneril and Regan are plain cruel to do so. Lear is called fool by his amusing character Fool. Lear:"dost thou call me fool,boy? Fool:"All the other titles thou hast given away; that thou was born with." Fool's wise words were generally of a nature to "rub in" the mistakes of Lear. He uttered the sensibility in them and yet acted as fool before all. He accompanied Lear throughout his journey of homelessness and savored him at any possible situation. Lear dressed in rags, begs for compassionate considerations from all. His ruling days took the best times with them. However, we can see that, Shakespeare intends to punish the guilty that brought misery for all. Lear dies through grief of murder of his beloved youngest daughter. What more wickedness of life could be, than to see ones child suffer from his wrongdoings. The play continues till the very last moment, when the exhausted survivors collect, acknowledge the sufferings that knows no match. Indeed this ever-deepening suffering is itself one of Shakespeare’s intentions to revoke the play. His plays and his heroes are always the passive sufferers, who call their omens to fall on them. Bibliography Cameron, Lloyd, and William Shakespeare. King Lear by William Shakespeare. Glebe, N.S.W: Pascal Press, 2001. Print. Goddard, Harold C. The Meaning of Shakespeare: Volume Ii. Chicago: The University of Chicago Press, 1960. Print. Heller, Agnes. Renaissance Man. London [etc.: Routledge and Kegan Paul, 1984. Print. Kahan, Jeffrey. King Lear: New Critical Essays. New York: Routledge, 2008. Internet resource. Moulton, Richard G. Shakespeare As a Dramatic Artist: A Popular Illustration of the Principles of Scientific Criticism. Oxford [England: Clarendon Press, 1888. Print. Sadowski, Piotr. Dynamism of Character in Shakespeare's Mature Tragedies. Newark: University of Delaware Press, 2003. Print. Read More