Loyalty in King Lear - Essay Example

?Loyalty in King Lear Loyalty is one of the most important themes of the play King Lear by William Shakespeare. This paper discusses the loyalty in King Lear and the way different characters proved their loyalty towards the king. Of his children, Lear has only one loyal daughter who is Cordelia who remains loyal to him even when Lear has lost everything in life while other loyal characters in the play included Gloucester, Kent, and Albany. Of all the daughters Lear has, none but Cordelia is truly loyal to him. In the start of the play, when Lear asks his daughters who likes her the most, everybody but Cordelia tells lies to flatter him to the point where he offers her the largest share in his property. Having heard so nice things from his elder daughters, Lear is disappointed when his youngest daughter tells her that she loves his like a daughter should do and reserves the rest of her love for her future. Cordelia says, “You gave me being, bred me, dearly loved me, [a]nd I return my duty as I ought. Obey you, love you, and most honor you. Why have my sisters husbands, if they love you all? Haply when I shall wed, the lord, whose hand [s]hall take my plight, will carry half my love” (Shakespeare, 1918, p. 6). In reality, Cordelia is speaking the truth while the elder daughters have just as much lack of love for their father as they pretend to love him. King Lear is utterly disappointed and considers this a disloyalty on the part of Cordelia. Indeed, Lear’s way of judging the love and loyalty of his daughters for him is extremely shallow and unsophisticated, which is the fundamental reason why he obtains completely wrong results and accordingly takes wrong actions i.e. benefiting the disloyal daughters and punishing the loyal daughter. Later when Lear has gone mad and is taken to Dover, Cordelia sends her gentlemen to find him. Cordelia arranges a doctor for Lear who gives him a sleeping drug. Cordelia expresses her gratitude towards Kent for taking care of Lear. Cordelia and Lear are the leaders of the army against that of Regan and Goneril’s in the battle. Cordelia even loses her life when she is imprisoned with her father, and killed by Goneril and Edmund. Lear’s eldest daughter Goneril is not loyal to him at all. This is evident from the way she treats her father when he goes to reside with her after the division of his kingdom between Goneril and his second daughter Regan. Goneril drives her father out of her place by pretending that she her knights have gone out of control and are making a mess and making the knights and servants deal the king coldly. Outraged by his daughter’s behavior, Lear curses her and resolves to move over to Regan’s place. Goneril’s disloyalty does not stop here. She goes on to warn Regan about Lear’s intention to visit her by sending her servant Oswald to Regan. Regan is no less disloyal to Lear than Goneril. In her attempt to escape from Lear so that he does not get the opportunity to live with her, Regan travels to the castle of Gloucester with Cornwall. Regan and Cornwall refuse to see Lear when Lear sends Gloucester to tell them of his arrival. When Lear tells Regan how bad he was treated at Goneril’s, Regan asks him to get back to her, apologize to her, and complete his duration of stay with her before coming to Regan. Regan and Goneril unite to leave no knight or servant with Lear and they also do not stop their father when he escapes into the woods in the approaching storm. Gloucester shows his loyalty to Lear by arranging transportation for him so that he can set off to see Cordelia in Dover, after Gloucester receives the letter bearing the news of a plot against Lear. Later, he gets both of his eyes blinded by Cornwall for having favored Lear. Kent shows his loyalty to Lear by supporting Cordelia but he does not get anything but banishment from the kingdom in return. “Fiercely loyal to King Lear, he is unable to watch the King's treatment of Cordelia without speaking out” (king-lear.org, n.d.). Considering that the king is outraged by Cordelia’s response and intends to rip her off her title and share in the kingdom, Kent says to Lear, “This is frenzy. Consider, good my liege” (Shakespeare, 1918, p. 7). Kent is truly loyal to Lear. This reflects in the fact that he returns to Lear in the disguise of Caius only to serve his master even when he is left with nothing. Kent knows that Lear needs his care and help, so he gets back to him despite being banished from the kingdom. Both Regan and Cornwall punish Kent by placing him in the stocks when Kent arrives at Gloucester’s castle to deliver the message and breaks into an argument with Oswald for having treated Lear badly. Later, Kent sends Lear’s train to make Cordelia aware of Lear’s condition. Kent stays with Lear in the storm and persuades him to get inside a hovel to have some shelter. Inside the hovel, Kent stops Lear from stripping his clothes off in guilt and madness. Goneril’s husband Albany is loyal to Lear. He shows his loyalty by being enraged with Goneril and Regan for having treated Lear badly. He also sympathizes with Gloucester and resolves to take the revenge for the blindness caused to Gloucester. In the end, Albany proves his loyalty towards Lear by returning him absolute rule and granting Edgar and Kent their rights. After Lear’s death, Albany grants Edgar and Kent shared rule. Summing up, loyalty is the main theme of the play King Lear since the plot is fundamentally shaped by Lear’s attempt to judge the loyalty of his daughters towards himself. Cordelia, Gloucester, Kent, and Albany are loyal towards King Lear and prove their loyalty by taking care of Lear when he has lost the kingdom and has gone made. References: king-lear.org. (n.d.). King Lear Character Outlines & Description. Retrieved from http://king- lear.org/major_characters. Shakespeare, W. (1918). King Lear. New York: Torrey Brothers. Read More