Shakespeare king lear - Essay Example

Fatima Shahid Wang English 170W October 10, King Lear Thesis ment This play explores the tragedy that come across a kingdom dueto monarchies and thrones handovers. This case explores a particular descend of titular character of a king after he disposes his estate among his three daughters basing on their flattery and brining tragic for all.IntroductionKing Lear is a play filled with human cruelty and insincere disasters. Human cruelty is rampant throughout the play giving a perception that human beings are prone to cause hurt and pain to one another.

Many successive events are not justified meaning that justice is not normally considered. This raises the question as to whether there is justice in the world. Furthermore, it also raises the question as to whether the world is uncaring and hostile to the human race. As the play concludes, it is uncertain of whether good triumphs good or vice versa. The wicked people in the play die but the good people also die along with them. Although there is goodness in the play, there are also incidences of death and madness.

Love King Lear recognizes and discovers love through the malicious acts of Regan and Goneril. The journey to discover true love begins when King Lear proposes a challenge that will help him validate the love of his daughters towards him. "Which of you shall we say doth love us most/ that we our largest bounty may extend/ where nature doth with merit challenge?" (Shakespeare 51). King Lear decided that he would give out material possession and wealth for the one who would prove that she loved him the most.

Both Regan and Goneril manipulate their love for the King because of selfish reasons. Regan and Genoril only wanted what the king had to offer. King Lear disowns Cordelia when she refuses to express her love in words. King Lear discovers true love when he realizes that he made a mistake in believing that Regan and Goneril loved him the most. “If you shall see Cordelia- As fear not but you shall- show her this ring / She will tell you who that fellow is (Shakespeare 46).” The ring represents King Lear’s discovery, when he realizes his mistakes and long to be with Cordelia because she in fact was the one who loved him the most.

The relationship between King Lear and Cordelia is elaborated throughout the play. Cordelia decides that she will not despise King Lear for disowning her (Marbillard 1). She remains devoted to the King. Cordelia proves her love for her father when she sent for an army to rescue King Lear. This shows the undying love of Cordelia to her father. Power King Lear values political authority as the core center of power. King Lear makes the mistake of giving power to the wrong people i.e. Goneril and Regan.

This mistake makes the whole of Britain to be filled with evil and chaos. King Lear gave authority to undeserving people. Regan and Goneril engulf themselves in the fight for power hence making the kingdom to have civil strife (Marbillard 1). Giving authority to Goneril and Regan makes King Lear to lose his own power on Britain. King Lear discovers that power is something that can be stolen or snatched. Edmund decides to save Lear and Cordelia when one of the soldiers attempts to kill them. This shows that Edmund had assumed the role of kinship in the kingdom.

Edmund had been initially a social outcast in the Kingdom (Marbillard 1). The fact that he was an illegitimate child did not hinder him from assuming the role of the king. This made Lear to discover that anyone can grasp power. Edmund dies while he is still in control of power that only a few privileged people in society enjoy. Gordelia and Regan believe that the Lear’s loss of power was his own fault and doing. Goneril states, Tis his own blame.  Hath put him from the rest and must needs taste his folly (Shakespeare 281).

" Both women conclude that Lear must lose power. Nature and HumanityHaving no authority during the civil strife makes King Lear meander on the moorland during the storm. This makes King Lear realize that the world is cruel to human nature. King Lear concludes that humans are irrelevant in the world. The fact that the humans are insignificant to the world makes King Lear to believe that the loss of political control is not important. King Lear discovers that the most important thing in life is to be caring and modest.

This gives King Lear optimism to understand power in the political kingdom. Lear states, “Which nor our nature nor our place can bear, Our potency made good, take thy reward. Five days we do allot thee, for provision To shield thee from diseases of the world; And on the sixth to turn thy hated back Upon our kingdom (Shakespeare 57).”The three themes i.e. discovery, realization and recognition enable King Lear to understand life in another perspective. King Lear discovers that what he considered as the truth was false.

King Lear discovers what true love is and how people express it. Cordelia is the true representation of love throughout the play. King Lear also discovers that humans are generally cruel in nature and the world considers every human being as irrelevant and insignificant. King Lear also discovers that power is something that any person can attain. Works cited Marbillard, A. (2012). King Lear. Retrieved on 13 October 2014. Retrieved from http://www.shakespeare-online.com/plays/kinglear/kinglearcharacters.

htmlShakespeare, W., Raffel, B., & Bloom, H. (2007).King Lear. New Haven: Yale University Press.