Download Report

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King Lear:
Blindness To Loyalty
Brian Canfield
Natalia Churikova
Michael Magallon
Gegham Tsaturyan
English 103
Debi Hall
17 May 2012
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Through analyzing the play King Lear (Shakespeare, 1608) the reader will truly notice a
repetitive theme of blindness relative to Lear. Blind, which is defined as being unable to see,
lacking perception or discernment, and unwilling or unable to appreciate or notice something
apparent to others; not controlled by reason or judgment. King Lear’s ego guides him ultimately
into the unknown, blinding his reality, and leading to his ultimate demise. Lear is unaware of his
foolish alienation of his only truly devoted daughter and realizes too late the true nature of his
other two daughters. Ultimately what is revealed is King Lear’s true transformation thus
showing his true character and human nature. King Lear's situation at the beginning of the play,
where he is well supported by his vast entourage, contrasts dramatically with his situation at the
end of the play. Ultimately, if it were not for his own game and even his own daughters who
tricked him, Lear would never have found the road to reality and understood true human feelings
of love, devotion, and humanity.
Section I: The Nature of Blinding Parental Love in King Lear
According to the Oxford American dictionary “love is an intense feeling of deep
affection; a deep romantic or sexual attachment to someone; a great interest and pleasure in
something.” In psychological terms, according to social psychologist Zick Rubin, love is
characterized by three different feelings: attachment, care, and intimacy. Attachment is defined
by: affection, fondness, or sympathy for someone or something; an affectionate relationship
between two people. For King Lear, love has to be proclaimed and expressed in words, for
example, “Which of you shall we say doth love us most, that we our largest bounty may extend/
Where nature doth with merit challenge” (1.1.50-52). And, he believes, the nicer these words are
the more love a person has for him. For Lear, love is something that can and should be measured
in words.
Through analyzing the text and how King Lear is presented, it would be easy for the
reader to assume King Lear as a fair and good father, and would have been more fitting for his
character if he had rather divided his kingdom into three equal parts and given them to each of
his daughters without any conditions. Instead of going against the reader’s first impression of
King Lear as this fair and good father, King Lear’s ego takes over and seeks out flattery and
reassurance that he is indeed loved by his children ultimately letting his own sense of power and
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egotism dictate the situation and his actions, thus, as king he ultimately would reward only those
children in which obeyed his desires and wishes as well as those who participated in the contest.
In doing so, King Lear seems to make sure that his generosity doesn’t go unappreciated or
unnoticed by the recipients, namely, his children. The following quote is highly appropriate in
displaying King Lear’s sense of egotism and paternal control, “To the one whose affection
competes with ordinary inheritance rights” (King Lear, p 5). Such a quote highlights King Lear’s
ultimate paternal control and backhanded love as a father. This quote sheds light on his harsh
expectations for his children, to compete with one another and show the most affection in order
to feed his fatherly and kingly ego.
King Lear’s two eldest daughters make his wish come true and flatter their father in all
the best ways they know. For example, they continually express their love for their father,
claiming how they love him more than anything in the world, that he is “Dearer than eyesight,
space and liberty; Beyond what can be valued, rich or rare” (1.1.58-59). The youngest of the
daughters, Cordelia, refused to take part in the show that was initiated by her father. This
example is expressed here, “What should Cordelia say? Love, and be silent” (1.1.63-64). She is
surprised that her father places so much strict emphasis on her love to be exemplified through
words, for Cordelia strongly believes that love is a natural and innate feeling one has towards his
or her parents, a feeling that words cannot fully explain. For example, “Unhappy that I am, I
cannot have/My heart into my mouth. I love your majesty/ According to my bond, no more nor
less” (1.1.93-95). Due to her strong feelings against such a way to profess love for someone,
Cordelia disobeys her father’s command to verbally proclaim her love for him. Cordelia doesn’t
love King Lear because of the future dowry she could receive or for his wealth, or for his status
as a king; “her love is more ponderous than her tongue.” (1.1.87) Cordelia simply loves her
father because he is her father and for no other reason especially money or status. Nevertheless,
King Lear is dissatisfied with Cordelia’s response, making it clear that the King is not used to
being disobeyed. Therefore, in King Lear’s eyes, Cordelia is not loyal and does not love him
because she did not fulfill his demands. Such betrayal is unacceptable by King Lear, a major
example of his constant abuse of his parental need for attachment through his strict demands and
expectations for his daughters.
In psychological terms, a father feels loyal to his children when he is devoted to them and
gives himself to their life and happiness, such a definition of devotion is considered by modern
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standards in our society. However, King Lear’s definition of devotion is competition and
obeying his every command and desire. Thus, his attitude towards his daughters is basically how
they love him rather than him having to love and express love to his daughters. This is
exemplified in the play through his commands for their verbal affection to be competitive as well
as his disapproval if they do not follow his commands. For example, when Cordelia did not tell
her father what he desired to hear, he commanded her to “Speak again” (1.1. 92) and “mend your
speech a little” (1.1.96). Cordelia responded stating, “You have begot me, bred me, loved me. I
return those duties back as are right fit, obey you, love you, and most honor you” (1.1.100-103).
Such words coming from Cordelia are simply not enough for King Lear and he seems to be
seeking more flattery to boot his royal ego. Lear is not only dissatisfied with her answer but also
mad that she has not confirmed his hopes for her superior love for him. Therefore, in his mind,
Cordelia has proved herself to be disloyal, and as a punishment he disregards any family values
and duties as a father and bans her from his kingdom. Leaving Cordelia with no dowry, “thy
truth then be thy dower!” (1.1.109). He also disclaims all of his “parental care, propinquity and
property of blood, and as a stranger to my heart and me hold thee from this forever” (1.1.114117). Cordelia now learns that “true love must be silent in a court in which it is all too easily
confused with self-serving and hypocritical professions of devotion” (Cantor p. 257). King Lear
considers Cordelia to be full of pride, while it is he who is egocentric and blind to the real nature
of his elder daughters.
Section II: Blinded By The Truth
Another example of King Lear’s dissatisfaction with anyone who refuses to give him the
loyalty he thinks he deserves, was the character of Kent, who was a nobleman and always a loyal
supporter of the king. Kent crosses King Lear’s loyalty when he attempted to intervene and
defend Cordelia as King Lear reprimands her for her words. Eventually King Lear banished Kent
for not supporting his demands. Ken tried very hard to point out the truth to the blinded master
on many occasions, but unfortunately his attempts were not successful. For example, Kent says:
“When power to flattery bows? To plainness honor’s bound/ When
majesty falls to folly. Reserve thy state, and in thy best consideration
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check/ this hideous rashness. Answer my life my judgment, thy
youngest daughter does not love thee least, nor are those empty-hearted
whole low sounds/ Reverd no hollowness” (1.1 149-156).
Rather than realizing the wisdom of Kent’s words, Lear warns him that he has gone too far. For
example, “Kent, on thy life, no more!...out of my sight!” (1.1.159). As King Lear orders Kent, he
acts as a foolish and impatient child whose every word is a law to the people around him.
Moreover, those who disagree or disobey King Lear will not only be punished, but also excluded
from his company; such actions only perpetuate Lear’s ultimate delusional reality. The reason
King Lear is so disconnected from his reality is due to his refusal to accept another opinion and
any opinion that does not coincide with his, he wants ‘out of his sight’. The perfect metaphor
explaining ultimately why Lear is not grounded in reality and pays no attention to the
repercussions of his words or actions is shown here.
King Lear is blinded by his royal ego; he does not want to hear anything that contradicts
his opinion, for example:
“The opening scene of King Lear reveals a tragic pattern of political
life: those who flatter the artificially inflamed self-image of the
king are rewarded, while those who try to speak the truth to him
and call attention to his limitations are not just punished but
banished from his presence” (Cantor p. 256).
And unable to see the truth and the possible consequences of his actions, he makes a terrible
mistake and divides his kingdom between his two agreeable daughters. However, in his eyes they
have proved to be loyal and devoted to him, unlike Kent, who proved to question the king rather
than agree to his every demand and opinion. Kent truly highlights what the two agreeable
daughters would absolutely never even consider doing; making Kent out to seem all the more
rebellious to the reader.
Section III: Blinded By Arrogance
From a psychological standpoint, arrogance is having or revealing an exaggerated sense
of one’s own importance or abilities, while ego is defined from a psychological perspective as, a
person’s sense of self-esteem or self-importance, a conscious thinking subject. After we
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considered this theme of arrogance, King Lear’s arrogance seems to be at the root of his
blindness. For example, “Now by Apollo” (1.1.162), “by Jupiter this shall not be revoked”
(91.1.180) by calling these gods’ names he lets everyone know that he is a divine king and the
gods are on his side, and they will help him do the justice. Here, King Lear compares his power
and authority to Apollo and Jupiter, these mythical gods who embody immortality, power and
authority. This comparison completely exemplifies King Lear’s arrogance and inflamed ego, as
he clearly is exaggerating his own importance and abilities. Since he is blinded by his own ego,
King Lear doesn’t see the truth about the real nature of his two older daughters Regan and
Goneril. Lear is also blinded by the fact that he indeed, banned the wrong people from his
kingdom, namely Kent and Cordelia. Such decisions guided by his blinding ego, King Lear’s
decision will ultimately affect his future greatly.
However, King Lear is not only blinded by his arrogance and ego, he also doesn’t see the
truth about the people around him because he doesn’t understand what he truly wants for himself
because his ego is too great. The terms egoism and arrogance correspond to King Lear’s
mentality towards others and himself. Lear is blind to certain truths about his own nature and
situation. In particular, his position as a king causes him to overestimate his power as a father
disastrously, leading him to an egotistical and domineering attitude that dictates the way he treats
his daughters. Lear is confident that even after he relinquishes much if not all of his political
power to his daughters and his sons-in-law, he will be able to keep them in line by virtue of his
authority as their father. However, this assumption turns out to be his fatal mistake as:
”…political power is more fundamental than paternal power, as shown
by the fact that the power of the law is necessary to champion the rights
of fathers. Fathers expect their children to obey them, but if their
children revel against them, they must appeal to a higher political
authority to enforce their paternal authority” (Ignatius p. 256).
Lear thinks that his paternal authority is more important than his political authority and
that even after he gives away all his power to daughters, he will still be respected and obeyed by
them as their father. This problem comes from the fact that he’s the king and therefore doesn’t
see the reason why fathers would have a need to appeal to political authority to enforce their
rights. For example:
“Lear is in uniquely commanding position as a father: every order he
gives as a father is automatically backed up by his authority as
king; hence for him it becomes difficult to separate paternal from
political authority, or to judge their relative strength…” (Ignatius, p. 257).
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King Lear’s arrogance blinds his judgment. King Lear fails to see the true nature of
people around him because he fails to consider other’s opinion or choice of free will. Due to his
inability to see free will as a choice other characters can make, he mistakes their free will for
disloyalty. This disconnection from reality is all because of his egoism and expanded arrogance
blinding him from the truth and thus, blinding him from real love. Such proof of arrogance can
ultimately and best be exemplified through the way he speaks to his daughters, as if he is the sun
and they are the stars and planets, which revolve around him. He mostly communicates with
them as a king not as a father, again, placing that political authority over paternal authority.
Specifically, King Lear communicates with his daughters not from the perspective of a loving
father, but rather, from the perspective of a master speaking to his servants. For example:
“Speak first”…”speak again.” For King Lear, this is a natural way of communicating since this is
the way he communicates to others in his kingdom as their king. It is safe to say that most likely,
“as a father, his orders persisted and his children had no way of appealing
his decisions to an authority outside or above their family. It is no
wonder then that Lear, used to being obeyed as a king, had no doubts
whatsoever about his authority as a father” (Ignatius 257).
This quote highlights King Lear’s egotism. Lear expects ultimate authority, no matter if
he’s playing the role as a father or as a king, as well as his desire to prove himself as a king and
as a god. King Lear’s arrogance and ego make him vulnerable to the people like Regan and
Goneril, who are willing and able to use their father’s flaws to their advantage implementing a
shrewd strategy to eventually take over. Happily accepting the rules of the game and competing
with one another for their father’s affection, they strategically take advantage of Cordelia’s
loving personality as well as their father’s pompous attitude to be a God. They took advantage of
this knowledge and waited for Cordelia’s weakness to take over as well as their father’s
arrogance to blind him, ultimately to take over the kingdom and betray him. Goneril and Regan
instruct Oswald, an upper servant, to be less courteous to Lear and his knights. She refers to Lear
as an "idle old man" and mentions that he is an "old fool".
The cost of King Lear’s arrogance and inability to listen to others is the loss of his royal
power. However, King Lear does not realize he has willfully given it away after separating the
kingdom until the confrontation with his two daughters. King Lear has problems relinquishing
his power, even though at the beginning of Act I, Scene 1, he clearly says that he wants to retire
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and “to shake all cares and business from our age, conferring them on your strengths” (1.1.42).
According to his behavior, he cannot let go of his royal status, his ultimate authority and
immortality that he lives his life by. Also, even when the kingdom is already divided between his
daughters, he still has trouble giving up that power completely.
After Regan and Goneril refuse to let their father keep his knights with him, King Lear
thinks they are ungrateful: “All the stored vengeances of heaven fall on her ingreateful top!
Strike her young bones!” (2.2 352-354). He actually realizes they don’t want to keep his knights
because they are “remains of his former pomp and power” which is significant for the king. Lear
still perceives himself as a ruler of England:
“this already half-mad old king surely senses that it is more than
his knights that his daughters wish to deprive him of, what they
want is that he should be ‘ruled’ by them, yielding up the last
of his royal prerogatives, and thus the only dignity that he
understands” (Trotter p.326).
By doing this his daughters hurt his royal ego even deeper. This gets him even more
upset and frustrated, as someone he thought was loyal to him disobeys him again. He still defines
love as obedience: “if you do love old men, if our sweet away/ Allow obedience…” (2.4190).
Lear finally begins to realize that he has lost his power as a king and therefore his
behavior is not as arrogant as before. Lear even kneels before Regan when begging her to give
him shelter, for example, “On my knees I beg that you’ll vouchsafe me raiment, bed, and food”.
King Lear we know in the act 1 Scene 1 would never do it, he was the main control of all the
players in his game, but now, Regan and Goneril are in charge, expecting to be the new game
makers now. However, when ordered to return to Goneril, King Lear responds with
exaggeration, sarcasm and also pride. For example, “Persuade me rather to be slave and sumpter/
to this detested groom” (2.4. 215-216). Although a few lines later he seems to be less confident
in his ego, and even though Regan does not want to keep him at her castle regardless of all the
speeches he makes, he is not as harsh with her as he was with Cordelia. His resistance to be as
jarring with them as he was with Cordelia seems to be a respect of authority King Lear has,
because Cordelia possesses no authority. He does not respect her. Lear respects Regan and
Goneril’s tenacity and cannot deny it, which is why he was likely not as harsh and seemed to not
care as much as when Cordelia betrayed his authority. It is interesting how Lear does not
disclaim his parental right but instead admits that even though they will “no more meet, no more
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see one another. But yet you thou art my flesh, my blood, my daughter” (2.4.217-220). Also, for
the first time Lear begins to see beyond his ego and his anger or moral code of betrayal. Rather,
Lear questions himself for the first time that indeed he could be the reason his daughters are not
the way he wants them to be. For example, “Or rather a disease that’s in my flesh, which I must
needs call mine. Thou art a boil, a plague sore or embossed carbuncle/ in my corrupted blood”
(2.4.221-224). Lear ultimately blames himself, he knows he lost the game that he created and
strategy did not play out as he intended. However, his definition of love is still flawed. He now
tries to measure it with the quantity of knights he is allowed to bring with him. He says to
Goneril, “I’ll go with thee/ thy fifty yet doth double five-and-twenty/ and thou art twice her
love”. Such a quote means that Lear realized his inferiority to his daughters now based on his old
age and he seems to understand his mortality now. Lear is not considering himself to be an
immortal god; furthermore he seems to realize his fatherly love rather than authority.
King Lear pities himself when denied having knights stay with him, understanding that
he perhaps could go mad from the stress that relinquishing his crown has cause him. For
example, “I have full cause of weeping, but this heart/ shall break into a hundred thousand flaws/
or I’ll cry I’ll weep. O fool, I shall go mad!” As King Lear’s insanity manifests into reality,
simultaneously, Lear’s mind begins to accept the truth about his daughters tricking him and lying
to him about their love only to steal his kingdom. He realizes he was foolish enough not to
notice, and now when he has no power or wealth, they do not need or want him. Ultimately, the
worst part of the situation Lear put him in, is that he is the sole creator of this result; he put
himself here through his ego and blindness of that ego and blindness to reality.
Section IV: Blind Rage
In the face of his daughters, King Lear’s “wits begin to turn” (3.2.68). He is left with no
shelter and runs into the woods during the storm:
“King Lear’s madness, although aggravated by the actions of his older
daughters, is self-inflicted by his reliance on appearance and willingness
to divest himself from his divine responsibilities, his kingship.” (www.helium.com).
His emotions are storming inside him while the real storm goes on outside. At first, he
experiences feelings of anger and self-pity: he talks about his ungrateful daughters and how he
gave them everything and in return he was left without power, wealth, his kingdom, his knights,
and his family. Lear is left with nothing. The more he talks about it, the more upset he gets as he
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still thinks he has done nothing wrong and does not deserve this terrible treatment. For example:
“in such a night as this! O Regan, Goneril, your old kind father, whole frank heart gave all”
(3.4.18-20). He is still a little egocentric as he dwells on the unjust treatment he endured. When
he sees near-naked beggar Tom O’Bedlam for the first time, he asks if it was his daughters who
stole his wealth and “brought him to this pass” (3.4.62). He thinks that only ungrateful children
could cause a person such wrongdoing as leaving someone without shelter during the storm. For
now he is still focused on his own problem – his hypocritical daughters and the loss of his power
and the loss of the game.
However, a little later,
“in the midst of a raging storm, Lear sees all humanity reduced to this bare
level…is man no more than this? Consider him well. Thou ow’st
the worm no silk, the beast no/hide, the sheep no wool, the cat no
perfume. Ha!/ Here’s three one’s are sophisticated. Thou
art the/thing itself: unaccomodated man is no more/ but such a poor,
bare, forked animal as thou art./ Off, off, you lendings! Come.
Unbutton here” (3.4.105-111).
Lear considers the only thing by which humans differ from animals to be their clothing, “Having
undergone a profoundly disillusioning experience with his cruel daughters, Lear has learned to
see through the appearances on which human beings conventionally pride themselves” (Cantor
247). He realizes that people’s real nature is inside of them and is hidden by the dress, so he
thinks that to get one’s essence a person should be seen naked, without any cover to his or her
body and mind. He also associates himself with that “poor, bare, forked animal” and therefore
decides to take off his own clothes, “the customary trappings of his kingly status” and bring
himself to the level of the more humble person that he is now because he saw through his ego
into reality. Lear was brought back down to earth and found the truth behind the game and the
truth behind his life.
Lear then sees a “noble philosopher” (3.4.175) in Tom. He asks him what thunder is and
then wants to ask him “one word in private” (3.4.162). In culmination of his insanity, perhaps by
his own doing of losing the game, his family and status, he indeed wants to do justice to himself
and decides to hold a trial over his evil daughters Regan and Goneril. He still cannot let go of the
offence they caused him, “I’ll see their trial first. Bring in their evidence” (3.6.35). He is also
wondering if “there are any causes in nature that make these hard hearts” (3.6.76-77). He asks
Fool and Edgar (Tom) to help him with that, even though he is in delirium and probably does not
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realize who these people really are. He calls fool “sapient sir” (3.6.22), which means wise and
discerning, full of wisdom; and calls Edgar a “man of justice” (3.6.36). Even though “the way
Lear conducts the trial of Goneril and Regan may be evidence of his growing madness, “his
madness seems a higher form of sanity” (Cantor p268). Lear finally fully realizes the real nature
of his daughters and their behavior: “They flattered/ me like a dog, and told me I had white hairs/
in my beard ere the black ones were there” (4.6.97-99) and “they are not men o’ their words,
They told me I was everything; tis a lie, I am not/ ague-proof” (4.6.105-106). Through his
madness and suffering, King Lear learns wisdom and as a consequence his anger, despair and
self-pity go away. He starts to really notice and care about people around him.
By being able to see beyond his ego, King Lear learns the virtue of compassion. Lear
begins to show sympathy for others:
“come on, my boy. How dost, my boy? Art cold? I am cold myself,
where is this straw, my fellow? The art of our necessities is strange/
that can make vile things precious. Come your hovel/ Poor fool
and knave, I have one part in my heart/ That’s sorry yet for thee” (3.2.68-73).
His emotional suffering taught him that even though he is a king, he is not an immortal god like
Jupiter. Rather, King Lear sees himself as a human being who has needs, necessities, and
vulnerable feelings.
King Lear is forever changed by the manipulation of his children, his behavior altering
from one of an arrogant child to someone with childlike innocence and wisdom. King Lear’s
pride and ego transforms into humility. The final step of Lear’s conversion is made with the help
of Cordelia, after her genuine forgiveness of her father’s cruel words and deeds, for she never
expected her father to be in such dire mental illness. Cordelia and Lear’s reconciliation helped
the King to realize what true love, devotion, and loyalty really meant. Cordelia finds out about
the abuse of her father and comes to England for his rescue. Lear is cured by Cordelia’s doctor
and is promised to fully recover. For example, “When we do wake him/ I doubt not of his
temperance” (4.7.23-24). When Lear gains consciousness, he does not believe that his youngest
daughter is really there next to him to help him. Now, King Lear is a humbled man, who is able
to see the truth about others and, most importantly, himself; he realizes all of his flaws. For
example Lear states, “I am a very foolish old man” (4.7.59). “I fear I am not in my perfect mind”
(4.7.63) “pray you now, forget and forgive. I am old and foolish” (4.7.84-85).
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Ultimately, King Lear dies a happier and complete person, even though he is grief
stricken from Cordelia’s hanging. Right before his death, King Lear has a vision that Cordelia
comes alive: “Do you see this? Look on her lips, look there, look there” (5.3.312-313). Per
Ignatius Critical edition, Lear’s last words indicate that, “Lear believes that Cordelia lives after
all, and thus he dies happy” (p. 191). The root of the reasons for Lear’s eventual happiness and
completeness was how he learned the true meaning of love, loyalty, and devotion. Lear learned
the heard way, who truly cared for him and who did not, in the end. This makes King Lear out to
be a fool who lost his own game. However, Lear is indeed a fool. After analyzing this story, one
can agree that they would rather be a fool like King Lear (who in the end learned from his
mistakes) than a powerful king who never knew the real meaning of true love, loyalty, and
devotion. Through his own game, Lear learned a lesson he never thought he’d learn, the lesson
of affection for others, the gentle feeling of fondness or liking; the immortal King Lear became a
mortal, real and affectionate human being.
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