Ibrahim Kari Unit 2. The opening act of King Lear effectively demonstrates the initial situation and downward movement of Aristotle's structure of tragedy. When King Lear the tragic hero announces: "Know that we have divided... From our age" this is where the initial situation in the play begins and is the main flaw that will bring Lear to the bottom of the wheel.
This is the Reversal (the fall in the hero's fortune), the first stage of tragedy. King Lear decides to divide his kingdom into three, a piece for each of his three daughters. He asks his daughters which of them love him the most, this will determine the size of the fortune each will get. Goneril and Regan the king's eldest daughters, knowing what makes their father happy, give flattering speeches which are full of insincer
...ity just to get as much as possible of their father's kingdom.
The last and youngest daughter yet Lear's favorite, Cordelia, does not know how to lie and flatter her father with dishonesty and falsehood like her sisters did. Therefore she says "Nothing, my lord" which brings her father into frustration. He says "Nothing will come out of nothing. Speak again" , he means that saying nothing will not bring you a fortune. King Lear's demand that his daughters express the amount of love they have for him shows us the insecurity and fear of an old man who needs to be reassured of his importance.
Both his ignorance and excessive pride blind him from seeing that Cordelia is the only daughter which feels real life for him. The Earl of Kent who advises the king disagrees with Lear and earns
him that he has mistaken the unloyal with the loyal, "Thy youngest daughter does not... Reverb no hollowness" (I i 154-156). The ignorance and pride of King Lear have caused his downfall and loss of fortune.
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