King Lear: A Character Analysis Essay Example

that he can’t even fathom the fact that his daughters could betray him. This causes Lear to slowly go insane and to retreat from the kingdom with his Fool and a nobleman named Kent.

As he wanders on the heath, homeless, powerless, and buffeted by a storm, Lear is reduced to the status of a beggar. However, he continues to talk like a king. He even tries ordering around the storm itself. The absurdity of giving orders to the weather highlights how human status and power are worthless in the face of the power of nature. “Blow wind and crack your cheeks!” - King Lear (III.ii.) This poor man is in such denial that he mourns and seeks for comfort from his own fool. Along the way, they run into Edgar who’s disguised as a crazy beggar and calls himself ‘Poor Tom.’ “Unaccommodated man is no more but such a poor, bare, forked animal as thou art.” - King Lear (III.iv.) Lear is astonished by the sight of ‘Tom’, who is practically naked. He realizes that without the benefits of food, clothes, and shelter, humans are nothing more than just animals. Lear returns repeatedly to the idea that only wealth and social status make human life bearable. He hasn’t lost everything yet though, he still has his loyal companions and his good friend Gloucester. With his two oldest daughters basically hunting down Lear, Gloucester helps Lear by giving him shelter from the storm. He even sacrificed himself to allow Lear to escape once Regan and Cornwall infiltrated their hideout. In the midst of it, Lear’s fool fails to escape with them and is killed. “Thou hast

seen a farmer’s dog bark at a beggar? And the creature run from the cur? There thou mightst behold the great image of authority: a dog’s obeyed in office.” - King Lear (IV.vi.) With Lear losing his kingdom and power, He realizes that “King” is just a title. The word is worthless without the power to back it up. Anyone can be a king if they’re powerful. Even a dog will be obeyed by people who fear its strength. Lear suggests that maybe the distribution of wealth and power in society is random, unfair and meaningless after all.

Meanwhile in Dover, a French army lands as part of an invasion led by Cordelia in an effort to save her father. Edmund also becomes romantically entangled with both Regan and Goneril. Gloucester now blind after his eyes were gouged out, is guided by his son Edgar. Meanwhile, the English troops reach Dover, defeat the French and capture Lear and Cordelia. After Lear reunites with his daughter Cordelia, he realizes his ill-fated mistake and reconciles with her. “ I am a very foolish, fond old man. Fourscore and upward, not an hour more nor less; And to deal plainly, I fear I am not in my perfect mind.”-King Lear (IV.vii.) Lear begins the play blind to the reality of his position. He believes he will always be a king, even if he gives up his power. Finally he learns to see himself clearly, and in this speech, near the end, he is able to describe himself accurately. Out of nowhere, Edgar duels with Edmund and kills him. Gloucestor is found dead and Goneril poisons Regan out of jealousy

over Edmund and then kills herself when her treachery is revealed to Albany. Lastly Edmund’s betrayal of Cordelia leads to her needless execution in prison. Lear has now lost everything he ever had and loved, losing his favorite daughter Cordelia finally pushes him to the limit. “Howl howl howl howl!” - King Lear (V.iii.) This is Lear’s initial response to the death of his daughter, Cordelia. From the beginning of the play, Lear examines the power of language to express his feelings. When Lear reaches his lowest point, he temporarily abandons language altogether and literally howls like an animal. The fact that this all started because of a mere test of love and his selfishness, makes seeing him mourn for his daughter and seeing him regret his decisions almost pitiful. It hurts too much to witness. Just this one question from the very beginning of the play has made things spiral out of control. “Why should a dog, a horse, rat have life And thou have none at all?”- King Lear (V.iii.) Even though Lear has learned the hard truths that justice is an illusion and human beings are animals, he can’t accept his daughter’s death. He complains that it’s unfair that other animals are alive while his precious Cordelia is dead. Lear’s inability to reconcile himself to his loss makes his own death especially tragic. With the death of both King Lear and his three daughters, all that remains is Edgar, Kent and Albany to look after things in the country. Also leaving us with such a sorrowful unfulfilling end to this story.

Personally, I don’t believe King Lear deserved the bitter ending he got.

However I do believe it was good for him to go through with this trial to make up and rethink his disjointed view of society. I also wish Cordelia didn’t die, because in the end, all King Lear wanted was to see his daughter and apologize for his mistakes. He was an old foolish man who was already crippling by the minute, but to see him fall apart in the end because of the death of his daughter, makes you feel guilty for feeling the way you did in the beginning of the play. In the end, King Lear was a tragic character that I feel many others could end up relating too in the near future.