King Lear Is Not Insane Essay Research

King Lear Is Not Insane Essay, Research Paper

The Sanity of Lear

King Lear: Sane, or insane. This question is one that has been posed throughout time by those who study him. By his actions, it could be inferred that Lear is mad, but some people have an opinion to the contrary: King Lear is sane. Support for the view that King Lear is sane can be found throughout the play. There are many examples of Lear’s ability to make a rational thought, and assess the situation, including the fact that Lear simply loves his daughters, Regan, Goneril, and Cordelia, and wants them to have the best life he can give them. Also, The fine line between insanity and ignorance comes into play here as well. The definition of sane as described in Webster’s New Collegiate Dictionary is: “mentally sound; able to anticipate and appraise the effect of one’s actions.” Blacks Law Dictionary defines insane as “a condition which renders the afflicted person unfit to enjoy liberty of action because of the unreliability of his behaviour with concomitant danger to himself and others. When one is unable to think rational thoughts.” King Lear could not have been insane because he is able to think rationally and understand the effect of his actions on others.

The reason some people think that Lear is insane is most likely because of his actions. But what actions illustrate insanity. When we see a child pretending to fly like an airplane, do we assume they are insane. No. We just know that that is what children do, and we accept it. When Lear acts in a similar manner, he is deemed insane. If a child acts like an old man, he is mature; if an old man acts like a child, he is insane. This is due to the fact that we as a society have preconceived ideas about how people should act. So when Lear acts in a peculiar manner, people think he is insane. Lear was not insane but he was perhaps the unfortunate victim of many bad decisions on his part which compounded into a force strong enough to bring a previously strong, stable kingdom crashing down, resulting in many deaths, including his own.

It is the opinion of many scholars that Lear is insane as the curtain rises on the first Act, but evidence suggests that this is far from true. It is one’s natural instinct to want what is best for one’s children, and Lear is no exception. The same principle is illustrated in nature when a mother animal hunts, and gives the catch to her child. Parents have a natural instinct to care for their young in whatever way possible. For Lear, his natural instinct to care for his children is to give them a kingdom. When Lear says “Know we have divided/In three our kingdom, and ’tis our fast intent/To shake all cares and business from our age,/Conferring them on younger strengths, while we/Unburdened crawl toward death”, he is telling the audience several things. He tells his three daughters, Cordelia, Goneril, and Regan, that his kingdom is to be divided into three pieces, so that the burdens of state will be borne on “younger strengths.” While he, unburdened by the affairs of state, spends the remaining years of his life relaxing. To anyone with children, Lear’s objective makes perfect sense. Lear is an old man, who, because of his age, can no longer perform the necessary duties required of the king, so he gives his kingdom to his young daughters. This not only relieves the stress in his life, but also gives his children a gift to help them marry. When looking from Lear’s point of view, it is easy to see why he would do such a thing as divide his kingdom. With the benefit of hindsight this choice may have been in fact a bad decision, but that.s not what is on trial here: it is his sanity. So was he sane when making this choice. Absolutely. Was he smart. Definitely not.

When examining the text of the play, several examples of Lear’s sanity can be extracted quite easily. The first of which comes from Act II Scene 4 line 1-2, when Lear says “’tis strange that they should so depart from home/And not send back my messenger.” At this point in the play, when some critics believe Lear is insane, this quote seems to portray him as quite sane. He is able to question the whereabouts of his messenger and ponder what could have happened to him. This caring and curiosity is hardly the feelings exhibited by an insane person. An insane person, such as a murderer, would show no remorse for what they had done, and would not care about the people they harmed. Also in this scene, Lear is outraged to discover that his messenger Kent had been locked in the stocks. Lear says, “They could not, would not do ‘t. ‘Tis worse than murder/To do upon respect such violence outrage./Resolve me with all modest haste which way/Thou might’st deserve or they impose this usage,/Coming from us.” One can see how unlikely it would be for an insane person to show such concern for a friend and servant. Within the same scene, Lear says, “I’d speak with the Duke of Cornwall and his wife.” He is requesting to speak with Regan and Cornwall. When Gloucester replies “Well, my good lord, I have informed them so”, Lear thinks that there must be some kind of misunderstanding. “‘Informed them’. Dost thou understand me man.” He can not understand why his daughter does not want to see him. Since Lear is able to see that it was wrong for Kent to be placed in the stocks, and questions the actions of his daughter, he illustrates the ability to execute rational thoughts.