King Lear As A Tragedy Essay Research

King Lear As A Tragedy Essay, Research Paper

William Shakespeare’s play, King Lear is about power and the misuse of power, although this is not the sole theme or idea the play presents to its reader. It is a detailed analysis of the consequences of one man’s decisions. This fictitious man is Lear, King of England, whose decisions greatly alter his life and the lives of those around him, particularly those of his daughters, Regan, Goneril and Cordelia.

These four individuals: Lear, Cordelia, Goneril and Regan are to be considered the main characters in the play, as the Shakespeare may have been able to convey his messages just as clearly without other characters in the play. And in fact, in the episode the play is based upon, there was no sub-plot or “extras” and indeed Shakespeare noticed the simple themes strongly enough to want to write an entire play about it.

As Lear bears the status of King he is, as one expects, a man of great power but sinfully he surrenders all of this power to his daughters, Regan and Goneril as a reward for their demonstration of love towards him. While the only truly loving daughter, Cordelia is banished from the kingdom for not being able to exaggerate her sincere love as well as her lying sisters.

This untimely abdication of his throne results in a chain reaction of events that send him through a journey of hell. King Lear is a metaphorical description of one man’s journey through hell in order to expiate his sin.

As the play opens, one can almost immediately see that Lear begins to make mistakes that will eventually result in his downfall. The very first words he speaks in the play are:

“. Give me the map there. Know that 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 to death.”

But perhaps the greatest sin in the play is one, which the reader is given no indication of, except the ordinary. The sin is, who was the governing power which gave Lear his power in the first place.

And it is tragic how this contest for power, which in its path power is used and abused, ultimately leads to the death of the play’s namesake, King Lear himself.

Power, and perhaps more honestly the misuse of it is the primary theme in the play, many other ideas will creep into the reader’s mind as they progress through the play.

Insanity, and the toll it takes on those in contact with it, shines through the plot as a thought which Shakespeare has never portrayed so deeply. King Lear, as a human being, is quite obviously plagued throughout the play with the question of his peace of mind. In some instances, the lack of clear-thought is more obvious than in others. One which will surely spring to readers’ minds is the “mock-trial” Lear instigates with what he believes to be his daughters. He is in fact, talking to a chicken and a chair, and this is of course not an antic of a completely sane person.

Unfortunately for Lear, even his own confidence in his thinking and self-righteousness are also contributing to the image that he projects; that of an insane, perhaps immorally insane person. And what’s more, he is shown to be an insane leader, a man with power. Insanity and power are to character traits which should never be placed together.

The prospect of greed is not an uncommon one in Lear’s England. Lear’s two eldest daughters and Gloucester’s younger son are very much starved in many respects. They will do anything to eliminate this starvation, and what they are hungry for is power and its spoils. Although Edmund is more set on owning the riches that his brother is inevitably going to receive, he also realizes that he must use, gain and misuse power to get what he feels he deserves. Manipulation of his own family is hardly a daunting task for a man who is so incredibly insane with the prospect of taking what he can, in terms of power, and therefore in terms of riches.

Power begins the wrath, and in King Lear, all roads lead to power.

The greed that both Goneril and Regan show is quite extraordinary, but these women have no immediate desire for riches. They are quite aware of the spoils which will be revealed to them once they have achieved their goals of power, and as much power as they can possibly get their hands on.

Family relations also twine into the plot to show the reader yet another proposition of the characters that make up the story. The conflict between Goneril, Regan, Cordelia and Lear are shown and this is a focal point of King Lear.

Lear’s family is emotionally battered and shows symptoms of a truly dysfunctional family; constant dishonesty and deception for example. Broken promises, such as the issue of Lear’s proposed following of knights.

But to strengthen this particular theme, this is reflected in the lives of Gloucester, Edmund and Edgar, who all struggle against each other at some point, whether they are aware of it or not.

Tricked by the illegitimate son- Edmund; Gloucester- Edmund’s father, and Edgar- the elder and legitimate son are led to believe that they are being plotted against by one another, when in fact, it is Edmund doing to the sinister planning. This sort of behavior also indicates that the Earl of Gloucester’s family wa

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