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Betrayal In King Lear And Antigone

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William Shakespeare and Sophocles are both very successful playwrights from very different time periods, though both have mastered the portrayal of tragedy. In both works, relationships between characters are destroyed, while other seemingly unlikely relationships are built. Although critics may argue death is the primary theme in King Lear and Antigone, a close examination of characterization, tone, and symbolism reveals betrayal and loyalty are the plot motivators. In King Lear, the theme of betrayal is evident from the very beginning, where King Lear is determining which daughter to grant his land to. Throughout this scene, King Lear’s speech displays a very dark, almost foreboding, tone. Meanwhile, his eldest daughters, Goneril and Regan, profess their love to their father and, his youngest daughter, Cordelia, betrays her father’s love by responding to him with “nothing” (Shakespeare). One critic, Jeffrey Stern, claims that although Lear is hurt by the betrayal of Cordelia, her emotional stagnation works to his advantage. This is because, “by placing the favored Cordelia between Goneril and Regan in the center of the kingdom and bequeathing to her the lion’s share of the land and power, Lear reduces the likelihood that his elder, more dangerous daughters …show more content…

Edmund’s motive to forge the letter is revealed through a soliloquy where he confesses, “Our father's love is to the bastard Edmund as to the legitimate: fine word,--legitimate! Well, my legitimate, if this letter speed, and my invention thrive, Edmund the base shall top the legitimate. I grow; I prosper,” (Shakespeare). Shakespeare uses the forged letter and Lear’s crown as parallels to symbolize the cruel intentions of Edmund and Lear’s

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