Blindness in King Lear Essays

In the play, King Lear, vision and blindness are repeated allegories that relate to the characters, Lear and Gloucester. This exemplifies the theme of self-knowledge and consciousness that occurs in the play. These classic allegorical is inverted in King Lear, producing a situation in which those with well working eyes cannot see what is happening around them, and those without sight are able to “see” clearly. What do I mean? Well, Lear is completely “blind” to the character of his children, while Gloucester blindness is literal. Blindness is echoed through Gloucester and Lear to explain Lear's metaphorical blindness with Gloucester's literal loss of vision.

King Lear is the character who suffers the most from blindness in the play. His three daughters are most likely the main cause of his mental blindness. In the very first act of the play we see that Lear is easily fooled by his two eldest daughters Regan and Goneril, and we also see his inability to realize Cordelia’s true love for him when she tells him the truth. His blindness causes a rift in the family, and Lear banishes Cordelia from the kingdom saying “Thou hast her, France; let her be thine, for we / Have no such daughter, nor shall

In King Lear, Goneril and Regan’s disloyalty is hurtful for Lear and it pushes him into a state of isolation where he is stripped of his authority that he had as king. It would be considered that Lear was at him lifetime low because he has socially fallen to the role of a beggar. He has no home, family or power. Lear’s madness and misery causes him to realize he has hit rock bottom. “Prithee, go in thyself. Seek thine own ease. / This tempest will not give me leave to ponder/ On things would hurt me more” (III, iv, 23-25). Lear is aware of his poor state as he refuses to take shelter from storm. The physical pains he gains from the storm relieve the misery his daughters branded on his heart.

Although it is never too late to learn, those lessons learned in old age are the most difficult and the most costly. In his play KING LEAR, Shakespeare illustrates that wisdom does not necessarily come with age. The mistakes that Lear and Gloucester make leave them vulnerable to disappointment and suffering at a time in their lives when both should be enjoying peace and contentment. Although both Lear and Gloucester achieve wisdom before they die, they pay a dear price for having lived life blindly.

The hopeless love test conducted by the king based his decision on dividing his land revealed his true character in the very beginning of the play. He is egoistic and enjoys his kingly title of Britain, he has himself buried in supremacy that he does not have time to think of others but himself. The whole conception of blindness that King Lear has is the lack of insight, understanding, and direction. Cordelia, King Lear’s sweet, loving daughter amongst all, helped her father in restoring his “sight” throughout the play by being

   In Shakespeare's play King Lear, the main character, King Lear, is presented as a respected and powerful king. As the story progresses the king loses his power because of his own stupidity and blindness. The tragedy of this play is shown chiefly through the actions of Lear’s daughters, which lead to Lear’s bout with insanity, and through the words of the Fool.

In Shakespeare’s play, King Lear, multiple tragedies occur. The protagonist of the play, King Lear, faults in distinguishing his daughter’s true feelings of love or malice. As a result, King Lear and his kingdom turn into a disaster. Unconsciously, King Lear banished his only hope. Cordelia, his youngest daughter, loves him eternally, yet her loyalty to her father damaged their loving relationship.

The allure of wealth spoiled Gonerill and Regan. They both did not know the value and the hardships of fermenting wealth and the stability of life. Lear became monomaniac about the illusion of wealth. Lear came to his senses through misery and the loss of Cordelia. Absurdity was seen through the eyes of his Fool. The Fool knew that Lear was the person who was manipulated. The fool knew as well; that Lear was tricked by his daughters. The fool attempted to illustrate to Lear through songs that he was completely oblivious about his own life. “That lord that copunsell’d thee To give away thy land, Come place him here by me, Do thou for him stand. The sweet and bitter fool Will presently appear: The one in motley here, The other found out.” (Shakespeare, trans. 1963,

In King Lear, vision and blindness play a crucial role in some of the character's key developments and or actions. The blindness in this play has two totally different meanings. The first one is the inability to see, and the second one is being unable to perceive your surroundings. Being blind by the second definition means to have a mental flaw, or in other words, not be able to see what's wrong or what's right There are many examples of this dominant theme throughout this play that help develop some of the main protagonists in very crucial ways.

At the beginning of the play King Lear has more power than anyone else, the feeling of power made him think it was okay to ask his three daughters who loved him the most. When his youngest and favourite daughter Cordelia did not give him the answer he wanted by saying, “Unhappy that I am, I cannot heave / My heart into my mouth/ I love your majesty / According to my bond, no more nor less” (King Lear 1.1.91-93). he started lashing out. Lear clearly values Goneril and Regan fawning over him over Cordelia’s sincere honesty. Out of pride and anger, Lear banishes Cordelia, as well as Kent for defending her. Lear splits the kingdom in half to Goneril and Regan which leads to the deaths of many people in the play. Throughout the play he becomes increasingly shocked when people do not obey him the way they did before and the lack of respect he receives. With his loss of power Lear often responds to these problems with anger saying things like “My curses on her!” (2.4.138). about his own daughter. By the end of the play he recognizes that he takes responsibility for both his own problems and for those of others. King Lear’s actions were the first step to the plays tragic outcome.

    In King Lear, the recurring images of sight and blindness associated with the characters of Lear and Gloucester illustrate the theme of self-knowledge and consciousness that exist in the play.

The theme of blindness is indisputably visible through the character of King Lear as he is unable to differentiate between the good and the bad, consequently leading him to his own personal fall and failure due to his blindness and apathy. Lear is undoubtedly the most blind of all the characters as he is unable to see the truth behind his daughter’s actions from the beginning of the play. Lear’s first mistake is that of trusting his two daughters Goneril and Regan. Lear is easily deceived by his two oldest daughters lies in regards to the love they have for their father, then Lear was blind to the fact that his favourite daughter Cordelia’s testimony of love was truthful and compassionate. Cordelia says to her father, I yet beseech your majesty, If for I want that glib and oily art.

The most prevailing images in King Lear are the images (metaphoric and actual) of nature. The concept of nature seems to consume the dialogue, monologues, and setting.

     The play, “King Lear” by William Shakespeare, starts with noblemen Kent and Gloucester having a conversation and the audience finds out that Gloucester has two sons. Edgar who is his heir, and Edmund his unimportant son. This info. leads to the mini-plot. Then, Lear enters to say that he is going to end his life’s tasks and problems. He then points to the map, he tells the people there that he will split his land into three parts. They are going to be given to his three daughters. The two oldest, Goneril and Regan, tell their father that their love for him goes beyond expectations. The youngest one, Cordelia, tells him that she loves him, but only as she should love her father. He is then

As the play progressed Lear's sanity went downhill, but his vision became clearer. When Goneril and Regan would not provide him with shelter during a furious storm, Lear realized that they were the daughters who did not love him. He also began to understand the words of Cordelia from the beginning of the play, he realized that she loved him too much to put into words.