Empathy In King Lear

King Lear and Hamlet, by William Shakespeare, are two plays that reveal similar thematic elements, yet possess fundamentally different plot structures. Driven by the suffering and rage of two complementary characters, both plays suggest injustice through ‘good’, but ultimately flawed characters. This shared overarching theme is, however, conveyed differently within each of the works, as one employs two mainly disparate plot threads, while the other relies more heavily on the interaction between the two central plots. Yet the ultimate purpose of this dualism remains the same within both King Lear and Hamlet, in that Shakespeare’s use of the double plot illuminates the tragic elements within both plays, emphasizing core injustices through

King Lear poses many questions to its audience. Shakespeare’s conventions throughout the story hold true to the plot until Albany’s speech is interrupted by Lear’s rambling words. Upon closer examination however, it is obvious that the play’s writer meant to violate some of the conventions which he set earlier in the story through the crazed king's words. The character’s verses can be interpreted several ways, showing a different side of the conventions which Shakespeare sets. Focusing on the particular scene shows an underlying theme concerning the human race. His writing leaves the audience with a question about the story’s true meaning.

The Fool speaks from the earliest of points that what Lear has done might be wrong. He continually speaks of Lear 's real condition, apart from what he might perceive it

In the play King Lear, the two characters Gloucester and King Lear, both run on very parallel paths. the turning point in the play where the reader starts to feel sorry for them is as soon as things start to go bad for them. Early in the play, Lear makes bad decisions on which daughters to give his land and power to, while Gloucester is making Edmund feel bad for being a bastard. Their decisions blow up in their faces and the reader starts to feel bad for them. King Lear is driven to madness and Gloucester has his eyes gouged out and want to kill himself. The impressions on both of these characters change throughout the course of the play in the same way.

At the beginning of “King Lear,” an authoritative and willful protagonist dominates his court, making a fateful decision by rewarding his two treacherous daughters and banishing his faithful one in an effort to preserve his own pride. However, it becomes evident during the course of the tragedy that this protagonist, Lear, uses his power only as a means of projecting a persona, which he hides behind as he struggles to maintain confidence in himself. This poses a problem, since the audience is prevented from feeling sympathy for the king. Shakespeare’s ironic solution is to allow Lear’s progressing madness to be paired with his recognition of truth, thereby forcing Lear to shed his persona, and

When the audience is first introduced to Lear, they see a pompous king, who craves, and demands praises of love and admiration from his three daughters. After a few scenes, he is portrayed as a rash, impulsive old man, who “hat ever but slenderly known himself” (King Lear, 1.1, 294-295), fully exposing his flaws. However, through the course of the play, he grows into a caring and humble man, which is first showed, before he and the fool found refuge in a “hovel” (King Lear, 3.2, 61) from the storm, and Lear speaks to the Fool asking him “ How dost, my boy? Art cold?” (King Lear, 3.2, 68), showing the drastic change of his character from previous encounter, making him stronger though, he lost everything.

       The ignorance about life and human nature that Lear demonstrates in the play’s first scene, then, leads to his largest mistake, the mistake that serves as a turning point from which all other actions are the direct consequence.  As Mack explains, because Shakespeare put the turning point at the beginning of the play, “The meaning of action [in Lear] lies rather in effects than in antecedents, and particularly in its capacity, as with Lear in the opening scene, to generate energies that will hurl themselves . . . in reverberations of disorder” (170).  That is, because Lear’s fatal flaw presents itself early rather than later on in the play—as is customary for Shakespearean tragedy—the meanings and consequences of his actions, as well as Lear’s own thoughts/awareness, have a longer time to evolve.  How the early turning point in Lear helps to emphasize Lear’s learning experience is clarified by comparing the play with another Shakespearean tragedy; the turning point in Othello, for example, occurs in act 3, scene 3 when the seeds of jealousy that Iago has planted throughout the first three acts finally take root inside of

Leare correlates materialism with power rather than with the ability to see clearly. His willingness to “weigh” the love of his daughters and “possess” a certain amount of knights highlights the extent of his flawed, materialistic vision. Rather than gaining clearer vision to properly discern his reality, Leare retains his vision merely on the surface. However, Shakespeare uses the result of Leare’s blindness—madness—to highlight the importance of knowledge and Leare’s progression throughout the play.

The reason for Lear’s self destroyal can begin to be understood as early as the first scene of the play. This crucial scene sets up the situation for the

”(Kermode) Lear starts to see the importance of the fool’s words once it is too late and when all the tragic events have taken their course. The fool is an important character in the play because he, unlike many

All texts can be read and understood, interpreted and represented in many different ways according to the views of the responder and their context. Many different interpretations of “King Lear” have been made, each valuing and highlighting different aspects and themes of the play. It is necessary for these interpretations to be made and adapted in order for “King Lear” to have relevance within the context of the society. Each interpretation of the text extracts and concentrates on certain ideas, issues, themes, values of the play, altering the way the play is received amongst audiences and critics.

It is during this popular scene that the reader can realize how the fool and the storm are actually the physical representation of what happens inside King Lear’s mind at that specific point within the play. Since the beginning of the play, the fool barely leaves the king’s side, due to the fact that his job is to bring Lear humor and laughter. But the fool brings more than that to Lear, proving that he could be a representation of the king’s conscience. The

King Lear is frequently regarded as one of Shakespeare’s masterpieces, and its tragic scope touches almost all facets of the human condition: from the familial tensions between parents and children to the immoral desires of power, from the follies of pride to the false projections of glory. However, one theme rings true throughout the play, and that very theme is boundless suffering, accentuated by the gruesome depictions of suffering our protagonists experience . There is no natural (nor “poetic”) justice depicted in this pre-Judeo-Christian world Shakespeare presents, as the relatively virtuous individuals (Kent, Gloucester, and Cordelia) in this

This action simply has readers or viewers shaking their head, and wondering what the purpose of this Lear’s action is, and what the character hopes to achieve. It has been seen in society before that this type of action is not one that often works and it is through the beginning of the play that readers and viewers can see that Lear is not worthy of their pity, if he is demonstrating such an ego, so early on.

A character study of a mortal man full of unpredictable mental illnesses can be as confusing of a thing to do as the thoughts within his own mind. King Lear was one with a mind that could be compared to a light switch; whereas, ones emotional state changes from one extreme to the other, with just that one flip of the switch (Hudson, 1911). He had a vast need for power and control; this combined with his enormous selfishness, created room for many mental outbursts. Most of which were due to his not getting his way, resulting in twisted snap judgments that were raged by a fiery temper. Most of which were because of and at the cost of those he loved the most, his daughters. King Lear has been portrayed as many things throughout time and in different plays; however, two things remain the same among them all: dysfunction and insanity.