Examples Of Blindness In King Lear

Often times we take our eye sight for granted. We never think about what would happen if we could not see and believe our eyes. There is an old saying that says, “Seeing is believing;” however, what we see is not always the truth. As we read King Lear it becomes clear that people can physically see events, believe that what is being seen is the truth, and be totally blinded to the truth. We choose to see what we want to believe because that is what we want to happen. Many times our emotions take over and what is right in front of our face is blinded by what we want the truth to be. There are several characters in King Lear who are blind to the truth, not because their eye sight is impaired but because they have selective sight and only see what they want to see. Sight or lack thereof, has many literary facets beyond the obvious physical meaning, as intricately portrayed in Shakespeare’s King Lear; where the ability to see the truth is clouded by mental blindness, love, greed, and ambition until a transformation occurs and the characters can truly see the truth.

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.

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

The promise and possibility that come to nothing lead to the destruction of relationships. Lear banishes Cordelia, who truly loves and cares for him, while he is being deceived by Goneril and Regan who only care about authority and power. Goneril and Regan are ruthless as they refuse to take Lear into their homes and let him wander outside in the raging storm, which shows that their family relationship is proven to be dysfunctional. Lear’s tragic flaw is that he is blind to the truth, and he easily believes people through their words, rather than through their actions. His family falls apart after trusting Goneril and Regan, who ended up betraying him, while banishing Cordelia, who shows true love and honesty to Lear.

After having both eyes gouged out by the Duke of Cornwall, Gloucester exclaims: “O my follies! Then Edgar was abused” (3.7.91). Unaware of Edmund’s betrayal, Gloucester had earlier told Edmund about his alliance with France in their invasion of England. Wanting to remove his father from power, Edmund conveys this information to the Duke of Cornwall and as a punishment, Gloucester has his eyes gouged out. This quote is important because it ties directly into the theme of “Blindness vs Sight.” Although he is literally blinded, it is at this moment that Gloucester is able to see the truth. Previously, he believes his son Edgar has betrayed him and therefore places his trust onto his other son, Edmund. Upon losing his vision, he finally regains his sight by realising Edgar’s innocence and Edmund’s treachery.

The power that Lear gives to Goneril and Regan makes them treacherous and deceitful. Lear offers his

Through many of Shakespeare’s plays, tragedy is caused by a series of events that usually stem from human nature. In Shakespeare’s King Lear, the main characters Gloucester and King Lear, find their worlds spiraling rapidly into darkness by cause of mistakes such as, King Lear superficiality, Gloucester’s blindness, and both of their quick to act mentalities have ultimately caused their downfall. All of which, the audience can find them self relating to, in some respect, seeing as they are common human mistakes. As the audience follows the play, they begin to relate to the mistake made by both characters and are able to see how everyday human mistakes can produce undesirable consequences.

Blindness can be defined as the one’s inability to see, however, Shakespeare defined blindness as not only a physical flaw, but also a fatal mental flaw one possess. This can be seen though Shakespeare’s symbolic uses of blindness in the play King Lear. In the play, Shakespeare uses King Lear and Gloucester to portray his vision on blindness. King Lear is the ruler of Great Britain, rewarding individuals who flatters him and punishing individuals who speak up against him. This is the mental flaw of blindness Shakespeare is speaking of. King Lear is in a sense blinded by his own power, incapable of seeing the truth. Similarly, Gloucester is deceived by his illegitimate son, Edmund. In Shakespeare’s words, Gloucester is psychologically blinded

If someone is blind, it means their vision is being obstructed. This definition can be perceived in two different ways. It can mean literal blindness, where someone or something has a loss of vision and is unable to see. Though it can also mean someone is unwilling to recognize what is happening around them because it is easier for them to simply ignore it. Throughout the play, the topic of eyesight is brought up many times as a way of foreshadowing blindness throughout King Lear.

King Lear’s first act of blindness is when he believes his eldest daughters, Goneril and Regan’s love him. He is taken aback when Cordelia, his youngest, refuses to confess her love to him in front of the king's court, and thus Lear decides to banish her,“Thou hast her, France: let her be thine; for we/ Have no such daughter, nor shall ever see/ That face of hers again. Therefore be gone/ Without our grace, our love, or bension” (1, 1, 285-288) Lear is banishing Cordelia, ‘[...] nor shall ever see/ That face of hers again. Therefor be gone/[...]’ The naive king believes that his favorite daughter is unfaithful because she refuses to express her love by throwing up words to please his image to the courtship. He is blind to the tricky of Regan

Lear was not the only character to suffer from blindness, Gloucester too, had lack of insight. He could not see the goodness of his son Edgar, and the wickedness of Edmund. A forged letter was the only evidence needed to convince Gloucester that Edgar was plotting to kill him. Immediately after reading the letter Gloucester screams in a rage;

    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.

Within the Shakespearean play, King Lear, blindness hinders characters from making just and moral judgements. The rash decisions made by each character have a strong influence on character progression and their downfalls within the play. The central idea of blindness as a tragic flaw is portrayed throughout many different characters. Most frequently, it is easily depicted within King Lear, Gloucester and Edmund where all three characters are confronted with battles when coming face to face with family. Lear’s conflict with family pertains to his two disloyal daughters and the fact that they constantly demine him. Gloucester battles with his two sons, Edgar and Edmund, when dealing with legitimacy versus illegitimacy. Finally, Edmund internally struggles with himself as being an illegitimate son and an outcast of society. Through their processes of realization, they endure many hardships and act on impulse rather than logic and reason. It is through these characters where King Lear highlights how impulsivity leads to blindness.

Edgar is the next character who displays loyalty to his father even after he has been outlawed and was forced to hide and disguise himself. Gloucester favors Edgar's evil half-brother Edmund, who deceives him into believing that it is Edgar who is disloyal. However, after Gloucester's eyes are plucked out he realizes his mistake when he is told that it is Edmund who has betrayed him. When the blind Gloucester is led to the disguised Edgar, his son agrees to lead him to the cliffs of Dover. In order to prevent his father's attempted suicide, Edgar stages a scene where he leads his father to believe that he has fallen off the cliffs but has been miraculously saved. Edgar once again defends his father's life when he prevents Oswald from assassinating him. Through these events Edgar exemplifies loyalty by leading his blind father to safety, even though he had been wrongfully mistreated.

Edmund is killed by the brother he sought to remove. Regan murders Goneril only to commit suicide afterwards. Rebuttal - Alongside the downfall of these antagonists are other characters undeserving of such tragic fates. One can hardly propose the presence of divine justice when honest and deceitful, loyal and traitorous are indiscriminately sentenced equal punishment.