King Lear Blindness

The protagonist of the play Macbeth, coordinately named Macbeth, is proven to be blind from the opening of his role in the play. Written by William Shakespeare, the play shadows many other works of his, in a sense that the majority of the most important pieces of information to the plot are delivered indirectly. An example of this in Macbeth is the frequency of characters, Macbeth more than others, to reference vision, and the ability to see while describing an event. The difference between Macbeth and other characters is that while he speaks about life and the ability to see it with his own eyes, the statement is always negative, suggesting his literal blindness. Examples of this can be found throughout all acts of the

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.

In “King Lear” the theme of sight is used as a lack of sight. When King Lear banishes Kent, Kent responds with a last word of advice “See better, Lear, and let me still remain. The true blank of thine eye.” The sight imagery refers to Lear’s lack of moral insight as demonstrated in the previous scene when he is unable to see past Goneril’s and Regan’s unrealistic declarations of filial love “Dearer than eyesight.” The lack of sight is implemented literally into the King Lear subplot when Goneril orders to “Pluck out his eyes.”

Kent’s effort to steer Lear in the right direction backfires. Lear is offended by Kent’s attempt to make him go against his word and reverse the disownment on Cordelia. Lear, feeling his pride in jeopardy, goes into a fit of rage and banishes Kent for questioning his judgment:

In the play “King Lear” written by Shakespeare is rifle with symbols and motifs, some of which are, madness, betrayal, chaos, and the storm. Shakespeare effectively utilizes symbols and motifs to create a deeper understanding of the text and develops the story. The most noteworthy use of symbolism in the play is blindness between King Lear and Gloucester. This play predominantly revolves around blindness, displaying how Lear’s and Gloucester’s fetal flaws drive them to meet their end. They are two different characters and each plays a distinct role in the play, however, they share many similarities and differenced in their blindness.

Both Lear and Riggan are arrogant, egotistical and ultimately ignorant to the surrounding world. Iñárritu and Shakespeare utilise the dialogue of other characters towards the protagonists, in albeit different ways, to show this. Shakespeare utilises the Fool to provide commentary for the audience. In the court of the king, the Fool’s role was to provide entertainment through comedy, but Shakespeare portrays him as the only character telling Lear the truth and thus this is an example of dramatic irony. Through his anecdotes and commentary, the Fool reveals to Lear the truth, but in his ignorance the king does not acknowledge this. Iñárritu demonstrates this through the audial and visual manifestation of Riggan’s younger self. While Shakespeare uses the Fool to tell Lear and the audience the truth, Riggan’s subconscious furthers his disconnection from reality and self-absorption. Additionally, Shakespeare uses eyes as a motif to emphasise this fatal blindness, attributed to age. The plucking out of Gloucester’s eyes is also a direct link to this. Lear’s crown is also used as a symbol of Lear’s poor judgement; by splitting the kingdom between his daughters, Lear “clovest his crown i’ th’ middle”, which ultimately lead to the tragic consequences at the end of the play. Iñárritu explores a similar idea of a limited view of the world through

King Lear Essay According to the dictionary, blindness is defined as, "Unable to see; Lacking the sense of sight; sightless", but in King Lear, by William Shakespeare, that is far from the definition of blindness. In King Lear, blindness is not just being physically incapable of seeing, but it is more being morally blind, being blind to the truth. This kind of blindness is demonstrated mainly in King Lear, the Duke of Albany, and the Earl of Gloucester.

Lear announces that his kingdom is up for grabs but his daughters must express their love for him in order to be awarded her land. Goneril uses Lear’s state of metaphorical blindness to give a phony speech on her abundant love for her father. "I love you more than word can wield the matter; dearer than eyesight, space and liberty...rich or rare; no less than life, with grace, health, beauty, honor...beyond all matter of so much I love you" (Act I, Scene I 55-61). At this early stage in the play, we can see Lear’s lack of eyesight and Goneril’s true personality. Both Goneril and Regan’s speeches blind Lear because of their exaggerated showing of love for their father. Lear’s eyesight blinds him of reality. When it is Cordelia’s turn to deliver her speech to her father, Lear does not accept or understand his daughter’s expression of love. Goneril and Regan tell Lear what he wants to hear, however, Cordelia expresses her true feeling. Lear’s lack of sight forces him to lose his favorite daughter and also a loyal friend, Kent.

These classic tropes are inverted in King Lear, producing a situation in which those with healthy eyes are ignorant of what is going on around them, and those without vision appear to "see" the clearest. While Lear's "blindness" is one which is metaphorical, the blindness of Gloucester, who carries the parallel plot of the play, is literal. Nevertheless, both characters suffer from an inability to see the true nature of their children, an ability only gained once the two patriarchs have plummeted to the utter depths

Gloucester says that, ironically, that he will “see” their punishment but Cornwall reverses his metaphor by saying that “see’t shalt thou never” by reminding him of his physical handicap (Shakespeare 3.7.4). After Cornwall gouges out both eyes, it was as if “the tenor of the seeing metaphor (perceiving justice) is destroyed (Gloucester’s physical sight) (Pierce 158). His “loss of sight, loss of power, induced physical helplessness, and violation of his body are the motifs of the transformation that Gloucester undergoes,” (Pierce 157). Gloucester is thrown out of the kingdom and finds himself in front of Edgar “no way, and therefore want no eyes” and he says, “I stumbled when I saw (Shakespeare 4.1.20-21). These lines reflect the true meaning of the blindness and vision symbolism and states that with sight, everything was unclear.

The theme of consciousness is underscored by the Gloucester plot in King Lear. Gloucester, like Lear, is an aging man who has yet to learn the true nature of his children. In this way, he shares Lear's metaphorical blindness, but Shakespeare does not stop there; he adds the physical impairment of vision to Gloucester's character as well. It is mentioned that Gloucester requires the need of "spectacles" in order to read the fabricated letter his son Edmund presents to him. Ironically, even with the use of an instrument to heighten his vision, Gloucester is still unable to see things as they truly are. With no prior provocation, and hardly any "ocular" proof, Gloucester immediately believes that his

Blindness is a reoccurring theme in King Lear. Lear’s blindness prevented him from seeing his Goneril and Regan true intentions at the beginning of the play. Although Lear is not physically blind, he lacks insight and wisdom. Lear’s lack of insight is a mental flaw rather than physical quality. Lear’s lack of insight causes him to be unable to see beyond the facade and cannot discern between the truth and lies in his daughter’s statements.

The play King Lear, written by William Shakespeare, the theme of blindness is clearly illustrated in the characters of King Lear and Gloucester. Both characters are blind to the truth because of their unwariness and poor judgment of character. These two characters refused to see the truth about the ones that are loyal to them. This type of blindness in this play is mental. Mental blindness can also be described refusing to see the truth because of one’s personality. The characters blindness was the reason of bad decisions that led to disasters. The nature causes and effects of blindness can be seen with King Lear and Gloucester, as these characters correspond to each other.

Shakespeare's King Lear tells of the tragedies of two families. At the head of each family is a father who cannot see his children for what they are. Both fathers are lacking in perceptiveness, so the stories of the two families run parallel to each other. In Lear's case, two of his daughters fool him into believing their lies. Lear shuts out his third daughter because she cannot her love into words the way he wants her to. Gloucester, similarly, forbids the son that truly loves him, while putting all his trust into the son who betrays him. Both Lear and Gloucester lack the direction and insight that it takes to see reality, instead they see only physically. Lear does not

Lear's entry into the play is similar to Gloucester's such that, through close analysis of the dialogue between the King and his daughters, the reader gains awful knowledge of the arrogance and ignorance that will soon become his downfall . The drama of his opening speech is at all points excessive; the reader discerns a man that is long accustomed to being listened to and indulged in every way. In a moral