King Lear Quotes

Lear can "see" through a sympathetic lens, after having exchanged the pride for shame, revealing to us that mental blindness can be more damaging than physical blindness. While Gloucester, who willingly admits that "[he] stumbled when [he] saw," is only able to "see," though sightless, after he has suffered (4.1.20). Only through the physical pain of losing his sight was Gloucester able to see the truth of his sons. Unquestionably, the plots of Lear and Gloucester run similar courses. However, Shakespeare employs Gloucester's plot to clarify Lear's plot. Through the physical blinding of Gloucester, Shakespeare provides an equivalent, which contextualizes King Lear's theme of consciousness and allows Lear's own metaphorical blindness to be fully

The power that makes Edmund corrupt is trust. He uses the trust to manipulate and control his father for the benefit of himself. He frames his brother by composing a false letter to his father implicating a plot to kill Gloucester, that when “our father would sleep till I waked him, you should enjoy half his revenue forever.” (1, 2, 55-56) Gloucester replies with “this villain of mine comes under the prediction of mine: there’s son against father” (1, 2, 112-117) This shows that Gloucester had great faith and trust in his son Edgar. To better his plan he goes to Edgar and convinces him to run away. The thought that he would frame his own brother for the chance to gain power shows his corruption, and that he will do anything to have more power. Edmund writes another letter, except this implicates his father in a plot with France to kill The Duke of Cornwall. He does this so that “the younger rises [and] the old doth fall” (3, 4, 25) and he will become the Earl. Edmund is so corrupted and blinded by his quest for power that he is willing to jeopardize his father’s

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.

He also tells Edgar that Cornwall is not pleased with him over a dispute between Albany and Cornwall that Edgar knows nothing about. He then urges Edgar to flee just before he lies to Gloucester about Edgar’s intent. Gloucester, believing Edmund’s lies condemns Edgar to death and promises Edmund his lordship. Edmund, having disposed of his brother and securing his eventual reward sees an opportunity to acquire his land and status a little more swiftly. When Gloucester flees to help Lear he entrusts Edmund with ensuring Cornwall does not discover Gloucester’s plans and the location of letter regarding an imminent French invasion. Edmund immediately betrays his father and shows Cornwall the letter, making him believe Gloucester is working for the French. Gloucester is soon after discovered and brought before Cornwall and Reagan. While Gloucester is being blinded by Cornwall, Edmund is busy courting Goneril outside of her palace. Edmund decides to double his chances of becoming King by courting Reagan as well. Edmund’s final act of treachery occurs when he gives orders to the Captain to hang Lear and Cordelia. He lies even in his dying breath as he stalls in order to ensure the death of Cordelia: “Despite of mine own nature. Quickly send-/ Be brief in it - to th’ castle, for my writ/ Is on the life of Lear, and on Cordelia./ Nay, send in time.” (Shakespeare 5.3.292-295) Edmund’s actions led

Destruction of one’s state of existence is not only evident in 1984 but also in Shakespeare’s King Lear. Unlike 1984, the destructive love in this classic is not romantic love, but the love between a father and his son. Gloucester, a noble that serves King Lear, has two sons. His eldest son, Edgar, is legitimate while his younger son, Edmund is illegitimate. Edmund resents his status as a

     In King Lear, the subplot of Gloucester corresponds to the major plot of King Lear. Both fathers have their own loyal legitimate child and their evil and disloyal child. They are both honourable men, who have children that return to them in their time of need. Gloucester and Lear are both tormented, and their

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 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.

Starting the play with the revelation of Edmund’s plans to see his half brother and father’s downfall, we receive an image of a father who cares only for pure bloods of higher class per say. One can conclude that this man is obviously high class and stereo typically favors the older, direct bloodline son, nevertheless, we can’t take a rash conclusion so fast. Thus, we wait for the plot to develop and let us glance into the true selves of the characters further. We come to the knowledge that Lord Gloucester realizes he values his ties with the king to a great extent, him risking and losing his title as lord due to aiding King Lear. Afterwards, we see him come to appreciation of virtues of honesty and his sons after he is captured by the Duke, losing his eyes as punishment. Gloucester as a character has developed greatly, going forth through challenges and misdemeanors against his pride and being, ending disgraced and blind. Yet, he holds a calm sense to himself, valuing what he has left and becoming more than humble with others. This is a transformation worthy of Shakespeare himself, rather impressive at the very least. This man has lived through the betrayal of his bastard child and being blinded violently for helping a distressed king, he has sacrificed much with spiritual values in return. Astounding that he didn’t suicide out of pure remorse that he will never be able to witness the world again. Unfortunately, he does die of a mixture of happiness and shock when he is revealed that Edgar still breathes life, so he has that going for

To begin with, Lear and Gloucester parallel each other within the play because they are both in positions of unquestioned wealth and power. However, due to their children’s betrayal, their assurance is stripped away and the fathers are left with nothing. Through this both Lear and Gloucester have

His characteristic is comparable to King Lear, where they both see themselves as an authoritative figure. Early in the play, Edmund forged a letter in attempt to frame Edgar for assassinating Gloucester. When Gloucester saw Edmund pretend to conceal the forged letter, Gloucester uses his authority to demand Edmund to hand over the letter. This authoritative demand sets up Gloucester’s downfall due to his blind use of power. As P. V. Kreider points out in his work “the tragedy is filled with men who desire to see or who declare that they have seen or are seeing” (Kreider, 124). P. V. points out one who demands to see more or claim to have seen all is deemed to fill his or her life with tragedy. In Gloucester’s case, he uses his authority to

Language is particularly noteworthy in this scene. Shakespeare incorporates much talk of seeing, even though Gloucester does not fully see until he is blinded later in the play. Gloucester says that if Edmund's letter contains nothing important, then "I shall not need my spectacles" (I.2.35). But, obviously, even with spectacles, he cannot see that Edmund is deceiving him. After exclaiming "let's see, let's see" (I.2.42), he shows that he can neither recognise the lies in what he reads nor see that Edmund is being dishonest. In mistaking Edmund's motives, Gloucester is already visionless to the corrupt events unfolding around

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

Also at this moment, the relationship of Gloucester with his sons is slowly falling apart, as Edmund the illegitimate son begins telling lies and making rumors to make his father believe that Edgar his legitimate son is plotting to murder him to gain access to his birth right and to gain control of all the land. Gloucester in a fit of rage and betrayal believes Edmund and exiles Edgar announcing that if he ever comes back then he will be put to death on the spot. “O my follies! Then Edgar was abused. Kind Gods, forgive me that, and prosper him!” (Gloucester, 3.7.91-93) At this point of time, Gloucester has had both his eyes put out, while calling for Edmund he is told that it was Edmund that ratted him out, thus showing to him that Edmund had lied about everything and that Edgar was innocent. He begs for forgiveness since he ruined his relationship with his son who actually cared for him over a lie and was now paying the price for it.

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.