Loyalty In Shakespeare's King Lear

In King Lear by William Shakespeare, betrayal plays an important role throughout this story. The foreshadow to heartbreaks and other awful leading events begin with one of the many motifs/themes to this story, betrayal.

Shakespeare's good characters, in the play King Lear, are considered good because they are loyal even when they are disguised from or unrecognizable by those to whom they owe loyalty. In addition, their loyalty does not waver even when they are banished or mistreated by those to whom they are loyal. Cordelia, Edgar and Kent are all characters that exemplify this goodness and unwavering loyalty.

In the 17th Century, when Macbeth was written , loyalty was highly regarded and had great value. The gunpowder plot in 1605, against King James I, shocked everybody . Treason against your own country was regarded as one of the worst crimes a person can commit and this is why Guy Fawkes was hung, drawn and quartered. In the play “Macbeth”, Shakespeare makes the themes of loyalty and family very clear to the audience in the first few scenes in the play. There are many examples of characters that were loyal and trusted, but that turned their back on the people that trusted them. With this becoming the case, it becomes very hard for people to put faith in others as in an instant they could turn their back and try and act on what they truly believe in.

Often with death, there are those who place blame. Authors often write with tragedy, love, or death. William Shakespeare wrote a lot of poems and plays. The tragedy of Romeo and Juliet is about two families that are in a feud but there are also two people from the opposite families that are in love. The two families are the Capulets and the Montagues. In his play, Shakespeare uses the themes of nobility and loyalty to create a great romantic tragedy.

Despite the malevolence of deception, Shakespeare reveals how at times it can be used for the benefit of man. The loyalty of Lear’s servant Kent is shown when he adopts the disguise of Cauis to aid Lear. Having been banished for contradicting Lear’s beliefs, in the hope of helping him by being honest, Kent says “Now banished Kent, if thou canst serve where thou dost stand condemned.” The juxtaposition employed by Shakespeare of the words “serve” and condemned” is potent, highlighting Kent’s integrity. He deceives Lear, solely to help him. This is an excellently crafted example of how deception can be used for

Although differing in choices of medium and separated by over 200 years, the values of the two texts are transcendent of time and are shaped completely by their context. Whilst this, understanding the characters illustrated in both King Lear and Ran, provides us with a moment of reflection into our own society, evoking the importance of family, filial virtue, the monarchy, and a great chain of being.

Romeo and Juliet is a very well written play, made by William Shakespeare. The play tells a love story between the two main characters, Romeo, and Juliet. This love story ends in many tragedies. With the death of family members and a friend, the biggest mishap in the story is the suicide of the main characters. Many of the unfortunate events are caused by the overall families, the Montagues, and the Capulets.

“Loyalty is about people who stay true to you behind your back”, was a quote about friendship uttered by an anonymous person who clearly knew a lot and which William Shakespeare might have taken a little too seriously in his plays. In his comedic tragedy, “Romeo and Juliet” Shakespeare tells the story of two young lovers from feuding families and the strong link of loyalty and love between friends who are willing to do anything for each other. Only a few days pass from Romeo and Juliet's meeting before they get married secretly. Then, Romeo is banished to Mantua after all the other unfortunate, untimely deaths. And as the story comes to an end Romeo and Juliet end up killing themselves because they don’t want to live without the other.

   The Earl of Kent plays a small but important part in Shakespeare's play King Lear. From the beginning scenes to the end we see a minor character that is used to show the values that Shakespeare believed in. Whether Kent is an example of the dutiful servant or plays the intermediary between Lear and Cordelia he is essential to the functioning of the plot.

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:

Using detailed supporting evidence, discuss the significance in the play of ONE of the following.

The most important thing was obedience, also a fundamental duty of women. Paternal authority was unquestioned, children were to honour and respect their parents especially their father who represented the ruling figure and symbolized God's authority. They expected to give love and care for their parents for they were creators and deserved

Loyalty is being faithful to commitments and obligations. On the other hand there are many ways to display loyalty. One can be loyal to a person, political party, country, religion, or cause. The list is seemingly endless. William Shakespeare’s play King Lear exhibits many forms of loyalty, but one that shines particularly is loyalty to ones selfish needs. However there is a limit to loyalty which most over look. The characters Cordelia, the emotional King Lear, and the vile Edmund all manifest their loyalty to their own self, and all meet their demise. The limit to loyalty is death.

The first words Kent spoke in this play were “Good my liege-” (pg 15). The first time Kent is seen in the play he is trying to convince Lear to rethink his decision about banishing Cordelia. Lear takes this as a challenge and of course banishes Kent as well. Kent then chooses to come back and work for Lear in disguise. This was the first glimpse of Kent’s character,

Shakespeare’s King Lear fabricated a world of its own, in which distinct virtues and vices were personified by individuals with diverse points of view. With each conflict in the play, the characters’ actions and decisions were parallel to the integrity of their heart and mind, exhibiting the virtue or vice they represented. With this strategy, Shakespeare shares that with trust should come discretion.