Selfish Blindness In King Lear

Another folly displayed by Lear is that of blindness. He is ignorant to the true feelings and intentions of his closest family members. When Regan and Goneril shower him with false praises and declarations of their love, he egotistically believes them and bases his division of the kingdom on their deceitful words. Eventually, however, Lear's heart is broken when their true nature is exposed. Lear repeats his mistake of blindness when he fails to realize that Regan and Goneril are plotting against him. The two sisters deviously agree to "hit together" and take full control of the kingdom (1.1.332). Had Lear "seen" better, he would have realized the true intentions of his daughters and saved himself from tremendous grief.

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.

Now that he cannot see, he has to hear everything around him which helps him realize that the cannot always be seen and things are not always as they appear.” I have no way and therefore want no eyes.I stumbled when I saw. Fulloft ‘tis seen our means secure us and our mere defects prove commodities o dear son Edgar, the food of thy abused fathers warth might I but live to see thee in my touch i’d say I had eyes” (shakespear 4.1.19-25 pg. 173) Gloucester realizes his actions are a result of the hatefulnessthat he had when he first got news that Edgar wants to kill him. Which is an example of realizing what you cannot see, through all the trouble Gloucester endures because of his actions he finally sees the truest nature of his peers.

In King Lear, Gloucester is initially reliant on his perception of reality. When Edmund, Gloucester’s illegitimate son, divulges Edgar’s alleged assassination plot, Gloucester easily believes the lie, declaring his legitimate son an “abhorred villain, unnatural [and] detested” although it is Edgar that cares for his father most (I.ii.81). By casting out Edgar and refusing to reevaluate Edmund’s character, Gloucester faces harsh consequences, including the Duke of Cornwall plucking out his eyes. In a state of utter helplessness, Gloucester pleas for Edmund to come and “quit this horrid act,” which Cornwall scorns by revealing Edmund’s betrayal (III.vii.88). Gloucester’s literal blindness allows him to realize Edmund’s true intentions and Edgar’s true devotion. Gloucester is blinded when he relies on sight, and cannot see clearly until he trusts less in appearances and relies on sound, unclouded judgement.

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

“Tis the times' plague, when madmen lead the blind” (4.1.46-47). In the tragedy King Lear, blindness is a key theme that is repeatedly mentioned and represented in many different forms. Throughout the novel, blindness is most often developed in the forms of mental and physical blindness. For King Lear and Gloucester specifically, blindness leads them to decisions that they will later regret in the play, and Gloucester’s actual blindness is a mirror image of Lear’s spiritual blindness. King Lear’s main plot and Gloucester’s sub-plot are almost identical, and by both of them being blinded for a majority of the novel, they both come to realize the truth in what is actually occurring in their families.

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.

not to use his own ‘eyes’ to look into the matter, but asks Edmond to

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.

Another motif found in both works is the matter of blindness, and when we are blind to the consequences of sin, it is much easier to jump into the unknown. In King Lear, Gloucester accepts death as a

Although it is never too late to learn, those lessons learned in old age are the most difficult and the most costly. In his play KING LEAR, Shakespeare illustrates that wisdom does not necessarily come with age. The mistakes that Lear and Gloucester make leave them vulnerable to disappointment and suffering at a time in their lives when both should be enjoying peace and contentment. Although both Lear and Gloucester achieve wisdom before they die, they pay a dear price for having lived life blindly.

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.

In books and in life older people are usually seen as wise and so this has become a stereotype. Older leaders are usually shown to be strong and always do the right thing because there wiser than their younger counterparts. This stereotype has become a little overused and so when you see a piece that goes against that norm, it becomes very interesting. In William Shakespeare’s King Lear the theme of sanity and corruption is developed through the motif of wisdom and age to illustrate the idea that older people are not always wiser than younger people. This play flips the idea of wisdom in relation to age on its head, which makes the plot all the more interesting.

Here, Lear goes mad and tells Gloucester that even a dog gets obeyed by people who have to obey him and that appearance, authority and power all lead to corruption. He compares himself to the poor when he says that only the poor without power gets into justice and that the society always obeys power even if it is not justified. Even though Lear loses his senses, Edgar still finds out that he has got a point which seems to be reasonable.