Essay The Dysfunctional Family of Shakespeare's King Lear

Dividing the Kingdom is not the only indication that order is disrupted. The separation of Lear's family also provide evidence that disorder is inevitable. The banishment of Cordelia and Kent is a harsh act carried out by Lear while blinded by anger. By banishing the only daughter who truly loves him, and a loyal servant who refuses to stand around and do nothing while Lear makes a big mistake, Lear surrounds himself with people who only loved him for his money and power. As Lear's family breaks apart, one must wonder if Lear is capable of ruling a country when he cannot even keep his family together. Again, Lear's desire to fuel his ego is the cause of the separation of his family. When Cordelia refuses to speak lovingly, "Unhappy that I am. I cannot heave My heart into my mouth." (I,i,92-94), Lear becomes angered and banishes her. As an act of loyalty, Kent stands up

In order to relieve himself of the problems and work associated with holding his position so he can "unburdened crawl toward death," King Lear, of pre-Christ Britain, divides up his kingdom into three portions, one for each of his daughters (1.1.41). To decide the daughter to whom he should give the largest portion of the kingdom, King Lear holds a competition that merely serves to feed his ego. He requires each daughter to publicly

Lear's insanity increases throughout the play, demonstrated to the audience through more speeches, until his emotions overthrow his reason at the climax of the play. Lear randomly shouts in to the storm,

Lear cannot deny his ultimate role as the king. He desires to maintain his name and his rights as king, but to give control of the kingdom to his daughters and their husbands. However, this cannot work: "We know immediately that he is doomed to painful disillusionment by his assumption that his identity as king, father, and man, being fixed in the macrocosmic scheme of things, must remain unshaken without its worldly supports" (Egan 32). So, King Lear's exercising of this nonexistent power establishes his tragic flaw and the problem of the play: the power of the kingdom must reside in Lear only.

In King Lear, Lear’s conflict of power with his daughters is brought about by his own arrogance, which flaws his judgement and propels his change of heart. When Lear parcels out his kingdom to his daughters, he finds the honesty of Cordelia’s praise to be ungrateful and

   King Lear meets all the requirements of a tragedy as defined by Andrew Cecil Bradley.  Bradley states that a Shakespearean tragedy has to be the story of the hero and there is exceptional suffering and calamity slowly being worn in.  Also, the current time must be contrasted to happier times.  The play also depicts the troubled parts in the hero’s life and eventually he dies instantaneously because of the suffering and calamity.  There is the feeling of fear in the play as well, that makes men see how blind they are not knowing when fortune or something else would be on them.  The hero must be of a high status on the chain and the hero must also possess a tragic flaw that initiates the tragedy.

Lear no longer wants the burdens of being the ruler he only wants the prestige that goes along with the job. Kent realizes that Lear's" older daughters, Regan and Goneril, do not deserve to rule Britain and that he has made a mistake by giving them power at the cost of his own. Kent sees what Lear can't see. Once you hand your power over to someone your own standing suffers.

Instead, he transferred his land and power to the eldest daughters, Regan and Goneril, who did not love him. They deceived Lear into believing that they loved him by stroking his ego so that they could further their own personal agendas. Goneril and Regan represented similar characteristics, as they both exemplified cruelty, ruthlessness, and greed throughout the play. Lear´s best friend, Kent, pleaded with him to see that he had been wrong, saying, ¨And in thy best consideration check / The hideous rashness (1.1 167-168).¨ Lear was angered by his honesty and banished him as well, refusing to admit to his fault. He cast off the two characters that represented the goodness of his sole, and therefore, these virtues were unable to stay in order to fight off his vices. This allowed all of the evil aspects of his mind to consume him.

Upon abdicating his position from the kingdom, Lear begins to face what can only be known as a tragic downfall. This is evident during Lear’s stay with his eldest daughter, Goneril, after conducting a “love test” in order to divide his power amongst his daughters. However, Goneril does not enjoy his company and thus, begins to conspire against her father. She hints to Lear that he must reduce his army of hundred to fifty men. In doing so, Goneril indirectly insults Lear’s position and suggests that he does not need many knights for a kingdom that is not under his power anymore. Appalled from his daughter’s mindset, Lear begins to question his status and it becomes apparent he is battling

However, as the play progresses, his suffering that is caused by the impulsive decision to divide his kingdom is clearly seen. This suffering is illustrated through the loss of his sanity, ultimately due to the sudden loss of his power, his deteriorating relationships with his daughters, and the inability to prevent these negative outcomes. Upon realizing his mistake of solely letting Regan and Goneril inherit his kingdom, Lear is “ashamed that [his daughters have the] power to shake [his] manhood” (I.iv.299-301). His daughters, who are women and are therefore considered to be less important and powerful in his society, have taken control of Lear’s power and life, and it is embarrassing to him as he is used to receiving constant honour, pride, and glory as the King. This illustrates the start of him losing his sanity, and soon, Lear is seen pleading to the gods to “keep [him] in temper” and to “not [let him] be mad,” as he is stripped away from all that is his (I.v.43-44). As King Lear pleads for help to maintain his sanity, his sufferings are clearly illustrated as the change in his character is evident; a change from a virtuous, powerful king, to a mentally unstable, powerless, and embarrassed beggar-like character. This form of suffering is unusual because a sudden but significant loss of power is rare, especially for someone as powerful and influential as a King. All the sudden negative

“King Lear” by William Shakespeare is a chaotic play that is based on matters of madness, betrayal and just plain cruelness. Very many of the characters throughout the play have no mercy for anyone at all. However if you look past the chaos in the play you will see quite a bit of people that are good hearted and treat other characters in the way there meant to be treated. The natural human ability to feel compassionate for others is incredible and this is happening through a play that is pretty tragic and shows us that humans can still stick by their views through the bad in the world.

At the beginning of the play King Lear has more power than anyone else, the feeling of power made him think it was okay to ask his three daughters who loved him the most. When his youngest and favourite daughter Cordelia did not give him the answer he wanted by saying, “Unhappy that I am, I cannot heave / My heart into my mouth/ I love your majesty / According to my bond, no more nor less” (King Lear 1.1.91-93). he started lashing out. Lear clearly values Goneril and Regan fawning over him over Cordelia’s sincere honesty. Out of pride and anger, Lear banishes Cordelia, as well as Kent for defending her. Lear splits the kingdom in half to Goneril and Regan which leads to the deaths of many people in the play. Throughout the play he becomes increasingly shocked when people do not obey him the way they did before and the lack of respect he receives. With his loss of power Lear often responds to these problems with anger saying things like “My curses on her!” (2.4.138). about his own daughter. By the end of the play he recognizes that he takes responsibility for both his own problems and for those of others. King Lear’s actions were the first step to the plays tragic outcome.

At the very start of the play, though Lear has physical ability to see, but he is blind in the sense that he lacks understanding. Lear cannot identify people for truly what they are, as he only sees what is on the surface. The moral blindness abuses his relationship with his most beloved daughter Cordelia, and the loyal friend Kent. The first mistake he made that was affected by his blindness was the giving away of his land to his daughter. He states, “Which of you shall we sat doth love us most? That we our largest bounty may extend”. This quote shows that he wants to gives his land that loves him most. His two daughters, Goneril and Regan to state their love to him for their share of his kingdom, and

Lear's actions of distributing his kingdom to his daughters (which in a patriarchal society such as Lear's is against natural law) and his rashness of expelling Cordelia and wrongly rewarding Regan and Goneril, were a violation and misreading of true nature which, from that point on, lead to the destruction and death of Lear and his family.

     The play, “King Lear” by William Shakespeare, starts with noblemen Kent and Gloucester having a conversation and the audience finds out that Gloucester has two sons. Edgar who is his heir, and Edmund his unimportant son. This info. leads to the mini-plot. Then, Lear enters to say that he is going to end his life’s tasks and problems. He then points to the map, he tells the people there that he will split his land into three parts. They are going to be given to his three daughters. The two oldest, Goneril and Regan, tell their father that their love for him goes beyond expectations. The youngest one, Cordelia, tells him that she loves him, but only as she should love her father. He is then