Theme Of Blindness In King Lear

In the play, King Lear, vision and blindness are repeated allegories that relate to the characters, Lear and Gloucester. This exemplifies the theme of self-knowledge and consciousness that occurs in the play. These classic allegorical is inverted in King Lear, producing a situation in which those with well working eyes cannot see what is happening around them, and those without sight are able to “see” clearly. What do I mean? Well, Lear is completely “blind” to the character of his children, while Gloucester blindness is literal. Blindness is echoed through Gloucester and Lear to explain Lear's metaphorical blindness with Gloucester's literal loss of vision.

When a character in a tragedy fails to see what they really are, or who other people around them really are, tragedy, normally consisting of death results. In the play Macbeth by William Shakespeare many characters fail to see the truth that is themselves, or another person. The play reads,

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

King Lear is the character who suffers the most from blindness in the play. His three daughters are most likely the main cause of his mental blindness. In the very first act of the play we see that Lear is easily fooled by his two eldest daughters Regan and Goneril, and we also see his inability to realize Cordelia’s true love for him when she tells him the truth. His blindness causes a rift in the family, and Lear banishes Cordelia from the kingdom saying “Thou hast her, France; let her be thine, for we / Have no such daughter, nor shall

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

Due to this flaw, Lear has given way to the two older daughters to conspire against him.  Lear is finally thrown out of his daughters’ homes and left with a fool, a servant and a beggar. This is when Lear realizes the mistake that he has made and suffers the banishment of his two eldest daughters.  Lear is caught in a storm and begins to lose his sanity because he can not bear the treatment of his two daughters as well as the error he has made with Cordelia and Kent.  Lear also suffers from lack of rest when he is moving all over the place and the thing that breaks him is the death of his youngest daughter, Cordelia.  This suffering can be contrasted with other happier times like when Lear was still king and when he was not banished by his two daughters.

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.

Blindness is a motif that readers see throughout King Lear in many characters such as Lear and Gloucester since they are unable to see the truth. Although blindness in the modern world is defined as not having sight, William Shakespeare tells readers that being able to see does not mean morally and spiritually you can see. Lear’s blindness causes him not to see the treachery behind Goneril and Regan at the beginning of the play which causes him to lose his throne and go mad near the end. Also Gloucester is also blind as he does not see the lies hidden behind the truths that Edmund tells him and later when Cornwall pulls out Gloucester’s eyes, Gloucester is able to see the truths and realizes that Edgar is the legitimate son. Shakespeare shows us throughout King Lear that seeing is more than just through our eyes. The play is centered on true visions and blindness.

It is clear from the beginning of King Lear that Cordelia has an entirely good nature, she remains constant throughout the play, never wavering in her morals. The play begins with Lear deciding that he will have his daughters compete for their divisions of his kingdoms based on which of them can impress him the most with their proclamations of love. Cordelia, however, cannot express her love for her father in words, and refuses to deceive him by doing otherwise, stating that she is “sure [her] love's more richer than [her] tongue” (278-80). She realizes that by holding her tongue she is infuriating her father, but her nature cannot allow her to do otherwise. When King Lear asks her what she has to say, she states “Nothing, my lord.” This shows Cordelia’s inherent good nature by doing what is right in a tough situation. Lear’s lack of understanding of the natural bond between parents and their children leads him to his eventual demise. He is easily mislead by the other sisters, Goneril and Regan’s fake natural behavior when they give their long speeches in order to try and flatter him.

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.

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.

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

     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

In the tragedy King Lear, the term blindness has an entirely different meaning. It is not a physical flaw, but the inability of the characters to see a person for whom they truly are. They can only read what is presented to them on the surface. King Lear, Gloucester and Albany are three prime examples characters who suffered most by having this flaw.

In the beginning, the audience may feel alienated towards him because of his harsh and selfish treatment of Cordelia, his youngest daughter. But as the story unfolds, they pity and sympathize with that powerful king who has started his journey of suffering and powerlessness because of Gonoril and Regan’s masked love towards him. In “Madness and Memory”, Mazzaro says that later on the heath, Lear indicates that his madness lies in recalling his injuries done on him by Goneril and Regan (110). His sanity is questioned by Gonoril and Regan who refer to his age as a reason for his inconsistency, but they also acknowledge the fact of his lack of awareness throughout his life. Regan