And yet, it is difficult to see why we should regard "King Lear" as a tragedy for the King is basically a pathetic old man, vain and foolish, rash in his judgment and incapable of controlling his emotions. ... Ultimately, this kind of reading threatens to reduce King Lear to a form of melodrama, a story of the straightforward conflict of clearly identifiable and separable forces of good and evil, in which the outcome is tragic only in the sense of being disastrous for the main characters. ... Eliot: "I said the king was an incredibly foolish old man, which God knows he was; and that if he'...

• Word Count: 8939
• Approx Pages: 36
• Grade Level: High School