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King Lear and the Earl of Gloucester

            King Lear is one of the greatest tragedy play written by William Shakespeare, which portrays the intense suffering from the blindness through Lear king of Britain and the earl of Gloucester.
             According to Dictionaries, blindness is defined as "unable to see and lacking of sight, but blindness that Shakespeare demonstrate is not only a physical inability but also a mental flaw that both characters present in the play.
             Shakespeare use parallel structure of the main plot and subplot that mirror each other like throughout the play. Begin with both two men have good children and bad children and. The rejection of Edgar by Gloucester reflects Lear's rejection of Cordelia. They both blind to the truth by reject the good children and favor the bad ones .All Shakespeare's tragedies has a tragic hero which carried a tragic flaw: For Lear is pride and Gloucester is Lust. During the climax both Lear and Gloucester was punish by their personal sins. The parallel structure continues throughout the play as Lear reconcile with Cordelier and Gloucester with Edgar.
             The blindness is the main factor that leads to the tragedy in the play because of the blindness itself that is a root for all the false decisions.
             Firstly, Lear's blindness is the main issue of all the disaster in the play because he is the blindest among all the characters. Due to his pride as a great king, he is not listening to anyone from his decision-making and he wants sweet words from people around him.
             The great mistake in the play that Lear made is when he decided to divide his Kingdom. As King he should not divided the kingdom because it is his responsible that he should rule it until the end of his life. As the traditional belief, being King is the God-appointed position; it is not something to give up.
             However in Act 1, Lear decided to divide his kingdom into three parts for each of his daughters.
             In order to share the kingdoms, he command his daughters to say how much they love him and promise to give the greatest part to that daughter.


Essays Related to King Lear and the Earl of Gloucester

1. King Lear Reduction

... (Nicolo Machiavelli 1469-1522, Italian statesman who wrote that gov should be deceitful and crafty). Wants to inherit his fathers land instead of his brother. Changes somewhat at end, guilt over the sister's death for him. Gloucester: Earl loyal to king Lear. Parallel to Lear. Gets his eyes gouged out. Blind to the truth about his sons until he is blinded. Tries to kill himself on Dover ... cliffs. Edgar: Gloucester's oldest, legitimate son. Disguises himself as "poor tom" the insane beggar. Helps avenge all wrongs ... in end. Takes on many roles. One of the last living. Albany: ... ...

  • Word Count: 1209
  • Approx Pages: 5
  • Grade Level: High School

2. Blindness - King Lear

Blindness In the classic play, King Lear the theme of blindness encompasses both literal and figurative meanings. The terms blind or blindness generally are described in the Webster's Dictionary as " wanting of sight or discernment, having no outlet, an obstruction of view or ignorance." Another understanding of blindness could also be interpreted as psychological defect or willful denial. The theme of blindness is most apparent in Shakespeare's characters King Lear, the Duke of Albany and the Earl of Gloucester. Essentially when each character ... experiences one form or another of blindness...

  • Word Count: 1388
  • Approx Pages: 6
  • Grade Level: High School

3. Edmund In King Lear

... gets married with the queen, he will become the king of England, who is the most powerful person in the country. Because of his greed, Edmund betrays his father Gloucester as well. He seizes the letter, which is written by Gloucester, begs King of France for assistance to save King Lear. He then gives the letter to Cornwall because Cornwall promises to give him a title. Cornwall "True or false, it hath made thee Earl of Gloucester. Seek out ... where thy father is, that he may be ready for our apprehension. Edmund [Aside] "If I find him comforting the king, it will stuff his suspicion m...

  • Word Count: 1116
  • Approx Pages: 4
  • Grade Level: High School

4. Is Shakespeare's Edmund a representation of a Machiavell

... desires of power through the degeneration of his father, the Earl of Gloucester. King Lear's sudden and rash decisions concerning Cordelia and Kent trouble the mind of Gloucester. Edmund realizes these concerns in his father's thoughts and Edmund capitalizes on such. Gloucester is very superstitious and, using the recent eclipses, Edmund assures his father of how the evil in the stars is not only producing the tribulations of Lear but also proving Edmund's declaration of the plot of his half-brother, Edgar, to kill the Earl. Slowly, the thought of his ... beloved son deteriorating his h...

  • Word Count: 1653
  • Approx Pages: 7
  • Has Bibliography
  • Grade Level: High School

5. Is Shakespeare's Edmund the perfect representation of a Mach

... desires of power through the degeneration of his father, the Earl of Gloucester. King Lear's sudden and rash decisions concerning Cordelia and Kent trouble the mind of Gloucester. Edmund realizes these concerns in his father's thoughts and Edmund capitalizes on such. Gloucester is very superstitious and, using the recent eclipses, Edmund assures his father of how the evil in the stars is not only producing the tribulations of Lear but also proving Edmund's declaration of the plot of his half-brother, Edgar, to kill the Earl. Slowly, the thought of his ... beloved son deteriorating his h...

  • Word Count: 1654
  • Approx Pages: 7
  • Has Bibliography
  • Grade Level: High School

6. The Power of King Lear

... been drawn up and Lear's counselors Gloucester and Kent are evidently already aware of the details when the play opens). See Samuel Taylor Coleridge, Shakespearean Criticism, ed, Thomas Middleton Raysor (London: J. M. Dent, 1960), 49-50, Bradley, Shakespearean Tragedy, 202-3, and Kenneth Muir, Shakespeare: King Lear (Harmondsworth: Penguin, 1986), 32, 55. For a further elaboration of Jaffa's analysis of Lear's plan, see David Lowenthal, "King Lear, " Interpretation 21 (1994): 393-96. 7 "Nature and Convention in King Lear," to be published ... run away. The thought that he would frame hi...

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

7. Thw Good and The Wicked in King Lear

... to get something so badly. King Lear is a conflict between the virtuous and the wicked each of which trying to survive in a mad world that smashes the weak and stands with the strong. However, in King Lear both the Good and the wicked are defeated by the end of the play leaving us stunned by the way good people may end up. Lear is the king of Britain. He is an old and nave man. He has decided ... father is really a traitor or not. He is then declared as the Earl of Gloucester. Goneril and Regan love him madly. They both desire him sexually. Both of them are willing to get rid of anything...

  • Word Count: 2724
  • Approx Pages: 11
  • Grade Level: High School

8. The Disguise in King Lear

... stress) (1.4.35). Caius' service to his king is valuable despite himself being an ordinary man and not a member of the court like banished Kent. The king himself testifies about Caius' conduct: I thank thee fellow. Thou serv'st me, and I'll love thee (1.4.90). The rustic beggar, Tom, is the companion and guide of an earl, Gloucester. A blind aristocrat puts his life in the hands of a Bedlam boy despite the protests of his old servant: Old man: Alack ... as the king and Gloucester, becomes dependent on commoners such as Caius and Tom. Beyond historical interpretation, the disguised Edgar...

  • Word Count: 3220
  • Approx Pages: 13
  • Grade Level: High School

9. King Lear: Analysis of Edgar

The story of King Lear is one of William Shakespeare's most prized and cherished works. It enfolds the tragic downfall of King Lear due to his ineffective judgment regarding his three daughters" love for him. Similarly, the Earl of Gloucester faces the same dilemma in the play. He sides with his malicious, illegitimate son, Edmund the bastard, rather than his loyal, legitimate son, Edgar. Edgar is therefore disowned and dubbed a traitor, until his loyalty and compassion is comprehended by Gloucester and Edmund ... shortly before their deaths. This essay deals with the significant role of Edga...

  • Word Count: 498
  • Approx Pages: 2
  • Grade Level: High School

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