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King Lear Research Paper

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Lear and Cordelia's relationship mirrors the Christian conception of Man's relationship with Christ. Read this way, King Lear tells the story of Lear's redemption. Through Lear, Shakespeare affirms the Christian ideal of repentance as a means of salvation.
Lear’s decision to relinquish control of his kingdom to his daughters violates his role as divine sovereign and constitutes a sin against God and his kingdom. By violating this sacred role, King Lear sets in motion both his own tragedy and the chaos of the kingdom. The notion that the King stands as God’s representative on Earth dominated England during Shakespeare’s life. As an aging King, Lear’s duty lies in ensuring a peaceful and legitimate successor. The first line of the play, spoken …show more content…
While arguing about whether Lear should retain any of his knights, Goneril and Regan assert that Lear has no need for any knights because they “must be content to think you old” (II.iv.230). Goneril and Regan believe that Lear should acknowledge his time as ruler is over. They want Lear to accept that he is an old man who needs servants, not soldiers. Unfortunately, Lear still clings to his ego-enhancing identity as king. When asked why he has need of any knights he replies, “O, reason not the need! Our basest beggars/ Are in the poorest thing superfluous./ Allow not nature more than nature needs” (II.iv.259-261). Although Lear transferred power to Goneril and Regan, he still defines himself as King. His knights represent his position. For Lear to admit he no longer needs his knights, he must also acknowledge that his time as ruler has passed. Instead of embracing the fact that he is old, Lear continues in the self-delusion of his own power. He tells Goneril, “I prithee, daughter, do not make me mad/ […] Mend when thou canst; be better at thy leisure./ I can be patient, I can stay with Regan,/ I and my hundred knights” (II.iv.214; 224-226). When Lear disowned Cordelia, Regan and Goneril flattered Lear in order to get the kingdom. In so doing, they acted as enablers for Lear’s self-delusion. As a result, Lear believes he can repudiate Goneril because he still has …show more content…
Immediately following his confrontation with Goneril and Regan, the audience finds Lear outside in the middle of a violent thunderstorm. In a rage Lear yells, “Blow, winds, and crack your cheeks! Rage! Blow!/ You cataracts and hurricanes, sprout/ Till you have drenched our steeples, drowned the cocks” (III.ii.1-3). The storm reflects Lear’s internal state while simultaneously emphasizing the degree to which his world has crashed around him. Lear has gone from all-powerful King to merely an old man alone in the rain, disregarded by his daughters. Internally, Lear feels his reality shattering. His pain translates into anger. In one last desperate moment of self-delusion, Lear says, “servile ministers,/ that have with two pernicious daughters joined/ your high engeder’d battles ‘gainst a head/ so old and white as this” (III, ii, 21-24). In his hurt and rage, Lear continues to express self-pity. He sees the weather as an agent of his daughters. His statement implies that he blames his daughters, not himself, for the humbling predicament he finds himself in. However, unlike previous denials of responsibility, here Lear’s wrath gives way to recognition of other people’s suffering. Seeing the storm beat down his fool, Lear expresses sympathy for the first time. He says to the fool, “Poor fool and knave, I have one part in my heart/ that’s sorry yet for thee” (III.ii.72-73). Lear’s statement

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