In this paper we are going to follow King Lear through his journey from being an arrogant King to finding his humanity and point to key moments that help him to gain a clear vision or open his mind’s eye as opposed to his short sightedness. This is a very important theme and throughout history alchemists, poets and writers have been focused on it. For example Rumi in his poetry mentions that if we open the mind’s eye then we see all the secrets of the world in front of us. Before diving into the details of words and imagery let’s have a look at key synopsis and events in the play related to our theme: * 1.1.130 Lear uses flattery test to divide his kingdom (shortsightedness) * 1.1.161 Overtaken by anger Lear says “out of my sight” to Cordelia his favorite daughter (anger) * 1.1.16 Lear banishes loyal Kent for his honesty (anger) * 1.4.9 Lear does not recognize Kent in disguise and employs him again (shortsightedness) * 1.4.200 Lear asks “Where are his eyes?” (confusion) * 1.4.204 “Lear’s shadow” is fool’s answer to Lear question about how he is (fool wise words) * 1.5.20-21 “To keep one’s eyes of either side’s nose, that what a man cannot smell out he may spy into” (Fool wise word) * 1.5.36-37 “If thou wert my fool, nuncle, I’d have thee beaten for being old before your time.” (Fool) * 3.2.1-13 “Blow winds and crack your cheeks! Rage, blow,
You cataracts and hurricanoes, spout
Till you have drenched our steeples, drowned the cocks!
You sulphorous and thought-executing fires,
Vaunt-couriers of oak-cleaving thunderbolts,
Singe my white head! And thou, all-shaking thunder,
Strike flat the think rotundity o’th’world!
Crack nature’s moulds, all germens spill at once
That makes ingrateful man!” (rage) * 3.2.14-24 “Rumble they bellyful! Spit fire! Spout rain!
Nor rain, wind, thunder, fire, are my daughters.
I tax not you, you elements, with unkindness:
I never gave you kingdom, called you children;
You owe me no subscription. Then let fall
Your horrible pleasure: here I stand, your slave,
A poor, infirm, weak and despised old man:
But yet I call you servile ministers,
That will with two pernicious daughters join
Your high-engendered battles gainst a head
So old and white as this. O, ho, ‘tis foul! * 3.2.56-57 “I am a man more sinned against than sinning” (still believes he is a victim) * 3.4.67-75 “ Lear: Now, all the plagues that in the pendulous air
Hang fated o’er men’s faults light on thy daughters!
Kent: He hath no daughters, sir.
Lear: Death, traitor! Nothing could have subdued nature
To such a lowness but his unkind daughters.
Is it the fashion that discarded fathers
Should have thus little mercy on their flesh?
Judicious punishment! ‘Twas this flesh begot
Those pelican daughters. “ * 3.4.144-150 “Lear: First let me talk with this philosopher.-
What is the cause of thunder?
Kent: Good my lord, take this offer: go into th’house.
Lear: I’ll talk a word with this same learned Theban.-
What is your study?
Edgar: How to prevent the fiend and to kill vermin.
Lear: Let me ask you one word in private. * 3.4.164-174 “Lear: O, cry you mercy, sir. –
Noble philosopher, your company
Edgar: Tom’s a-cold.
Gloucester In, fellow, there, into th’hovel: keep thee warm. Lear: Come let’s in all.
Kent: This way, my lord.
Lear: With him;
I will keep still with my philosopher.
Kent: Good my lord, soothe him: let him take the fellow.
Gloucester: Take him you on.
Kent: Sirrah, come on: go along with us.
Lear: Come, good Athenian.” * 4.5.154-179 “Lear: O, ho. Are you there with me? No eyes in your head, nor no money in your purse? Your eyes are in a heavy case, your purse in a light, yet you see how this world goes.
Gloucester: I see it feelingly.
Lear: What, are mad? A man may see how this world goes with no eyes. Look with thine ears: see how yond justice rails upon yond simple thief. Hark, in thine ear: change places, and handy-dandy, which is the justice, which is the thief?
Thou hast seen a farmer’s dog bark at a beggar?
Gloucester: Ay, sir.
Lear: And the creature run from the cur? There thou mightst behold the great image of authority: a dog’s obeyed in office.
Thou rascal beadle, hold they bloody hand
Why dost thou lash that whore? Strip they own back:
Thou hotly lusts to use her in that kind
For which thou whip’st her. The usurer hangs the
Cozener.
Through tattered clothes great vices do appear:
Robes and furred goewns hide all. Place sins with gold,
And the strong lance of justice hurtles breaks:
Arm it in rags, a pigmy’s straw does pierce it.
None does offend, none, I say, none: I’ll able ‘em.
Take that of me, my friend, who have the power
To seal th’accuser’s lips. Get thee glass eyes,
And like a scurvy politician seem
To see the things thou dost not. Now, now, now, now.” (Feeling)

The Lear that we see in Act I as a King is an old man with certain flaws in his character that make him blind to see beyond the face and words into the real meaning and motives. He basically has superficial and limited vision. His behavior is governed by pride and anger in Act I. Throughout scene 1.1 he is looking for flattery. When Cordelia starts to talk about how her love is according to the bond (1.1.95-103) Lear goes into rage since he doesn’t hear what he wants to hear. The result is he puts flattery above truth although he knows that Cordelia loves him the most. Even when Kent (his loyal servant) tries to show him the truth, Lear ignores it pointing to the “Bent Bow”. 1.1.145 and warns him to get out of his way. All these moments paint a picture of an old, proud, quick tempered King with a superficial vision and limited ability to see beyond the surface.
Before his transformation, Lear needs to lose everything and become nothing in order to see clearly. At this moment Lear is easily taken over by anger and became a narrow minded and arrogant man. Interestingly in scene 1.4 Lear sees Kent in disguise and cannot recognize him. This is another example of Lear ignoring fine details and having a superficial sight. After Lear got rejected by both her daughters, Goneril and Regan, he realizes how he was deceived and he descends down into madness. In Act 1.4.200, Lear in rage asks “where are his eyes?” Then inline 203 he asks “who is it that can tell me who am I” to which his fool replies in line 204, “Lear’s shadow”. From here on Lear descends further down with his fool guiding and hinting wisely at many points about life. For example in 1.5.20-21, Fool is asking Lear “Thou canst tell why one’s nose stands I’ th’ middle on’s face?” and then in line 20 tells Lear that the reason is “to keep one’s eyes of either side’s nose, that what a man cannot smell out he may spy into.” It is basically telling Lear to smell before seeing. Again in 1.5.36-37 Fool is telling Lear that he is old before he became wise. Throughout all these moments Lear is a confused, weak and scared man. In 3.2.1-13 we see Lear in full rage in famous 12 lines that reflect the state of his inner world: confusion. As we move on throughout this scene we see in 3.2.56-57 that Lear is talking about how he is a victim and still shows signs of stubbornness and pride “I am a man more sinned against than sinning”. Throughout these lines the storm could resemble the state of Lear’s inner world. We see Lear starting to lose his cloth which could be a sign of him losing old things to start new again. When Lear sees the Poor Tom (3.4.67-75) he things that the reason for Poor Tom’s situation has to be Poor Tom’s ungrateful daughters. Even when Gloucester explains that Poor Tom doesn’t have any daughters, Lear doesn’t believe that and continues his remarks about Pelican-like daughters.
After Lear gets to know Poor Tom, we see he becomes closer and closer to him and in Act 3.4.15 we see Lear wants to ask a question in private from poor Tom who he calls noble philosopher and Good Athenian (3.4.164 and 3.4.174). Asking question in private shows from Poor Tom shows Lear doesn’t feel comfortable with his past royal servants (Kent and Gloucester) anymore which is the sign of changes in Lear’s mentality. Also using label of Philosopher for Poor Tom shows Lear now disregards Tom’s lack of proper and expensive clothing and seeing beyond the surface of things. Interestingly Lear’s state of mind is not stable and he goes back and forth between the old and new Lear as can be seen in several of his speeches and remarks.
In lines 4.5.108-116, Lear’s words show that he has realized how his daughters, Goneril and Regan, have deceived him. This moment of discovery was rain, wind and thunder moment. Interestingly becoming wet puts us more in touch with our senses.
In lines 4.5.154-156 again Lear is talking to Gloucester and not understanding how Gloucester can see with no eyes to which Gloucester in 4.5.157 says that he see the world feelingly. Then Lear in lines 4.5.154-179 shows he gets that we can see how this world goes with no eyes using our senses instead. This shows he finally understands the value of feeling. It’s the moment where he is saying all the things that fool throughout his journey pointed out to (smell before you see, become wise before getting old). However Lear constantly goes back and forth and his mood and mind is not stable. Maybe above mentioned line is the first moment we hear him talking about how to see feelingly. Just a few lines before that Lear was making fun of Gloucester for not having eyes or money and still seeing the world. This is also mentioned by Edgar in lines 4.5.180-181 that sense and non-sense are mixed.
In line 5.3.295 finally Lear recognizes Kent “this is a dull sight. Are you not Kent?” but still Kent has to explain that he disguised himself as Caius.

2015-4-30
Lear’s transformation happens when he starts soul searching after becoming nothing and losing all his entitlements. As he talks to Gloucester, Lear shows the depth of his transformation by mentioning how to use ears to see the world. Lear the King in the begging of the play was looking for flattery and words to get pleased and basically he wanted the world to conform to what he though it was (with him as the center of his kingdom). Lear the man now sees the world the way it is. In order to connect to the real world he has learned to open his heart along the way to feel better, as we see when he talks about eh poor people who have not protection from the storm and subsequently removed his clothes in the storm. In that moment we see Lear the man not the king.
In the beginning of the play the only character who could point to realities and criticize Lear was the fool. A fool because of the nature of his role having no power and a comedian was apparently not perceived to be undermining Lear’s authority in Lear’s mind. We saw when Kent tried to point out the realities in scene 1, he was banished as Lear didn’t like what he heard.
In order to transform Lear had to become “nothing” (using his words) in order to find himself again. The experience of nothingness ends up becoming everything in Lear’s transformation.
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In Act 3.4 we see Lear in the heath resisting to take shelter and stays in the storm to feel the hardship of poor people who have no shelter. It’s a moment where Lear mentally comes humble and open up his heart to the world:
Lear: Thou thnk’st ‘tis much that this contentious storm Invades us to the skin so: ‘tis to thee, But where the greater malady is fixed The lesser is scarce felt. Thou’dst shun a bear, But if they flight lay toward the roaring sea
Thou’dst meet the bear i’th’mouth. When the mind’s free,
The body’s delicate: the tempest in my mind
Doth from my senses take all feeling else
Save what beats there. Filial ingratitude!
Is it not as this mouth should tear this hand
For lifting food to’t? But I will punish home.
No, I will weep no more. In such a night
To shut me out? Pour on, I will endure.
In such a night as this? O Regan, Goneril,
Your old kind father, whose frank heart gave all –
O, that way madness lies: let me shun that:
No more of that. And then 3.4.25 Lear says:
In boy. Go first. You houseless poverty
Nay, get thee in. I’ll pray, and then I’ll sleep.
Poor naked wretches, wherso’er you are,
That bid the pelting of this pitiless storm,
How should your houseless heads and unfed sides,
Your looped and windowed raggedness, defend
You
Form seasons such as these? Oh, I have ta’en
Too little care of this! Take physic, pump.
Expose thyself to feel what wretches feel,
That thou mayst shake the super flux to them
And show the heavens more just.
3.4.96
Thou wert better in a grave than to answer with
Thy uncovered body this extremity of the skies. Is a man no more than this? Consider him well. Thou ow’st
The worm no silk, the beast no hide, the sheep no wool, the
Cat no perfume. Ha? Here’s three on’s are sophisticated.
Thou are the thing itself: unaccomodated men is no more
But such a poor base, forked animal as thou art. Off, off
You lendings! Come, unbutton here.
3.4.144
First let me talk with this philosopher. –
What is the cause of thunder?
3.4.147
I’ll talk a word with this same learned Theban. –
What is your study?
3.4.149 Poor tom
How to prevent the fiend and to kill vermin.
3.4.150
Let me ask you one word in private.
3.4.163
O, cry you mercy, sir. –
Noble philosopher, your company.
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2015-5-2
One of the key sentences, though brief, that clearly shows the start of Lear’s transformation is in 1.4. After talking to Goneril and feeling not welcome and rejected Lear says:
1.4.199
“Does any here know me? This is not Lear. Does
Lear walk thus? Speak thus? Where are his eyes?
Either his notion weakens, his discerning are lethargied-Ha! Waking? ‘This not so?
Who is it that can tell me who I am?
Then in 1.4.204 the Fool replies to Lear question:
“Lear’s shadow”
This is a key moment and Lear’s words are full of revealing truths. He seems to be not himself and compares his state of walking, speaking and even sight to someone not like Lear. I think in this scene, Lear confronts the reality of Regan’s intentions (unlike her flattery in act 1.1) and in a state of denial doesn’t accept what he sees.
As the lines continue we see Lear thinking his other daughter Goneril will behave differently than Regan and show respect towards Lear. Lear is going to be disappointed again since reality and his perception of reality are quite different.