Character Analysis
Lear, the King of Britain, is a powerful and important man. But he's getting near retirement age. Lear thinks he can hand over the hard work of ruling the kingdom to his children and relax. He wants to enjoy the power of still being king without any of the responsibility.

That's Lear's first mistake, separating power and responsibility. His two eldest daughters are ready to run their own lives – and their own kingdoms. They resent Lear acting as if he is still in charge. Yet the King is shocked when his daughters assert their independence from him. After all, he gave them everything they have.

Lear's second mistake is to exile the people who love him the most. He chooses to stage a "love test" among his three daughters so he can give the biggest slice of the kingdom to the one who loves him most of all. When Cordelia refuses to participate, Lear is so angry that he orders her out of the kingdom. And when his advisor, Kent, warns him that this is a terrible idea, Lear throws him out, too.

So Lear has to deal with the power struggle his retirement sparked without two of the people who could have smoothed the transition. (Kent does come back disguised as Caius, a peasant, but this means he only has a peasant's power – enough to take care of Lear, but not enough to soothe his political worries.)

Lear realizes his stupidity soon enough. His retirement starts a series of conflicts that lead the whole country to civil war. Two of Lear's own children turn against him, and Lear goes mad and wanders around in a thunderstorm, shouting at the sky. In some sense, what happens to Lear is tragic. He ends up suffering in ways that elderly people are not supposed to. Worst of all, Lear is betrayed by his own flesh and blood, which you can read more about by going to our theme discussion of "Family."

Yet Lear also experiences an incredible