Topic > Hope and Suffering in Shakespeare's King Lear

Shakespeare's tragedy King Lear is a set of structural, thematic, and ideological dichotomies, all established in the opening scene. As a dramatic piece, this tragic work explores the decline and fall of the eponymous character, as a result of his blindness to truth and reality. This play revolves around a king who recklessly alienates his only true daughter and by the time he realizes the true nature of his other two daughters, it is too late. An important subplot involves Gloucester's two sons, one of whom intends to discredit his brother and betray his father. The deterioration of characters' mental states and depictions of brutal violence show that the world we live in is suffering, but that doesn't mean King Lear is hopeless. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an Original Essay Arrogance can lead people to make serious errors in judgment. When Lear says, “Which of you shall we say loves us best?” The rhetoric of “let's say” implies that there is competition between the sisters. It sets a tone and foreshadows future events. This quote highlights Lear's ego. Where his failure is the inability to separate public and private life due to his pride, in which he is blinded by his arrogance. Gloucester's pride is shown by the fact that he is embarrassed to have Edmund as a son. We can see this in his conversation with Kent, where he states, “I blushed so often to recognize him.” It is because of his excessive personal pride that motivates Edmund in his actions. These actions ultimately lead to Gloucester having his eyes "gouged out", losing the will to live, and learning Edgar's true identity after his death. Gloucester's blindness, as just mentioned, further supports the idea of ​​"fearful suffering" in King Lear, as despite Gloucester's words that "I am your guest, play me no foul play, friends", he is later blinded by Goneril's instruction to 'take out his eyes'. Then, when Edmund's betrayal is at stake, the subplot further amplifies the play's suffering. In Lear's mind, the madness reflects the chaos that has descended upon his kingdom .Lear gradually becomes more and more mad because of all the horrible things that continue to happen to him. Lear's madness is caused and shown through the senseless actions that affect not only himself but also others around him he is going mad, “Oh, let me not be mad, sweet heaven! Keep me calm, I would not go mad!”, he begs the gods to prevent him from going mad, He who sinks into madness, makes him do things that are not suitable for his time, Lear bellows, “Come back to her and fifty men fired? Nay, rather I abjure all the roofs, and choose to fight against the enmity of the air, to be a companion with the world and the owl,” The whole list of things he would rather do are all dangerous and foolish. But this does not mean the end of King Lear. King Lear realizes his mistakes when he is thrown out of the storm by his daughters. The storm is a physical turbulence that reflects on its internal confusion, “a mind like the weather”. Shakespeare perhaps suggests here that the madness present in Lear, “this storm in my mind”, arises from rejection, conflict and the imbalance of power within the family, effectively represented in the symbolic storm scene. He realizes that Cordelia's denial was senseless and recognizes it as a sin. In Lear's final moments, he cries, "my poor fool has been hanged." The knowledge that Cordelia and the fool, the people he hated, were the ones who were dearest and most precious to him. Despite.