Probably, known as one of the best masterpieces of Shakespeare was “King Lear” which takes Its title from the protagonist character Lear, the king of Britain, then. Who handled novel themes and motifs related to the human nature, Shakespeare was, in a way, the first to touch of the devastating and ambitious sides of mankind with the help of his ref ormative personality? That reality can be examined by which King Lear interrogated and inquired the connectedness of his family to himself. And the story begins, at that point, revolves around the King who foolishly alienates his only truly devoted daughte r and realizes too late the true nature of his other two daughters ” Regan and Goneril”. Telling about the tragic fall of King Lear who concerned himself as a wise, the story reflects on the various themes, motifs, and symbols; justice, madness, reconcilia tion, nature, sight and blindness, appearance versus reality, compassion and reality, betrayal, the storm. In the direction of characterization of Shakespeare, our main purpose will be to expose the thematic and symbolic diversity of his masterpiece throug h the character’s interactions between themselves stated in the writing.
Justice, first of all, the most common concept in “King Lear”, is a theme each character’s struggle with. There is an emphasis on the question of whether there is a moral righte ousness in the world. Justice in the story can seemingly be served by the characters having been given a fair punishment, however, the punishment surpasses the crime for many times because of the compassion and knowledge that the characters gain which has an eternal effect on their life and ultimately makes them a better person. In this play, most characters except for Cornwall, Goneril, Regan in some way become better people by suffering. There is goodness in the world of the play but there is also madnes s and death. It is actually difficult to tell which triumphs at the end.” The Love Test” is a sort of mockery of justice and no way to judge the worth of three sisters. Lear is thus an example of the obvious madness, madman, in a way attended by the “Fool” and a fake Bedlam Beggar. The absurdity at that point becomes clearer and a parody of the “Love Test”. Through their sufferings, Lear and Gloucester realized that there is no certain equality in the kingdom. Suffering was an explicit example for the divin e justice. Certainly, the evil suffers and die in the play, but so does the pure and innocent Cordelia. Parallel to that belief, Gloucester prays to the Gods to let him die and seems to be benevolent;
” ‘You ever -gentle gods, take my breath from me: Let not my worser spirit
tempt me again To die before you pleaseth!’” ”
In his despair, Gloucester also sees the gods as malevolent:
‘As flies to wanton boys are, we to the gods. They kill us for their sport’.
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The madness of possession of the old Kin g is an another probably the central figure for a profound analysis. Lear, day by day, loses its authority and becomes weak. In that connection, he summons his three daughters and proposes to distribute the Kingdom among them . “Which of you shall we say doth love us most?” says he . That is the turning point for King Lear’s impulsiveness. He, at the beginning, was not in aware of the things that he is going to face up to. This “Love Test” was a beginning for a series of stupidities and mi stakes of King Lear’s madness that will greatly affect himself. He experiences and inner struggle to understand the actions of his three daughters and his “Fool”. He helps his master with that struggle. But madness is a fearsome foe that is not easily tame d. 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. (King Lear Act 3, scene 4, 17 –22)
As the storm carries on the health, King Lear thinks of his daughters’ insolence. Between his evil daughters, he divided his kingdom. The ingratitude manners of his daughters shocked him in his mind. He perhaps treated his daughter Cordel ia more as a king than a father. King Lear’s prediction of his madness is found in Act II, when he says , ” Oh, fool, I shall go mad!” (Act II, scene 4, p.288) . Lear’s realization of his madness causes the disappearance of Fool from the stage. This indicates readers to think that Fool has a huge function for making the old King realizing his folly and madness as well. Although he does not understand the cause, he understands the consequence. At the end of Act 1 he exclaims;
“O, let me not be mad, not mad, sweet heaven!
Keep me in temper: I would not be mad!” (I.v.34 -35)
The madness of materialistic desire for Regan and Goneril. For them, King Lear was not a father, but the source of wealth. Cordelia was presented as a truthful, honest character, but If she expressed her love as her sisters did, she could easily gain the wealth and power. She behaves sincerely. The other daughters were subject to a spec ific example for the greediness of authority. That is, in fact, a sort of conflict as situated in the majority of Shakespeare’s writings like “good vs evil”. Reconciliation, as well, was a mediary to signify the remorse of King Lear in context. Shak espeare, thus, does not allow to remain too critical of Lear. We see the king having experienced the consequences of his mindlessness and madness. Ashamed of his former unkindness, he humbles himself before his youngest daughter. He certainly accepts his p owerlessness, diminished status and now sees himself primarily as the father of Cordelia. His use of language reflects his progress. Cordelia is reclaimed lovingly as ” my Cordelia” (V.3.20). In act 5 Lear clings to his “best object”protectively. Rather than despising of Lear for banishing her, Cordelia remains devoted. Even, she brings an army to rescue him from his tormentors. Lear’s recognition of his error is a sort of enlightenment to the reconciliation with Cordelia. Because he notices and understoo d the sincerity and love of her for him. There is literal and metaphorical blindness in “King Lear”. Sight is linked to good judgment when Lear does not indulge in the manner of his daughter, Cordelia, Kent advises him to reconsider his impulsive re action and urges him to “See better”. Lear blindness here is his inability to see that It is Cordelia who is the honest and truthful daughter while the Regan and Goneril who are not to be trusted. He cannot see the difference between good and evil, he also does not behave as a king should. Of course, It is clear from Lear’s foolish decision to divide his kingdom between his daughters that he has no true understanding of what kingship requires. He is unable to see that his power derives from his position rat her than from any personal strength. When he wanders in the “storm” Lear begins to see how the things really are. He notices now Goneril and Regan solely pretend to love him in order to get a large allocation of the kingdom. The Fool makes it clear in one of his rhymes;
Fathers that wear rags
Do make their children blind;
But fathers that bear bags
Shall see their children kind.
As Shakespeare demonstrates, nothing is as it seems. There is an evident difference between reality as opposed to appearance. Appearance is an image while the reality is an actual existence. For that reason, we can never identify someone for who they truly are. For instance, Goneril and Regan, Edmund, the Fool appear to be what they are not without doubt. Goneril and Regan first appear to be as loving daughters. In reality, they are selfish daughters who deceive their father for their own benefits. They both trick Lear, when in reality It is Cordelia who loves Lear, virtuously. Lastly, we have the Fool who appears to b e a jester, foolish and dumb. He is, in fact, a wise one. He serves as Lear’s inner conscience throughout the play. His role is being a tutor to Lear. He knows all the faults of Lear and tries to offer insight into the truth. He helps Lear to find out wher e he goes wrong. He reveals the truth to Lear. “She will taste as like this as a crab does to a crab” (Act 1, Scene 5). The Fool is partially comparable to Cordelia for he is truth -teller like Cordelia, is also firmly a loyal friend to Lear. Edmund as we ll appears to all as a fine and gentleman who is loyal and brave. In reality, Edmund is trickster and cunning, opportunist. Gloucester and many others are tricked by the appearance of Edmund. Edmund wants all control of Gloucester’s money and power. Edmund fools both Edgar and Gloucester, destroying both their characters. Edmund turns them against each other, causing chaos and destruction in the natural universe.
Loyalty and betrayal in “King Lear” are firmly tied to the theme of appearance and reali ty. Those who appear the most loyal are the most disloyal, while those who appear disloyal are loyal children. In both plots involving Lear and the subplot involving Edmund, this phenomenon is observed. Deceived by the flattery of his daughters Regan and G oneril, Lear casts out his youngest daughter Cordelia and thereby betrays his youngest daughter. Gloucester proclaims ” treachery, all ruinous disorders, follow us disquietly to our graves.” This foreshadows the future betrayal that will take place between Lear and his family. Perhaps one of the main reason Shakespeare choose to portray the motif of betrayal is to show how not every betrayal must lead to a battle good vs. evil. Though Lear act irrationally, by suggesting such a test, he trusts his da ughters to tell him the truth, so that he can retire peacefully and happily ” “this our fast intent to shake all cares and business from our age, conferring them on younger strengthens, while we unburthened crawl towards death” (Act1, Scene1). The daught ers ungratefully break Lear’s trust. Lear’s foolishness is seen here as he listens to Goneril and Regan’s exaggerated flattery. It signifies the beginning of evil. But, Cordelia is unable to profess her love,
“Unhappy that I am I cannot have my heart int o my mouth, I love your majesty according to my bond, no more, no less”( Act 1, Scene 1 )
Cordelia is completely is honest in what she says, but Lear takes little attention of the truth and disowns her,
“Here I disclaim all paternal care, propinquity and property of blood”( Act 1, Scene 1 )
Cordelia does not act in a deceptive manner, yet Lear betrays her trust, just as he does to his loyal servant Kent. However, through the last lines, Lear somehow notices his mistake which culminated in the loss of his mind and entering insanity, and all these happen because of the deceptiveness of his daughters. Their greediness to gain the authority and power was the main reason to deceive their father and betray him arranging to halve the number of Lear’s knights and took all his power away. Likewise, Regan similarly adds to the Lear’s mental suffering. She shows no respect to him by locking up his servant in the stocks. Parallel to the subplot which is mainly about Edmund’s doing to deceive other characters, Edmund i s, in other words, a villain one, too. “let me if not by birth have lands by wit” (Act 1, Scene 2).
