Preview

Loyalty and Betrayal in King Lear

Good Essays
Open Document
Open Document
459 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
Loyalty and Betrayal in King Lear
Loyalty and Betrayal in King Lear The theme of loyalty and betrayal in King Lear is quite ironic; when usually one who is cast out returns to seek revenge, in Shakespeare’s masterpiece, those who are cast out remain fiercely loyal; whereas those who are treated well are those who turn their back on their fathers. In both the plot involving Lear and the subplot involving Edmund, this phenomenon is observed. In Act One, Scene One, Shakespeare juxtaposes Gonerill and Regan’s “large speeches … and words of love” with Cordelia’s response of “Nothing.” Lear, in casting Cordelia out, fails in his filial duty and thereby betrays his youngest daughter. This is mirrored between Edgar and Gloucester, with Gloucester proclaiming death upon his son without first considering the treachery at hand from Edgar, with this action also failing in his role as a father. Gloucester proclaims “…treachery, and all ruinous disorders, follow us disquietly to our graves.” This foreshadows the future betrayal that will take place between Lear and his family. Gloucester also states that “Love cools, friendship falls off, brothers divide, son against father, and father against child”, ironically, Gloucester does not realize that the son he should be referring to is Edmund. However, Lear and Gloucester’s actions may be excused, due to senility as well as their good intentions, yet both Edmund and Lear’s daughters act completely in selfish desire. For example, in Act Two, Scene Three, Regan’s line “what need one?” strips Lear of all his former power, as well as representing the ultimate betrayal by Lear’s daughters. In the hovel, Lear realizes his mistake, commenting “Hast thou given all to thy two daughters? And art thou come to this?” In contrast to the parallels between Lear’s daughters and Edmund, Kent and Edgar represent, respectively, the loyal sides of the conflict. The contrast between the silky words of the traitors, “…love you more than words can wield,” and the plain-speaking of

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Better Essays

    In William Shakespeare’s King Lear, Gloucester and Lear both experience similar situations in which their children cause them to suffer greatly: The former suffers from blindness and the latter slips from reality into a state of madness. It is not until Act 4, scene 6 that they come to the realization of the importances in life; such as true love for and from a child. Gloucester is convinced by his illegitimate son Edmund that his legitimate son Edgar cannot be trusted, resulting in the banishment of Edgar. King Lear believes the false protestations of love his two elder daughters, Goneril and Regan sell to him; meanwhile, his youngest daughter Cordelia is the only daughter whose love for her father is real. Since she could not express her love for him in words, Lear banishes her as well (4.6.109-121). Gloucester and Lear experience despair in their lives because of the betrayal of their children, until hope appears to them in Act 4, scene 6: Gloucester and Lear realize that they have misjudged their children, and by the end of the scene, they gain knowledge of how to correct their wrongdoings. Both men have disloyal children, but they each also have one loyal child that they love deeply and are filled with grief for treating badly. Gloucester and Lear banish their loyal child and make their disloyal children their heirs. In Act 4, scene 6, Gloucester and Lear realize they are blind of the truth which has cost them greatly, and therefore experience a rebirth; Gloucester no longer has a death wish, but strives for self-discovery and Lear realizes that he is equal to all other human beings and flattery and praise are unimportant. It is not until this scene that the importance’s in life, such as become evident to Gloucester and Lear.…

    • 1154 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Better Essays

    King Lear's Dementia

    • 1443 Words
    • 6 Pages

    Cited: Shakespeare, William, and Russell A. Fraser. The Tragedy of King Lear. New York: New American Library, 1986. Print.…

    • 1443 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Good Essays

    The primary purpose of Shakespeare’s “King Lear”is the tragedy and focus of the fall of a noble character due to a tragic flaw. Shakespeare’s main purpose was perhaps to emphasize on the idea that tragedies intend to show how our very own human nature can turn out to be our worst enemy. In “King Lear,” the reader gets to see how Lear suffers from his tragic flaw, which includes of arrogance and misjudgements. Because of his tragic flaw, King Lear makes bad decisions. When he announces his plan in dividing the kingdom between his three daughters he orders them to speak up and say which daughter loves him the most. He does this not thinking about the consequences; he expects Cordelia, his favorite daughter, to speak up instead Goneril and Regan…

    • 799 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    Lesson 6

    • 1685 Words
    • 7 Pages

    a) The opening Act of King Lear evidently portrays Lear’s downward movement as it coincides with Aristotle’s structure of Greek tragedy. The play begins with Lear, a hero of noble birth and ruler of Britain, in an ordered society soon to be disrupted by a fatal flaw that is the result of his excessive pride. His journey from the ordered to the disordered world becomes apparent after he hands his land over to his two elder daughters and banishes his youngest daughter Cordelia from the kingdom. The initial situation began when Lear asks Cordelia, “What can you say to draw / A third more opulent than your sisters?” (I i 87-88), in which she answers “Nothing, my lord” (I i 89). This demonstrates Lear’s arrogance and triggers the rash decision he makes that would greatly impact the tragic events that follow. At the end of the scene, his two elder daughters immediately work to conspire against him so that he would be left with no power at all. Goneril says to Regan that they “must do something, and i’ th’ heat” (I ii 311). This foreshadows Lear’s impending downward movement and begins the reversal of his fortunes as things go from bad to worse. Lear’s recognition of the truth and the existence of his tragic circumstance becomes slightly clear to him when he wonders whether he has lost his mind and cries out “O let me not be mad, not mad, sweet heaven!” (I v 46). Act I leaves off at this stage where Lear is about to suffer tremendously before further stages of recognition, retribution, and restitution occur later in the play.…

    • 1685 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Good Essays

    Shakespeare in Lear, presents the notion that characters in great authority force suffering upon others in an effort to retain power, admiration, and status. Initially, Lear himself demonstrates this, appallingly treating Cordelia with an irrational snap judgement when he is embarrassed in court by his youngest daughters silence and lack of praise; “Here I disclaim all my parental care.” (1:1:107) This unjust sentence is highly ironic, especially for the audience, as dramatically we see transparent farce of Gonerill and Regan’s dedications of love, and the total truth of Cordelia’s. Due to the “infirmity of his age” (1:1:284) (Lear) the unjust pain Cordelia endures for his mistake is greatened, and due to this dramatic irony the audience is forever hopeful for some form of justice and resolution to come.…

    • 999 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Better Essays

    The character of King Lear possesses the fatal flaw of hubris. He is arrogant, self-absorbed, an imperious king who is unbelievably unrealistic. Especially in the division of his kingdom, his title always came first and he had little or no understanding of what it meant to be a father or to love as can be seen in Act One nothing will come of nothing. Speak again. Hence Lears suffering from Act Three onwards is a large part of his journey…

    • 1443 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Good Essays

    In King Lear, the parallels between Lear and Gloucester are made clear. Both have loyal and disloyal children, both are blind to the truth and both end up banishing their loyal children and making their disloyal children their heirs.…

    • 700 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    King Lear Essay

    • 1200 Words
    • 5 Pages

    Many characters can contribute to the events of a story in several ways. In the play, King Lear, written by William Shakespeare, several situations are presented which leads the audience to conclude that Edmund is a manipulative and deceitful character, whose actions contribute to the outcome of King Lear’s death. Edmunds plans to steal land and legitimacy by manipulating his father, Gloucester, and brother, Edgar, against each another, resulting in the need for Edgar to adopt a role as a crazed beggar. Also, Edmund betrays his father’s trust by revealing, to Cornwall, a letter that makes Gloucester accountable for treason, thus making Edmund promoted to the Earl of Gloucester. Lastly, Edmund promises his love to both Goneril and Reagan, which untimely leads them to their deaths. Through his misleading behaviour and his manipulation of other characters, Edmund has an intense influence on the outcome of many events in the play.…

    • 1200 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    Shakespeare 's tragedy King Lear can be interpreted in many ways and many responses. The imprecision’s and complication of the play has led to its many production. Interpreting the issues and ideas in King Lear is dependant upon each individual responder. Individuals may be influenced by their own personal experiences, moral and ethical standards and the situation of their time.…

    • 1751 Words
    • 8 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Good Essays

    In Shakespeare’s tragedy “King Lear”, Lear finds himself in a poor situation where he has given up everything, divided up his kingdom between his daughters, and is left with nothing. His daughters, Goneril and Regan, however, have turned against him so that he is now standing alone. Lear delivers this speech after he has been infuriated by his daughters. He is devastated by his daughters’ betrayal and swears revenge against them.…

    • 868 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Better Essays

    King Lear and Morality

    • 1688 Words
    • 7 Pages

    Cited: Mack, Maynard. “King Lear in Our Time.” The Tragedy of King Lear. Ed. Sylvan Barnet. Toronto: Signet Classic, 1998. 227. Print…

    • 1688 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    Reality and Illusion

    • 4107 Words
    • 17 Pages

    King Lear’s personal rashness and initial inability to effectively judge peoples’ character leads to his eventual decent into madness. He is flattered easily by his elder daughters Goneril and Regan but banishes Cordelia who is the only one who truly loves her father. Often in this play it is the good characters that are forced…

    • 4107 Words
    • 17 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Loyalty doesn't run in Edmund's blood. In Act 3 scene 3 Gloucester believes by telling Edmund he's been helping Lear is a good thing. The things he doesn't know is that Edmund is a "snake" and will tell Cornwall this information. The audience knows that Edmund is a "snake" but Gloucester is blind in the mind. When an opportunity is there for Edmund he grab this opportunity and betrayed his…

    • 71 Words
    • 1 Page
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    King Lear Lesson 6

    • 339 Words
    • 2 Pages

    The opening act of King Lear effectively demonstrates the intial situation and downward movement of Aristotle's structure of tragedy. When King Lear the tragic hero announces: "Know that we have divided... From our age" (I i 39-41) this is where the initial situation in the play begins and is the main flaw that will bring Lear to the bottom of the wheel. This is the Reversal (the fall in the hero's fortune), the first stage of tragedy. King Lear decides to divide his kingdom into three, a piece for each of his three daughters. He asks his daughters which of them love him the most, this will determine the size of the fortune each will get. Goneril and Regan the king's eldest daughters, knowing what makes their father happy, give flattering speeches which are full of insincerity just to get as much as possible of their father's kingdom. The last and youngest daughter yet Lear's favourite, Cordelia, does not know how to lie and flatter her father with dishonesty and falsehood like her sisters did. Therefore she says "Nothing, my lord" (I i 89) which brings her father into frustration. He says "Nothing will come out of nothing. Speak again" (I i 92), he means that saying nothing will not bring you fortune. King Lear's demand that his daughters express the amount of love they have for him shows us the insecurity and fear of an old man who needs to be reassured of his own importance. Both his ignorance and excessive pride blind him from seeing that in fact Cordelia is the only daughter which feels real live for him. The Earl of Kent whom advises the king disagrees with Lear and earns him that he has mistaken the unloyal with the loyal, "Thy youngest daughter does not... Reverb no hollowness" (I i 154-156). The ignorance and pride of King Lear has caused his own downfall and loss of…

    • 339 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    King Lear Betrayal

    • 1644 Words
    • 7 Pages

    The question that arises when two separate sets of father and child relationships go through acts of betrayal is; which is more sinister and heartless? There are many contributing factors and different aspects to consider when it comes to answering such a question such as who is involved, what specific acts were committed and other elements of that nature. In the play “King Lear” by Shakespeare, there are many striking similarities between the betrayal of Gloucester by Edmund and the betrayal of King Lear by Goneril and Regan, yet one in particular stands out as being much more sinister and heartless. Edmund’s betrayal of his father, Gloucester is more sinister compared to Goneril and Regan’s betrayal of their father, King Lear due to their degrees of ungratefulness, acts of deception and intentions.…

    • 1644 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Good Essays