The Universal Truths of King Lear Essay examples -- King Lear essays

The Universal Truths of King Lear Edgar O, matter and impertinency mixed, crusade in madness (4.6.192-93) Reason in madness, truth in suffering, and espy in blindness all contain the same basic meaning. In order to find and recognize our real selves and the truth, we must suffer. These various themes be continually illustrated without Shakespe atomic number 18s King Lear. Their effects are not exclusively felt by Lear and Gloucester. All sincerely good characters in the exercise must, in some way, suffer before they can earnings erudition and truth. Some characters are made to suffer more, some less. The truths and wisdom gained are what give the drama its substance. These truths are universal. The good characters represent everyone with their as they gain knowledge from suffering. Lear, is the character most obviously made to suffer. In the commencement exercise of the drama, Lear is unable to see the good in his daughter Cordelia. He is so egotistical that w hen Cordelia explains her cope for him is that of a daughter for her father, he becomes enraged. He desires to find she loves him more than she could love anyone, ever. Cordelia Good my lord, You have begot me, bred me, loved me. I authorise those duties back as are right fit Obey you, love you, and most honor you........ That lord whose hand must take my occupy shall carry Half my love with him, half my care and duty. Sure I shall never marry like my sisters, To love my father all. (1.1.105-15) Cordelias plight is only(prenominal) one of the many truths Lear is unable to see. Since he is king, h... ...so must the characters go through some type of suffering to appreciate the goodness, truth, and wisdom. Works Cited and Consulted Bradley, A.C. King Lear. 20Lh nose candy Interpretations of King Lear. Ed. Jane Adelman. New Jersev Prentice-Hall, 1978. Colie, Rosalie. Some Faces of King Lear. Ed. R. Colie & F.T. Flahiff. UniversitV of Toronto Press, 1994. Curr y, Walter. Shakespeare s Philosophical Patterns. capital of the United Kingdom Mass Peter Smith, 1968. Hunter, Robert G. Criticism on Shakespeare s Tragedies.. University of Georgia Press, 1996. Matthews, Richard. Edmunds redemption in King Lear. Shakespeare Quarterly. Winter, 19q5. pps. 25-29. Shakespeare, William. King Lear. Harcourt Brace Jovanovich Canada Inc. Toronto. 1990. Snyder, Susan. King Lear and the Prodigal Son. Shakespeare Quarterly. surrender 1966. pps. 361-369.