King Lear

While growing up, we come to see that some people are missing some parts of their bodies. Worst of them all their in ability for their eyes to see. Some people are unable to see the real world and it's potential. They live their life day after day trying to make sense of things. To them, the physical world is imaginary. But when a blind person presents himself, their soul seems to be at ease. They seem to understand things better. In the story of King Lear by William Shakespeare, blindness is a key theme. To him the idea of blindness means a whole different thing. To Shakespeare, blindness is a psychological flaw some people possess. The characters of King Lear, Gloucester, and Albany are leading examples Shakespeare uses to assimilate the notion of blindness. Each of these three characters falls prey to blindness which leads to make the bad decisions they made. Unfortunately, they will come to realize and some will regret those mistakes when it's too late.

One of the blindest of them all was the character of King Lear. King Lear basically was the king of England. He had the highest position of them all. He was in a position people looked up to. He was supposed to be able to distinguish the good form the evil. But since the beginning of the story, he was the blindest of them all. He tried to find out which of his daughters loved him the most for that daughter will receive the largest part of his land. His two eldest daughters, Goneril and Regan, pretended to care about him more than their own lives. His youngest daughter, Cordelia, spoke from her heart. "My heart into my mouth. I love your majesty according to my bond, no more nor less." (Act 1, Sc 1, Ln 93) Cordelia loved King Lear as a daughter shall lover her father. Parents bring us to this world, feed us, love us, take care of us and we repay all those by obeying them, honoring them, and loving them back equally. She spoke from what she believed and did not try to make things up in order to receive her father's land. She even tried to reason with her father by trying to prove her sisters wrong. "Why have my sister husbands, if they say they love you all?" (Act1, Sc 1, Ln 99) If the sisters loved their father more the world its self, why do they have husbands. King Lear being so blinded by just wanting to hear he's loved that he was unable to see the reality of Cordelia's true love for him. As a result, he exiles Cordelia. "for we have no such daughter.... Be gone, without our grace, our love, our benison." (Act 1, Sc 1, Ln 264) Cordelia gets sent away to marry the King of France without any blessing.

One of King Lear's loyal followers and the eyes of the king, Kent understood Cordelia and her true love for her father. He grasped the meaning behind Cordelia's speech immediately. He realized that Lear was making a big mistake and tried to prevent him from committing it. "See better, Lear, and let me still remain" (Act1, Sc 1, Ln 160) Kent tries to make him understand and help him see the wrong decisions that King Lear is making by not understanding Cordelia. But King Lear's blindness caused him to vanish Kent as well. "Out of my sight!" (Act 1, Sc 1, Ln 159) was the response Lear gives Kent. Unfortunately, Lear's lack of insight renders him to go through with his decision. King Lear so full of anger and rage is unable to see how right Kent was and that his intention was just to help Lear make a precise decision which he won't regret in the future. Now with Kent and his daughter gone, Lear has become blinder than ever.

His first daughter, Goneril, treats him horribly when he visits her castle. She then plans with her sister, Regan, to not to house King Lear in any of their castle and strip him of his power. As the play unfolds, King Lear started to see the reality in a clear concise view. He begins to understand how heinous his two eldest daughters really were. His two so loving daughters threw him out the castle and left him in the stormy weather to fend for himself. "Vaunt-couriers of oak-cleaving thunderbolts, Singe my white head! And thou, all-shaking thunder." (Act 3, Sc 2, Ln 5) Lear is now starting to see things clearly and slowly regretting his earlier decisions. He is cursing and challenging the weather to do its worst against him. This will be a quicker and easier way to put all the shame he brought to an end. Towards the end, surprisingly Cordelia tries to come to Lear's rescue and save him from his misery that his two eldest daughters put him through. Regrettably Lear's blindness ended up costing Cordelia her life and consequently the life of himself.

Gloucester was