The Famous Play ‘King Lear’ by Shakespeare

We are going to analyse the famous play ‘King Lear’ by Shakespeare. This tragedy was written by the English author in 1605 but it was played the next year and the play address an act of betrayal of the daughters of the King Lear. The blind trust of a father that provides them all that he has but even so his own daughters prefer possessing all the power. The play starts with the decline of the energy of King Lear, so he relieves his kingdom to his daughters, but there was a condition they should accept – they have to tell his father how much they actually love him.

Goneril and Regan gave him pleasant comments but, Cordelia had no words to describe the love to his father. Here we have the first betrayal of one daughter – she acts in a disrespectful way to him, so King Lear became enraged and disowns Cordelia. In spite of that, the King of France still wants to marry Cordelia, even without her land so, she moves to France with him.

Goneril and Cordelia immediately commence to undermine his father’s authority. At this point, Kent, a friend of the King, and the Fool attempt to convince King Lear that his own daughters are trying to get rid of him. The King is perplexed about the situation that his appreciated daughters are creating. Here we can determinate the first stage of King’s madness – he is unable to comprehend this situation; how can his own daughters react towards him in that way? What has he done bad? That disconcerting circumstances driven him into a state of anger and madness. In a sudden impulse, the King escapes from Goneril and Regan and starts running through the wasteland while a thunderstorm was happening. Here we can observe how the madness of the King was increasing – he starts behaving unwittingly. King Lear escape accompanied with his Fool and Kent.

Meanwhile, Edmund, the bastard son of the nobleman Gloucester, is cheating him because he wants the lands and fortune of his father but, Edgar is the legitimate son of Gloucester, so he is the first heir. Edmund impersonates Edgar writing down in a letter saying that he wants to murder his father, who discovers that and decides to kill his son Edgar. Edmund feels regretful for what he has done so, he warns Edgar about the situation and he escapes from his father. Edgar disguise himself as a mad indigent and, as de King Lear, he run into the woods. In other respects, Gloucester is concern about the treachery of King Lear’s daughters and he attempts to help him but, Regan and his husband, Cornwall, discover his intentions and penalise him by ripping out his eyes and they let him wander through the heath. Ironically, he ends up being guided by his son Edgar, the one who he attempted to kill. Both leave towards Dover, where Lear went too.

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