Blindness is defined as the incompetence of the eye to physically see. However, in Shakespeare's writings, blindness is not a physical condition, but rather a mental defect in someone. Those who are blinded compose atrocious decisions which they would ultimately regret thereafter. King Lear is the story of a blinded king who accorded his kingdom to his two malevolent daughters and renounced his only ardent one. In this play, Lear, Gloucester, and Albany are three prime examples for the theme of blindness. Lear, who is the deteriorating king of Britain, was one of the characters who was blinded. As a king, he had extravagant jurisdiction and prosperity because he was at a high rank in society, yet he was still unable to distinguish between good and evil. At the beginning, Lear was deceived by his older two daughters’ …show more content…
His blindness denied him the ability to see the truth in either one of his sons. When his illegitimate son, Edmund, forged a letter from his legitimate son, Edgar, conveying that Edgar wanted to kill his father, Gloucester believed it. Therefore, Gloucester pursued to to kill Edgar. His blindness prevented him from seeing the evil in Edmund and confronting Edgar with the letter. After Gloucester’s eyes were literally plucked out by Cornwall, he was thrown out of the kingdom where he met Edgar. He said, “I have no way, and therefore want no eyes. I stumbled when I saw. Full oft ’tis seen, Our means secure us and our mere defects Prove our commodities. O dear son Edgar, The food of thy abused father’s wrath, Might I but live to see thee in my touch, I’d say I had eyes again!” He is saying that when he had physical eyes he was spoiled and therefore was blinded. However without physical eyes he knows the truth. Gloucester realized that Edgar was the good son and that Edmund was evil all along. Edgar even saved his life, while Edmund took over Gloucester’s role in the