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King Lear's Mistakes Essay

419 Words2 Pages

Throughout the play, King Lear’s demeanor and view of the world altered dramatically. He became increasingly aware of the equality of all human beings before nature, and his initial enormous ego diminished in size immensely. Yet, despite these changes, King Lear’s early mistakes caused him to suffer progressively within the story. This tragic mistake is found when King Lear required his daughters to give declarations of their love for him in order to receive the land and power he was offering them. His eldest daughters flattered him with exaggerated, untrue statements of their love, while Cordelia spoke to him with true loyalty and devotion to their father-daughter bond. However, in response to Cordelia, King Lear angrily exclaimed “With my …show more content…

He disregarded the fact that nature itself inherently endorses the natural relationships formed between family members, and anything that defies these sort of bonds is actually an instance of betrayal of nature’s divine perspective. Since King Lear played such a crucial role in the disassociation of his family in the eyes of nature, he was obviously going to receive a punishment for his participation. One of the ways in which King Lear payed for this mistake can be seen when his mind became deranged, which is most discernible by the audience when King Lear is out in the storm. For instance, while being pummeled by the storm, Lear exclaimed “This tempest in my mind / Doth from my senses take all feeling else / Save what beats there. Filial ingratitude! (III iv 15-17).” Basically, King Lear’s suffering due to his mistake came from gradually losing his mind. The storm, which represents nature and its anger towards Lear, continuously reminded him of the tragic error he made, and the repercussions that have occurred because of it, like the ungratefulness that his eldest daughters now exhibit towards

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