King Lear Quotes

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“To plainness honor’s bound / when majesty falls to folly,” (Scene I. Act i. Lines 148, 149). This is a quote from Shakespeare’s King Lear, and it is stated by Kent when Lear had just married off his daughter, Cordelia, to the king of France. Here Kent was stating how it is his job to be blunt with the King. At this point in the scene, King Lear is upset with Cordelia because she said that she doesn’t love him as much as she should, and this leads him to get angry and doesn’t see what he should do with the situation. Kent was there to try and calm down Lear with being blunt about what he should do, but Kent ends up getting banished from the kingdom. Kent’s bluntness was being used to tell the truth, and it has gotten himself into trouble for being too outspoken. Shakespeare …show more content…

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What is ’t thou say’st?—Her voice was ever soft, Gentle and low, an excellent thing in woman.” (Act V. Scene iii. Lines 283-236).

This quote exemplifies how Lear has gone mad throughout the play by the suffering caused by Goneril and Regan, and that he was the one who caused himself to feel the pain of Cordelia’s death by trusting his two other daughters that they really loved him. Shakespeare’s use of King Lear to show the metaphor that suffering is self-inflicted, and that your greatest enemy is yourself when it comes to causing pain. As seen earlier, Shakespeare uses his metaphoric characters to show major themes and important issues in society that can be applied in any day of age. In King Lear, Shakespeare uses characters to show metaphors such as honesty is needed to know who you really are, to get what you want out of life you have to try your best, and you are your greatest enemy. These major themes are needed to live your best life. Shakespeare pushes readers to understand that everyone around you may be your friend or enemy, but the only one you can really trust your future with is