King Lear is great, and right now it is easy for me to analyze how Shakespeare crafts complex themes out of poetry and prose, and I find enjoyment in that. But it doesn’t tear at me quite yet.
Watching Ian McKellen perform Lear’s “Reason not the need” speech, you see an ailing shell of a person, one who is losing everything yet can do nothing to control it. Most of us are lucky enough for this not to hit home — yet, we will inevitably live to watch our parents wither into senescence, fading away from the people they used to be, and it is right then that this play will make us feel something. And the lucky of us will live to experience this firsthand. King Lear is a play that will age better than we do.
Date: February 3, 2025
Throughout the earlier parts of the play, Lear is characterized by an almost complete lack of empathy or feeling for anyone but himself. Only in his madness is he truly able to understand anyone other than himself. This first comes in Scene 4 of Act 3, when Lear Laments that he has not felt what wretches fell and must “shake the superflux to them.” Slowly, his awareness grows with his madness and he achieves a deeper understanding of those around him.
The purest expression of love for another that Lear ever shows for another comes at the beginning of Act 5, Scene 3. As him and Cordelia are being taken to prison, Lear has a vision of what could be, where he and Cordelia will stay in prison and “sing like birds i’ th’ cage.” He imagines them slowly fading away together and sharing meaningless stories, gossiping about goings on. He shows that no matter the circumstances, he will always care for Cordelia. He no longer cares for the loneliness of absolute power, instead desiring only to be together with the one that he cares most about.
Seeing Cordelia as an equal requires that Lear also completely rebukes the power structure around him. He does not do this by calling them evil and heartless, as he has his other daughters, but instead realizes the terrible futility of the system that surrounds him. As he says, “And we’ll wear out / In a walled prison, pacts and sects of great ones / That ebb and flow by th’ moon.” He knows that in his time as a great one, he eventually ebbed, and that this will be the fate of all those that come after him. As birds in the cage, he and Cordelia could escape everything and live as they were, even if the entire kingdom collapsed around them. Edgar may try in vain to rebuild the kingdom, but Kent also knows the futility of trying to maintain rule. One day, his power will also corrupt, and will give way to other great ones just as Lear did. Somehow going into the prison as Lear tried to is the only way to escape this cycle.
In Shakespeare’s King Lear, the theme of women in power is explored through the characters of Goneril, Regan, and Cordelia. While the play mainly focuses on Lear’s tragic downfall, it also shows how women navigate a world where they are often expected to be submissive, yet still wield significant influence.
Goneril and Regan, Lear’s older daughters, highlight the darker side of female ambition. Both women manipulate and betray their father to gain control over parts of his kingdom. They start by giving him false flattery, pretending to love him the most, just to secure their inheritance. In contrast, Cordelia, the youngest daughter, refuses to play along with her father’s demands for flattery, which leads to her disinheritance. Goneril and Regan’s use of charm and deceit shows how power can be gained through manipulation, but it also reveals how their ambition ultimately makes them ruthless and cruel.
Cordelia, on the other hand, represents a different kind of power. While her refusal to flatter Lear initially seems like a weakness, it actually shows her strength and integrity. Cordelia’s loyalty to Lear, despite his rejection, proves that women can also hold power through honesty and virtue. Even though she doesn’t seek power in the same way as her sisters, her moral authority stands out by the end of the play.
In King Lear, Shakespeare uses the characters of Goneril, Regan, and Cordelia to show that women can hold power, whether through manipulation or moral strength. The play challenges the traditional ideas of women’s roles in a male-dominated society, suggesting that their influence is just as crucial to the story’s outcome.
Before reading King Lear, I’ve read many stories influenced upon a battle for the succession of the throne, or power. However, they rarely, if ever, disclose their inspirations or influences about the story.
Of course, succession stories have been around since the dawn of time, notably, the Hundred Years’ War, but “Succession” is something different. Both stories are focused around a power struggle between a patriarch and his children, and the lengths they will go to fight for his role.
Logan Roy, the family patriarch, is King Lear, an aging old man who is set to step down soon because of his cognitive decline. Logan, like Lear, feels betrayed by the savage nature of his children over the throne, and remains in power to spite them and as an act of dominance, all the while contributing to his poor health.
The showrunners have claimed the show to be based on real families, but I could not find a source on whether it was directly influenced by King Lear or not. Do you think it could be influenced, consciously or not, or do you think it’s a coincidence at best?
Among King Lear ‘s many themes, the concept of service stands out as a lens through which we examine the characters and their moral choices. Service in King Lear is not just about duty or obedience; it is a reflection of integrity, love, and humanity in a world filled with betrayal and chaos.
At the heart of the play is the relationship between Lear and his servants, particularly the faithful Kent and the Fool. Kent’s unwavering loyalty, even after being banished for speaking the truth exemplifies true service. He disguises himself to continue serving Lear, demonstrating that genuine service transcends personal pride. Similarly, the Fool, though often dismissed as a mere jester, serves Lear by offering wisdom and harsh truths, acting as a moral compass and voice of reason.
Contrasting these figures are characters like Oswald, Goneril’s steward, who represents servility rather than true service. Oswald’s blind obedience to Goneril’s commands highlights the dangers of serving without moral integrity. His actions show the distinction between those who serve out of love and duty and those who serve for personal gain or fear.
The theme of service also extends to the subplot involving Gloucester and his sons. Edgar, disguised as Poor Tom, serves his father selflessly, guiding and protecting him despite Gloucester’s earlier actions. In contrast, Edmund’s betrayal of his father and brother reveals the consequences of serving only oneself.
Ultimately, King Lear suggests that true service is an act of love. It is not about power or status but about compassion and loyalty, even in the face of suffering. Through the characters who embody genuine service, Shakespeare shows us the enduring value of selflessness and humanity.
King Lear, written by William Shakespeare, has several reoccurring themes that all connect with each other to give a modern-day reader a coherent story of the “norms” or stereotypes about women’s role in a power structure that are still very present today. Much of the story is about Goneril and Regan, two of King Lear’s 3 daughters, betraying their father in an attempt to seize the power of his status and the land of his kingdom. Of course this results in reoccurring themes of emasculation and failure within the King, unnatural order with the women in power, and madness brewing within the kingdom under the rule of Goneril and Regan.
I think Shakespeare intentionally created Lear and wrote him to be a father of three daughters to make it seem more conniving and villainous that they eventually take Lear’s power and banish him from the kingdom. There are often two roles that, especially in older works of literature or film, women are type-cast into. You have innocent and honest princesses or the evil, wicked witch that is the villain to route against. Here we see that Goneril and Regan are the wicked, selfish, and plotting villains that are only seeking power for their personal benefit while Cordelia is brutally honest and eventually is appreciated after she comes back from her banishment. Lear constantly is in his own head about his loss of power and his descent into madness is only made worse by the fact that he lost his power and was manipulated by his daughters. Not only is the whole ‘family is all you’ve got’ unspoken motto betrayed here, but Lear feels emasculated because they are now women in power. Of course this is very on the nose for politics in America and just now as the election season has just wrapped up, with lots of far-right Americans questioning former V.P.’s ability to be a successful president, just based on her gender. It does not help the situation that as soon as the kingdom is in the hands of these two women, it goes into shambles and war immediately unfolds. This further reinforces misogynistic viewpoints that women are not “natural born” leaders and only reinforces negative stereotypes about women. The sister’s very being or importance to their father is only through their own obedience to him, giving them no autonomy or authority right from the beginning of the play.
It is extremely hard for anyone to get both sides of the political spectrum on their side nowadays, especially women, that are seen as either too cutthroat or not cutthroat enough. As we continue to try and get closer and closer to equality we should use King Lear as an example of negative rhetoric regarding women that only reinforces misogynistic stereotypes about women in power.
In Shakespeare’s King Lear, many themes are prevalent throughout the play. However, one them stands out as the most important, the theme of natural order, and the consequences of challenging this order.
The play itself is set up by Cordelia challenging this order. For millenniums, humans have followed a traditional hierarchy, being leader, servants, and those who follow rule under the leader but does not directly serve themes (e.g. civilians), and throughout these millenniums humans have challenged this order. However, none have seen such a effect through this challenge as seen in King Lear. By Cordelia not following in her sister’s footsteps and flattering her father to gain land and power, but rather being honest, she challenges the order, and she is banished. This action begins an entire domino effect of the same theme.
Regan and Goneril especially reflect this theme as well, not just through their betrayal of the King, but their hunger and chase for power. They reject the “natural order” in the time of women’s identity being that of their husbands. They flip this stereotype on its head by not only rejecting it, but being so aggressive in it as well.
Through all this betrayal and seemingly takeover of the unnatural, eventually the good of natural order does prevail. Although Cordelia passes, those left standing are ones who have been wronged, being Kent, Edgar, and Albany. Kent had been banished for a similar reason as Cordelia, and is now one of the few survivors. Edgar rightfully receives his justice, and no character is left without some sort of closure.
William Shakespeare’s King Lear is so much more than a political battle and family betrayal. It is a literal massacre of psychological warfare. Shakespeare’s characters go through insane manipulation, gaslighting, deception, and emotional cruelty. The play shows how much humans would do for a position of power.. these characters exploit psychological weaknesses and the consequences of mental and emotional manipulation.
King Lear is a play written on dece[tion and psychological tournament,
From the literal beginning, they start to manipulate each other, their own blood. Goneril and Regan’s manipulation using fake love and deception to manipulate lear to try to get power is where this all begins . Goneril and Regan psychologically disarm him, their usage of words erodes his perception of reality and so easily force Lear to give up his position of power.
Going into the middle of the play the sweetheart (Edmund.) of the novel also becomes a product of manipulation. He uses his deception to betray the girls as well as his father Gloucester and his own brother. He uses the girl’s desires for him to create more mess, he uses their love once again like at the beginning of the novel to destroy each other to win in his favor. Goneril kills her husband and then kills herself… this just further proves that everyone in King Lear was in desperate need of therapy.
King Lear deserves to be in a psych ward, it was all a play about psychological battles of the mind. One’s mind is truly what controls everything.
In King Lear, suffering plays a huge factor in shaping the characters. For example, Lear is in immense suffering after he had been abandoned in the storm, and left by his daughters. Another example of immense suffering includes Gloucester getting blinded after getting his eyes gouged out. But, these experiences played key roles in shaping their personal growth throughout the play.
After Lear had been left in the storm, he started to understand the struggles of those without power and the homeless. Which was completely unlike his past self who had been portrayed as self-centered and unempathetic. But Lear’s suffering had opened his eyes to feel more empathetic for those around him. Another example includes Gloucester after he had been blinded, which is when he started to regret his past actions. He mentions, “I stumbled when I saw” which shows that he recognized that his sight had caused him to make his poor decisions, but when losing something that he took for granted, he gained a deeper understanding of himself.
Overall this reveals that suffering isn’t just the theme, but it is a necessity in personal growth, Lear being a clear example of going from self-centered to thoughtful. Suffering allows people to rethink their values, change, and reflect; therefore without suffering, there is no real growth.
Cordelia is the heart of King Lear. She represents love, honesty, and loyalty in a world full of betrayal. Cordelia refuses to praise her father just to gain power. This act showed that real love isn’t about saying the right thing to her father, but it’s about staying true even when it costs you everything. Even after Lear banishes her, she never stops caring about him. When Cordelia returned, it wasn’t for revenge but to save him. Her love is selfless, the kind that doesn’t ask for anything in return, making her one of the play’s only truly good characters. Unfortunately the world of King Lear is cruel, and Cordelia’s kindness isn’t enough to protect her from her tragic ending. Her death is heartbreaking, not just because she’s innocent, but because she represents everything Lear failed to see until it was too late. Throughout the play, Cordelia did her best to protect and comfort her dear father. In the end, Lear’s grief over losing her is the most human moment in the play. He finally understands that love isn’t about power or words, but about actions. Cordelia was an example of true love and strength. Unlike her sisters, Cordelia truly cared for her father and although her life was short lived, her presence in the play was carried on by her pure and kindhearted soul.
Throughout Shakespeare’s King Lear, the play is marked several times with moments where characters are subject to extreme and cruel suffering either as a result of their own actions or the actions of others. Whether it is Lear’s daughters throwing him out on his own in the storm or Gloucester’s eyes getting gouged out, there are endless examples of individuals being pushed to their limits whether that be physically or mentally.
While all of this pain and suffering is at the front and center of every scene, what underscores it is the growth each character is forced to have as a result of the suffering they endure. Only after King Lear is thrown into the storm where others like him have nowhere to go he begins to empathize with those who have nowhere to stay and are not gifted with extreme amounts of power like he once was. Similarly, it is only after Gloucester is blinded that he begins to regret having eyesight at all. He acknowledges that “I stumbled when I saw” indicating that his sight really only was a burden to him in the first place. After his blinding is the first time in the entire play that he begins to regret throwing out Edgar and begs to see him just once more.
This is irrefutable evidence that suffering is not only present but essential to all human life. Without suffering, there can be no inner growth or reflection to the degree that truly changes the way that one thinks. People are often preset with certain beliefs and values based on how they are raised or what they have learned from those close to them, and they will stick to those beliefs and values unless they are forced to change them. Much like Lear at the beginning of the play versus the end, a child who only experiences peace and a child who only experiences war will wish for different things.
In King Lear by Shakespeare, one of the main topics is family. We see a rivalry between Edmund and Edgar; Cordelia, Regan, and Goneril; and later, just Regan and Goneril. However, is it their fault or their fathers?
Edmund originally chooses to betray his brother because he wants to be the heir of the Gloucester name. However, could this have all been avoided had Gloucester treated his sons equally? We see at the very beginning of the play that Gloucester makes jokes about the circumstances that Edmund was born from. He would not have said this about Edmund’s mother, his wife, showing how different his treatment of his two sons is. I understand that at the time, Edmund legally was not able to inherit any titles or land and that it was not just Gloucester who called him a bastard. However, Gloucester still could have treated Edmund better and more like a legitimate son even though he legally was not. If he had, Edmund may not have had a raging jealousy and bad intentions towards Edgar and his father.
The next sibling rivalry is between Cordelia, Regan, and Goneril. At the beginning of the play, King Lear makes his daughters profess their love for him in order to inherit part of the kingdom. By doing this, he is inherently making his daughters compete for power and his love. Cordelia chooses not to compete in this way against her sisters but they do not feel the same; Regan even says that Goneril fell short during her profession of love. While they probably were already cunning on their own, this competition that was forced by Lear definitely created more distrust, tension, and betrayal between the sisters.
The final sibling rivalry we see is between Goneril and Regan as they fight over Edmund. While this may seem to be entirely caused by the two of them, I believe their father still had an effect. They had already been taught by their father in the beginning to do whatever they could to get power, and they see Edmund as the way to maintain their power. However, they would probably compete over Edmund either way because they were both attracted to him.
In the end, even though Gloucester and Lear both had parts in the harmful rivalries that ended with their children (except Edgar) dying, a change in the behavior may not have stopped them.
At the beginning of King Lear, we are introduced to the bastard son of Gloucester, Edmund. He seems like a nice guy, but as the story progresses we learn he is anything but that. He is a conniving, ruthless, and disloyal. If we just looked at Edmund’s actions, we would brand him a villain and want him to fail, but the context that is provided in the opening scene gives us Edmund’s reasoning for trying to bring about the downfall of his family for power.
In the opening scene of the play, we are introduced to Gloucester and Edmund. It is in this scene when Gloucester pokes fun at Edmund for being an illegitimate/bastard son. With some knowledge of the time period and line analysis, we learn later that this means that Edmund is shunned by society and cannot inherit any land from his father. This simple fact is his reasoning for doing all of the bad things he does throughout the play: getting Gloucester’s eyes gouged out, betraying his brother, plotting to kill Albany, etc. Edmund’s actions pose the question of whether he was justified or not.
In my opinion, Edmund’s actions were not justified at all. They seem like an extreme overreaction. I understand his desire for power and to improve his status, but he went way too far. He was already royal adjacent and seemed to be living a pretty good life. If Edmund was completely ignored by his father and bullied by the rest of the royals, I could understand his decisions and would even be rooting for him. He just seems like a greedy kid who threw a temper tantrum because he didn’t not get what he wanted.
The 400 year old play King Lear might seem outdated in its mid-evil setting, however, Shakespeare’s portrayal of gender roles is still prevalent in society today, especially in American politics. Throughout the play, Goneril, Regan, and Cordelia—are forced into roles that define them based on their obedience rather than their abilities. Cordelia is punished for being the only daughter that doesn’t obey her father’s wishes and sticking to her moral beliefs, illustrating how women are dismissed when they challenge authority or unjust systems of power. Goneril and Regan, who comply with the King and then choose to take power in their own hands are seen as cruel villains because they take action in order to accomplish their goal of power and refuse to be submissive to their male counterparts. This is still seen today in modern politics and rhetoric towards powerful women who face criticism for being “bitchy” or “too ambitious”. The way the play demonizes women who take charge to get what they want relates to the hardships women in roles of power face today. Furthermore, Lear’s ultimate downfall comes from his refusal to see past these rigid structures and not having an open mind. Shakespeare’s message about power and gender still resonating centuries later as we still deal with these issues.
In Shakepeare’s King Lear, there are many servants seen throughout the famous play. However, the two that are focused on the most are Oswald and Kent. Oswald is the loyal servant to Goneril, the oldest of Lear’s Daughters. He does exactly what she says, yet he is still overshadowed by Kent in the play.
Kent is the servant of Lear. While he follows Lear’s orders, he also keeps him in check. Looking at these two characters made me wonder, what makes a good servant? I feel that the answer to the question is combination of someone who both follows orders and cares for the person they serve.
It is clear by Kent’s actions in the play that he is in fact a good servant, but what about Oswald. Yes, he does whatever Goneril requests, but he is never seen actually caring for her. Being that he is missing this key aspect of being a servant, I feel he better resembles a slave.
The main purpose of Oswald’s role in the play is to make Kent a more respectable and likeable character. However, Oswald also deserves his flowers because of his unwavering allegiance to Goneril.
I’ll admit that I wanted Reagan and Goneril to be successful with their plans, for Reagan and Goneril to take control of the land in the way they saw fit. While their petty squabbling over a man at the end of the play reinforces harsh stereotypes and doesn’t serve their characters well, they were still the most interesting figures in the story. Despite being portrayed as conniving, wicked, and unkind, I believe they share the same mentality as their father. Lear gave the land to their husbands, not to them, because of ingrained sexism. For millennia, women were denied the right to own or inherit land—things that men took for granted. Women were seen as less capable and less deserving.
But today, we see women outachieving men in education: women earn 10% more bachelor’s degrees, 63% of all master’s degrees, and 57% of all doctoral degrees. Yet, as women surpass men in fields they were once excluded from, we see a backlash, with men choosing not to pursue degrees as much. There’s always a gender divide in how things are perceived: the WNBA doesn’t get the same viewership as the NBA, “female doctors” are often not believed to be as competent, and the hard work of stay-at-home moms is frequently downplayed. No female president. The first woman appointed to the Supreme Court was Sandra Day O’Connor in 1981—only recently, in 2022, did Ketanji Brown Jackson become the first Black woman to join the court.
The cutthroat actions of Lear’s daughters were a product of their environment, shaped by the Actions of Lear. Edmund, on the other hand, does pretty much the same thing, but no one seems to question or confront him until the very end of the play.
Ran, a 1985 Japanese film took direct inspiration from Shakespeare’s King Lear. But how similar are these two story’s, and where do they differ?
At the heart of both King Lear and Ran lies the story of an elderly ruler who, in a arrogant and idiotic attempt to secure his legacy, divides his kingdom among his three children, only to be met with betrayal and chaos. In King Lear, the eighth century king seeks to divide his realm among his three daughters, determining who gets what by their professed love for him. Similarly, the warlord Hidetora Ichimonki in Ran splits his title and throne to his three sons, expecting peace and loyalty. In both renditions, the children who received power become power-hungry and greedy, and the domain becomes engulf by bloodshed and drama.
However, the similarities between the two end when further analysed. King Lear, set in pre-Christian Britain, is a profound exploration of human nature, the inevitability of suffering, and the responsibilities allocated with power. Shakespeare’s use of motifs such as “the storm” “blindness” and “madness” along with rich imagery and poetic language help convey a theme of moral redemption amidst overwhelming despair. Ran, on the other hand, set in the feudal era of Japan, expresses a much bleaker view on life. Kurosawa utilizes sweeping landscapes and horrifying battle scenes to convey the raw scale of Hidetora’s fall from power, and display a more existential view on tragedy and despair. In Ran, the hope for redemption (present in King Lear), is overshadowed by the relentlessness of fate and time.
Overall, although these stories are similar at their roots, they diverge in cultural context, setting, and underlying messages and themes.