King Lear by William Shakespeare

I enjoyed my reading of King Lear. I understood it better after seeing the film version. I think there is absolutely a benefit to watching Shakespeare performed, as it is meant to be. There is an added clarity of the text when associated with a visualized setting, and characters. It gives light and mood to the dialogue within the play, which greatly helps readers to understand what is going on and the significance. I think King Lear presents a very interesting approach to the relationship between father and daughter, and the effects kingship has on those relationships. In the beginning of the play, we see Lear as a materialistic man, who associates power with love. The more his daughters love him, the more power he has over them in that he decides who is to inherit the kingdom. Lear decides to divide his kingdom among his three daughters based on the amount of love each of them is able to express for him. It’s obvious Lear show great favor to his youngest daughter Cordelia and she returns his love, yet she refuses to take part in the ceremonious confession to Lear. When it is her turn to speak, she says “I love thee according to my bond, neither more nor less”. Based on her lack of flowery words for him, Lear regards her as disrespectful and disowns her completely. I don’t think Lear wants to banish Cordelia and I think he feels a tremendous amount of guilt after he does. But because of his kingship, he restrains himself from changing his mind and allowing her to return. What kind of king would he be if he couldn’t stand by his decisions? This inner conflict allows Lear to spiral downward into madness, where strangely, he finds his redemption. King Lear undergoes an immense amount of suffering, both physically and mentally, before he finally is able to see the world clearly. Lear possesses the qualities of a tragic hero in that he falls from his position of superiority to one of suffering, then he rises again with wisdom and knowledge. Of course, because it is a Shakespeare play, all must perish and the slate must be wiped clean so that order can be restored. Therefore, Lear makes this discovery too late and is destined to die anyway.