King Lear
By: Abdifitah Mohamud
CC: ENG 4U
Teacher: Harleen Banga
Date: Aug, 23, 13
King Lear: Parallel Plots
William Shakespeare wrote one of his tragedies, ‘King Lear,’ a play which focuses on the
betrayal within families and the effects it has on those surrounded – whether they be direct
family members or just people who have been associated alongside them for a very long time.
Whilst the play is set within the context of a king, his earls, his daughters and the sons of the
earls and a looming war, the play is not confined to a set time within history and it is not limited
to concerns only relevant to that social period. The play presents universal issues which speak
utter volumes and storms within heads to make you wonder if this could happen to anyone you
know.
‘King Lear’ follows two parallel plot lines, the first is that of Lear himself, with his three
daughters, and the other is the Earl of Gloucester and his two sons. The play is based on the
mythical king of the Britons, King Leir. The beginning of ‘King Lear’ introduces readers to the
major characters; the earls of Gloucester and Kent, King Lear, Edmund and Edgar (Gloucester’s
sons), and Goneril, Regan and Cordelia – the three daughters of Lear. The issue in the opening
stages of the play refers to Lear abdicating his throne and splitting his kingdom into three for his
daughters. However, there is a catch, and that’s the fact that Lear will give the most prized part
of his kingdom to the daughter who professes the most love to him. It is known that Cordelia is
the favourite daughter; therefore it’s assumed that she would be the daughter to receive the
prized part of the kingdom – however this is not the case. Gloucester and Lear are both
tormented, and their favoured child recovers their lives. In the early beginning of the play,
Cordelia says that her love for her father is the love between father and daughter, no more, no
CC: ENG 4U
Teacher: Harleen Banga
Date: Aug, 23, 13
King Lear: Parallel Plots
William Shakespeare wrote one of his tragedies, ‘King Lear,’ a play which focuses on the
betrayal within families and the effects it has on those surrounded – whether they be direct
family members or just people who have been associated alongside them for a very long time.
Whilst the play is set within the context of a king, his earls, his daughters and the sons of the
earls and a looming war, the play is not confined to a set time within history and it is not limited
to concerns only relevant to that social period. The play presents universal issues which speak
utter volumes and storms within heads to make you wonder if this could happen to anyone you
know.
‘King Lear’ follows two parallel plot lines, the first is that of Lear himself, with his three
daughters, and the other is the Earl of Gloucester and his two sons. The play is based on the
mythical king of the Britons, King Leir. The beginning of ‘King Lear’ introduces readers to the
major characters; the earls of Gloucester and Kent, King Lear, Edmund and Edgar (Gloucester’s
sons), and Goneril, Regan and Cordelia – the three daughters of Lear. The issue in the opening
stages of the play refers to Lear abdicating his throne and splitting his kingdom into three for his
daughters. However, there is a catch, and that’s the fact that Lear will give the most prized part
of his kingdom to the daughter who professes the most love to him. It is known that Cordelia is
the favourite daughter; therefore it’s assumed that she would be the daughter to receive the
prized part of the kingdom – however this is not the case. Gloucester and Lear are both
tormented, and their favoured child recovers their lives. In the early beginning of the play,
Cordelia says that her love for her father is the love between father and daughter, no more, no