King Lear
King Lear’s Blindness Takes A Toll
Gluttony, cowardice, and selfishness are amongst the things that would fall into the category of a “tragic” flaw. In King Lear the one who’s “tragic” flaw that happens to be most noticeable is Lear’s because he is held at such a high standard since he has the title of “King”. Lear possesses the flaw of blindness, and this fault alone has a tremendous effect on the military, medical, and economic costs on many characters throughout the tragedy as a whole. From beginning to end, King Lear makes many mistakes which not only impact the King himself, but on everyone that had come in contact with him. Lear’s blindness comes into play when he banishes the one daughter who whole-heartedly loves him the most, Cordelia, and from this point on many relationships are ruined, families are broken, people face betrayal, and a kingdom is no longer how a kingdom should be.
Throughout King Lear many things were lost, taken away, or in terms costs. The first happens to be economic costs, or the loss of jobs, titles, housing, or the ability to feed one’s self. Because King Lear was blinded to a great extent many people begin to see less of him. Page 22, line 78 Oswald refers to the king as “My lady’s father”. Economically, this subjects to the readers that since the very beginning Lear has constantly has been making rash decisions. The fool, used in Shakespeare’s plays to either make serious of a matter or to lighten up the mood after a tragic event. In this tragedy, the fool was hired for King Lear. Even the fool begins to see that the things the Roar of England are doing are rash. He no longer refers to the king as “King Lear”, but calls him a fool without really coming out and calling him a fool. Line 147-148 the Fool states “All thy other titles thou hast given away; that thou wast born with.” In this, he is saying all that titles that Lear has had, for instance King, are no longer his because of his great flaw of blindness. So in a way
Gluttony, cowardice, and selfishness are amongst the things that would fall into the category of a “tragic” flaw. In King Lear the one who’s “tragic” flaw that happens to be most noticeable is Lear’s because he is held at such a high standard since he has the title of “King”. Lear possesses the flaw of blindness, and this fault alone has a tremendous effect on the military, medical, and economic costs on many characters throughout the tragedy as a whole. From beginning to end, King Lear makes many mistakes which not only impact the King himself, but on everyone that had come in contact with him. Lear’s blindness comes into play when he banishes the one daughter who whole-heartedly loves him the most, Cordelia, and from this point on many relationships are ruined, families are broken, people face betrayal, and a kingdom is no longer how a kingdom should be.
Throughout King Lear many things were lost, taken away, or in terms costs. The first happens to be economic costs, or the loss of jobs, titles, housing, or the ability to feed one’s self. Because King Lear was blinded to a great extent many people begin to see less of him. Page 22, line 78 Oswald refers to the king as “My lady’s father”. Economically, this subjects to the readers that since the very beginning Lear has constantly has been making rash decisions. The fool, used in Shakespeare’s plays to either make serious of a matter or to lighten up the mood after a tragic event. In this tragedy, the fool was hired for King Lear. Even the fool begins to see that the things the Roar of England are doing are rash. He no longer refers to the king as “King Lear”, but calls him a fool without really coming out and calling him a fool. Line 147-148 the Fool states “All thy other titles thou hast given away; that thou wast born with.” In this, he is saying all that titles that Lear has had, for instance King, are no longer his because of his great flaw of blindness. So in a way