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As the play opens, one can almost immediately see that Lear begins to make mistakes that will eventually result in his downfall. His character encompasses both power and weakness, good and evil; however, not all characters in this play have both of these characteristics. Two of Lear's daughters, Goneril and Regan, have evil tendencies such as ambition, disloyalty and deception but Kent, Lear's servant, is not only loyal to his king, but also truthful and compassionate. Accordingly, Shakespeare suggests that true good lies in the community When we are first introduced to King Lear, he is a most compelling mature figure, although he is obsessed with power. "Let it be so; thy truth then be thy dower: For, by the scared radiance of the sun, The mysteries of Hecate and the night" (792) Cordelia speaks the truth about her love for her father, unlike her sisters who garnish it, so Lear turns on her and disowns his once favorite daughter.
Lear must go through an agonizing journey through self-discovery and out of Lear's conflict with nature and his subsequent madness comes a new and better man, a man cleansed, literally and figuratively, by the raging water of the storm. Gauvreau 2 "Why, thou wert better in thy grave than to answer with thy uncovered body this extremity of the skies. Is man no more than this? man is no more but such a poor, bare, forked animal" (843) Lear tears off his clothes, as a gesture that he has lost everything, and shows pity to all the poor people in the world who have nothing.
Lear shows his compassion universally and has achieved a deeper maturity that comes from self-knowledge. Goneril, the eldest daughter of Lear, is cold and relentless in her villainy but remains relatively calm. She is not afraid of Lear; she does not tremble when he utters his terrible madness on her, "Life and death! I am asian'd That thou hast power to shake my manhood thus, That these hot tears, which break from me perforce, Should make thee worth them.
Blasts and fogs upon thee!" (812) Goneril is the first to begin Lear's agony with her contemptuous treatment of him, and she is the first to begin taking away his power by reducing the number of his knights. "Hear me, my Lord. What need you five-and-twenty, ten, or five, To follow in a house, where twice so many Have a command to tend you?" (833) Gauvreau 3 Furthermore, Goneril's sister, Regan, is as much to blame for the destruction of Lear as she is. Regan appears to be weaker than Goneril, but she is actually more violent and crewel than her older sister. We have only to remember her first words in the ply to see that she is not the weakling she may appear to be, "I am made of that self metal as my sister, And prize me at her worth. In my true heart I find she names my very deed of love; Only she comes too short" (790) She says her own love for Lear is so great that everything else is abhorrent to her.
Next is Regan's disloyalty and lust for power. She makes her husband remove one of Gloucester's eyes but that is not enough for her, she forces him to remove the other one as well. "One side will mock another; the other too. " (852) Kent, faithful retainer of Lear, loves his king so much that he's willing to suffer his master's displeasure in order to keep him from committing a dangerous folly, "To plainness honors bound, when majesty stoops to folly" (793) Even after Kent is banished he comes back in disguise and Lear asks him, "What coat thou profess?" and Kent replies, "I do profess to be no less than I seem; and to eat no fish. " This last expression was a popular phrase to signify one's loyalty to the government and the protestant faith. Kent has so much loyalty to his king that he will Gauvreau 4 risk being found out just to serve his master. There is an extraordinary charm in Kent's bluntness, and combined with easy playability where the goodness of his heart is apparent. He is loyal to his country, his monarch, and his friends, which is the natural order of things. In the play King Lear, Shakespeare shows us through his characters, the qualities of good and evil.
Disloyalty, deception and ambition are the elements that will make you unjust, however being loyal, honest and showing compassion is the natural and just characteristics of a good person.
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Research essay sample on Good And Evil King Lear
