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In King Lear, Shakespeare has greatly utilized secondary plots and its parallelism to the main plot. The effective usage of subplots in King Lear, as a form of parallelism, clearly emphasizes the flaws and strengths of prominent characters. Using such literary device permits the audience to understand the emotions of the essential characters in the play. Specifically, the parallel between Lear and Gloucester displayed in the play is evidently intentional. Both men initially commit wrong acts by condemning their legitimate children. Both then have their illegitimate children plot against them.
Finally, both die a tragic death, as a result of their sins. A close examination of Lear and Gloucester reveals that the lives of both men are in fact parallel. Both Gloucester and Lear are fathers, both of whom have their own loyal legitimate child, and their own evil and disloyal kin. Gloucester and Lear are both honorable men, who have children that return to them in their time of need, and are sightless to the truth. Like Lear, Gloucester is tormented, and his favored child recovers his life; he is tended and healed by the child whom he has wronged.
Their sufferings are traceable to their extreme folly and injustice, and to a selfish pursuit of their pleasure. In the early beginning of King Lear, Cordelia says that her love for her father is the love between father and daughter, no more, no less: Unhappy that I am, I cannot heave My heart into my mouth: I love your majesty according to my bond; nor more nor less. (Shakespeare. I. i. 93 - 95) In response, Lear flies into a rage, disowns Cordelia, and divides her share of the kingdom between her two unworthy sisters.
Such folly and injustice is encountered by Gloucester in the secondary plot: O villain, villain! His very opinion in the letter. Abhorred villain, unnatural, detested, brutish villain; worse than brutish! Go, sirrah, seek him. Ill apprehend him. Abominable villain!
Where is he? (I. ii. 80 - 84) Gloucester, fooled by his wick bastard son, Edmund, attacks Edgar and leaves Edmund to his evil plans. The parallel incidents of Lear and Gloucester add towards the dramatic irony in the audience. Both Lear and Gloucester, while condemning their legitimate children, were at the same time accepting their illegitimate children.
The same illegitimate children who were in fact plotting directly against them. Both Lear and Gloucester each have a legitimate child, as discussed above the protagonists of the: Cordelia and Edgar. Conversely however, both fathers have evil kin, who plot against their fathers. In the case of Lear, the evil kin are Goneril and Regan; and in the case of Gloucester, there is Edmund. The malevolent scheme concocted by these evil characters in both plots is also displays the parallel betrayal in King Lear. After Lear segregates his power to his two elder daughters, Regan and Goneril, Lear was powerless and fearless in the eyes of both daughters.
Immediately after the division of power, both Regan and Goneril intend to reduce their fathers remaining authority so that Albion will be under their control: Pray you, lets hit together; If our father carry authority with such disposition as he bears, This last surrender of his will but offend us. (I. i. 306 - 309) Similar to the sisters plan, Edmund also decides to inherit all of Gloucester's power, and thus plots Edgar's forged letter with orders to kill his father. After Gloucester leaves and gives orders for Edmund to find Edgar, Edmund boasts of his trickery of Gloucester and Edgar: That he suspects none; on whose foolish honesty my practices ride easy. I see the business. Let me, if not by birth, have lands by wit. All with mes meet that I can fashion fit. (I.
ii. 195 - 197) Gloucester's simple mind has not thought of Edgar's true intentions, despite the letter and its orders to kill Gloucester. Lear s situation is a direct parallel to this he does not realize until the end of the play that his legitimate daughter is in fact Cordelia the same daughter he had initially banished. The pronounced resemblance of the plots was intentionally written by Shakespeare to satisfy the parallelism of both good and evil in King Lear. The foolishness and mental simplicity of both Lear and Gloucester allows them be misled by their illegitimate children.
They both suspect and even accuse their legitimate children of sins, which were really to be found in their illegitimate children. Both of these errors led to their downfalls. Gloucester's death in the secondary plot is a parallel to that of Lears in the main plot, despite the fact that Gloucester does not have the tragic catastrophic death of Lear. In a way, Gloucester acts as a demonstration of what can occur when he endures immense suffering and avoiding insanity. Lears anguish led him to insanity while Gloucester is led to despair and attempted suicide. Before Gloucester's attempt at suicide, he realizes that he has wronged Edgar and condemns his blindness of Edmunds plan: O dear son Edgar, the food of thy abused father s wrath; might I but live to see thee in my touch, I d say I had eyes again! (IV.
i. 24 - 27) This parallels Lears death as he also condemns his perceptiveness and wronging of Cordelia: I have seen the day, with my good biting falchion. I would have made them skip: I am old now, and these same crosses spoil me. Who are you? Mine eyes are not o th best: Ill tell you straight. (V.
iii. 277 - 282) Both deaths are very similar, as Lear and Gloucester die as better and wiser men than they showed themselves at first. Great parallelism was revealed as Shakespeare uses this literary device to entice and capture the heart of his audience at the end of the play. The close examination of Lear and Gloucester has revealed that the lives of both men are parallel. Both men initially committed wrong acts by condemning their legitimate children.
Both then had their illegitimate children plot against them. Finally, both died a tragic death, as a result of their sins. This parallelism however emphasized the flaws of both characters, and allows the reader to more fully comprehend the mistakes that both men were making. This resemblance of different plots and individuals in King Lear clearly embodies Shakespeare's flawless use of parallelism and superb writing style, and makes the play as thought-provoking as it is. 326
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