Throughout the plays of William Shakespeare, many heroic characters can be found. These characters are brave and honorable, courageous and honest and sometimes, flawed. A hero’s flaw is often what makes him relatable to the reader, his jealously or ambition, insecurity or pride echoing the readers own weaknesses. These flawed heroes are called tragic heroes, and William Shakespeare has created many notable ones. Great warriors like Macbeth, Othello, and King Lear, can have basic human weaknesses that lead to tragedy. King Lear tells the story of his king dividing evenly between his three daughters, Regan, Goneril, and Cordelia. Before the splitting of his kingdom, Lear asked each daughter to confess their love for him. Regan and Goneril give
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A male of noble birth is easily identified: they are perceived as a higher power or higher class; their appearances causes many to think highly or very little of them; they are the leaders of a Country, the decisions makers, the beginning of a new reign and the end of an old one. King Lear, the plays protagonist, often speaks in the ‘royal plural’. Lear uses the word ‘we’ instead of using the word ‘I’ to explain what he is feeling or what decision he would like to make during the division of his kingdom. During the dividing of the kingdom, Lear presents the ‘royal plural’, “Meantime, we shall express our darker purpose.” (Shakespeare,1.1.35). The ‘royal plural’ that the King uses represents all of Britain. According to Lear, the use of the word ‘we’ indicates that his decisions that he is making are decisions for everyone else living in Britain. Clearly, when the King uses the ‘royal plural’, it is evident that the play displays the nobility and power of a King. Throughout this play, one of the King’s noblemen, Kent, speaks highly about him [Lear] through speech. In act one, during the division of the kingdom, Lear becomes furious when his youngest and favourite daughter, Cordelia, does not over exaggerate her love for her father. Lear then begins to rage in fury at Cordelia by disowning her. Kent then steps in saying, “Royal Lear, / Whom I have ever honour’d as my king, / Lov’d as my father, as my master …show more content…
Cordelia is banished from the Kingdom because she did not choose to explain how much she loves her father for a bigger half of the kingdom. Even though Cordelia is banished from the kingdom, she finds her way back to her father to love and take care of him because she knows that Regan and Goneril do not carry the love for him the way she [Cordelia] does. Clearly, the death of Cordelia is a presentation of how a flaw that Lear contains effects not only him, but his loved ones. Furthermore, the flaws that Lear contains ultimately leads to his own demise. At the end of the play, Lear comes face to face with his epiphany. Before his own death, he wishes that he could redo everything and take back what has been done, but he cannot. “Lear: And my poor fool is hang’d! No, no, no life! / Why should a dog, a horse, a rat, have life, / And thou no breath at all? Thou’lt come no more, / Never, never, never, never, never! / Pray you, undo this button: thank you, sir. / Do you see this? Look on her, look, her lips, / Look there, look there! [Dies]” (Shakespeare,5.3.304-310). Consequently, Lear led himself to his own demise by his own decisions earlier in the play. The road to his demise starts when he turned his daughters, Goneril and Regan, against each other when asked to confess their love for their father. His ultimate mistake was banishing the only daughter [Cordelia] who would nurture and love him when ages.
A male of noble birth is easily identified: they are perceived as a higher power or higher class; their appearances causes many to think highly or very little of them; they are the leaders of a Country, the decisions makers, the beginning of a new reign and the end of an old one. King Lear, the plays protagonist, often speaks in the ‘royal plural’. Lear uses the word ‘we’ instead of using the word ‘I’ to explain what he is feeling or what decision he would like to make during the division of his kingdom. During the dividing of the kingdom, Lear presents the ‘royal plural’, “Meantime, we shall express our darker purpose.” (Shakespeare,1.1.35). The ‘royal plural’ that the King uses represents all of Britain. According to Lear, the use of the word ‘we’ indicates that his decisions that he is making are decisions for everyone else living in Britain. Clearly, when the King uses the ‘royal plural’, it is evident that the play displays the nobility and power of a King. Throughout this play, one of the King’s noblemen, Kent, speaks highly about him [Lear] through speech. In act one, during the division of the kingdom, Lear becomes furious when his youngest and favourite daughter, Cordelia, does not over exaggerate her love for her father. Lear then begins to rage in fury at Cordelia by disowning her. Kent then steps in saying, “Royal Lear, / Whom I have ever honour’d as my king, / Lov’d as my father, as my master …show more content…
Cordelia is banished from the Kingdom because she did not choose to explain how much she loves her father for a bigger half of the kingdom. Even though Cordelia is banished from the kingdom, she finds her way back to her father to love and take care of him because she knows that Regan and Goneril do not carry the love for him the way she [Cordelia] does. Clearly, the death of Cordelia is a presentation of how a flaw that Lear contains effects not only him, but his loved ones. Furthermore, the flaws that Lear contains ultimately leads to his own demise. At the end of the play, Lear comes face to face with his epiphany. Before his own death, he wishes that he could redo everything and take back what has been done, but he cannot. “Lear: And my poor fool is hang’d! No, no, no life! / Why should a dog, a horse, a rat, have life, / And thou no breath at all? Thou’lt come no more, / Never, never, never, never, never! / Pray you, undo this button: thank you, sir. / Do you see this? Look on her, look, her lips, / Look there, look there! [Dies]” (Shakespeare,5.3.304-310). Consequently, Lear led himself to his own demise by his own decisions earlier in the play. The road to his demise starts when he turned his daughters, Goneril and Regan, against each other when asked to confess their love for their father. His ultimate mistake was banishing the only daughter [Cordelia] who would nurture and love him when ages.