King Lear Madness Essay

Throughout William Shakespeare’s King Lear, the wizened former King of Britain goes through experiences wrenching enough to make any man lose touch with reality and sanity. Stripped of all power and worldly luxuries, Lear is cast out from both of the daughters who professed eternal love for him. Lear’s apparent progression towards madness is recognized by his family and advisors alike, and Regan even asserts to Lear that he “be rul’d and led / By some discretion that discerns your state / Better than yourself” due to his seeming descent into madness (Shakespeare 2.2.337-9). Lear himself begins to question his own sanity and identity, asking, “Does Lear walk thus, speak thus?” and even explicitly asks, “Who is it that can tell me who I am?” (1.4.218) (1.4.221). However, through these numerous tribulations and bouts of outward madness, Lear begins to realize his identity and grows saner as his tragic plight develops. The story …show more content…
No longer does Lear make harsh and misguided judgments about those around him as he did when he played the all-powerful monarch in the play’s exposition. After his pivotal question about his self when Goneril essentially forces him to leave her house, Lear has grown more self-aware and more in touch with reality. Lear even appears to have empathy for people less fortunate than himself, bemoaning the fate of the “Poor naked wretches, wheresoe’er you are, / That bide the pelting of this pitiless storm” and even saying “O, I have ta’en / Too little care of this” (3.4.28/9) (3.4.32/3). This shift towards being a caring and humble man instead of the irrational and mighty king reveals his progress towards sanity. In this storm when he empathizes with those who had been less fortunate than him he also realizes the state of his own plight, displaying self-awareness and reasonableness previously unseen in the