Essay On Power In King Lear

Improved Essays
Giving and Gaining Power
Veronica Roth once said,“Knowledge is power. Power to do evil...or power to do good. Power itself is not evil. So knowledge itself is not evil”(https://www.goodreads.com). People are either fighting for power or are blinded by it. The books King Lear, by William Shakespeare, a powerful King who lives through lies and deception with relationships that end in tragedy. The Book of Negroes, by Lawrence Hill, a woman with no power taken and forced into slavery that must fight for freedom. Aminata and Lear reach limitations in their life and come to changes in their relationships with others, which determine that Aminata becomes the subject achieving her independence and Lear becomes an object causing, him to be dependent.
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He divides his kingdom to his daughters and they restrict his abilities, making him lose his title as king. The fool indicates to the king his mistake saying, “All thy other titles thou hast given away; that thought was born with”(Shakespeare I .IV. 146-147). This is the first action that restricts Lear from his power of governing, he becomes dependent on his daughters that now hold the title along with the land. Furthermore, King Lear is restricted as has lost all authority in his own kingdom. He and his daughter are put in jail but the father is just happy that they are together, “No, no, no, no! Come, let’s away to prison. We two alone will sing like birds i’ the cage”(Shakespeare V .III. 8-9). Lear is now objectified as he is seen as Cordelia's insane father when he should be identified as the great king that can not be ruled over. On the contrary, Aminata breaks down the restrictions that stop her from being the subject. Aminata did whatever she could to free herself from slavery. She is controlled by the power of Lindo, so Aminata ran away from him, “ I kept walking. I was frightened by the darkness and the lonely sound of my feet on dry …show more content…
Aminata becomes more independent as she gains knowledge from the people around her and knowledge is power. Equally important, Aminata is trusted with new tasks more and more throughout the book. She gains the trust of Lindo and he gives her the ability to get a job, possessions, count money, and read, “After Lindo finished our lessons about arithmetic, coins and keeping ledgers, his wife began to tutor me in the art of writing” (Hill 207). The trust Aminata has ables her to be more independent as she has more capabilities. The capabilities she is trusted with gives her more power which makes her the subject. Aminata with the influence of trust and Power determines that she earns the role of the subject alternately achieving independence. King lear losses trust and power obtaining the position as the object losing his

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