Lao Tzu once said, “Knowing others is intelligence; knowing yourself is true wisdom. Mastering others is strength; Mastering yourself is true power.”. Knowing yourself, let alone mastering yourself is much easier said than done. People tend to lose sight of who they are with the constant judgement of society, living a lie to impress others is anything but uncommon. People constantly try to project a persona onto others, work at a cushy job not doing what they love, or even act rashly based on their emotions without thinking. Shakespeare's King Lear demonstrates how easy it is to lose sight of who we are, the consequences of not knowing, and the benefits of knowing yourself. Throughout the play, King Lear and Gloucester gain clarity after a
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Gloucester spent his entire journeying days to Dover with his son, unknowingly. Gloucester's vision may have been blinded but his understanding has been unblinded. Edgar described Gloucester's death as, "But his flawed heart— Alack, too weak the conflict to support— 'Twixt two extremes of passion, joy and grief, Burst smilingly."(Act 5 scene 3 lines 196-199). Although Gloucester might be dead, he died happy knowing that he could reunite with his long lost son once more. Although Gloucester could not see Edgar physically, just knowing he was there and knowing that he was alive brought him so much joy that he died …show more content…
Mastering yourself and knowing yourself is a extremely overlooked part of everybody's lives, knowing what you truly want to do, and knowing what your own intentions are, are the most integral question's for everyone. Both characters evidently were too late to realize the answers to those questions and although they attained true self-knowledge in the end they paid for that knowledge with their lives. Although their lives would not have been much of one without that
Gloucester spent his entire journeying days to Dover with his son, unknowingly. Gloucester's vision may have been blinded but his understanding has been unblinded. Edgar described Gloucester's death as, "But his flawed heart— Alack, too weak the conflict to support— 'Twixt two extremes of passion, joy and grief, Burst smilingly."(Act 5 scene 3 lines 196-199). Although Gloucester might be dead, he died happy knowing that he could reunite with his long lost son once more. Although Gloucester could not see Edgar physically, just knowing he was there and knowing that he was alive brought him so much joy that he died …show more content…
Mastering yourself and knowing yourself is a extremely overlooked part of everybody's lives, knowing what you truly want to do, and knowing what your own intentions are, are the most integral question's for everyone. Both characters evidently were too late to realize the answers to those questions and although they attained true self-knowledge in the end they paid for that knowledge with their lives. Although their lives would not have been much of one without that