Strong bonds between people take years to build but then can be destroyed in seconds. In King Lear, readers can see various bonds breaking throughout the duration of the play. One of the reasons for these particular bonds being broken is the cold hard truth, when characters hear things they do not want to hear they become angry which causes problems in relationships. Second, insecurity is a main cause of what causes relationships to break. In King Lear when characters are insecure about themselves they try to bring others down to make themselves feel better. Finally, society’s expectations ruin bonds. When one has a certain expectation of someone or something and the expectation has not fulfilled or met, it causes dissatisfaction which ultimately
…show more content…
After King Lear banishes Cordelia from the kingdom, she decides to call her sisters out for being hypocrites. Before Cordelia leaves, she says “Why have my sisters husbands if they say, They love you all? Haply when I shall wed”(1.1.102-103). She is basically saying how Lear can not be the only man they love when they are also supposed to love their husbands. After Cordelia says this, she is no longer on good terms with her sisters, because they do not speak nicely with each other for the remainder of the play. Lastly, the third example on how being honest broke bonds between characters is the bond that has been broken between Kent, Regan and Cornwall. In scene two, Kent decides to call out Oswald for not being loyal to King Lear, Kent draws his sword on Oswald and they begin to fight. Cornwall and Regan come out to see what is going on, after this Kent calls out Cornwall and Regan for being cowards. Kent is just being honest and stating his opinion he also calls Oswald “ A knave, a rascal, an eater of broken meats”(2.2.13). So he is calling Oswald a low life rascal who eats leftover scraps. This ended badly for Kent, sending him to the stocks by Regan and Cornwall. Overall this ruins the relationship between them because they generally were not on bad terms before, but after the incident they were not on good terms anymore, therefore ruining any type of bond they had. Honesty is not the best policy especially in King Lear, when the truth can make other characters feel
After King Lear banishes Cordelia from the kingdom, she decides to call her sisters out for being hypocrites. Before Cordelia leaves, she says “Why have my sisters husbands if they say, They love you all? Haply when I shall wed”(1.1.102-103). She is basically saying how Lear can not be the only man they love when they are also supposed to love their husbands. After Cordelia says this, she is no longer on good terms with her sisters, because they do not speak nicely with each other for the remainder of the play. Lastly, the third example on how being honest broke bonds between characters is the bond that has been broken between Kent, Regan and Cornwall. In scene two, Kent decides to call out Oswald for not being loyal to King Lear, Kent draws his sword on Oswald and they begin to fight. Cornwall and Regan come out to see what is going on, after this Kent calls out Cornwall and Regan for being cowards. Kent is just being honest and stating his opinion he also calls Oswald “ A knave, a rascal, an eater of broken meats”(2.2.13). So he is calling Oswald a low life rascal who eats leftover scraps. This ended badly for Kent, sending him to the stocks by Regan and Cornwall. Overall this ruins the relationship between them because they generally were not on bad terms before, but after the incident they were not on good terms anymore, therefore ruining any type of bond they had. Honesty is not the best policy especially in King Lear, when the truth can make other characters feel