King Lear And Gloucester Character Analysis

In life some people are born into high status filled with luxury and other advantages, but it is up to them to maintain their power during difficult situations. In Shakespeare’s King Lear, Shakespeare has created Lear and Gloucester’s character based on the concept of nothing. Both Lear and Gloucester experience being on the top with power politically, physically, emotionally, and familially, then they hit rock bottom evening them out to nothing. Politically, Lear and Gloucester start off powerful then become powerless. Emotionally, Lear and Gloucester are full of themselves then they lose themselves completely. Physically, Lear and Gloucester project the image of very wealthy men, and then they have no image at all. Familially, Lear and Gloucester …show more content…
Emotionally Lear is very rash, uncontrolled, and full of hubris. When Lear banished Kent he reached for his sword to attack Kent, showing that Lear cannot control his anger and range. Lear had already divided his land for his daughters but decided that he would still have a love trial to hear how much they love him, showing that Lear is full of hubris. Lear is rash because he expected his daughters to express their love to him in enormous portions compared to how much they actually love him, so when Cordelia does not meet his expectations he banished her reducing her power to nothing. When Lear gets banished from Gloucester’s castle he descended into madness because he removed all of his clothes off and had conversations with the mad man “How dost, my boy? Art cold? I am cold myself. Where is this straw my fellow? The art of our necessities is strange” (III. Ii. 68-70). This point summarizes that Lear emotionally started as a very arrogant and unruly character then he loses his mind and becomes crazy. Emotionally Gloucester is full of hubris then he loses the will to live. Gloucester is full of hubris like Lear because after years of neglect, he finally decides to acknowledge Edmund as his son and expects Edmund to just accept him as a father with no feelings of betrayal. That is why when Gloucester was held prisoner he was calling for Edmund “All dark and …show more content…
Lear banishes his trust worthy family and trusts his deceiving family, and then he ends up with no family at all. Lear is king he has three daughters and loyal right hand man Kent and his own kingdom that he rules over. During the love trial Cordelia does not express her love toward Lear in an exaggerating manner like Regan and Goneril so Lear banishes her. When Kent tries to explain the rashness in his decision, Lear banishes Kent as well. Lear put his trust towards Goneril and Regan to rule his kingdom and to take care of him. Instead they end up rejecting Lear by convincing him to give up all his knights then they banish him from Gloucester’s castle sending Lear into the storm with nowhere to go. Regan says “Tis they have put him on the old man’s death, To have th’expense and waste of his revenues” (II. i. 98-99) thus it shows that their intentions are only for Lear’s fortune. By the end of the play Goneril and Regan competed for Lear’s fortune to the death and Cordelia’s life is taking right before Lear’s eyes. Leaving Lear with no family at all. In short, Lear has a family who supports him but after he gives up his title as king he lost his family, thus ending up with nothing. Gloucester has two sons but when he finally acknowledges one after a lifetime of disowning he ends up with nothing. Gloucester has