Essay On Entitlement In King Lear

Sense of entitlement can be considered an unrealistic or an unmerited expectation that could develop from favorable living conditions and desired treatment at the hands of others. In Shakespeare’s play King Lear, readers are hooked on a story bounded much by the relationship between a parent and a child. This relationship described throughout the play is unnatural due to the sense of entitlement each character demands upon the other. The lies told by various characters throughout the play, creates this sense of entitlement. The main suspects of this are King Lear, his daughter Goneril, and Edmund, who is the illegitimate son of the Earl of Gloucester. Each player demands things based on a pre-determined sense of entitlement towards their father, or in the case of King Lear, his daughters. In Shakespeare’s King Lear, it can be argued that the impact of self-entitlement is a perceived evil persona that can lead to self-destruction of an individual.

King Lear believes he is able to split his kingdom up between all three of his daughters without repercussions. To accomplish this he requests they all confess their love for him and whomever he believes loves him most will receive the greatest amount of land. This confirms the entitlement King Lear …show more content…
As seen throughout the play Goneril, King Lear and Edmund are all given a sense of entitlement through an evil persona placed on them by either Shakespeare himself or in the case of King Lear, his daughters. Through lies and deceiving others, each individual wishes to further themselves as they each feel a certain sense of entitlement. By the end of play however the sense entitlement has lead to the destruction of life in the case of King Lear, Goneril and Edmund as they all end up dying. Through evil and entitlement, self-destruction has