Reserve thy state,/And in thy best consideration check/This hideous rashness. Answer my life/My judgement,/The youngest daughter does not love thee least';(1.1.167-71).
His ignorance causes him to give his throne to the wrong children, eventually resulting in his downfall. Lear also ignores the fool who always attempts to show King …show more content…
Lear’s other flaws, arrogance and ignorance, also contribute to his misjudgments. His anger causes him to make rash decisions such as banishing his only two faithful servants. The king almost immediately gives his throne away when his youngest daughter, Cordelia, tells him how she truly feels toward him. In his anger, King Lear misjudges his daughter’s intentions and begins his own destruction. He does the same thing to his servant Kent. Unfortunately, King Lear figures this out a little too late in the novel. In Act 5, he is anxious to redeem himself. He says, “She lives. If it be so,/It is a chance which does redeem all sorrows/That ever I have felt';(5.3.310-320). When he sees that she has been hanged, he realizes that he is moments too late to receive his redemption. He replies, “A plague upon you, murderers, traitors all!/I might have saved her…I killed the slave that was a-hanging thee';(5.3.320-330). The rashness of his judgement could have prevented such a