King Lear Refusal to Accept Truth
Pride, arrogance and the refusal to accept reality is a failing in humans. It causes them to overlook the obvious and leads to errors in judgement. In tragedies, this is a leading cause in why the most apparent flaws in judgement are often overlooked by characters. In the play King Lear, by William Shakespeare, King Lear refuses to accept the reasoning that his Fool puts forth regarding Lear and his kingdom's well being. To some, it is natural to ignore advice from people of a lower social standing.Reasoning and clear judgement is impaired when the mind is clouded with false hopes and dreams. The Fool, although portrayed as a humorous character in the play, shows great insight into the errors of King Lear. Hidden in rhyme, the Fool gives Lear unheeded advice. This combined with Lear's lack of foresight leads to his downfall; which Goneril and Regan use to take over his kingdom. The Fool repeatedly voices his concern throughout the first three acts. He says:
In reality, the Fool is right. Lear has given away everything he owns, and is now in a bad position. But Lear cannot see through Goneril and Regan's flattery, and therefore cannot make a correct analysis of the situation. His poem shows that Lear is now suffering for elevating those not fit for duty before those who are. Lear now has nothing in his possession from his former kingdom, and has left his noble daughter, Cordelia, while giving everything to his two other sly daughters, Goneril and Regan. The Fool soon cautions Lear to lose his stubborn ways. He says, "If thou wert my Fool, Nuncle, I'd have thee / beaten for being old before thy time." (Act I, sc. v, line 41-42) He believes that Lear has turned old already. Lear has retained all of the stubbornness that is accompanied with old age, but not any of the wisdom. Due to these examples, the Fool clearly displays throughout the play that stubbornness has not benefitted Lear or any others dear to him. He states that there are two Fools in the kingdom; the first being the Fool and the other being Lear. Lear does not take kindly to the Fool commenting on his behaviour, and replies, "Dost thou call me Fool, boy?"(Act I, sc.iv, line 152) The Fool tells Lear that he is disillusioned, and is not thinking
Some common words found in the essay are:
Lear Lear, Goneril Regan's, Goneril Regan, King Lear, Fool Lear, Act III, , Nuncle I'd, Regan Fool, sciv line, fool lear, act sciv, act sciv line, Lear Hidden, king lear, false hopes dreams, hopes dreams, goneril regan, kingdom fool, lear lear, voices concern, decision divide kingdom, towards lear's,
Approximate Word count = 858
Approximate Pages = 3 (250 words per page double spaced)
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