Shakespeare waste no time in comparing Goneril and Regan to animals. When Lear parts from Goneril at the end of Act I, after she has sneered at him and diminished the number of his retainers, he calls her a "Detested kite" (I. iv. 2

Shakespeare uses these animal images throughout his play to describe Goneril and Regan. It will be noticed that most of the animals used in these comparisons are unpleasant (kite, serpent, tigers, pelicans, foxes, and even monsters). Shakespeare is showing that the sisters are sinking from the level of man, who stood between the angels and the animals, to the level of the animals. They have become like some of the most unpleasant birds and animals of prey. In their cruelty and unnaturalness they are less than human.

Lear in scene IV has a quarrel with his other daughter, Regan, where again he uses animal images to show how his daughters are sinking below manhood to animals. Lear seeks out his daughter, Regan, at Gloucester's castle, and finds out that her husband has put his faithful friend Kent in the stocks and that both husband and wife have retired to bed and

Some common words found in the essay are:
Regan Gloucester's, King Lear, Goneril Regan, Poor Tom, Goneril Act, William Shakespeare, Bedlam Edgar, king lear, animals lear, animal images, goneril regan, regan animals lear, ii iv, daughter regan, lear characters, lear comments, regan animals, goneril regan animals,
Approximate Word count = 590
Approximate Pages = 2 (250 words per page double spaced)