King Lear - The Tragic Hero

A detailed Summary of King Lear - The Tragic Hero

"The protagonist of a tragedy should be a person who is not eminently good or just, yet whose fortune is brought by some error or frailty" (Jacobus IIV). This error could be ignorance, flaw or weakness in his character or the act may have been committed in anger or passion such is the case of King Lear in the Shakespearian play, King Lear by William Shakespeare. King Lear is an ideal tragic hero who falls from the greatness due to some great error of frailty. For this, he has to go through a lot of pain and sufferings but in the end he finally has a chance to redeem himself and has to pay the ultimate price, his own life.

Lear is the King of Britain and has three daughters named Goneril, Regan and Cordelia. Lear is an old man and therefore he wants to divide his land among his three daughters. One of the very first and least attractive roles King Lear assumes is of a bad father. He announces that he will divide the land according to their public acceptance of their father's love thus engaging them in the dreadful game of flattery. Goneril and Regan swear the whole allegiance of their hearts to a father, leaving nothing for a husband.

"Sir, I love you more than a word can wield the matter

Dearer than eyesight, space and libert

Lear's madness can be seen both as a result of his arrogance and as a remedy for it. The Fool's statement that "truth's a dog must to kennel; he must be whipped out" foreshadows the pain that Lear will have to pass through before attaining enlightment. Lear's madness is unarguably the ranting of a mad man. However, Lear's ravings contain some methods in them. As a result of Lear's madness, he slowly and methodically realizes his fatal error and the corresponding personality traits. Though in the end Lear is able to understand his flaws, he is never able to use the knowledge he has attained to emend his destructive attitude and behaviors. Lear understands that the consequential suffering of his subjects is due to his mistakes and begs for their forgiveness. Thus Lear brought upon himself the ultimate punishment, the comprehension of his faults which led directly to the suffering of all who loved him and in the end paying the ultimate price for his redemptions, his own life.

Like all tragic heroes. Lear has to suffer for his mistakes and has to go through a process of redemption. Lear at first does not realize that his temper and deep seeded heed of blandishment leads to the usurpation of his divinity. As a result of his actions, Lear goes into a state of madness and only through reject

Some common words found in the essay are:
King Lear, Shakespeare IV, Ii Lear's, Goneril Regan, Regan Fool, Jacobus IIV, , king lear, Secondly Kent, Cordelia Lear, King Britain, error frailty, goneril regan, lear's madness, own life, lear able understand, able understand, madness lear, tragic hero, lear proud, lear able,

Approximate Word count = 872
Approximate Pages = 3 (250 words per page double spaced)

Category: English

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King Lear - The Tragic Hero

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