conflict, personal transformation, and loss. The story revolves

around the King who foolishly alienates his only truly devoted

daughter and realizes too late the true nature of his other two

daughters. A major subplot involves the illegitimate son of

Gloucester, Edmund, who plans to discredit his brother Edgar and

betray his father. With these and other major characters in the

play, Shakespeare clearly asserts that human nature is either

entirely good, or entirely evil. Some characters experience a

transformative phase, where by some trial or ordeal their nature

is profoundly changed. We shall examine Shakespeare's stand on

human nature in King Lear by looking at specific characters in

the play: Cordelia who is wholly good, Edmund who is wholly

evil, and Lear whose nature is transformed by the realization of

his folly and his descent into madness.

The play begins with Lear, an old king ready for retirement,

preparing to divide the kingdom among his three daughters. Lear

has his daughters compete for their inheritance by judging who

can proclaim their love for him in the grandest possible

fashion. Cordelia finds that she is unable to s

goodness that Cordelia maintains throughout the play, and the

daughter Cordelia, and the revelation that Regan and Goneril's

play. In the end, mortally wounded, Edmund does regret his

injustice he did her. Clearly, Shakespeare has crafted Cordelia

knaves, thieves, and treachers by spherical

Some common words found in the essay are:
Gloucester Edmund, Lear Cordelia, King Lear, Act III, Act Scene, IV Scene, William Shakespeare, Aside Cordelia, Cordelia Aside, Goneril Lear, act scene, characters play, king lear, nature entirely, human nature, act scene lines, scene ii, loves father, wholly evil, scene lines, beginning play, scene iii lines, human nature entirely, shakespeare crafted cordelia, scene ii lines,
Approximate Word count = 1265
Approximate Pages = 5 (250 words per page double spaced)