king lear

            King Lear: Blindness to Self Knowledge .
             Blindness can normally be defined as the inability of the eye to see, however in Shakespearean terms, blindness is not a physical quality, but a mental flaw of human nature. In the play King Lear by William Shakespeare, blindness and lack of self knowledge is a fundamental source to the plot and central ideas. At the beginning of the play certain characters lack self knowledge which was the primary cause of the bad decisions they make which they eventually came to regret. By examining the characters of Lear, Gloucester, and Edgar, one can see that these three individuals gain self Knowledge through their sufferings. .
             One character who gains knowledge through their suffering is King Lear. At the beginning of the play, Lear was ignorant and lacked self knowledge , he is easily deceived by his two eldest daughters" lies Goneril and Regan and was unable to see the reality of Cordelia's true love for him, as a result to that, he banished her from the kingdom; " for we have no such daughter, nor shall ever see that face of her again. Therefore be gone either our grace, our love, our bension." ( I i 304-308) When Cordelia refuses to publicly declare her love for her father, Lear, annoyed that he wasn't getting what he wanted, disowned her. Because Lear lacks self Knowledge, he fails to see how evil Goneril and Regan are, and blindly turns over the Kingdom to them. Lear's wrong decision have caused him to gain self knowledge the wrong way, .
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