| Term Paper Title | King Lear |
| # of Words | 1102 |
| # of Pages (250 words per page double spaced) | 4.41 |
King Lear
" King Lear "
" King Lear "
An important idea present in William Shakespeare’s " King
Lear " is rejection and the role this rejection plays in the experiences
of the involved characters. The important ideas to be considered
here are the causes and effects associated with the act of rejection.
The most important situations to be considered in the story of
" King Lear " are those that develop between the two fathers, Lear
and Gloucester, and their children, Goneril and Regan, Cordelia,
Edmund, and Edgar. Each case falls on a different plane, but it is
important to consider the similarities between the positions of Lear
and Gloucester.
The rejection of Lear by his two daughters, Goneril and Regan,
can be seen as a type of revenge. Throughout their lives they had
always been far behind Cordelia in the king’s eyes. As a result of
this second-hand treatment, Goneril and Regan carried with them
an immense amount of hatred and when Lear divided his kingdom
between them, they both openly rejected his presence in their lives.
" Some other time for that. - Beloved Regan, she hath tied
sharp-tooth’d unkindness, like a vulture here, - I can speak scarce to
thee ; thou’lt not believe with how depraved quality - O Regan
( King Lear II.iii )! Goneril’s response further clarifies this
rejection. " Good sir, no more ; these are unsightly tricks : return
you to my sister ( King Lear II.iii ). Lear’s reaction is pure rage.
He understands that he had not given them too much of his time,
but he had given them their percentage of the kingdom only because
they had made a pledge to him that they would care for him in his
elder years. The bond broken in this situation is a very weak one.
The only thing that held it together was this flimsy pledge that the
daughters had no intention of honoring. But no matter the
conditions, he was their father and his well-being was a sort of
payment for their very existence.
Cordelia’s rejection of Lear breaks a much stronger bond. Lear
loses his entire life purpose when Cordelia turns Lear away.
" Good my lord, you have begot me, bred me, lov’d me : I
return those duties back as are right fit, obey you, love
you, and most honour you. Why have my sisters husbands
if they say they love you all? Haply, when I shall wed,
that Lord whose hand must take my plight shall carry half
my love with him, half my caret duty : Sure I shall never
marry like my sisters to love my father all ( King Lear I.i )
When Cordelia gave Lear this response, he was all alone. The one
person he expected to be there for him in his old age and take care
of him as he had done her was no longer an option. Lear was forced
to fall back on his other daughters, who were unreliable in any
sense. When Cordelia is unable to pledge her complete love to Lear
he banishes her to France. In the end she is the only family by his
side. She was the only one honest with Lear and she pays for her
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