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King Lear - Online Paper

King Lear

In a writing of Shakespeare's play "", the main character is who starts off as a respected and powerful king. As the story progresses the king loses his power because of his own stupidity and blindness. The tragedy of this play is shown through the daughters of the king, the fool, and finally when Lear's sanity is tested. At the beginning of the play, is powerful and harsh. He decides he doesn't want to be king anymore, and so he asks his daughters, Reagan, Goneril, and Cordelia to tell him how much they love him. He does this so he may give them a dowry to be married with. First, Goneril begins to tell her father how much she adores him and would never disrespect him, this is a lie. ...

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her dowry and in turn no none would marry her except the King of France. Giving the land to the two daughters was the first of Lear's mistakes, for the daughters did not love him as much as Cordelia did, but they wished to have his riches. When Goneril and Reagan are in power they try to make Lear appear to be incompetent. They refer to him as "The Idle Old Man" in front of everyone and start to make even Lear think less of himself. Although the two sisters do this they also realize that Lear still holds a great deal of power in their areas, so they decided something must be done about it. The "loving" daughters command Lear to let go fifty of his one hundred servicemen, saying that they will not pay for it and that it is unnecessary. Lear then starts to worry that if Goneril isn't happy then she in turn will make him unhappy and he agrees to let them go. Next, the fool is introduced. Shakespeare does this to show the deterioration of Lear that has taken place since the beginning of ...

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King Lear. (2005, August 3). Retrieved January 11, 2026, from http://www.essayworld.com/essays/King-Lear/31050

"King Lear." Essayworld.com. Essayworld.com, 3 Aug. 2005. Web. 11 Jan. 2026. <http://www.essayworld.com/essays/King-Lear/31050>

"King Lear." Essayworld.com. August 3, 2005. Accessed January 11, 2026. http://www.essayworld.com/essays/King-Lear/31050.

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PAPER DETAILS

Added: 8/3/2005 07:58:51 AM
Category: English
Type: Premium Paper
Words: 744
Pages: 3

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