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Lear and Gloucester As Tragic Characters - College Papers

Lear and Gloucester As Tragic Characters

Question: â€œThroughout the course of the play, both Lear and Gloucester are tragic characters, but Lear develops into the more heroic figure.â€

I agree with this statement. Both Lear and Gloucester begin the play as characters that you could compare to villains who are strongly affected by the intense tragedy that they undergo throughout the play. Both characters are manipulated and tricked by their offspring and suffer horribly for their gullibility. However, I feel Learâ€™s moral progression in the play is greater as there is a clear difference in personality between the former and latter Lear.

Our initial impression of Lear is extremely negative. He comes across as a bully, ...

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in recent times. The status of the mother/mothers of Learâ€™s children is unknown, this loneliness adds to Learâ€™s persona of a tragic character.

Cordeliaâ€™s honesty and sincerity is perceived by Lear as an affront to his royal dignity and he impulsively disowns her without a momentâ€™s consideration: â€˜Here I disclaim all my paternal care, propinquity and property of love / hold thee from this foreverâ€™. The loyal Kent urges Lear to â€˜check this hideous rashnessâ€™ but Lear refuses: â€˜I have sworn; I am firmâ€™. Lear pays a high price for this ignorance and he rightly becomes as he calls it a man â€˜more sinned against than sinningâ€™. This is another example of why Lear is a tragic character, his own ignorance and insecurity forced him against his only loyal and loving daughter.

Lear suffers excruciatingly at the hands of his backstabbing daughters. Once Lear has stripped himself of his power, he is brutally exploited by his narrow minded, opportunistic daughters ...

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Lear and Gloucester As Tragic Characters. (2020, May 25). Retrieved January 7, 2026, from http://www.essayworld.com/essays/Lear-and-Gloucester-As-Tragic-Characters/107354

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PAPER DETAILS

Added: 5/25/2020 03:01:25 PM
Submitted By: kadenoneill
Category: Shakespeare
Type: Premium Paper
Words: 517
Pages: 2

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