The Imagery And Symbolism In The Play King Lear

This article is centered around the criteria of what makes the character of King Lear great, based on performances from the past few years. Lear is described as someone with utmost authority, who “speaks with special power to a world of global conflict and a sense of impending apocalypse” (Bate, The Telegraph). He often has violent tendencies, which is further emphasized by his “sadistic glee that masked an underlying fear—the moment inevitably conjured up the American soldiers in Abu Ghraib”. The connection to the American soldiers in Abu Ghraib expands on the idea that he takes joy in the displeasure and suffering of others. In order to effectively bring his character to life on stage, I imagine there should be a gradual buildup of his emotions, especially anger, along with a closer connection to the audience, and his specific interactions with each of the characters. Based on the article’s description of Lear, I can expect that throughout the course of the novel he will serve the role of a malevolent authority figure, who will warn his fellow characters about their impending downfall.

Edgar's soliloquy takes place in the woods after he finds out about his banishment. He feels like he has nowhere to stay and must hide conceal his identity in order not to get captured. This idea is further developed by him claiming that he will downgrade his appearance to the “basest” and “poorest”, by griming his face “with filth, blanket [his] loins” and “elf all [his] hair”. Visual imagery is used here to suggest how he will rub dirt into his face, tie a blanket around his waist, and do up his hair in knots. Edgar states that “sometime with lunatic bans, sometime with prayers, enforce their charity”. In this case, anaphora is employed to repeat the word “sometime” at the beginning of the lines, in order to convey and imitate the way the poor beg. He overall transforms his outward appearance into a naked madman and seeks to escape the unjust and corrupt workings of the law. Similar to Lear, Edgar annihilates his own identity. However, Edgar does so purposefully, and in doing so is able to act out madness without actually going insane, while Lear does so unintentionally, and therefore falls into actual insanity.

Lear’s main flaw is that he values appearance above reality. He wants to enjoy his title as a king, but he doesn’t want to fulfill his duty of governing for the good of his people. Accordingly, his test of his daughters demonstrates that he values a flattering public display of love over real love. Most readers conclude that Lear is simply blind to the truth, but Cordelia is already his favorite daughter at the beginning of the play, so presumably he knows that she loves him the most. Nevertheless, Lear values Goneril and Regan’s flattery over Cordelia’s sincere duty. Gloucester’s story runs parallel to Lear’s. Similar to Lear, Gloucester is portrayed as a father who fails to understand his children. He insults and jokes about Edmund, calling him a “whoreson” when Edmund stands next to him. In his first soliloquy Edmund reveals how much he resents the way his father treats him. This suggests that Gloucester shouldn’t trust Edmund, and that Gloucester himself is blind to his son’s true strengths and ambitions. Lear is mislead by Goneril and Regan’s praises, while Gloucester is tricked by Edmund’s deception. Ultimately, Lear expells Cordelia, the daughter who loves him, and Gloucester attempts to kill Edgar, the son who loves him. Both Lear and Gloucester end up as vagrants, wandering on the beach near Dover. The connection between Gloucester and Lear’s story overall reveals that Lear’s fate is not exceptional, which portrays how indifferent characters become to others suffering at the hands of their own children, and how it leads to their loss of power and their own downfall.

Nature is used to illustrate the atmosphere of the play and how it influences the behaviour of the characters. This is exemplified by the storm, which reflects the turbulent political environment Lear has created by pertaining power to Goneril and Regan. The weather also reflects Lear’s mental condition, as his confusion and grip on reality fails.

When Gloucester approaches a cliff, his “high and bending head looks fearfully in the confirmed deep.” (Shakespeare, 4.1 75-76). This describes the cliff as fear-provoking, which highlights nature’s control over human behaviors. The philosophy of nature is revealed when Cordelia talks about her father Lear, and the flowers and weeds he is using as a crown. She describes how “he was met even not as mad as the vexed sea, singing aloud, crowned with rank fumiter and furrow-weeds, with hardocks, hemlock, nettles, cuckoo-flowers, darnel, and all the idle weeds that grow in out sustaining corn.” (4.4 1-7) King Lear crafting a crown out of nature suggests that even in his poverty, nature nevertheless takes the position of utmost authority in all circumstances and prevails when humans are unsuccessful. The correlation between one's nature and the world is presented in terms of legitimizing the social order, which emphasizes the actions of Lear in regards to nature. The tragedy of Lear traces back to his attempt to overturn the “natural' social order” by ceding his crown to his daughters.

The ending of the play is presented in a melancholic tone, as almost all main character die, apart from Albany, Kent, and Edgar. Goneril, Regan, Cordelia, and Lear end up dead on stage, and Edmund and Gloucester die offstage. Albany philosophizes about his merciless end when he says, “All friends shall taste / The wages of their virtue, and all foes / The cup of their deserving” (5.3.301–303). These phrases suggest that order and justice have prevailed over tyranny, and that the world has become a just place after all. The contrasting emotions of hope and despair, joy and grief, love and hate, are particularly amplified in the final scene. Lear’s address to Cordelia at the beginning of the scene involves him creating an intimate atmosphere with a sense of love: “We two alone will sing like birds i’ the cage. / When thou dost ask me blessing, I’ll kneel down, / And ask of thee forgiveness” (5.3.9–11). However, this joyful vision is juxtaposed by the despair that Lear when Cordelia dies: “Thou’lt come no more, / Never, never, never, never, never.” (5.3.306–307). Despite his grief, Lear loses all hope, believing that Cordelia will come back to life. This last false hope reveals itself as both depressing and misleading.