English Literature Essay Assignment 1: King Lear

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English Literature Essay 1: King Lear
King Lear does a great mistake towards the end of kingship that leads to his gradual development of madness after he is swayed by flattering words by two of his daughters and divides his throne into two for them. Shortly after deciding that the two flattering daughters are the sole owners to the throne, King Lear is driven to the rope’s end. It reaches a point that he feels useless and powerless and regrets everything he had done. While he had been patient, his patience wears out after his servants and knights are taken away from him. He realizes that his two daughters do not respect the little authority Lear holds. This is the point he realizes that his daughters have gone past their boundaries and thus rages against them saying,
O, reason not the need! Our basest beggars/ Are in the poorest thing superfluous. Allow not nature more than nature needs, Man’s life’s as cheap as beast’s …….You heavens, give me that patience, patience I need!……If it be you that stir these daughters’ hearts/ Against their father, fool me not so much/ To bear it tamely; touch me with noble anger, And let not women’s weapons, water-drops, Stain my man’s cheeks! No, you unnatural hags, …….No, I’ll not weep. I have full cause of weeping, but this heart/ Shall break into a hundred thousand flaws, Or ere I’ll weep. O fool, I shall go mad! (Shakespeare 2.4.259–281)
In this passage, Lear regrets having being lied to by his two daughters; Regan and Goneril. He cannot believe that the good words spoken by his two daughters were only lies that were to turn into dire cruelties and drive him to the end of his rope. He wraths against the daughters while explaining their attempts to withdraw his servants and knights, which strikes his heart. He cries, “O, reason not the need” as he explains how human beings could be equated to animals if they needed only the fundamental necessities for happiness as animals do. It is only that human beings have more needs making them a bit different from animals. This explains that Lear could be comfortable without attendants and knights. However, he does not need them only for their services but because of the significance of their presence to him. Since he has been a king, he expects to have his identity respected and this can be done through presence of servants. This is the reason he feels that his daughters undermines his little authority when they withdraw the servants. He therefore needs all necessities required by human beings plus...