King Lear: an unlikeable yet sympathetic character
“lear is not a particularly likeable character, but the play encourages us to feel profound sympathy for him, and take his side.”.
You may also like: Complete Guide: H1 Leaving Cert English and King Lear: Full Guide for Leaving Cert English
Lear’s insults continue when he disowns Goneril, calling her a “degenerate bastard!” and cursing her by saying “from her derogate body never spring a babe to honor her! ” This is a disrespectful move on Lear’s part as the reason for her banishment is the fact that she will not allow Lear to have a hundred knights. Lear is no longer King, so he has no excuse at all to be aloof and unreasonable, yet he continues to act arrogantly and impatiently in the homes of his daughters: “ Go tell the duke and ’s wife I’d speak with them— Now, presently .” His arrogance is, once again, demonstrated when he finds Kent in the stocks. “What’s he that hath so much thy place mistook to set thee here? ” Instead of sympathising with Kent, he immediately is appalled at the idea of someone putting his servant into the stocks. Lear’s repeatedly demonstrates his negative traits causing us to dislike him.
While Lear is at fault, many of the other characters have also acted cruelly and disrespectfully towards him. This causes us to feel more sympathy for him as the play progresses. This is particularly the noticeable with Regan and Goneril. Goneril tells her servants to “put on what weary negligence you please,” when Lear is staying with her. She intends for Lear to have a miserable time whilst in her house. Regan acts in the same way when he is with her, and then tells her servants to lock him out in the storm: “Shut up your doors.” His daughters’ cruelty show us that they do not respect him as a father and are not thankful for the land he has given him. This makes us pity Lear, and we begin to feel stronger dislike towards Goneril and Regan, rather than him. What makes us feel even more sympathy for Lear are his daughters’ motive s . They are not only acting maliciously towards him because of his actions, but they also recognise the fact that he is weak and getting old. “O Sir, you are old. Nature in you stands on the very verge of her confine,” Regan says to him. This shows us that his daughters still disrespect him despite the fact that they know he is weak. At this point we begin to take Lear’s side over his daughters’.
You Might Also Like
Unseen poetry. “the window” by aine carey , the great gatsby guide: idealism and corruption, robert frost guide: insights and accessible language.
IMAGES
VIDEO