Free Essay on Shakespeares King Lear - Is King Lear a Good King? :: King Lear essays

Is queen regnant Lear a true King?   At the beginning of the play we learn that King Lear is aged and wishes to retire from his position of King of Britain. The purpose greatly alters his life and the lives of those virtually him. He is accustomed to proponent and flattery from his subjects and expects the same regard and judgement from his female childs. On his retirement he makes a very foolish conclusiveness to divide his queen mole ratdom among his three daughters.   Give me the map there. Know we pay back divide In three our ground and tis our fast intent to jolt all cares and business from our age (Act I, i, 37-39) .   Lear surrenders all his power and land to his daughters as a reward for their fake demonstration of love towards him. This rash decision leads to his imminent downfall.   The reader can actually foresee the breakdown of King Lear and his loss of control and order. Lear foolishly becomes angry at his youngest and favorite daught er because she refuses to phrase her love and affections. Lear then banishes Cordelia. This foolish act causes Lear to become penetrable to his other two evil daughters as they conspire against him. After by and by realizing his mistake and how little G wholeness(a)ril and Regan care about him, he begins to go mad. withal right from the start I had to question if he wasnt mad already. What king would just retire and divide up a powerful and rugged kingdom? A Kingdom is run best under one ruler because only one decision is made without any contradiction. Dividing up a Kingdom politically has many disadvantages that Lear doesnt seem to realize. A Kingdom divided means there pass on be more than one ruler and a difference of opinion will occur. There will always be disagreements and arguments which may end in haste, creating tension betwixt the rulers, especially if they are related and are envious of each others power and are fighting over the same love interest. Although Lear m ay come up he had a good reason to divide his land there really is no rational reason for his action. He only divided his land so he could be showered with loving words from his daughters. His disposition to fuel his ego by abdicating his throne for reward eventually causes him to slip everything, including his family and even his sanity.