King Lear: Consequences Of One Man's Decisions

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his
throne. He goes on further to offer pieces of his kingdom to his daughters
as a form of reward to his test of love.

"Great rivals in our youngest daughter's love,
Long in our court have made their amorous
sojourn, And here are to be answered. Tell me, my
daughters (Since now we will divest us both of rule,
Interest of territory, cares of state),
Which of you shall we say doth love us most?
That we our largest bounty may extend
where nature doth with merit challenge."
(Act I, Sc i, Ln 47-53)

This is the first and most significant of the many sins that he makes in
this play. By abdicating his throne to fuel his ego he is disrupts the
great chain of being which states that the King must not challenge the
position that God has given him. This undermining of God's authority
results in chaos that tears apart Lear's world. Leaving him, in the end,
with nothing. Following this Lear begins to banish those around him ...

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is at the end of the play when Cordelia is killed. Lear
says this before he himself dies as he cannot live without his daughter.

"Howl, howl, howl! O, you are men of stones.
Had I your tongues and eyes, I'd use them so
That heaven's vault should crack. She's gone
for ever!
I know when one is dead, and when one lives.
She's dead as earth. Lend me a looking glass.
If that her breath will mist or stain the
stone,
Why, then she lives."
(Act V, Sc iii, Ln 306-312)


All of this pain that Lear suffered is traced back to the single most
important error that he made. The choice to give up his throne. This one
sin has ...

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