King Lear

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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 that genuinely care for him as at this
stage he cannot see beyond the mask that the evil
wear. He banishes Kent, ...

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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 proven to have massive
repercussions upon Lear and the lives of those around him
eventually killing almost all of those who were involved.
And one is left to ask one's self if ...

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