King Lear's denial derives from his blindness towards Regan and Cornwall's deceitful actions. He cannot see his daughter's and her husband's true motives, since they are masked by lies and deception. Lear and his followers arrive at Gloucester's castle. Kent hails the king, who promptly asks who has placed his messenger in stocks. When Lear finds out it was Regan and Cornwall who did this to Kent, Lear immediately refuses to believe they would imprison and disgrace someone in their King's employ: "They durst not do't: They could not, would not do't---tis worse than murder" (II.iv.
Under normal circumstances banishment is viewed as a punishment and as a big inconvenience. However, for the characters in King Lear this is not the case. This first becomes apparent when King Lear banishes Cordelia, his daughter, from his property and denies her of her inheritance. His intent is that she should become penniless and worthless. Fortunately for Cordelia, the King of France still finds her appealing as ever, if not more appealing, and they wed.
Hamlet portrays falsity when using rage against Ophelia after discovering she has been apart of a plot of revenge. He uses this as an opportunity to deny his love for her and degrade her until she felt horrible about her self. “I did love you once but you should have not belived me; for virtue cannot so inoculate our old stock but we shall relish of it. I loved you not.”(3.1.114-119). It becomes clear that Hamlet did truly love Ophelia, yet hid it because he was a coward.
Claudius, who is “won to his shameful lust”, marries his brother’s wife. This act was forbidden by the church and was most likely considered sinful by the audience and by Shakespeare himself as it implies adultery. We see that Hamlet’s comparison of Claudius to a “satyr” to be quite accurate due to Claudius’ lecherous character since he commits sin to feed his shameful lust. Claudius commits these acts with one thought in mind: to reach his own goals. This
Discuss the importance of appearance and reality in King Lear. The battle between appearance and reality runs throughout the play of King Lear. Lear’s ignorance and lack of interest of reality, and the obsession of his appearance, lead him to his downfall as it causes him to put all of his power in the hands of the two daughters that do not care about him. August Wilhelm Schlegal claimed that appearance and ‘humanity is stripped of all external and internal advantages and given up prey to naked helplessness’, in order for lear to come to terms with humanity and its reality. Lear is not necessarily blind to reality, the fact is that he just chooses to ignore it.
When faced with such situations, a man may be the victim of his own demise. Oedipus Rex has a balance of irony as well as symbolism. There is a good deal in the play about seeing and blindness. Blindness is displayed as Oedipus does not have the realization that Iokaste is his real mother. In his heart he truly believes he is the biological son of Polybos and Merope.
If it be so (as so’tis put on me, / And that in way of caution), I must tell you/ You do not understand yourself so clearly/ As it behooves my daughter and your honor.”(I, iii, 99-106) Even Ophelia’s brother and father warn her about Hamlet, and how he may be using her but she does not listen because she is in love with Hamlet and does not believe he would use her. “Perhaps he loves you now, / And now no soil nor cautel doth besmirch/ The virtue of his will; but you must fear, / His greatness weighed, his will is not his own,” (I, iii, 17-20). After finding out that Hamlet murder her father and left for England, Ophelia is shock and goes mad because she thinks Hamlet
He tries to accomplish his goal by hiding his sin but is distressed because of his pursuit of what he believes to- be happiness. Towards the end of the play his struggles eventually end in his downfall. His courage to stand strong in his beliefs leads him to death at the gallows. His personal struggle with Elizabeth is resolved as he makes his decision to refuse to confess to witchcraft. Elizabeth sees his inner goodness shine when he refuses to lie about being involved in witchcraft, and she realizes how unfair she has been.
“Friar Lawrence, less ambitious and more desperate than his fellow manipulators, does not hope that Juliet’s death will dissolve the families’ hatreds but only that it will give Romeo and chance to come and carry her off” (Snyder). At this point Romeo and Juliet’s relationship could not solve the problems between the families and the Friar was only uniting them. This is what made the Friar so repulsive. Even now after deaths and family issues, He treated the situation like a game. “Hold, daughter, I do spy a kind of hope, / Which craves as desperate an execution / As that is desperate which we would prevent (4.1.69-71).
Macbeth being hesitant and indecisive allows Lady Macbeth to overcome and influence him to do any wicked deed. Lady Macbeth feels her husband lacks the drive and courage to go through with the assassination of King Duncan. She explains, “Glamis thou art, an Cawdor; and shalt be what thou art promis’d. –Yet do I fear thy nature: it is too full o’ th’ milk of human kindness, to catch the nearest way. Thou wouldst be great; Art not without ambition, but without the illness should attend it” (I.v.15-20) With this, she realizes that Macbeth is to laid back or nonchalant when he is not on the battle field.