King Lear's Character from Page 1-4

538 Words3 Pages
King Lear is an authoritarian figure with a very unpredictable mind. We can see this from the first page when Kent and Gloucester discusses which Duke Lear had preferred which shows that people wanted to know what was on Lear’s mind because of his power just like how we like to hear celebrity’s gossip in the 21st century. ‘I thought the King had more affected the Duke of Albany than Cornwell’. We can also see Lear’s superiority throughout the first four pages, his authoritarian position is highlighted by his extravagant entrance. People had to walk behind him, a message was sent to others to notify his arrival ‘The King is coming’ and a cornet was played to accent his importance. I think Lear is very ‘uptight’ even when he was just with his family, I think his display of his importance creates a sense of distance between him and his daughters. I would question their relationships as how would you be able to develop a close relationship with your Dad when he is always highlighting the ‘gap’ between you and him? On page two, Lear relied on the test of his daughters’ love for him to split their dowry ’Which of you shall we say doth love us most?’ shows his shallowness and has tell us that he enjoyed the idea of people ‘idolizing’ him and flattering him with words. It showed his shallowness because I thought he had looked over speeches of ‘love for him’ that was embellished by his older daughters so much’ Sir, I love you more than words can wield the matter…’ that he had no sense to realize how fake they were in comparison to Cordelia’s honesty ‘I am sure my love’s more richer than my tongue’. Lear’s angry response to Cordelia’s simple speech shows his desire and stubbornness for others to flatter him ‘Mend your speech a little’ ‘Nothing can come of nothing’. I think the mistakes Lear makes and his anger towards Kent from page 2 onwards shows his extreme pride as
Open Document