Stories I Wrote During My School Life

King Lear Essay: The Effects of Loving Your Child

Essay Prompt: Examine the parent/child relationship in King Lear and analyze the impact of love on the children.

Have you ever thought about the effects of love? The positives and negatives to receiving and giving love to someone, like a friend or a family member? In the play King Lear by Shakespeare, King Lear lost everything he had for what he thought was love. He had let his pride stand in the way of what was truly happening, a takeover. What makes it even worse is that his kingdom was taken over by those whom he trusted, his daughters. Love, amongst other things, is one of the most important things that you can give to your children for them to grow.

In the play, Lear decided to divide his kingdom up and give it to his three daughters, but there was one catch. He chose to base who got what part by how much they said they loved him. This was one of Lear's first fatal mistakes. His two older daughters, Goneril and Regan, decided to flatter him and feed into his pride. Goneril said to him, " Sir, I love you more than word can wield the matter, dearer than eyesight, space, and liberty, beyond what can be valued rich or rare...beyond all manner of so much I love you" (1.1.60-1.1.67). Goneril was trying to feed Lear's ego to get a better piece of Britain, and it had worked because Lear pointed to the area of Britain he was giving to her. Next was Regan, and she had said, "In my true heart I find she comes too short, that I profess myself an enemy to all other joys..."(1.1.77-1.1.80). Like her sister before her, she was trying to stoke Lear's ego into giving her better land than her sister. Cordelia was the last of the sisters to speak to Lear. When Lear asked her to speak, she told him, "Nothing, my lord." (1.1.96). Lear's reply to Cordelia's answer was, "Nothing will come of nothing" (1.1.99). Then Lear kicks her out of sight and gives her to France. Each of their responses has a different outcome.

A couple of acts later is where Lear's different levels of his love for his children come into play. Lear had split his kingdom into two, one half to Regan and the other half to Goneril. But he had said that he would spend each month with one of the two starting with Goneril. When Lear had arrived at her house, she had not shown herself at first but sent out her servant to talk with Lear and his men. When she finally came out and spoke with Lear, she had insulted him and his men with him. She had said, "This admiration, sir, is much o' th' savor of other your new pranks. I do beseech you To understand my purposes aright. As you are old and reverend, should be wise. Here do you keep a hundred knights and squires, men so disordered, so debauched and bold, that this our court, infected with their manners. Shows like a riotous inn... By her that else will take the thing she begs, a little to disquantity your train." (1.4.244-1.4.256). Basically, she had said that he's being stupid for keeping the company of his men because they are slobs and that he should get rid of some of them. Lear got angry and cursed her out, and left for Regan's. Goneril decided to warn her sister of Lear's arrival.

After Lear had arrived at Regan's and Cornwall's house, he first saw Kent, disguised as Kaius, in the stocks and was angry that he was there. Then he spoke to Regan about Goneril's treatment of him and his men. He told her, "Belovéd, Regan, Thy sister's naught. O Regan, she hath tied sharp-toothed unkindness, like a vulture, here. I can scarce speak to thee. Thou 'lt not believe with how depraved a quality–O Regan!" (2.4.149-2.4.153). Her response was that he must have misunderstood Goneril and how she would never fail her duty as his daughter. Then she insults him as well, saying, "O sir, you are old. Nature in you stands on the very verge of his confine. You should be ruled and led By some discretion that discerns your state Better than you yourself. Therefore, I pray you That to our sister you do make return. Say you have wronged her." (2.4.164–2.4.170). She had called him old and told him that he should submit to those around them. She also tells him to go back to Goneril's and apologize to her. He then begged her to let him stay, but she again refused and told him to return to Goneril's. After hearing that from Regan, Lear insulted Goneril, saying that she should go to hell and hoped she would get sick. Goneril then shows up next to Regan, and Regan told Lear, again, to get rid of half his knights and go back with Goneril. Regan and Goneril then go back and forth about the number of knights and servants he actually needed. Lear injects himself, saying, "I gave you all–" (2.4.286). Regan cut him off, saying, "And in good time you gave it." (2.4.287). Then a storm started, and Lear left into the storm. After they left, Regan and Goneril had shared a few words about him, saying that there was no room for an old man and that it was his own fault and had to pay the price. They don't care about what happens to him during the storm.

A few acts later, Cordelia enters again, worried about her father. She had said, "Alack 'tis he! Why, he was met even now as mad as the vexed sea... A century send forth. Search every acre in the high-grown field and bring him to our eye." (4.4.1-4.4.8). Even having not seen Lear in forever and being kicked out and disowned by him, she still cares about him and his wellbeing. Unlike her sisters, who would instead leave him in a dangerous storm to die.

Another example of the effects that love has was in the subplot of the play, with Gloucester and his two sons. Gloucester loved the son he had with his wife more than he loved his bastard child. And because of the different treatment of his sons ultimately led to his demise. Edmund, the bastard child, wrote a fake letter saying it was from Edgar about overthrowing their father because he's getting too old. Gloucester believed Edmund and Edmund left to "find" his brother. When Edmund found Edgar, he "helped" his brother hide and run. Fast-forwarding to act III, scene VI, Edmund betrayed his father and took his properties. After Gloucester lost his eyes, one of the only ones to help him was Edgar. Even after everything that had happened to him, he still chose to help his father because he truly loved him. He was there to stop Gloucester from killing himself, unlike his brother, who betrayed him because of how he was treated.

The differences in how each character acts are based on how their father's treated them. With Goneril and Regan, Lear didn't show them as much love as Cordelia. Lear had said, "I loved her most and thought to set my rest on her kind nursery." (1.1.137). Which resulted in Cordelia caring about Lear more than her sisters did. As for Edgar and Edmund, Gloucester loved Edgar more because he was not the bastard son. Which resulted in Edmund being angry at them both and hurting them as he felt they hurt him.