Shakespeare's character Lear: how does he change?

In the play, Shakespeare develops the character of Lear from a King oblivious to the feelings and intentions of others, into a loving father, who cares deeply for his daughter.

The play is a tragedy. The dictionary offers 'play in which the hero is destroyed by a personal failing in adverse circumstances' as a definition. King Lear certainly fits the bill, although it could be argued that he is not altogether a hero at the start.

Act 1 Scene 1

King Lear decides to divide his kingdom up between his daughters.

But why is he doing this? He wishes to give up his responsibilities but retain the power associated with Kingship. This on its own is very self-centric behaviour, wanting power but the burden of leadership.

"To shake all cares and business from our age,

Conferring them on younger strengths while we

Unburdened crawl toward death"

The way Lear is deciding how much land to give his daughters is to judge how much they love him, irrespective of how well they could rule.

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This shows a disregard for the people of his kingdom, his only concern being for himself.

"Which of you shall we say doth love us most?

That we our largest bounty may extend"

Instead of abdicating responsibility to the daughter whom he believes would use it well, he attempts to measure their verbal praise for him, a task I consider to be impossible. Perhaps he needs the praise for his self confidence, but I think he is simply showing off to the other nobles present.

He is self-centered and greatly concerned with his reputation and appearance - a common theme in Shakespeare's other plays such as Much Ado About Nothing - reflecting their importance in the Elizabethan era.

Lear is also using the 'royal we'. This shows he thinks very highly of himself.

When Cordelia refuses to delegate praise Lear is angry. Her less elegant, but far more truthful response is not recognised by Lear.

"I love you majesty, According to my bond, no more no less."

"Here I disclaim all my paternal care"

Lear is reacting without thinking, his short temper getting the better of him and making him angry.

Kent attempts to reason with him, but Lear's anger continues to persecute the innocent. Despite Kent's loyal service and truthful words Lear, blinded by his power, banishes Kent, his best friend, from his kingdom. This is perhaps the first sign of Lear's madness, which strengthens greatly later in the play.

"Thy youngest daughter does not love you the least"

"Turn thy hated back upon our kingdom"

Act 3 Scenes 2 - 4

Lear is no longer oblivious to his elder daughters' mistreatment of him and realises he was foolish to dismiss Cordelia and Kent. He is initially self-pitying, dropping the 'royal we'.

"I never"

This shows another change in attitude.

On the heath there is a storm. But the storm is an example of pathetic fallacy; it reflects Lear's internal thoughts through a form of personification. Shakespeare shows this in several ways in the scenes.

Lear is talking to the storm, but if the storm is a reflection of him, he is essentially talking to himself. Many people consider talking to yourself to be a sign of madness.

Normally in Shakespeare's plays the important characters would speak using an 'iambic pentameter'. This means ten syllables in a line, five stressed, five not. In the storm scene Lear constantly deviates from ten syllables (using eleven or other numbers). Shakespeare has used this to show Lear's mind is confused.

"Vant-couriers of oak-cleaving thunderbolts

Singe my white head, and thou all shaking thunder"

Lear has clearly become mad due to awareness of his mistakes earlier in the play. He has nothing left of value to him and regrets his earlier actions and inability to see reality. Despite his predicament, he shows concern for others, urging Kent and the Fool to go inside into the safe.

"In boy, go first"

Whilst this is on the surface a dramatic shift in personality (an audience would not expect this after Lear's character at the start of the play) it is not surprising as it is a result of his continued madness.

Cordelia comes back from France and is forgiven by Lear. This is totally unlike the previous Lear's aggressive self-centered behaviour.

Act 5 Scene 3

Lear is distraught by the hanging of Cordelia. Grief fuels his madness. He is concerned only with his youngest daughter's death, ignoring Regan and Gonerill's fate.

"Howl, howl, howl, howl!"

This is a new form of a combination of blindness and madness. He is unable to see anything other than his favourite daughter Cordelia, although moving away from being self-centric; he is now only able to see her. This is another large shift in character since Act 3. Shakespeare uses repetition to show Lear's emotion.

Conclusion

At the start of the play Lear is very self-centered and oblivious to the lies he is facing. He then realises the truth, becomes mad due to his actions but also develops a sense of caring for others. Unfortunately the death of Cordelia makes him mad with grief and he is unable to care about anything else. This could be considered similar to the beginning of the play, however I think it is very different, because Lear is no longer 'blind' (at least not as much) and has a reason for his behaviour.

I believe the character of Lear provides a strong moral: those who are self-centered and easily blinded by others will have a unhappy ending - perhaps a tragic one. Unfortunately those who might benefit from this moral are unlikely to realise it applies to them.