King lear

Metaphor Analysis

Gloucester's Eyes: Gloucester was tortured and had his eyes popped out because of his blindness while alive. The fact that he couldn't tell the true nature of his own sons made him blind long before he actually lost his sight. Like Lear's fading sanity, he seems to be able to discern things more clearly after he loses his sight.
Declarations of Love: When the daughtersdeclare their love for their father, they are really declaring their greed. When Cordelia does not profess her love, she has no greed for the things her father can offer her. This is also true with Edmund who tells his father and the two elder sisters that he loves them in order to gain more wealth.
The Storm: In act three, a storm rages that represents the turmoil going on inside King Lear.His passion overflows with his anger and his sanity begins to wane. He is caught up in his own emotions just as he is caught unprotected in the storm. He has seemed to abandon rational thought when he abandons the house of his daughters.
Lear's Daughters: All of Lear's daughters are different pieces of himself. Regan and Goneril represent the darker side of Lear's character such as his cruelty,greed, passion, and pride. Cordelia represents the softer, purer nature of himself that only truly comes out in the end of the play. When he turns over his land to his daughters, he seems to be turning over to them the characteristics in himself that he most deplores. At one point in the play he states that his daughters drive him crazy, but it really is his inherent nature that propels himinto insanity.


Character Profiles

King Lear:Thinking himself old before his time, King Lear allows his vanity to get the better of him when he asks his daughters to publicly declare their love for him. When his plan goes awry and one of his daughters refuses to do it, he cuts her off and leaves her powerless. He divides up Britain between his other two daughters, Regan and Goneril, onlyto later find out they don't want him around. Pushed to insanity because of his decision, he learns to hate his two daughters who outwardly spoke their love for him, and love the daughter who refused. Shakespeare shows Lear to have an extremely passionate nature that leads him into trouble that can harm his himself and his comrades.
Goneril: The eldest of his daughters, Goneril is the first tostart the disagreements with her father. Once he relinquishes control to her, she loses her need for him, and with it, her love. She is greedy and devious, planning to kill her own husband, the Duke of Albany, to take another man. She is also shown to be cruel and envious.
Regan: Much like her sister Goneril, Regan is exceptionally greedy. When her father comes to her for aide, she turns himaway and rejoices in his being trapped out in the storm. Also like her sister she has a cruel nature in that she cheers for her husband putting out the Earl of Gloucester's eyes. Also like her sister, she is envious and deceitful which becomes the death of her when Goneril poisons her. When her husband, the Duke of Cornwall dies, she shoes no remorse and quickly seeks the marry Edmund.Cordelia: The King's youngest daughter who Shakespeare shows to have the best character. When she refuses to profess her love to her father, he leaves her without a dowry, but instead of being bitter and greedy, she accepts it and marries the King of France. She is outraged by her sister's treatment of their father, and strives only to make amends with the man she loves.
Duke of Albany: Goneril'shusband who is nobler than her brother in law, the Duke of Cornwall is. Albany does not agree with the way his wife treated Lear or Gloucester, and though he fought against Cordelia, he is one of the less cruel and greedy characters in the play.
Duke of Cornwall: Opposite of the Duke of Albany, Regan's husband is greedy and exceptionally cruel. He delights in popping out Gloucester's eyes....