King Lear Character Development Essay - 1662 Words

King Lear is understandably one of William Shakespeare’s greatest tragedies, it encompasses the journey through suffering and explores, in detail, the idea of justice. Each character in the play experience s one or the other throughout the progression of the plot, it is evident that through compositional features such as these, the play write is trying to convey this meaning. Through methods such as intense imagery, motifs, repetition of words and rhyming the play write has given intensity to certain passages, speeches and conversations. Shakespeare, through the use of character development, unravels the way in which humanity responds to injustice, the character relationships, specifically character foils, give rise to a number of notions†¦show more content†¦Ã¢â‚¬ËœApart from Lear and Gloucester, the dramatic persons fall naturally into two parties, good and bad. First we have Cordelia, France, Albany, Kent, Fool and Edgar. Second, Gonerill, Regan, Burgundy, Cornwall , Oswald and Edmund. But none are wholly good or bad except perhaps Cordelia and Cornwall respectively. (G. Wilson Knight, 1930) Labelling characters in these two categories allows for a clearer distinction between what is ‘just’ and what is ‘unjust’, in fact the words are almost interchangeable. Those who are unjust are labelled as ‘bad’ those who are just are labelled as ‘good’. Perhaps in itself an unjust assumption, but none the less still relevant to the topic. Lear labels Cordelia, a solely honest and pure character, as a bad person due only to the fact she would not lie for the benefit, and furthermost of herself. Shakespeare begins to tackle the idea of injustice served to those who are indeed ‘just’ from the first act. Despite the blindness her father shows toward her France could see the ‘good’ from the beginning vowing he would take her without her dowry. ‘Love’s not love when it is mingled with regards that stands aloof from th’entire point. Will you have her? She is herself a dowry.’ Although Cordelia is at first wronged, it seems in a bid to correct the issue Shakespeare has granted her the gift of a new life far away from those filled with negativity and neglect. And in so it appears thatShow MoreRelatedEssay on The Development of the Character of King Lear1132 Words   |  5 Pagesâ€Å"King Lear† is one of the most complicated of all Shakespeares plays. It is about political authority as much as it is about family dynamics. It is a ruthless play, filled with human cruelty and awful, nonsensical disasters. Lear, an autocratic leader, is the king of Britain and has three daughters, Regan, Cordelia and Goneril. 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