The redemption of King Lear is unconvincing: the old man who begs forgiveness of his daughter cannot be the same old man who hanished her. Do you agree? Justify your answer.

The theme of the play is "the redemption of King Lear" Discuss.

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"For what takes place in King Lear, we can find no other word than renewal." Do you agree? Justify your answer.

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"The redemption of King Lear is unconvincing: the old man who begs forgiveness of his daughter cannot be the same old man who hanished her." Do you agree? Justify your answer.

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Analyze in detail the development of the character of Lear from Act to Act IV of the play.

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In what way is Lear at the end a different man from what he was at the beginning?

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Trace the development of the character of Lear in Shakespeare's play. Do you think that "The Redemption of Lear" would be a suitable title for the play?

From Haughtiness and Egoism to Gentleness and Humility

King Lear is a play which depicts the misfortunes resulting from the filial ingratitude shown to Lear by his two eldest daughters. The play depicts not only the suffering, mental and physical, which the old King undergoes but also the wholesome effect produced by this suffering on his character. The Lear who dies at the end of the play is a different man from the Lear whom we met in the opening scene. In other words, there is a marked development in his character. Lear at the beginning is a selfish, vain. egoistical, haughty, and dictatorial King. Towards the close of Act IV and then again in Act V we find that he has become gentle, sympathetic, and humble. Humility is, indeed, his most striking characteristic at the end of the play Between the beginning and the end, there are of course certain play mediate stages through which Lear passes. All we ond, he emerges as a man who wins all our sympathy and affection, and whom we begin to look upon with great respect. In view of this development in his character, we cas regard the theme of the play as the redemption of Lear In fact, "The Redemption of King Lear" would serve as a more appropriate title for the play. For the same reason we can describe the theme of the play as renewal The play depicts the renewal or regeneration of Lear, but it depicts the renewal or regeneration of Gloucester also.

His Childish Vanity and His Arbitrariness in the Opening Scene

In the opening scene, we find Lear betraying a childish vanity. He has already divided the kingdom among his daughters in his mind, and he has marked the different territories to be assigned to them on the map. And yet he declares that he will divide the kingdom in accordance with the degree of love which each of his three daughters feels and expresses for him. He calls upon them to express their affection for him only to satisfy his childish vanity. Indeed, he even knows that his youngest daughter loves him the most, just as he loves her the most. In spite of that, he proceeds to disown and disinherit her because she does not come up to his expectations in the expression of her love for him. In other words, he takes a drastic action against her for what he must have known to be a natural deficiency in her. He gives her a most severe punishment for her natural reserve and reticence of which he could not have been unaware. When Kent intervenes, he asks him to keep silent and, when Kent persists, he pronounces a sentence of banishment against him. Thus Lear appears here as a haughty, arrogant, short-sighted man seeking flattery, lacking in judgment of character, and taking arbitrary decisions. At this stage, we feel a strong dislike for him

A Dreadful Curse Uttered By Him upon Goneril

This impression of his character receives confirmation when, only a few days later, he quarrels with Goneril with whom, in accordance with the arrangement he had previously announced, he has been staying, Goneril complains about her father's objectionable behaviour and about the even more objectionable conduct of his knights; and there is no evidence that Goneril's complaint is baseless. We find Lear speaking to Goneril's steward in a haughty manner and striking the fellow for his rudeness. When Goneril bluntly tells him that his knights have been indulging in all kinds of indiscipline and rowdyism, he loses his temper and, finding Goneril to be intractable, utters an awful curse upon her. Even at this stage, we do not feel much sympathy for him, especially because the curse which he utters upon his daughter is so dreadful that it sends a cold shiver down our spines. No father in his right mind would utter such a curse on his own flesh and blood At the same time, during the quarrel with Goneril he realizes that he had been magnifying a "most small fault" in Cordelia. A little later he tells the Fool that he haded because he has wrong. This realization is a vital step in Lear's development because he has now become conscious of the great blunder he had committed at the time of his division of the kingdom.

Rejected By Both His Daughters: Our Sympathy for Him

Then comes his confrontation with Regan and, a few moments later, with both his daughters who now combine together to oppose his will. In this scene, Regan's defence of Goneril's attitude towards Lear comes as a shock to him, and matters become worse when both sisters adopt the same callous attitude towards him by disallowing him to keep even a small number of inights to attend upon him. He now feels grieved beyond all words and, addressing the heavens, he says: "You see me here, you gods, a poor old man, as full of grief as age; wretched in both !" He threatens his daughters with dire consequences, and goes out into the stormy night. At this stage Lear begins to win our deepest sympathies, and we begin to hate Goneril and Regan for their unnatural conduct.

The Beginning of a New Lear: His Moralizing

During the storm, Lear again appears to be a man of volcanic passions and a tempestuous nature. He throws a challenge at the elements, defying hem to do their utmost against him. His own rage and fury at this time match the rage and fury of the elements but as an old man he cannot remain unaffected by the violence of Nature. He does declare that "he will be a pattern of all patience," but it is not possible for him to keep to these words Under the stress of the storm and under the stress of his daughters' he shows signs of becoming somewhat philosophical. We perceive the beginning of a new Lear when he makes his first moralizing peech in which he declares that, in the terrible storm which is blowing, the great gods will find out who their enemies are. The murderer, the hypocrite, the pretender to virtue, the incestuous man, and other criminals and sinners of the same kind will surely expose themselves during this dreadful storm. He calls himself "a man more sinned against than sinning." When it is suggested to him that he should move to a nearby hovel, his first concern is for the Fool to whom he says:

Poor Fool and knave, I have one part in my heart 

That's sorry yet for thee.

At this stage we find that Lear is becoming aware of the suffering of others. besides his own suffering. There is thus a distinct development in him. At the same time, Lear now feels that his wits have begun to turn,

His Sympathy for the Poor Naked Wretches

When asked to enter the hovel, Lear replies that there is a storm blowing within him also. This storm, he says, has been caused by the filial ingratitude of his daughters. He urges the Fool to enter the hovel first, and himself pauses to address the poor naked wretches who in this pitiless storm have no roofs .....