The division of Britain by King Lear was the underlying cause of the undoing and eventual death of King Lear and almost everyone around him. Amidst the chaos created by the division of the kingdom, various characters came to different conclusions about themselves and the situation that had occurred. King Lear and the Earl of Gloucester are two characters who find themselves in similar situations, where they do not love the one who loves them back. However, the results of their actions end differently for both.
King Lear sees that he is the underlying cause for the mess that has occurred in his kingdom and also recognizes that Cordelia loved him, while Regan and Goneril did not. In the end, he dies in order to pay for his actions that have done so much wrong.
King Lear's decision to divide the kingdom was supposed to be an easy one.
"King Lear and the Fool in the Storm" by William D...
Goneril and Regan from King Lear
18th-century depiction of King Lear mourning over ...His plan on finding which daughter loves him backfires on King Lear, because of his ignorance. His expulsion of Cordelia from the kingdom places his throne in the hands of his two daughters, who do not love him. He, in essence, never did love Cordelia; else he would have recognized her silence as her love for him. He places his love and trust in the wrong individuals, and because of that, everything around him begins to fall apart.
Lear's two daughters, Regan and Goneril, were blatant liars about their love for Lear from the start. Both of them were married, and yet the love they professed for their father was too extreme for a fatherly love, and was rather an incestuous love. Goneril cries out, "Sir, I love you more than the word can wield the matter; dearer than eyesight, space and liberty; beyond what can be valued, rich...