Fate in "King Lear".

Essay by Neo_LawrenceCollege, UndergraduateA-, June 2004

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Fate

In the play King Lear fate decides where each person will go, how they live and how they die. Each character in the play believes in god or a higher power that is responsible for the good and unfortunate events in their lives. Fate places situations on each of them and it is up to the characters to decide how they will play out the situation. Each character blames the gods for their ill fortunes and complicated lives. When one lives under the notion that there is a divine power guiding them through their life they feel more confidante knowing there is someone watching out for them. There is one major plot in this play with an almost as important sub plot. The major plot is King Lear and his daughters. An old man loosing his mind and his two daughters are trying to control him as if he were a child instead of a king.

The second plot involves Edgar the legitimate son of the Earl of Gloucester and Edmund the illegitimate son. Edmund is a vile man full of hatred and greed for power. Edmund betrays his brother and father in order to accumulate power. It is fate that brings the characters of this play to commit the acts and make the decisions that decide their destiny. The play starts off as a slightly insane King Lear divides his land up between his daughters. His two eldest daughters tell him lies to flatter him and the youngest daughter tells him truth which he is blind to see. The king did not choose to grow old, the king did not choose for his life to slowly come to an end and the king did not and could not choose to be insane that is something only fate and...