Quotations

Topic:
Sight and Blindness

Thesis:
The concept of blindly placing trust in people can result in much suffering which Shakespeare shows through the integration of character development in his play King Lear. This teaches people to seek the truth before making ignorant decisions.

Gloucester's Blindness:

Argument
People who are blinded by their temporary emotional instabilities fail to make an attempt to closely examine their situation which and are thus easily deceived.

"O villain, villain! His very opinion in the letter!
Abhorred villain! Unnatural, detested, brutish villain!
Worse than brutish! Go, sirrah, seek him. I'll appre-
hend him. Abominable villain! Where is he?
(1.2.75-78) pg. 37

Context
Gloucester becomes enraged when he reads a letter from Edmund which he claims his brother Edgar wrote. The letter's content discusses a supposed plot from Edgar to kill Gloucester in order to inherit his fathers wealth immediately. Gloucester asks brief questions about the handwriting of the letter and immediately believes Edmund's word concluding that Edgar is the culprit.

Explanation
Gloucester is speaking to his son Edmund who had just given him a letter that he made but says is from Edgar, Gloucester's other son. Without further investigating the situation, Gloucester immediately believes what Edmund tells him and concludes that Edgar is a "villain". Gloucester's failure to seek both sides of this story before placing all his trust into Edmund's letter demonstrates how Gloucester blinds himself from the truth through ignorance. Gloucester's misconception of the truth due to his lack of consideration causes him to misconceive the true nature of both his sons.

"I have no way, and there want no eyes;
I stumbled when I saw. Full oft 'tis seen
Our  means secure us, and our mere defects
Prove our commodities. O dear son Edgar,
The food of thy abused father's wrath;
Might I but live to see thee in my touch,
I'd say I had eyes again!"
(4.1.18-24) pg. 207

Context
Gloucester had just been blinded and is being led by an old man towards Dover. In this quotation, Gloucester is convincing the old man to leave him to wander on his own.

Explanation
Gloucester tries to convince the old man to leave him despite being blind because he feels an absence of direction in his life.When he did see, he "stumbled" because he failed to recognize the truth behind Edmund's lies. Gloucester believed what Edmund told him immediately without much investigation of the legitimacy behind Edmund's words. In this quotation, Gloucester admits that his actions are a result of the fatherly wrath that he had when he first heard the news of Edgar wanting to kill him. Gloucester could not believe that his most beloved son would have such destructive motives towards him. The wrath that Gloucester felt at the thought of his son's betrayal blinded him from seeing Edgar's innocence and thus led him to naively comply with Edmund's deceptive plan. Before Gloucester was blinded, he failed to seek both sides of the story from his sons and only through physically being blinded does he finally recognize that he has, in a metaphorical sense, been blind when he could see. The hardships that Gloucester endures as a result of his rash decisions lead him to finally recognize his failure to further investigate the likely hood of Edgar betraying him. Although Gloucester is blind, he finally gains insight into the nature of the people around him.

Lear's Blindness: 

Argument
When those who thoughtlessly give away all of their power to others, they suffer from the mistreatment of their own kind. This teaches people to make decisions based on what they know, not on what they want to hear.

"...With my two daughters' dowers digest the third;
Let pride, which she calls plainness, marry her.
I do invest you jointly with my power,
Preëminence, and all the large effects
That troop with majesty. Ourself, by monthly course,
With reservation of an hundred knights
By you to be sustained, shall our abode
Make with you by due turn. Only we shall retain
The name, and all th' additions to a king. The sway,
Revenue, execution of the rest,
Beloved sons, be yours; which to confirm,
This coronet part between you.
(1.1.130-141) pg. 15

Context
During a heated argument between Kent and Lear, Lear wrathfully divides his kingdom between his two eldest daughters and banishes Cordelia. This takes place after his three daughters were each given an opportunity to please Lear through flattery in order to receive a portion of the kingdom.

Explanation
Lear is blinded to the true motives of those around him when he wrathfully sends Cordelia into exile and carelessly gives everything he has away. Lear is ignorant to the fact that only retaining his title as a king is powerless without any land or authority to support him. He believes that his hundred knights and his remaining two daughters will be enough to sustain him. Lear's choices are made based off of the quality to which his daughters profess their love towards him. Instead of seeking a wiser basis for his decisions, Lear becomes enraged when his youngest, most loved daughter Cordelia refuses to show her love in the same way that her sisters do. Lear concludes that Cordelia is prideful and while blinded by his fury, he strips himself of all authority. Lear's foolishness led him to give away everything that he had, including the daughter that truly cared the most about him. In the heat of his wrath, Lear feels that what he is doing is right however in reality he fails to see that his ignorance has brought him to powerless state, where all his wealth now rests in this hands of his two eldest daughters.

"...All that follow their noses
are led by their eyes but blind men, and there's not
a nose among twenty but can smell him that's stinking"
(2.4.68-70) pg. 119

Context
At this moment in the play, Kent has been put in the stocks by Lear's daughters. Lear cannot believe that his daughters would do such a thing to dishonor the King. Lear feels dishonored because mistreating his servant symbolizes the daughters' disrespect towards the King. The fool see's Kent in the stocks and begins to mocks him for following Lear; an old and powerless man.

Explanation

This quote is significant to Lear’s blindness because it demonstrates Lear's ignorance towards the fact that Goneril and Regan are trying to get rid of him. Lear lets his eyes deceive him because he believes that Goneril and Regan adore him due to their false expression of love. The fool states that even a blind man can “see” the truth in the situation by using his sense of smell. The fool makes a parallel between vision and foolishness. He implies that those who follow Lear are blind and thus foolish because they still follow him even after recognizing his fallen fortunes. Lear, who's power and authority once made him worthy of following, is no longer in his possession after he divides his kingdom between his two daughters and leaves nothing but a powerless title to himself. Lear's situation after giving all his power away is so drastically different from before that even those who can not physically see what is happening can tell that his decision to give away his kingdom was hastily made. If Lear had clearly thought through his choice before giving everything away, he would not be left with nothing and the kingdom would not have fallen into his daughters' corrupted hands.

Lear's Blindness:

Argument
When people do not take heed the warnings of others, they will as a result end up suffering from emotional pain.

"See better, Lear; and let me still remain
The true blank of thine eye"
(1.1.160-161) pg. 17

Context
In this quotation, when Kent tells Lear to "see better", Kent wants Lear to realize that what he is doing by banishing Cordelia is wrong. On top of that, Kent wants Lear to realize that his two daughters, Goneril and Regan, are deceiving him. Kent is aware of the fact that Lear is being played by his daughters Regan and Goneril and wants Lear to to realize who is truly on his side.

Explanation
Though Kent is both warning and admonishing Lear to see his wrong and notice the mistake he is about to make, Lear still continues to split his kingdom between his two disloyal daughters. Lear's resolution to divide his kingdom is based solely on the level of flattery his daughters display before him. This shows that Lear is foolish because he places his country into the hands of those who show affection through empty words rather than meaningful actions. Kent urges Lear to "better" reevaluate his decision to disown Cordelia based off of rash judgments made through anger. However, Lear refuses Kent's advice and thus blindly places trust in his two eldest daughters because he did not realize that they were both against him.

"Rumble thy bellyful! Spit, fire! Spout, rain!
Nor rain, wind, thunder, fire are my daughters.
I tax not you, you elements, with unkindness.
I never gave you kingdom, called you children,
You owe me no subscription. Then let fall
Your horrible pleasure. Here I stand your slave,
A poor, infirm, weak, and despised old man.
But yet I call you servile ministers,
That will with two pernicious daughters join
Your high-engendered battles 'gainst a head
So old and white as this! O, ho! 'Tis foul!
(3.2.14-24) pg. 147

Context
In another part of the heath, Lear stands in the storm and rages against the struggles of his life. Lear begins to show signs of insanity yet ironically, for the first time in the play, he also starts making logical statements regarding his daughters' lack of respect and betrayal. This is the point where Lear realizes that his daughters have deceived him. This is also the turning point in Lear's life.

Explanation
In this quotation, Lear is finally starting to see the things that he did not before; how his daughters, Goneril and Regan, never truly loved him and just flattered him to get what they wanted. This caused Lear much suffering because as he is being bombarded by the and realization of his situation, his sorrows and regrets drive him to insanity. Shakespeare displays Lear's development through pathetic fallacy and epiphany. Lear's epiphany is that he realizes the truth, and at the same time, the raging storm reflects his emotional state, which is a result of his lack of prior judgement.

Message: 

1. Don't always take things at face value but seek to acquire further knowledge.
2. If it's too bad/good to be true, it most likely is. 
3. Do not allow yourself to be blinded by ignorance in seeking satisfaction. 

By Aleah, Anders & Stephanie