Shakespeare's King Lear: The Downfall of The Power and The Blind King
In Shakespeare' s tragedy, it is not the crown that is lost, but the heart itself.
King Lear is a product of Shakespeare's age of maturity and it is quite powerful, impressive, and it has a metaphoric structure in terms of language. Also, it is one of the most tragic plays in English history which it handles both a politic downfall and an individual tragedy.
King Lear wants to leave his duty as a king by dividing it among his daughters, and he will share it in accordance with the loves of his daughters for himself by asking them which of them loves him the most . His one of the most pathetic failures is to believe only "the words". Therefore, not only King Lear himself but also his sovereignty turned upside undown.
King Lear and The Fool in the Storm
In the beginning, he wants to hear all his daughters' praises for himself and he will divide his throne among his daughters. First, the eldest daughter, Goneril, praises her father with fancy words. After Goneril, the second daughter ,Regan, comes into King Lear's presence. She also praises her father much better than Goneril. However, King Lear wants to hear especially the youngest daughter, Cordelia, believing that she will praise him much better than others. However, he gets disappointed about Cordelia because she answers her father's question saying nothing. And, she clearly expresses that she only loves him according to her bond; no more no less... However, King Lear accepts her answer as a humiliation and disinherits her.
Unfortunately, King Lear later faces with betrayals of his other two daughters, Goneril and Regan. He immediately becomes homeless and loses his mind in the storm. And now , he understands that the real love cannot be expressed with solely words, but it is too late for him.
Thus, Shakespeare asks the question to the readers through the character King Lear who is a waif old man when he just leaved the throne : Are you powerful, or solely dressed in power's robes?