King Lear Essay: Loyalty, Betrayal, and Family Dynamics

This essay provides a comparative analysis of the relationships between King Lear and Cordelia, and Gloucester and Edgar in Shakespeare's King Lear. It explores how both fathers misjudge their loyal children, leading to themes of betrayal, trust, and the disruption of natural order. The essay highlights the contrasting behaviors of Cordelia and Edgar, who remain devoted despite their fathers' actions, versus the deceitful actions of Goneril, Regan, and Edmund. It examines how the lack of trust and the pursuit of power and legitimacy drive the tragic events of the play, ultimately leading to the downfall of both Lear and Gloucester. The essay references key scenes and quotes to support its arguments, drawing on the themes of family, loyalty, and the consequences of misplaced trust.

Running head: KING LEAR
King Lear
Name of the student
Name of the University
Author note

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King Lear is the name of the tragedy that has been written by the great playwright
William Shakespeare. King Lear is about a king who leaves the power along with the land to
two of is daughters when they declare their love for him. The third daughter does not get
anything as she did not involve herself in flattering her father. This essay talks about the
relationship in between King Lear and Cordelia and compares it to the relationship in
between Edgar and Gloucestor. In both the relationships, the fathers feel betrayed however it
is untrue. Similarity can also be perceived owing to the fact that the fathers betray the loyal
children however Cordelia along with Edgar stay loyal to the parents.
The people who show the fake emotions are easily believed in the play owing to the
element of lack of the trust. In the event of Cordelia mentioning the fact that she cannot
express the love in words, Lear disowns the daughter (De Haan, pp 56). Lear renounces the
daughter as he did not receive public acclamation along with the flattery which he received
from the other two daughters called Regan and the Goneril. Cordelia states in the play that:
Nothing, my lord…Unhappy that I am, I cannot heave / My heart into my mouth. I love your
majesty / According to my bond; no more nor less." (1.1 90-2)
Cordelia is the name of the only daughter who did not involve herself in betraying the
father. She is prepared to fight for Lear so that she can save the Kingdom. She does not
despise Lear when he banished him but he continued to stay devoted to her that exhibits the
self-sacrificing love along with the undying loyalty of the daughter (Shakespeare.mit.edu, pp
90). In the similar manner, the relationship in between Gloucestor and that of Edgar
deteriorates towards the beginning of the play. Gloucestor feels that he has been betrayed by
Edgar however it was actually the bastard son, Edmund who had planned of killing him
(Vickers, pp 98). Edmund had framed Edgar so that his reputation will be ruined before the

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father. Edgar stays loyal to the father and he pretends to be a beggar so that he can stay by the
side of his father.
The people who violate the natural law are punished in King Lear and it paves the
path for the culmination of the drama. Towards the beginning of the play, Cordelia could not
meet the expectations of his father that causes Lear to disinherit her. Generil and Regan want
to take advantage of the situation and they want to seek the revenge. These events overturned
the natural order of the family (Smith, pp 118). Lear starts a kind of competition in between
the sisters that would carry them to the graves. In the similar fashion, Gloucester has been
conceived of to be the thoughtless parent in the beginning of the play. He speaks of the birth
of Edmund in a derogatory manner and it can be said that his love is restricted to the words
(Muir, pp 35). On the basis of the natural law, it can be said that Edmund along with Edgar
are both the sons of Gloucester however it can be stated that in accordance with that of the
man’s law of the primogeniture, Gloucester does not recognize Edmund to be the heir of
Gloucester. It can hence be seen that the natural order of the family has been ignored.
Edmund states in the play that:
“Thou, nature, art my goddess; to thy law
My services are bound. Wherefore should I
Stand in the plague of custom, and permit
The curiosity of nations to deprive me,
For that I am some twelve or fourteen moonshines
Lag of a brother? Why bastard? wherefore base?”( 1.2. 1-22)
Edmund feels that he has been deprived by the father and he starts to raise himself
with the help of his own efforts. He forged the personal prosperity by taking recourse to

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treachery along with the betrayals (Roberts, pp 97). The epithet, “legitimate” was being used
in reference to that of Edgar and it reveals the obsession of Edmund with that of the enviable
status of his brother. Edmund resents the social order of the world and he craves for respect
along with the power.
King Lear along with Gloucester had to face the true betrayal owing to the element of
lack of trust that they have for their devoted sons and daughters. The natural filial relationship
that exists between the father and the children is destroyed owing to the lack of the awareness
and renunciation of the natural order. The actions of Edmund are propelled by the preference
of his father that can be said to be both the legal and the filial. The favouritism makes
Edmund plan of destroying the father so that he can gain the legitimacy along with the estate
of Gloucestor. It can hence be said that there lies a similarity in between Gloucester and that
of King Lear as they both involve themselves in mistrust that brings about the tragic
culmination in the drama.

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References
De Haan, Erik. The consulting process as drama: learning from King Lear. Routledge, 2018.
Muir, Kenneth. King Lear: critical essays. Routledge, 2015.
Roberts, Rachel. "“We that are young”: Youth and Age in King Lear." Ben Jonson
Journal 24.1 (2017): 96-116.
Shakespeare.mit.edu. "King Lear: Entire Play". Shakespeare.Mit.Edu, 2019,
http://shakespeare.mit.edu/lear/full.html.
Smith, Peter J. "Play review: King Lear." (2016): 117-119.
Vickers, Brian. The One King Lear. Harvard University Press, 2016.