In the prodigious Shakespeare's King Lear, a tale of the playwright's signature betrayal and tragedy, the titular character demonstrates, unlike Oedipus and Heathcliffe, evident growth, albeit small, by the play's end. Lear's first appearance reveals the decaying man's vain and altogether shallow nature, as exemplified by his pathetic request for adoration from his daughters. It is here that we see the first signs of struggle. To plead for verbal affections only shows how insecure Lear is and to his great misfortune, its permeance is only increased by an onset of dementia.
In many a turn of events, Lear eventually outcasts his favorite daughter, Cordelia, for her lack of adoration. As his two remaining daughters begin abusing the power they are given, Lear is forced to realize what little power he possesses is quickly waning and decides to evade the struggle he faces by leaving his daughters to wander a heath. In many cases, evasion of undesirable circumstances ends in a character's demise. Normally this would be true for Lear as well, though in realizing not only the wickedness of his daughters Regan and Goneril but more importantly, his insignificance, he saves himself from an entirely terrible end.
By the time he is captured as a prisoner of war with his dear Cordelia, Lear overcomes his previous disdain for her inability to proclaim her love for him. His experiences with his other conniving daughters allowed him to realize that love is far more than a matter of words and his fight with dementia and general mental decay proved to him that he is not the powerful king he once thought he was. Rather, he is a vulnerable and elderly man who, now that he has experience the unfavorable actions of Regan and Goneril, gave up the person he loved most in a false sense of authority and imperviousness to nature. While Lear does end up passing away in grieving over the death of his favorite daughter, he does so a changed man.
In many a turn of events, Lear eventually outcasts his favorite daughter, Cordelia, for her lack of adoration. As his two remaining daughters begin abusing the power they are given, Lear is forced to realize what little power he possesses is quickly waning and decides to evade the struggle he faces by leaving his daughters to wander a heath. In many cases, evasion of undesirable circumstances ends in a character's demise. Normally this would be true for Lear as well, though in realizing not only the wickedness of his daughters Regan and Goneril but more importantly, his insignificance, he saves himself from an entirely terrible end.
By the time he is captured as a prisoner of war with his dear Cordelia, Lear overcomes his previous disdain for her inability to proclaim her love for him. His experiences with his other conniving daughters allowed him to realize that love is far more than a matter of words and his fight with dementia and general mental decay proved to him that he is not the powerful king he once thought he was. Rather, he is a vulnerable and elderly man who, now that he has experience the unfavorable actions of Regan and Goneril, gave up the person he loved most in a false sense of authority and imperviousness to nature. While Lear does end up passing away in grieving over the death of his favorite daughter, he does so a changed man.
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