Lear is blind and irresponsible as father and ruler, he is preoccupied with appearances, he wishes to retain the trappings of majesty without the ‘cares and business’, of ruling. Lear attempts to do this by dividing power from responsibility. It is easy to see the division of his kingdom as a kind gesture, but on deeper examination we realize how false his values are, and his desire to rely on Cordelia’s ‘kind nursery is purely selfish. In the first act, the audience views Lear as a tyrannical patriarch and a demanding child. This is necessary, as later in the play we will see his character develop, and Shakespeare will reveal his better qualities. This will allow us to sympathise with him, making the play more tragic. It is Lear’s interaction, with those characters who lead him to sight, in which we see his more tolerant, caring nature. Kent is integral to the development of Lear’s understanding, as is the Fool. Both characters push Lear towards the truth, the fool tries to ‘out-jest’ Lear’s inquiries, whilst Kent loyally motivates him, and only speaks up when he sees the king acting with ‘hideous rashness’. To reach full understanding, Lear must go through a learning process. Lear must suffer in his madness to improve his understanding of himself and the society in which he lives. During his time on the heath, Lear considers those things which he selfishly paid little attention to whilst he had power. These things are still relevant today, and relate to the wretched condition of the poor, the corrupt justice system and true necessity. Lear emerges from his torment not only able to see more clearly but a more humble, loving, self-critical character. He learns, through his madness, how to distinguish between appearance and reality. He gains self-insight. Shakespeare’s presentation of Lear’s inner conflict, and his blindness to reality, forces the audience to confront directly the question put to us repeatedly by Lear, who stands as Everyman, ‘ Who is it that can tell me who I am?’ To fully answer this question we must follow Lear’s lead and truly understand ourselves and those around us.
Shakespeare emphasises the metaphorical blindness repeatedly mentioned throughout the play, by illustrating physical blindness in the character of Gloucester. The brutality of the scene in which his eyes are plucked out, is used to shock and distress the audience but in turn. It helps the audience to empathise with those characters who are ‘blind’. It is the sympathy that we feel for the characters, which make the play more tragic. As Aristotle said the basis of a tragedy lies in the pity and sympathy the audience feels for the characters. This effect is heightened by the disgust we feel at the realisation that it is perhaps human nature to inflict this cruelty on others.
The physical torture Gloucester endures matches the mental agony Lear faced on the heath. Shakespeare draws parallels between the plot and sub-plot, in that Gloucester’s foolishness echoes that of Lear’s. The parallels between the two scenes are heightened with the multitude of references to eyes and sight. The lines, ‘One side will mock another’ and ‘Out, vile jelly’, emphasise the horror of the act, to stress the evil of Cornwall and Regan, but also more importantly to place sight and the loss of it at the heart of the scene’s imagery. Lear’s agony he endured on the heath, and references such as Gonerill’s malicious comment, ‘Pluck out his eyes’ increase the tension in the reader and prepare us for the hideous crime. Similarly to Kent, Gloucester suffered because he tried to help Lear, and even throughout his suffering Gloucester shows strength of character and remains loyal to his king, defending Lear’s honour and berating Cornwall and Regan for their injustice towards Lear. Gloucester learns through his suffering, that whilst he had eyes he saw imperfectly, and only at his time of death when he had no physical sight could he see people for who they truly were. In the line, ‘I have no way, and therefore want no eyes; I stumbled when I saw.’ Gloucester highlights the plays central paradox, which does not refer to physical sight, but rather to self-knowledge, understanding, and acceptance of other’s characters. Through his suffering, Gloucester gains heroic status, and because of his new-found insight can be the voice of the audience.
Both Lear and Gloucester are deceived by their children, and by their ‘false words’; Lear shows his blindness when he is fooled by Gonerill and Regan’s insincere declarations of love. Gonerill is superficial when she elegantly compares her father to ‘eyesight, space and liberty’. It is important to note the dramatic irony of this judgement, as later in the play it is at her demand that Gloucester be blinded. Gloucester is similarly misled by Edmond’s trickery. Gloucester akin to Lear is naïve and believes his son’s counterfeit letter without hesitation, just as Lear believed Gonerill and Regan’s false flattery. Despite what Edmond says, there is no evidence that Edgar loves him any less, yet Gloucester acts hastily and doubts Edgar’s love. The two plots parallel eachother by echoing themes and ideas. Shakespeare does this to reinforce important issues, in this case filial ingratitude, and the duty of a son or daughter.
The imagery of sight also focuses our attention to the theme of power. Ironically it is those characters with the least amount of power who appear to have the best sight. At the start of the play, when Lear had power over the whole kingdom, his sight was poor and he could not see beyond the royal finery, his rich clothing, and extravagant food. However after dividing his kingdom and thus his power, Lear begins to see the error of his ways, and begins to understand Gonerill and Regan’s treachery. Throughout his confrontations with Gonerill and Regan and during his descent into madness Lear refuses to cry. This desperate struggle against weeping can be seen as a determination to maintain his power and to not be cowed by his manipulative daughters. Lear only allows himself to cry when he is reunited with Cordelia, these tears are not a sign of weakness, but indicate that he can now see himself and Cordelia more clearly. Tears shed for Cordelia are healing tears. However it is ominous to note, that later in Act V, when Cordelia, and Lear are put in prison, thus are powerless, both are defiant and refuse to cry. Even when all power and hope is lost, and Cordelia is taken from Lear, he does not give in to his grief. He says, ‘O, you are men of stones!/ Had I your tongues and eyes I’d use them so / That heaven’s vault should crack’. Lear has lost all power, and his human nature, to the extent that he must revert to animalistic behaviour to mourn his ‘best object’. He cries ‘Howl, howl, howl!’
Sight is crucial to the theme of disguise and deception of identity. Many characters, at some point in the play are not what they seem, either because they have intentionally disguised themselves, or have concealed their intentions and deceived others, or have simply lost touch with the image of themselves. In King Lear it is not only the villainous characters who use deception and trickery, but Shakespeare also points out that even the most virtuous of characters must undergo a complete transformation to better their vision of the world. This is illustrated eminently in the characters of Kent and Edgar, both assumed new personas in the form of Caius and Poor Tom in order to survive. It is important to note, that whilst they undertook these new roles both characters continued to do good. Poor Tom helped Lear to understand humanity, and guides Gloucester, chasing away his dark thoughts. In Act V Edgar becomes an agent of justice, helping to restore order and justice after Lear’s death. Kent never seems to fully adopt the disguise he has assumed, like many of the characters in the play he ‘stands for’ a type or role within the society Shakespeare has created. Kent is representative of the hierarchy that Lear destroyed when he gave away his power, Kent is an anachronism. The audience views Kent as a positive figure, and can trust him, because of his sound advice and judgement. He is one of the few characters in the play who are able to see clearly, and see Lear for the misguided fool he is. Kent tries to warn him of his folly, saying, ‘see better Lear’, and he begs him to remain, ‘The true blank of thine eye’. In this ‘blank’ refers to the white centre of a target, of which the concentric rings bear a resemblance to the pupil of an eye. By making a comparison between Lear’s sight and a target, Shakespeare is communicating the inevitability of Lear’s death at the end of the play.
Ceremonial garments and clothing are linked to the theme of deception, as they can hide the truth of reality, thus blinding characters’ vision. At the start of the play Lear is overwhelmed with the decoration of majesty, he claims his crown makes him ‘ague-proof’. His Kingly garments blind him from the truth, he must discard all those material things, which on the surface seem to express his inner identity, his rich clothing, fine speech, and extravagant food, to reach true understanding of humankind. It is on the heath, where Lear’s loss of sanity is represented by the stripping of his clothes. Lear is faced with the truth and removes his kingly garments, saying, ‘Off off You lendlings’. Lear can now see beyond appearances, and realises his royal finery is proof of his folly, as he no longer has any power. Lear can now start to learn to see again, and guilefully notices that, ‘furred gowns hide all’. Only when Lear can’s vision and sanity are restored, is he ready to wear clothes again.
The dramatic use of imagery of sight and blindness are not simply decoration to the play, but contain the central meaning of it. The metaphor of sight illustrates Shakespeare’s viewpoints on themes, ideas and situations presented in the play. The relationship between a character’s sight, and their fate within the structure of ‘King Lear’, is at the core of Shakespeare’s tragedy.
