‘Poor naked wretches, whersoe’er you are
That bide the pelting of this pitiless storm
…O I have ta’en
Too little care of this’
Shakespeare seems to suggest that it is man’s fate to suffer: Lear says:
‘When we are born we cry that we are come
To this great stage of fools’.
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?’
Shakespeare emphasises Lear’s metaphorical blindness repeatedly mentioned throughout the play, by illustrating physical blindness in the character of Gloucester. The physical torture Gloucester endures matches the mental agony Lear faces on the heath. Shakespeare draws parallels between the plot and sub-plot, in that Gloucester’s foolishness echoes that of Lear’s. The brutality of the scene, in which Gloucester’s eyes are plucked out, is used to shock and distress the audience. It helps the audience to empathise with those characters who are ‘blind’ metaphorically. It is the sympathy that we feel for the characters, which makes 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. Eyes, in the Elizabethan age were seen as windows to the soul, and therefore to pluck them out would not only cause severe disfigurement physically but also more significantly would deform the soul. Dramatically this obscene torture reflects ‘King Lear’s’ principal theme of the misery and despair that results from blindness.
The parallels between the two plots 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 audience 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,
‘I would not see thy cruel nails
Pluck out his poor old eyes’.
He berates 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 play’s central paradox, which does not refer to physical sight, but rather to self-knowledge, understanding, and acceptance of others. Through his suffering, Gloucester gains heroic status, and because of his new-found insight can be the voice of the audience, and voice their horror about the malicious goings-on on stage.
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 each other 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 most severe form of blindness addressed in the play, is blindness to oneself. In my opinion, Shakespeare tries to show in ‘King Lear’ that all of the play’s characters are partially blind to their own motivations in one way or another. Those characters whose vision is most distorted and are completely blind suffer the most. Lear and Gloucester are the most obvious examples of complete blindness, and suffer death as a result of their flaw. The minor characters also show aspects of blindness and this helps to add texture and layers to the play. Edgar is blind to his brother’s trickery, Albany is blind to Gonerill’s deception and Cordelia is blind to the consequences of her actions. In the case of Albany, he is blinded by his own emotions. His feelings toward Gonerill cloud his judgement, thus he is blind not only to himself, but to the true intentions of Gonerill:
‘How far your eyes may pierce I cannot tell;
Striving to better, oft we mar what’s well.’
Albany portentously notices that Gonerill is perceptive and looks to the future, yet is oblivious to her part in controlling these events:
‘My lord, I am guiltless, as I am ignorant
Of what hath moved you.’ However unlike most of the other characters, by the end of the play, Albany has gained awareness and recognises his wife’s inhumanity, and says to her,
‘See thyself, devil:
Proper deformity shows not in the fiend
So horrid as in a woman.’
Albany, having seen the reality of Gonerill’s nature, compares her appropriately to the devil. On the surface the audience may assume that Albany’s blindness is due to his simple heart and goodness, but on deeper analysis we can see that Albany’s inaction and lack of foresight are necessary to the plot. Albany’s integrity, and naïve character creates a parallel to the pitiless, repugnant Cornwall. Unlike Albany, Cornwall does have great insight into other characters and uses this to his advantage by manipulating and deceiving others. Cornwall however is morally blind, and unable to see the evil of his actions.
‘Leave him to my displeasure….
The revenges we are bound to take upon your traitorous father are not fit for your beholding.’
Not only does Cornwall see fit to punish an elderly innocent man, but also takes pleasure in doing so. The outcome of Cornwall’s blind evil is his death when his own servant turns on him, just as he turned on his host and his king. Shakespeare illustrates poetic justice in the downfall of Cornwall. He had played a large part in the physical blinding of Gloucester, and showed pleasure in the obscene act.
‘Lest it see more prevent it. Out, vile jelly!’
To counterbalance Cornwall’s corruption, Albany grows in moral strength and gains awareness of justice and virtue. Like Albany, Edgar’s character and sight develops throughout the play; he must suffer as Tom O’ Bedlam to understand Edmond’s trickery and more importantly himself. He chooses a state of oblivion, and denies himself personality, money, food, and his position in society.
‘To be worst,
The low’st and most dejected thing of fortune,
Stands still in esperance, lives not in fear.’
Edgar is falsely optimistic that as long as he is at the bottom of Fortune’s wheel he has nothing to fear, but he soon realises,
‘The worst is not
So long as we can say ‘This is the worst.’’
From this state of nothingness, and feeling of worthlessness he builds his character, and so gains insight and is no longer blind to himself. He can, therefore, more easily start to understand the intentions of those around him. Edgar builds his character and “loses” his blindness to the extent that by the end of the play, Shakespeare illustrates to the audience that he has the most insight and rewards him with the title of King.
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, and his rich clothing. However after dividing his kingdom and thus his power, Lear is helped to see the error of his ways, and begins to understand Gonerill and Regan’s treachery,
‘They are not men o’their words.
They told me I was everything; ‘tis a lie, I am not ague-proof.’ Proof 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 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. .
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 and help their masters’ to see again. 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. Also, Edgar’s role is similar to the roles of Kent and the fool in that, he aids his father to reach understanding, and gain his sight. 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 of the results of Lear’s blindness. 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’.
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 seemingly devoted children, 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 recognises that,
‘furred gowns hide all’.
Only when Lear’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.