How does Shakespeare portray Lear’s character?
In the first part of Lear’s speech, he admits that it is unnecessary to have all his men around him, but as hey says
“; our basest beggars are in the poorest thing superfluous:”,
The tone of this speech are very telling that Lear is in great distress, his two daughters are unmoved and are impervious to the evident agonising final speech Lear makes in the scene. The two women are expert manipulators and play off each other to break down their father, they’re cool control over the situation is a direct contrast to Lear at the particular time. Where he says that beggars have more than they need, and later claiming that the his two daughters dress nicely and have many clothes and cosmetics, need they have all their beauty possessions when they have more than they will ever need, in essence calling his daughters hypocrites. This shows Lear pleading with his daughters to let him keep his knights, saying that even beggars have more than they need, so why may a king not have more knights than he needs? This causes a varied reaction in the audience, primarily the audience may feel for the sisters view, agreeing that Lear need not this may knights, not only following him and there for his protection, but claiming space in each of the daughters households whenever the king stays. The other view the audience would see is Lear’s reaction to the whole situation, being told by his daughters that he cannot have his knights, and possibly his friends among him no longer. The way Shakespeare has written this suggests that he intends to show Lear as being an old man and that he does not know what is good or bad for him, and that his daughters must make the decisions for him.
