In the play King Lear by Shakespeare, the destruction of social, natural, personal, familial and divine old order is a main part of the play

This essay hasn't yet been marked by one of our teachers

You can view all our essays on King Lear that have been Marked by Teachers

The first 200 words of this essay...

A progression from denial to rage to isolation is the eventual path that the main character King Lear takes from the beginning of Act 2 onwards throughout the novel to his eventual death. Through Lear's actions and uncontrollable emotion, he slowly becomes insane and loses everything that he ever thought was important to him in his life. The destruction of his kingdom is not only due to his family's greed and selfishness, but it is also self-inflicted as well.

The progressive destruction of King Lear's kingdom is evident through his actions as well as the actions of his three daughters. The destruction of the family does not actually occur until his favourite daughter proclaims these words,

"Unhappy that I am, I cannot heave

My heart into my mouth. I love your majesty

According to my bond; no more nor less." (Act 1, Scene 1, lines 73-75)

Lear's reaction to this brought him into an awful rage after his youngest daughter's speech. Due to her speech, Lear disowns her and splits up her share of the kingdom between her two sisters. His reason for doing so was because he saw her reply as to how