King:Lear - A Madman?

A general theme in literature is the growth, or development, of a character. In Shakespeare's "King Lear," Lear proves himself to be very arrogant and self-centered. In the beginning of the play, he proves to be the superior character after firing Kent and manipulating his daughters into separated speeches of their extensive love for him as a father. After Cordelia's refusal, Lear instantaneously evolves into a character of great insecurity and insanity. The final blows to his demolishing self occur after his own daughters refuse to give assistance to their needy father. The storm then symbolizes both the defeat of himself and the beginning of his downward slope towards lunacy. That is not to say that he doesn't learn from his past mistakes, because he does. The fact that his faults could have been so easily avoided only drags him down further. The clever Fool only contradicts Lear's reputation, making Lear the actual "fool" until the end of the play.