King Lear: Blindness and Division

• King Lear explores blindness to others' motivations, one's own nature, the emptiness of power, and the importance of selfless love.
• Lear wants a comfortable old age but fails to recognize how his power shaped his relationship with his daughters.
• Losing power brings Lear insight into his shortcomings, but it's too late to change his fate.
• Lear's final words, "look there, look there," are a plea for others to see themselves and the world accurately.

The Initial Division

• The play opens with Gloucester discussing his legitimate and illegitimate sons, mirroring the main plot.
• Gloucester claims to love both sons equally and mentions Lear's plan to divide his kingdom.
• Lear intends to divide his kingdom, expecting declarations of love from his daughters.
• Cordelia refuses to flatter Lear, enraging him, leading to her disownment and division of the kingdom between Goneril and Regan.
• Lear's tragic mistake is his inability to see Cordelia's genuine love despite her reluctance for public flattery.

Antagonism

• Goneril and Regan are antagonists, thwarting Lear's desire to retain power.
• After dividing his kingdom, Lear expects his daughters to care for him while retaining his privileges without responsibilities.
• Lear fails to recognize how power affects his family and expects the same treatment as when he was king.
• Regan and Goneril treat Lear according to his new status as a powerless old man.
• Lear loses loving care, attendant knights, and shelter.
• Edmund, aware of power's role, schemes to banish Edgar and become Gloucester's heir.

Climax

• The play has simultaneous climaxes in the main plot and subplot.
• Lear is denied shelter by his daughters, leading to him wandering in the storm and going mad.
• Lear's attempt to command the storm results in losing the few comforts he has left.
• Lear talks with Edgar, disguised as "Poor Tom," realizing his failure to care for the poor as king.
• Edmund reveals Gloucester's help to Lear, leading to Gloucester being blinded, stripped of his title, and banished.
• Raw power is a greater force than even love to families, as demonstrated by Edmund achieving his goal.

Reconciliation or Lack Thereof

• In his suffering, Lear learns about the fragility of his former power, leading to reconciliation with Cordelia.
• Lear no longer demands to be treated like a king and is content to be loved by Cordelia.
• Lear imagines a future in prison sustained by their mutual love.
• Edgar, disguised as Poor Tom, encounters his blinded father, Gloucester, who is suicidal.
• Edgar deceives Gloucester into surviving his suicide attempt, suggesting true reconciliation is impossible for families torn apart by power.

Denouement

• The play's denouement involves violent deaths.
• Edgar kills Edmund and unintentionally kills Gloucester, who is overcome with joy and forgives him.
• Edgar is restored to power but had to destroy his family to do it.
• Regan, Goneril, Cordelia, and Lear all die.
• Cordelia's death is central; Edmund's attempt to reverse her execution order comes too late.
• Lear's mistake of giving his kingdom to the wrong daughters cannot be undone.
• Lear carries Cordelia's body onstage, grieving, showing that his suffering was for nothing.