King Lear Themes Character and Analysis

Key facts

• Compose date: 1604–1605
• Published date: First Folio edition, 1623
• First performance: 1606
• Place setting: Great Britain
• Time setting: 8th century BC because Lear was a legendary king of Britons, present name Britain, in 8th century BC and Shakespeare wrote this story in the Jacobean period.
• Protagonists: King Lear and Cordelia
• Antagonists: Goneril, Regan and Edmund

Themes

1. Blindness
2. Justice and power
3. Flattery
4. Lechery
5. Treachery
6. Insanity
7. Regeneration

Character analysis

King Lear: He is the protagonist of the tragedy. His characteristic features are:

1. Egoistical
2. Lack of judgment
3. Imperiousness
4. Passionate hatred
5. Passionate affection
6. The passionate urge for flattery
7. Revival of humanity
8. Hardly heroic

Three daughters of King Lear: Goneril, Regan and Cordelia.

Cordelia: She is Lear’s youngest and most beloved daughter. She is the heroine of the tragedy. Her characteristic features are:

1. Kind-hearted
2. Truthfulness and sense of duty
3. Perfect judgment power
4. Dignity and repose
5. A paradigm of self-controlling power
6. Simplicity

Goneril: She is Lear’s eldest daughter. Her characteristic features are:

1. Flatterer
2. Power hungry
3. Ruthless
4. Lecherous
5. treacherous

Reagan: She’s the middle daughter of King Lear. She is a powerful hunter and imperious as her sister Goneril; although she often follows Goneril’s leadership, she exceeds Goneril in the villain at least a little bit.

Summary: Bengali

Summary: English

Gloucester: He is a nobleman of Britain. He has two sons. His characteristic features are:

1. Loyal to King Lear
2. Simple Manner
3. Lack of judgement
4. Superstitious nature
5. A mixture of opposites
6. A redemptive character
7. His circumstances are pretty similar to Lear

Edmund: He is the youngest and illegitimate son of the nobleman named Gloucester. He is the villain of the tragedy. His characteristic features are:

1. Treacherous
2. Lecherous
3. Schemer
4. Powerful
5. Resentful
6. Wit and wickedness

Edgar: He is Gloucester’s legitimate and oldest son. His characteristic features are:

1. A goodman of noble qualities
2. Victim of conspiracy
3. Insane beggar for security
4. Powerful and heroic

Kent: He is a nobleman, much like Gloucester, and is loyal to Lear. His full name in the drama is The Earl of Kent.

Albany: He is Goneril’s husband.

Cornwall: He is Regan’s husband. He is cruel and violent.

The Fool: The Fool is Lear’s jester and the only person to criticize and mock him directly.