Quintessence Igboayaka

“King Lear’s mental fragility is one of the most tragic aspects of the play. His wild rages are
as pathetic as his moments of Lucid clarity.” How far do you agree?
In the eighteenth century society, madness represented disorder, confusion and frenzy, and
something to be pitied. King Lear’s wild rages represent the disorder in his kingdom.
However, there is an extent to which we can pity him because as to a large extent he is
responsible for creating disorder by promoting his daughters in his family and kingdom.
In act 1 scene 1, we witness the start of King Lear’s madness as his favourite daughter,
Cordelia refuses to flatter and confess her lover for Lear, ‘Nothing, my lord’. She believes it
unfit to tender all her love towards her father as she owes it to her husband when she
marries. King Lear already beginning to get furious reacts unreasonably by banning her from
the kingdom and disowning her, ‘here I disclaim all my paternal care’. The word ‘all’ shows
how annoyed he is that he completely wants nothing to do with her. In also act 1, Lear
reacts erratically to the provocations of Goneril’s servant, Oswald because he refers to him
as “my lady’s father” and not the king. The once powerful king, who divided his kingdom, is
now helpless and reduced to insulting and attacking Oswald. His rage draws upon the idea
of the divine right of kings, which required everybody to obey him as king. However, Lear
has conveniently forgotten he was the one who gave away his kingdom.
Shakespeare's use of the fool as a voice to bridge the gap between the audience and the
stage is evident in King Lear. Many of the "all-licensed fool's" quips are directed at the king.
Because of his role as Lear's amusing sidekick, he was able to get away with it like no other,
as evidenced by the confrontation between Lear and Kent in Act One, Scene One. At the
time, mad people and fools were the only ones who were given the right or allowed to
speak to monarchs in such a disrespectful and rude manner. In addition to being a rational
being, the Fool offers commentary on Lear and predicts his flaws. Although the fool's
intention is to make Lear laugh, he actually comments on the incident and tells Lear that he
is a fool for giving away his ‘other titles’. Set in the palace of Goneril and the Duke of Albany,
Act 1 scene 3 focuses on King Lear being controlled by his daughter, Goneril as she
threatens to deal with him accordingly if he proves to be a nuisance. He described as an ‘idle
old man’ suggesting that he may view himself as a king, but his daughter Goneril sees him as
a helpless fool. Lear is treated as a poor guest in his daughter’s house where Goneril calls
the shots, she disregards the natural order, which requires daughters to revere and honour
their fathers. The frustrated king Lear reacts to all of Goneril’s actions by wishing infertility
on her, ‘into her womb convey sterility’. As an audience in that time, this will be seen as
unusual as the role of a monarch was to carry on their bloodline not to end it, so him
wishing this heinous curse upon his daughter was very cruel and harsh. However, it also
highlighted his anger because he was constantly fed up with being disrespected,
undermined and controlled. The phrase “let me not be mad” highlights the fact Lear is
beginning to realise he is beginning to go mad.
In act 3 scene 1, we witness King Lear struggle to balance the swell of problems besieging
him and the start of his mental fragility. Lear, meantime, is shown pacing around in the
storm while berating it and daring it to do its worst to him. “Blow winds and crack your
cheeks…” He appears a little insane, his mind constantly returning to his two vile daughters
despite travelling to other ideas. He describes himself as "A wretched, infirm, weak, and
despis'd old man" as he continues to wallow in self-pity. He chooses to submit to the
storm's might rather than seek safety or defend his sanity. The play's strong king at the
beginning has fallen so far that his strength is only to desire for total devastation. Though
empathetic, He expresses concern about his own mental stability, "My wits begin to spin.”
Towards the end of the play in act 4, king Lear shows moments of lucid clarity as he realises,
he wronged Cordelia, and he fully expects her to hate him. When he finally says, "I think this
lady, to be my child Cordelia”, he is finally once again sane. He is willing to die, “if you have
poison, I will drink it” because he realises how harsh he was for banning her, but Cordelia
has no desire for revenge, nor any need to make her father suffer for having misjudged her.
At the end of the play, we witness something that is against the natural order as we see the
image of King Lear holding Cordelia; it was against the natural order for a child to die before
their parent.