The Human Condition In Shakespeare's King Lear

The human condition questions human morality, the capacity to communicate deceit and the capacity to feel which is manifested in the perception of authentic or deceptive relationships, reflection and realisation and the altering of an individual’s identity. Shakespeare’s King Lear explores the human condition through characters of the play which give insight of the aspects of humanity. Shakespeare’s universality of concepts of deceit, realisation and identity provides relevance to the modern era as these themes are present and occurring aspects of the human life.
An individual’s ability to communicate deceit causes conflict at a social, familial and individual platform which are aspects that determines humanity. Lear’s hamartia highlights his …show more content…
This is shown through the use of verse and hyperbole of “I love you more than word can wield the matter” where the greed for land is what drives Goneril to say nice words.. However, the irony of lear failing to differentiate authenticity or deception of love results in misjudging Cordelia for feigned love, instigating social, personal and self-conflicts for both lear, his daughters and the society. This plot drive will not only foreshadow complications but also result in the sacrifice of Cordelia and Gloucester. Shakespeare’s use of epiphany of Lear, is shown by misperceiving Goneril’s love with flattery which is portrayed through Goneril’s plosive language, contrasting the poetic language in verse present in the division of the kingdom, exemplifying Goneril’s greed for land the deceptive love expressed for Lear. This parallels with the double plot of Gloucester …show more content…
Lear’s hubristic nature obstructs his ability to comprehend with following orders, as being king, he is accustomed to give orders. Lear responds to being disobeyed through plosive derogatory language which is evident during the juxtaposing response of Cordelia as she cannot “heave” her “heart” into her “mouth”, causing Lear to respond with “Better thou Hadst not been born”. Lear’ loss of identity and dispositional transition into madness is caused by his possession of a delusional perception symbolised by the motif of the crown. This is portrayed when Lear takes off his crown foreshadowing Lear’s deteriorated mental state and complete descent into an altered individual. Without the crown, he is a typical man which is shown through the epiphany in the storm, resulted by his hubris and expectations. However, It is evident that lear wants to mend his flaws through the parallelism and symbolism of “I’ll pray, and then I’ll sleep”, where the connotations and diction of “sleep” parallels with behaviours of children as their typical routine is sleeping which alludes to the fact that he wants to start anew and be issued with a new identity. It is shown that Lear accomplishes this transition through the redemption and