Suffering in Shakespeares King Lear :: King Lear essays

Suffering in King Lear Suffering takes on many appearances, depending on how it is received.In King Lear, suffering was very bruiseful to two people, and the giver wasntnecessarily an enemy, pain can be from the ones you love. A storm isntsomething you wouldnt think of when pain comes to mind, moreover it is an elementand part of your environment, so atomic number 18 the people one deals with. Pain can comefrom many areas, both far and near. The enemies in our lives are their to balance the goodness that we feel.The world has balance and they provide it. The pain that they furnish us comesin many forms, mental and physical. In Gloucesters case, physical was the mainone. getting your eyes gouged out must be an excruciating way to experiencepain. The blinding of a person is not only painful, but demeaning andtormenting as well. Imagine being blinded and having to experience the world every over again. The frustration of depending on other people and learning howto navigate your su rroundings, with all the good will of a child. This kind ofsuffering could lead to suicide, and it would have, except Gloucester was blindand couldnt see that there was no cliff to throw himself off of. His enemiesdidnt want to kill him, but they already did, internally. The internal death is the final stage of mental suffering, but there aremany stages before the one must go with to get to that last stage. Many ofthese stages are shown in King Lear, as he breaks down from a powerful man to acrazy derelict, all because of someone close to him, that he trusted, stabbedhim in the back. The family is part of your environment and so is the weather.A storm can be a gusting hurricane or a departure with your sister. Bothconflicts cause damage, and the damage may or may not be repairable. In thecase of King Lear, his mental state diminished earlier badly. He was seeingsmall rodents on his arm and even a elaborate courtroom scene, all in his head.The pain of falling down from benignity and having your own children disown you andrefuse you love you was too much for old King Lear.