King Lear-Journal 1

Prompt two


In Act I Scene I of King Lear, we witness Lear's power to an extreme when he asks his daughters to express their love for him. This shows that he is in demand to be loved and it means so much to him, he is willing to ask for it. King Lear needs to know how much he is loved because he has self doubt. When two of his daughters go over the top to flatter their father, the King is perfectly content. But once Cordelia steps up and tells her absolute true feelings, the King could not be more angry or embarrassed. A King should be shown full respect, and to some people (as it did, his daughters) respect means giving him what he wanted to hear. Since the King has such control over his people, he covers his insecurity with power, and banishes Kent while disowning his own truthful daughter, Cordelia. This shows that power overrides love because as King Lear disowned his daughter out of power and authority, his own daughter was truly showing her love for him when she spoke the truth, rather than flattering him.