King Lear's Sight

 Discussion Post for British Lit Class

King Lear - Question #1: Do you think Lear sees himself clearly by the play's end? What does he say, and what does he see (or fail to see)?


Near the end of the play, Lear speaks of himself to Cordelia as  “a very foolish fond old man.” He ceases his raging and blaming. Instead, he admits his own fault to Cordelia:  “You have some cause [to do me wrong], they [your sisters] have not.” This is a stark contrast to his character at the beginning of the play. The earlier King Lear only had eyes for the faults of others, and he was unable or unwilling to see his own part in the matter. He was exceedingly proud and disowned Cordelia when she refused to join her sisters in flattering him. It is a very different King Lear who humbly begs Cordelia to forgive him:  “You must bear with me: / Pray you now, forget and forgive: I am old and foolish.”


Shakespeare uses the motif of sight throughout the play to represent the theme of self-knowledge. After Gloucester’s eyes are gouged out, he realizes that he had been blind to the true state of things: “I stumbled when I saw.” For much of the play, Lear refuses to acknowledge that he is blind to the state of things, both around him and within him. In one of his final lines, he admits his blindness and finally sees clearly:  “Mine eyes are not o’ the best, I’ll tell you straight.” It is no surprise that his dying words reference this sight motif:  “Look there, look there!”


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