King_Lear__Blindness_Vs_Insight

King Lear: Blindness Vs Insight Discuss Shakespeare’s handling of the concepts of blindness and insight in King Lear The concepts of blindness and sight are not explored by Shakespeare as physical qualities, but rather mental attributes. Blindness in characters exacerbates their ability to understand, causing misjudgement which leads to chaos in the play. This recurring theme of blindness and insight is portrayed primarily through Lear and Gloucester, who demonstrate that physical sight does not assure clear insight. Their lack of insight was the main cause of the foolish decisions they made, decisions that they would eventually come to regret. At the beginning of the play, though Lear has physical ability to see, he is blind in the sense that he lacks understanding. Lear cannot identify people for truly what they are, as he only sees what is on the surface. This moral blindness condemns his relationship with his most beloved daughter Cordelia, at the start of the play. In asking his three daughters to proclaim their love to him for their share of his kingdom, he cannot see the falseness of Regan’s and Goneril’s words as they exaggerate their love for him. Cordelia however, does realise the deeper intentions under the lear, king, insight, gloucester, love, sight, eyes, cordelia, physical, however, says, play, edgar, cannot, daughter, blindness, after, understanding, shows, realises, moral, lear’s, leads, lack, eye, cornwall, clear, both, blind, becomes, ‘i, world, words, vengeance, understand, truly