King_Lear_-_Survival

King Lear - Survival “For mankind, it is not survival of the fittest, it is survival of the cruellest.” Has this been your interpretation after reading King Lear' The characters Gonerill, Regan and Edmund could be categorised as the cruelest in Shakespeare’s play, King Lear. Gonerill, Regan and Edmund’s deception to their friends and family is ultimately for their own gain and survival. The end of King Lear however, sees Gonerill, Regan and Edmund all dead. Cruelty most certainly aided in their rise to power, Edmund’s rising to the Earl of Gloucester and the daughters’ acquisition of their Father’s land proves this. All the characters that were considered evil did die, however many of those that were kind died as well. Cruelty most definitely played a role in the character’s survival, however was not the sole reason for this. It would still be accurate though, to state, that in King Lear it is not survival of the fittest, it is survival of the cruelest. Gonerill and Regan make the first cruel deception. Both sisters lie to their father, the goal that was to be achieved from this was to acquire his land. After succeeding, the daughters neglect their father and treat him with extreme disrespect. In edmund, cruel, lear, father, edgar, gloucester, albany, king, survival, gonerill, towards, regan, characters, play, cruelty, cordelia, both, however, survive, order, kind, evil, cruelest, ultimately, throughout, storm, sisters, rise, rid, own, honest, gain, edmund’s, brother, been,