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Essay / Research Paper Abstract
A 3 page essay that examines the "madness" scene from King Lear. The writer argues that Lear is driven to madness by the realization of what his life has become. Additionally, Lear is driven to the brink of insanity because he realizes that he was a very poor king, having never satisfactorily looked after his subjects. No additional sources cited.
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3 pages (~225 words per page)
File: D0_khklin.rtf
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Unformatted sample text from the term paper:
a mighty monarch, Lear is driven to madness by the realization of what his life has become. Additionally, Lear is driven to the brink of insanity because he realizes that
he was a very poor king, having never satisfactorily looked after his subjects. An examination of the "madness" scene from King Lear demonstrates the extent of Lears insanity. Having
been turned away from his daughters castles, Lear is outdoors during a violent storm, yet refuses to enter the shelter offered by an abandoned shack. Kent, a good knight who
is still loyal to Lear, pleads with him to enter the hovel and escape the storm, stating, "The tyranny of the open nights too rough/ For nature to endure" (III.iv.2).
Lear refuses, which is one of the first clear signs that his mind is becoming unhinged. He states that to enter the shelter would make him feel worse as the
storm provides a distraction from his thoughts about his heartless daughters and their betrayal. For a moment, Lear stands resolute against the storm, but then his resolution weakens and
he begins to bemoan the treachery of his daughters. Ironically, he breaks this off, while acknowledging "that way madness lies" (III.iv.21). He tells the Fool, another traveling companion, to
enter the hovel, stating that he will pray and then sleep. Lear then prays for all the people who do not have shelter on this night, who must "bide the
pelting of this pitiless storm" (III.iv.29). This gesture shows that Lear, in his wretched state, is now capable of human compassion -- a quality that he did not demonstrate when
he was a powerful monarch. Lears meditation is broken by Edgar, the rejected son of Gloucester, who emerges from the hovel dressed as a beggar. Edgar pretends to be
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