Accomodation Leads To Destruction Essay, Research Paper

Literary Essay In the play King Lear, by William Shakespeare, we see that accommodation leads to the destruction of Lear’s family, of Lear’s physical health and of Lear’s sanity. The play opens with King Lear bestowing three separate dowries to his three daughters. These dowries are divided according to how much each daughter says they love their father. Lear’s daughters Regan and Goneril each inherit fifty percent of his property. Cordelia receives her truth as her dowry and she is banished from the family. Once everything is allotted, Regan and Goneril promise to furnish a place for their father to stay. However, nothing runs according to plan. This for instance, leads to the destruction of the Lear family. The manner in which Goneril and her sister Regan shelter their father leads to the destruction of their family bonds. According to the “deal” that Lear makes with his daughters, he is to be given bed and board in their castles. When Lear arrives at Goneril’s castle she blatantly takes advantage of him. She tells her servant Oswald to “put on what weary negligence you please” (I, iii, 13). This obviously is trying to trigger a reason for Lear to banish her hospitality. This does not rid Goneril of her father so she takes her plan to a more prominent level. She informs her father that if he wishes to remain in her custody then “She begs a little disquantity to your train” (I, iv, 244-245). This enrages Lear and he parts for Regan’s castle with his entire “train” of 100 knights. When Regan receives word of this she flees her castle and takes shelter at Gloucester’s castle. When Lear sees that Regan’s castle is deserted he also heads for Gloucester’s home. Upon Lear’s arrival Regan states, “This house is little; the old man and’s people cannot be well bestowed” (II, iv, 288-289). So she locks her father out in a vicious storm. It is apparent that Lear’s offsprings force him to homelessness and his health is at risk. After being expelled from his family’s shelter, King Lear partakes in an environment which endangers his physical health. The king is outdoors in a raging storm. We cannot possibly understand how wicked the storm is until the King of France (rivals of England) sends troops to aid Lear because he is in suck grave danger. In act three, scene one Kent is talking to a French gentleman who delivers a letter to Cordelia who in effect will send help for her father. The storm is so harsh that Lear is forced to take shelter in a hovel to ensure his well being. Kent tells Lear, “Here is the place, my lord. Good my lord, enter. The tyranny of the open night’s too rough for nature to endure” (IV, i, 1-3). Gloucester then enters the hovel and offers shelter to Lear who follows him. The dangerous environment that Lear has encountered is not only natural. The human environment that surrounds him is also life threatening. While Gloucester talks to The King we find out that Lear’s “daughter’s seek his death” (III, iv, 156). Edmund also gives instructions to have Lear killed. He gives a captain a note that is in effect a death warrant for Lear. King Lear’s lack of proper accommodation leads to the endangerment of his physical health. As well, it seems that while Lear is exposed to the raging storm, he goes insane.

The play insinuates that due to his expulsion into the storm, Lear loses sanity. His transaction to insanity follows a slow yet harmful path. He first doubts his sanity when he says, “O, let me not be mad, not mad, sweet heaven” (I, iv,44). Subsequently he has a great fear that he is going insane. He addresses the fool, “Or ere I’ll weep. O Fool, I shall go mad” (II, iv, 286).Lear then enters the second stage of his madness. He realizes that he has gone completely insane. This is obvious when we see Lear encounter a change in character. He worries about others before himself. He calls to the Fool, “come on, my boy. How dost, my boy? Art cold?” (III, ii, 68). In his madness he also believes that Poor Tom has been brought to his state by ungrateful daughters. “Didst thou give all to thy two daughters? And art thou come to this?” (III, iv, 48). Later in the play, Lear reaches the epitome of insanity. He mistakes Gloucester for Goneril. He raves in his madness, “Ha, Goneril with a white beard?” (IV, iv, 96). It is apparent that Lear’s life is completely destroyed and it is all due to the lack of accommodation he receives from his daughters. It is evident in the play King Lear, by William Shakespeare, that the way Regan and Goneril shelter their father leads to the annihilation of the Lear family, of the King’s health and of his sanity. The situation portrayed in the play can make one wonder about why families still neglect each other in the twentieth century. Family is such an important aspect of life. You family is the people closest to you, who know u better then anyone else. Why do people still avoid their family? I say forget the self help books, forget the psychologists. All you have to do is read this play and the outcome of what a lack of accommodation in a family can lead to will become clear.