King Lear Act III - #1

Rejection is one of most painful experiences regarding those you love and care about. Even though Gloucester loves Edgar, he feels that Edgar has betrayed him and it tears him apart. Another example of this is Lear with his daughters and it causes him to lose it. It’s painful because the love between the two people isn’t mutual and the person being rejected doesn’t always understand why they're being treated poorly. People’s response to this often starts with anger, which is really just covering how much they are hurting. By covering the way it really makes them feel, it makes them appear to be less vulnerable. Kent is loyal and even goes back in disguise to serve Lear. Another possible reaction, such as Kent, is still trying to connect with the person or display their devotion or love to them hoping to get the person back. Lear, Edgar, Cordelia, and Kent are all experiencing pain as a result of being betrayed by people they love or are devoted to. Lear’s betrayal by his daughters leads to his insanity. Lear and Gloucester’s rejection of their children leave Cordelia and Edgar feeling hurt. When Kent is banished, his response is to go back to serve Lear even though Lear wants nothing to do with him, which shows his true devotion. Human emotional responses in general to rejection and betrayal vary, but emotional turmoil is common in those being hurt by those they love and care about.

King Lear Act II - #3

In his soliloquy in scene 3, Edgar says, “As Edgar, I’m nothing at all.” He’s been disowned by his father and he feels useless. He takes on the persona of Tom O’Bedlam, which is extreme compared to who he really is, because he’s loyal to his father, wants to protect him, and doesn’t want Edmund to carry out his plan. His loyalty is comparable to Kent, who also has to disguise himself, and Cordelia’s. When Edgar is talking about who he will disguise himself as he says, “I’ve decided to disguise myself as the lowliest and rattiest beggar that mankind has ever seen. I’ll smear my face with filth, put on a loincloth, make my hair matted and tangled, and face the bad weather wearing almost nothing. I’ve seen beggars out of insane asylums who stick pins and nails into their numb arms. They pray or roar lunatic curses, horrifying farmers and villagers into giving them alms.” Using works such as “lowliest and rattiest” and “filth” is foreshadowing Lear’s descent into madness. Also, he says the beggars numb to pain (sticking pins and nails to their arms and because they pray or roar lunatic curses), but Edgar himself is not numb.

King Lear Act II - #2

Goneril and Regan take what their father has them given them for granted. He’s given them a place to live and probably most of what they wanted and when divides his kingdom among his daughters, Goneril and Regan betray him and give him no respect. The only one who is still loyal to her father is Regan, but Lear banishes her just because she won’t flatter him like his other two daughters deceivingly did. Goneril and Regan are very greedy and no longer even pretend to love their father. When he comes to spend time with them, they complain and make him leave. Resentment of their father comes from not getting exactly what they want. They don’t realize their father loves them so what he does for them seems insignificant because they’re only thinking about what they want. Resentment from any child to a parent often comes from dislike of the parent’s actions and the child’s disregard or skepticism for the parent’s real reason for their choice of action, which is often for the wellbeing of their child. However, it’s often difficult for the child to see. This type of relationship between children and their parents, such as Goneril and Regan with Lear, is powerful because it creates conflict and often pulls the child away from their parents, which is often difficult for the parent because that wasn’t their intention.