Review: King Lear Has Issues (Spoilers)

As some of you may know from my post about YouTuber Unclaimed Demigod’s video defending the LGBTQ+ agenda in Rick Riordan’s books, I am a sophomore student and in the grand tradition of high school, that naturally means reading a lot of Shakespear’s writing. So far, I haven’t covered much of his writing, so that’s why I’ve decided to give my two cents on one of the most famous plays that he ever penned, King Lear, a tale of tragedy, dementia, and two psychos fighting over a weirdo.

#1: Cordelia

Without a doubt, Cordelia is the best character in the entire story. Though she only shows up at the beginning and towards the end, in the limited time that she appears, Shakespear managed to show the audience how different she is from her sisters, Regan and Goneril. She stays by her father’s side constantly to take care of him and her only crime is not being able to speak well. Her virtue is so great that the King of France agrees to marry her for free and even after she has been disowned by her dad, she still comes back to take care of him. When she dies, you actually feel sad about it, more so than with some of the other characters.

#2: Edgar

Edgar is another really good character in King Lear and is one of the funniest. He’s the son of Gloucester and half-brother of the villain/anti-hero, Edmund. When Edmund wants to take his father’s place (which he can’t legally do since he’s an illegitimate child), he tells Edgar that Gloucester wants to kill him and Edgar runs for his life disguised as an old beggar named Tom.

This is where we get what may be the best scene in the entire story where King Lear, who is traveling to Goneril’s home, meets Edgar at the hovel and they then proceed to have a very long, pretty nonsensical conversation about being insane while the characters of Kent (King Lear’s loyal servant), the Fool (the court jester), and Gloucester (who arrives later) just stare at them confused. It’s sad since the king is obviously going insane, but it’s the only part of the book where we get some prolonged humor before everyone dies.

#3: Goneril and Regan

I’ll start off by saying that these two are not protagonists by any stretch of the imagination. They are villains through and through that are driven by a greed for land and power. However, they are an example of a time where a love-triangle actually worked for the story.

What happens is Goneril falls in love with Edmund and plots to kill her husband so they can hook up, but Regan also starts having feelings for Edmund and also offers him some incentive to start an affair. Edmund is now caught in the middle and is doing both of their dirty work (such as ordering for the now-captured King Lear and Cordelia to be put to death), but during this time gets in a fight with Edgar, is defeated, and has a change of heart. When he tries to rescind his order for King Lear and Cordelia to be executed, he is mortally wounded and dies. Meanwhile, Regan has been poisoned to death by Goneril and when Goneril finds out about Edmund’s death, she kills herself.

The reason why this love-triangle works so well is because if it hadn’t been for Goneril and Regan’s affection for Edmund, he may not have gotten as wrapped up as he did in the rest of the drama that was happening since he probably wouldn’t have been running around as much doing their bidding. The love triangle in King Lear actually adds to the story instead of taking away from it or becoming a random, annoying side plot added in for shock value.

Until next time,

M.J.