At the conclusion of this play, I cannot help but to think one thing. Thank God I am not a member of any family depicted in this play. Each family, in its own way, is bizarre and hypocritical. Let's consider Lear's family first which will lead us into the other familial situations within the play.
At the very beginning of this play, we see King Lear basically disowning his daughter, Cordelia. In most families, I assume, it would take a lot for a father to disown his daughter. Not Lear!! He has decided that it is completely practical to disown his daughter because she is unable to adequately express her feelings toward her father. In 1.1, Lear exclaims that he denounces all paternal responsibility to Cordelia;
By all the operation of the orbs
From whom we do exist and cease to be;
Here I disclaim all my paternal care,
Propinquity and property of blood... 111-114
This proclamation is a stark difference from his actions in 5.3. In 5.3, Cordelia and Lear are being carried off to prison together and Lear's words in this process draw this stark difference from 1.1 until now. He says to Cordelia;
No, no, no, no! Come, let's away to prison.
We two alone will sing like birds i' the cage.
When thou dost ask me blessing, I'll kneel down,
And ask of thee forgiveness. So we'll live,
And pray, and sing, and tell old tales, and laugh
At gilded butterflies... 5.3.8-13
In these lines, Lear explains that he will beg whomever he has to for forgiveness in order for he and Cordelia to be able to live happily ever after; to laugh, sing, and pray together. It is so bizarre to me that one person can go from one extreme to another. I understand that there may have been certain events which unfolded during the unfolding plots of the play, but for one person to go from hating to loving in such a short amount of time is crazy. Many say that by the end of this play, Lear is losing his sanity; I think that he was never sane to begin with. I think that he was a wacko at the beginning of the play and still is (perhaps even worse) a wacko at the end of the play. To add to this irony, Cordelia makes a proclamation in 5.3 that "We.../Who, with the best meaning, have incurred the worst" (3-4). Are you kidding me Cordelia? She is basically saying that the road to hell is paved with good intentions. I believe it is the exact opposite; the road to heaven is paved with good intentions. At least, Pope Benedict XVI says so! For this reason, I would go so far as to say that Cordelia is a wacko just like her father.
And then we have Regan and Goneril, Lear's other daughters. It seems that he has passed his crazy gene onto the both of them as well. I can understand the concept of being jealous of and/or in constant competition with a sibling. However, Regan and Goneril take this concept to a whole new level. From the very beginning of the play, we see these two competing to win over a man. In the very first act, they are competing for their father's affections. However, for the rest of the play they are in competition over Edmund. Both Regan and Goneril want Edmund to themselves. Despite the fact that Goneril is married, she pursues Edmund like a teenage girl after her first crush. Crazy Goneril even goes so far as to attempt to have her husband, Albany, killed. She continues on her murderous rampage, induced by her crazy, and poisons her sister. I bet you weren't expecting your sister to be just as crazy as you, Goneril, when she stabbed your crazy ass.
I understand that every family has their issues, but what a hott mess this family is!! They are running around hating, loving, and killing without a thought to how wild their actions are. I hate to say it, but it might be a good thing that they are all dead at the end of the play so they can't pass that crazy gene on to anyone else!!
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