The Life and Death of the Love Triangle

When reading the final few acts of “King Lear” what really struck me was the soap-opera-like love triangle of Edmund, Goneril and Regan. This triangle was so interesting and intriguing for many reasons and drove a lot of the action in the final moments of this play. Initially, I began by questioning Edmund’s intentions or motives for involving himself with these two women. There is the obvious reason, that he is simply a “womanizer,” but I really began to see him more as an opportunist/ business man. In order to further his career (to become King) he had to be romantically involved with either Goneril or Regan. Instead of just picking one of the women, Edmund, the smart man that he is, chose to involve himself with both. I think that this was a smart move on Edmund’s part because it pretty much guaranteed him a decent shot at becoming King.

The way that Edmund was able to manipulate and effectively make these two sisters fall in love with him was astonishing to me. For example in 5:1 when Edmund and Regan are talking, I had a really difficult time coming to any strict conclusion about which sister he preferred more, if any was the case. Also interesting was that Edmund does not explicitly deny that he slept with Goneril, when Regan asks him, yet Regan is still completely infatuated with him. I think Edmund’s ability to talk in a way in which he shows no preference to either sister speaks to his greater ability to manipulate pretty much EVERYONE that surrounds him. Edmund may not be the King of England, but I sure would consider him the King of manipulation. He is able to succeed in turning two sisters against one another and ultimately leads these two sisters to a tragic end.

The literal death of this love triangle occurs in the final act of the play. I think that the fact that Goneril killed herself but only after poisoning Regan truly shows the immense power that Edmund wielded over these two. I think Goneril killed Regan out of an act of extreme love for Edmund because she wanted to insure that Regan could never be with Edmund if she herself couldn’t be with him. Edmund even addresses this in 5.3:238-240 when he says “Yet Edmund was beloved. / The one the other poisoned for my sake, / And after slew herself.” This line is very interesting because Edmund puts the emphasis on “for my sake,” it shows that he himself really understood the power the he had over these two women.

The final display of Edmund’s power over these two women really left me thinking about what if everything Edmund wanted played out according to plan? What if Edmund became King? What would have happened to these two sisters? Although it’s quite an intriguing scenario I really don’t have a definitive answer. Part of me thinks it would have ended the same way that “King Lear” ended to begin with; with everyone dying. I think that because it was such a tangled web that Edmund weaved the only way that any of these characters would be able to escape was through death.

King Lear

After finishing King Lear I can honestly say that I didn’t expect the play to end the way that it did. Truthfully, as with many of Shakespeare’s plays, I wasn’t sure what to expect, but I certainly didn’t expect so many deaths. I assumed earlier in the play that Lear would eventually die, especially because his sanity was obviously degrading throughout the play, but I didn’t expect him to simply drop dead from what can only be defined as shock.

I was also shocked that Cordelia was hanged; I had assumed that if one person were surely going to make it through the play, it would be Cordelia, because she was clearly one of the better characters of the play. When the deaths of Regan and Goneril were announced, however, I was neither shocked or upset and felt that they got what they deserved.

One of the things that bothered me during Act five was how quickly the battle was presented in 5.2. Obviously, Shakespeare didn’t want to spend much time on this and wanted to get to the end of the play, which is fine, but I felt it was almost comical how quickly it was portrayed. The directions have Edgar run off stage and then almost immediately run back on. I think a small aside from Gloucester would have worked well here and wouldn’t have made the battle seem so rushed.

Finally, I was also slightly confused as to who became the King at the end of the play. We never see anyone crowned and, unless I missed it, no one said that they would become King. All we know for sure is that Kent declines the position. Are we to assume that because Edgar doesn’t decline it, he has accepted the position? Personally, I’m a little surprised that Shakespeare didn’t include a crowning ceremony at the end of this play as he has done at the end of others, but I suppose that would’ve taken away from the tragic ending of the play.

The Truth Will Get You Nowhere

In Shakespeare’s play King Lear, the reader finds themselves discovering the deceit and cruelty which sons and daughters can force onto their fathers. Most of the play is focused on who is telling the truth, who really loves the other, and plotting behind each other’s backs. Surprisingly this does not just happen to one character or set of characters, but across the board and involves every character in the play.

First and foremost, there is the interaction between King Lear and his three daughters: Goneril, Regan, and Cordelia. The first two proclaim their love for their father by playing toward his prideful side and describing how wonderful he is. When it is Cordelia’s turn, Lear expects even better praise from her because she is his favorite, but she refuses to play his game and is disowned while her two sisters divide all the money and property between them with the clause that they must house their Father and his knights for a month, alternating between them both.

Meanwhile, there is also the feud of the illegitimate son Edmund and the legitimate son Edgar. So far, Edgar has not really done anything wrong except to be the rightful heir to his father’s, Gloucester’s, inheritance. Edmund is furious that because he is not legitimate, he cannot inherit. He decides to devise a plan that makes Edgar look like a murderer and villain so that their father chooses Edmund to inherit instead.

This play seems to ridicule the fake identities that most people show the world in order to gain something for themselves. Shakespeare seems to be saying that it is those that do not want to play that game, the ones that do not flatter, are really the ones that are most trustworthy. In both situations described above, those that benefit end up turning on the ones who gave it to them. Goneril and Regan first restrict their father, and then later want to kill him, while Edmund accuses Gloucester of helping the King escape (the first truth out of his mouth) in order to sentence his father to death and gain himself a title.

Even the servants get involved in this feud. Kent decides to take on a disguise after being banished in order to help his King, and Oswald stays true to his mistress Goneril. During an argument between these two in Act 2 Scene 2, Cornwall makes a very important speech which focuses in on the main point of the plot, “This is some fellow,/ Who, having been praised for bluntness, doth affect/ A saucy roughness and constrains the garb/ Quite from his nature. He cannot flatter, he,/ An honest mind and plain, he must speak truth!/ An they will take it, so; If not, he’s plain./ These kind of knaves I know, which in this plainness/ Harbor more craft and more corrupter ends/ Than twenty silly-ducking observant/ That stretch their duties nicely” (lines 89-98). Here, he is saying that because Kent is being so blunt and honest he must be telling lies.

Even though from the moment we can talk, we are taught to speak the truth and do good, here, those that speak the truth do not come out on top; those that lie, cheat, and steal come out the victor, the brave, and the wealthy.

(i don't know why whenever i drag the text from word it always messes up only parts of the font and spacing! grrr...)