Madness in king lear
Madness in king learMadness in King Lear: Act 4
In Shakespeare's play King Lear, Shakespeare introduces many themes. The most important theme shown in King Lear is the theme of madness. During the course of this play madness is shown in the tragic hero, King Lear. King Lear develops madness right in the beginning of the play but he actually shows it in Act 4. In this act, King Lear is not only at the peak of madness but it is also shown him coming out of his madness as well. This act is likely to be the most important act because it shows the phases King Lear goes through, from complete madness to him coming out of his madness and realizing his mistake, the point of tragic vision.
The theme of madness in King Lear is first shown in the act through Cordelia's statement to the guards about the condition her father is in. Cordelia says "Alack, 'tis he! Why, he was met even now as mad as the vexed sea, singing aloud, crowned with rank fumiter and furrow-weeds, with hardocks, hemlock, nettles, cuckoo-flowers, darnel, and all the idle weeds that grow in our sustaining corn." [Act iv, iv, 1-6]. This gives a great description of King Lear's state of mind. Cordelia gives a description of King Lear dressed in flowers, and weeds, and she explains to the guards that he is singing aloud. All of these characteristics are unfit for a king, thus, leaving one reasonable explanation of him being mad, which Cordelia states in her speech to the guards.
King Lear's madness is further illustrated in act 4, scene 6. Although King Lear had shown signs of madness in other act's such as 3, he had really shown the extreme of his madness in this scene. King Lear is shown completely insane, through his garments and his speeches to Gloucester and Edgar. In one of his speeches, King Lear makes comments about a mouse and a bird that are not present. "..Look look, a mouse! Peace, peace; this piece of toasted cheese will do it…O, well flown, bird!" [iv, vi, 88-91]. This statement was the first sign of him being mad. At the beginning of Act 4, it was just mentioned that King Lear was gone mad, this was the first sign of proof that he was indeed mad.
Although King Lear shows signs of being mad, he also shows signs of being sane. This is shown through him knowing the...
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