King Lear: The use of Sight and Blindness

"What, art mad? A man may see how this world goes with no eyes."

Throughout Shakespeare's King Lear there is the reoccurring theme surrounding blindness and
sight and how having eyes does not necessarily mean you can see. The play begins with King Lear
about to separate his land, and therefore his power, to his three daughters Goneril, Regan, and
Cordelia. He does this by first asking each of them to tell him just how much they love him; with the
amount determining the size of land they will acquire. Goneril, the eldest, professes an all
encompassing love; Regan, the same, but says that Goneril's love "comes too short;" and Cordelia,
the favorite, stays silent. This reluctance to do as her sisters had and instead answer with a more
truthful, heartfelt response, angers Lear- causing him to make the irrational decision of banishing her
and dividing the rest of the land to the remaining daughters. Lear's obliviousness to Goneril and
Regan's lies, and Cordelia's honesty begins the chain reaction to their inevitable ruin.
Shakespeare employs the idea that sight, as Shields states, is a "symbolism .. used to employ the
inferiority of physical vision to intellectual or preternatural insight," as one that is most represented
all through Lear. Take for instance Cordelia who, from the very start sees through her sister's
fallacies, is one of the few characters that actually cries in the play- thus hindering her eyesight. She
becomes teary eyed upon leaving the castle while saying her goodbyes to Goneril and Regan -after
being sent away with the Prince of France- and as she leaves, tells them "The jewels of our father,
with wash'd eyes/ Cordelia leaves you: I know what you are/ And, like a sister, am loath to call/
your faults as they are named. Use well our father"(I.II.) She is telling them that she knows that they

exaggerated their love for their father simply to get the most land; to be seen as the one who is most
deserving. She leaves them with all of his possessions because there is nothing she can do to stop
them- her father having disowned her so she does not have the power to do so. Cordelia also then
weeps again once she is reunited with her father. By this time the reader knows that her insight is
more than the others, but sadly this does not do anything to help her avoid her fate. Later in the
play, other characters suffer the same fate.(Shields)
Lear, Kent, Edgar, and Gloucester, are among those that had shed tears in the play. Lear, who
refuses through the majority of the play to weep for fear that it would make him less of a man,
finally does once he is reunited with his youngest daughter and apologizes for his actions, and asks
for her forgiveness now that he sees that she was the one that loved him most after all--however, in
his insanity he had found some clarity as well; even becoming aware of his own sightlessness: "doth
any here know me? This is not Lear:/ doth Lear walk thus? Speak thus? Where are his eyes?"(I.II)
Lear acknowledges that he has been without vision- the deceit was invisible to him. Kent, like
Cordelia, was one that was able to see through (almost) all the deception-- almost, because not even
he sees through Edgar's disguise. Kent knows of Goneril and Regan's plots, and tries to make them
known to Lear as well. However Kent also represents a sort of invisibility.
Edgar was not the only one under a different guise, Kent had also changed his appearance, but to
watch over Lear. The fact that none of the characters were able to detect their true identities not
only shows the overall blindness of them all, but is another example of lack of sight equaling insight,
specifically for Kent and Edgar. They were shrouded in their false pretense creating a new subject to
be blind to for the others, while they gained knowledge. The introduction of these "new" characters
coincide with some key points in Lear's insanity. Kent returns when Lear's mind begins slipping-

when he is calling for Goneril to no avail. Edgar's "crazy Tom" enters during the pivitol storm
scene. His "tomfoolery" amplifies Lear's, even if he himself is not insane. Their disguises were not of
high caliber either; they simply roughed themselves up a bit. Its effectiveness was in its simplicity.
Something small can always be over looked; especially by those who are more focused on their own
dilemmas.
Edgar's tears are for his father, Gloucester. When he sees what has become of his father and of
Lear, Edgar comes close to crying, almost "mar[ring his] counterfeiting" (IV.VI). But Gloucester
only weeps once his eyes have already been taken from him, making him doubly blind. And in
response to that, Lear offers: " If thou wilt weep my fortunes, take my eyes"(IV.VI). If Gloucester
could cry the tears Lear did not want to shed, then he could take his eyes, because Lear would have
no use of them; remember, Lear, in his insanity, realizes the fact that he has not been using his eyes
the way he should have- and what better thing to do than to give them to someone who could. Lear
then tells Gloucester, "get thee glass eyes; and like a scurvy politician, seem to see things thou dost
not" (IV.VI). Lear is telling him to take advantage of the fact that others see him as blind when he
has actually had his preternatural sight given to him- something not very many know due to their
lacking of one. Having glass eyes, that others would be able to see through, would make him a more
believable person, and the things he will "see" will be taken into account. It would be the greatest
advantage to have, though it cannot be done.
While those who had cried had insight, those who did not had their "internal vision dimmed;"
(Shields). The rest of the cast of characters showed no sympathetic emotion. They wept for no one
and cared only for themselves. Their own vanity blinded them, though their eyes were in perfect
condition. Goneril, Regan, and Edmund all sought after their own personal gain, with out any regard

for others. Their self focus narrowed their eye sight, eventually leading to all of their doom.
An important character that has little effect but full use of his sight, both metaphorically and
literally, is the fool. He is outside of all the treachery and blindness. He is almost in a world of his
own; he has no other significance other than to humor Lear, which he does by telling him all that he
sees. Lear overlooks the Fool's truthfulness as nothing other than inconsequential riddles, much like
the David character in Rabe's Sticks and Bones whose family thinks he has gone mad for stating a
truth he finds most obvious (Ader).He also speaks a lot of the placement of the eyes, "why, to keep
one's eyes of either side's nose; that/ what a man can not smell out, he spy into" (I.V.). He also ties
in another part of the face, the nose, that can also be a way of discovering something, though not as
well as the eyes can, "all that follow/ their noses are led by their eyes but blind men" (II.IV).The
fool expresses his blunt honesty whenever possible. He'll do so in song, or just by talking to Lear.
But Lear, seeing him only as a fool for amusement, ignores his observations and instead opts to
believe in what he chooses until it is too late. A conclusion he comes to that he tells Lear is, "fathers
that wear rags/ do make their children blind;/ but fathers that bear bags/ shall see their children
kind" (II.IV). By giving his everything to his children, to the point where he is in nothing but rags,
he blinds them with greed. But if Lear were still the one carrying the power, it would humble his
children a lot more since they would have to go through him to receive anything. However, the fool
never goes mad, or is betrayed, or loses his sight. Though he disappears at the end, it is only because
he is not needed- all of the once blind are gaining the insight and/or are meeting their fate. Also, his
other job, watching over Lear, is taken over once more by Cordelia.
Two characters most similar when it comes to sight, are Lear and Gloucester. Both favor a single
son or daughter, both feel they have been betrayed by their favorites, then both come to realize the

truth. Gloucester's story mirrors Lear's to an extent however; it is not quite as large of a deal as
Lear's (Foster). At some point they both go mad, and in their madness see some kind of epiphany
that bring them to a greater understanding. Gloucester is fooled by Edmund when he is presented
with a letter supposedly written by Edgar implying that he wishes his father dead so that he may
enjoy the riches that he would inherit over Edmund. Edmund then tells Edgar that some evil plot
has befallen him and that he should flee immediately- once Edgar leaves, Edmund cuts himself
claiming Edgar had done it, causing Gloucester to become so angry that he disowns Edgar.
Gloucester is quick to believe Edmund's lies, thinking the evidence of the letter and the wound were
enough to support his claims. Following and trusting Edmund blindly Gloucester sets himself up to
be betrayed by him; which Edmund takes full advantage of when Gloucester has in possession a
letter that Edmund then gives to Cornwall, showing his loyalty to the once King Lear. Because of
this, Cornwall gouges Gloucester's eyes, leaving him permanently blind. Gloucester sees the truth
too late; Edmund was the source of his troubles all along, and his legitimate son Edgar had always
been loyal to him. He then stumbles upon Lear and his group (of which Edgar has become a part
of) and later tries to kill himself. Edgar tricked his father into thinking he had jumped off a cliff
when in fact he jumped from a small hill. Gloucester, depressed-thinking that he must now live out
the rest of his life without forgiveness from his beloved son, cries out for Edgar, wishing he could
see him again. When Edgar reveals himself to him, he is overcome with their reunion and dies of a
broken heart. His death foreshadows Lear's, since their stories are paralled and in both cases, they
see truth in madness, and have their children forgive them. (Foster)
Those who had been deceived had brought not only themselves to a horrible end but their
families as well. The only ones still alive are Edgar, Kent and Albany, the latter which had shown

Gloucester and Lear compassion, had also been shown the lies of Edmund who died by his
brother's hand, and whose only significance is to culminate the play with giving the remaining power
to Edgar and Kent. The loyal servant and son, both of which had been banished, yet returned to
watch over their king and father and both had taken a disguise to do so. Their risk of losing their
lives if caught, and of remaining unseen until the end are what saves them from the terrible fate of
even Cordelia -who had also been loyal, but was unable to help very much.

Shakespeare's characters undergo many changes, the most major one is coming to the realization

of the truths they had not seen before. He uses insight as something only the protagonists are given,
either right away or eventually, as way of identifying them. Sight, in the end really means nothing if
you cannot see truth, and without the ability to see the truth only tragedy can follow.