Throughout the book King Lear, there have been many characters whose lives seem to mirror each others lives in one way or more, as well as there characters who may be seen as total opposites for one reason or another.
The characters who seem rather similar in the book would first be King Lear and Gloucester. The King and Gloucester mirror one another in book because they are both blind. King Lear may be seen as "mentally" blind since it was made evident from the beginning of the book in Act 1 scene 1 that he was blinded by the flattering words of Goneril and Regan and thus did not see them for who they truly were nor see that Cordelia was the one who really loved him until the end of the book. Gloucester was also blind, but instead of being "mentally" blind, he was " physically" blind. This physical blindness occured in Act 3 scene 7 when Cornwall plucked out his good eye, making him blind. It is in that scene that Gloucester relaises that Edmund plotted against him, and that Edgar was the one who truly loved and cared for him.
Secondly it may also be said that Edmund, Regan and Goneril are quite similar in character since they both planned to get something out of their fathers and plotted against them. For Edmund planned in Act scene 2 to devise a plan in order for him to get all of Gloucester's lands for himself since he thought that he should rightfully get them instead of Edgar and as a result plotted against his brother. Goneril and Regan also wanted their father's lands and riches so they flattered the King by using sweet words in order to get them. In the end they did get what they wanted and seemed to be happy that their sister did not get anything or more than they would have gotten like what was suppose to happen. It seemed as though the only reason they "sucked up" to Lear was because they knew Cordelia was his favourite and would more than likely get a bigger and/or better ortion than they would, so they had to flatter him in order to get what they wanted.
In addition, Goneril and Regan, the daughters of King Lear, see to be of similar nature. This would include being rather deceitful, bitter, clever and jealous among other traits. Jealous, bitter and envious in the sense that they both seemed to feel that way towards their younger sister Cordelia because she seemed to get more love and attention from their father and they felt as though she was being treated superior to them and despised the fact that she was their father's favourite.
Furthermore, Kent and Edgar were similar in the sense that they were both banished and in hiding, so they had to disguise themselves as different figures in order to be around the various characters in the book and not be seen for who they really were physically.
On the other hand, besides similarities, some of the characters are very different. Firstly,when comparing Cordelia to Goneril and Regan, it is clearly evident that the three sisters are ver different in character. Act 1 scene 1 begins to sho wthese differences when the daughters are asked to profess their love for their father. Both Goneril and Regan use flattering words to get their father's favour by saying that they love him more than eyesight, space, freedom and other luxuries in the world, their love is too deep to be spoken of and only King Lear's love makes them happy. Whereas Cordelia does not know how to profess her love for her father in words in such a way like her sisters did. As the plot unravels later down in the drama, it is also seen that Regan and Goneril are not very concerned with their father's well- being since they already got what they wanted from him they have no use for him, thus showing their selfish and clever nature. Cordelia on the other hand is sweet and caring and even though she was disowned by her father, her trye love for him is shown and made evident to King Lear by the wa in which she comes to save and take care of him in the end.
Moreover, the Duke of Burgundy and the King of France as ver different in character as well. In Act 1 scene 1 it was seen that the Duke of Burgundy no longer wanted Cordelia since King Lear disowned her for not bei ng able to profess her love for him, thus leaving her without any portion of lands nor riches from her father. The King of France on the other hand still wanted Cordelia and stood by her side despite her not having any material wealth. He thought that she was even more valuable, wealthy and beautiful for not lying like her sisters did just to get a portion of the kingdom. This thus shows that the Duke of Burgundy was rather materialistic and superficial, whereas the King of France was more concerned and impressed with personality and honesty and did not merely want Cordelia for her wealth.
Many different characters within King Lear may be seen as very similar in some instances, such as Goneril and Regan and King Lear and Gloucester. On the other hand, some of the characters may also be seen to be extremely different in nature, such as Cordelia and her other two sisters. Shakespeare seems to make this contrast and comparison between the characters in order to not only make the play interesting, but to draw a link between the characters and make the play more understandable to the audience.
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