Vision Within King Lear

Q: How is vision portrayed throughout the course of King Lear? Within King Lear, one of Shakespeare’s greatest tragedies, there is a recurring theme involving vision. The play concentrates on both mental and physical aspects of such vision. Two of the characters from King Lear that deal mostly with such images are King Lear himself and the Earl of Gloucester. In essence, King Lear and Gloucester unite the dual conflicts portrayed through vision within …

…Lear’s downfall was a result of his failure to recognize that appearances are not always what they seem to be. Gloucester, on the other hand, avoided a similar demise by doing a complete turn around following the treacherous acts taken against his eyes. Had Lear learned to view life and interpret things with more than just physical sight, he may have changed his fate, along with many of the other characters along the way.