In Shakespeare's King Lear, the characters in a position of power are most often the ones who are the most blind to the truth. Only after losing that power are they able to gain a clear understanding of the events happening around them and realize who their true friends and enemies are. The opposite is also true. Those characters without power are usually the ones who can see the true motivations of other characters. This inverse relationship between power and knowledge is most clearly reflected in four characters: Gloucester, King Lear, the Fool, and Kent. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an Original Essay In Gloucester's situation, his power can be equated with his vision. A member of the court, Gloucester holds the noble title of earl. In this exalted position, he is unaware of the motivations behind the actions of those around him. His son, Edmund, deceives him. Angry at being the illegitimate son and greedy for inheritance, Edmund convinces his father that his other son, Edgar, is plotting to kill him. This doesn't take much effort as Gloucester quickly believes Edmund. Although they plan to meet again to determine whether Edgar is truly conspiring against his father, it seems that Gloucester already believes that Edgar is guilty. This can be seen in the way he refers to Edgar as he orders Edmund to "discover this villain" (I.2.115). The next time they meet, Gloucester finds Edmund injured. Although he does not see what is happening, Gloucester is easily fooled into believing that Edgar has attacked him. At this point, Gloucester is mistakenly convinced that Edgar is the evil son and that Edmund is the good son. She then rewards Edmund, telling him, "...and of my land,...I will find the means to enable you" (II.1.83-85). Gloucester learns to "see" only in his blindness. Six lines after Cornwall completely blinds Gloucester, Gloucester discovers the truth. When wounded, Gloucester turns to Edmund for help, but Cornwall quickly informs him that "it was [Edmund] who made the opening of your treachery to us" (III.7.89-90). It is here that Gloucester realizes what is happening, exclaiming, "O my follies! Then Edgar is ill-treated" (III.7.92). Aside from this realization, Gloucester also gains other knowledge in his blind state. For one thing, he is less easily persuaded by others. When Edgar tries to convince his father that they are on a hill, Gloucester states, "He thinks the ground is flat" (IV.6.3). Her newfound intuition is also evident in her meeting with Edgar. When Gloucester could see, he did not recognize his son, asking "What are you there? Your names?" (III.4.127), when he sees Edgar. After being blinded, however, he connects Tom Bedlam with Edgar by saying, "I saw such a fellow... My son came to mind" (IV.1.33-35). Now that he is blind and helpless, he is suddenly more perceptive to the world around him. King Lear experiences a similar exchange between power and knowledge. As ruler of his kingdom, he is first introduced in the play as the man with the most power. However, he is also unable to recognize who his friends and enemies are. First, his daughters, Goneril and Regan, easily deceive him. They tell him that they both love him more, "more than words can handle the matter" (I.1.55). He believes their lies and divides the kingdom between them, leaving nothing for his other daughter, Cordelia, who truly loves him. Simply because she refuses to flatter him, he has failed to see the reality of Cordelia's true love for him. Accordingly, he banishes her from his kingdom with the following words: “…for we have no such daughter, norWe will never see that face of his again. Therefore go without our grace, our love, our blessing" (I.1.265-267). King Lear also punishes one of his most faithful followers, Kent. Kent sees Cordelia's true love for her father and tries to advise against it by committing a mistake. Instead, Lear irrationally prefers to believe in the lies of Goneril and Regan and also banishes King Lear is unable to see the evil in his personal life, but also in that of the kingdom not even the existence of poverty in his land. Once Lear gives up his kingdom, however, his inferior position allows him to see the truth. He descends into a position of utter helplessness once he is locked out of the castle during a tremor storm at this point has nowhere to go and can't even maintain her following of men. Now she realizes how evil her two eldest daughters really are, calling them "pernicious" (III.2.22). During the storm he also sees the poverty of his kingdom, which he fails to recognize when he is in a position of power. Lear wonders how "homeless heads and unfed parts defend [the poor] from such seasons as these." He keeps saying, “Oh, I took too little care of this!” (III.4.32-35), admitting his negligence towards the poor. More importantly, Lear sees through Cordelia's lack of flattery and realizes that her love for him is so great that she could not express it in words. Unlike Gloucester and King Lear, the Fool does not experience a fall from power to gain knowledge. Instead, since he is already in a low position, he manages to be intelligent. One of the two reasons he already has the knowledge is how the other characters perceive him. Most people are not aware of him and, when they are, consider his presence unimportant. When Kent asks who the Fool is, for example, the Gentleman replies, "No one but the Fool" (III.1.16). They basically see him as a nobody. As a result, the other characters do not pretend to be someone else. They are their true selves around him and so the Fool sees the truth. The second reason why his low position allows him to be intelligent stems from the first. Since the other characters don't consider him important, the Fool can say whatever he wants without making anyone angry. No one is threatened by him or his statements, as is clear from the King's actions. The Fool's statements are usually much harsher than the words of any other character. However, it is the other characters who are punished while nothing happens to him. When Kent and Cordelia tell the truth, for example, the king becomes so angry that he banishes them from the kingdom. However, when the Fool criticizes the King with: "The bittersweet fool will soon appear, the one motley dressed here, the other uncovered there" (I.4.141-144), Lear responds only with: "You call me a fool, lad?" (I.4.144). The Fool basically calls the King a fool, but the King doesn't even get angry. Throughout the show, the Fool provides information about the characters' actions. The Fool displays his knowledge through ambiguous statements and clever quips. The only problem is that no one takes it seriously. When the Fool advises Lear to "speak less than you know" (I.4.116), Kent says, "This is nothing, you fool" (I.4.125). The Fool also provides simple and clear reasoning for a visually impaired king. The Fool first appears only in the fourth scene of act 1, after Cordelia has gone away with the King of France. The Fool knows that Lear has done wrong by giving away all his land to his two wicked daughters, and tells him so when he says, "All your other titles you have given away; with which you were born" (I.4.146-147 ). Yes.