King Lear 3

In this weeks blog I want to talk about the deaths of many of the characters at the end. While reading through the last scene I became more and more confused as to why characters were dying so quickly. I understand why Shakespeare would have wanted to kill of the "villains" of the play however I do not understand his reasonings behind killing of characters such as Cordellia and Glouster. Another characters death that I was unsure about was King Lear himself. I understand that in the beginning of the text we as readers may see him as a selfish king who deserves being banished by his daughters. However, after reading more into the text I almost began to feel bad for him. As we discussed in class it becomes more and more clear that King Lear is losing much of his sanity throughout the play. Although I had no sympathy towards him near the beginning, especially in the first act, it is hard for me to still be bitter towards him after realizing that he is insane. Even though he mentally becomes more sane throughout they play, I actually think that a part of him actually becomes more sane. After living outside for an amount of time you see that King Lear becomes more and more aware of the way that he was treating others. I also think that he begins to realize how wrong he was in some situations. So going back to the deaths of the characters I feel that in the end King Lear should have survived. I also strongly believe that Cordelia should have survived as well. Throughout the whole story I see her as the most sane character and the most promising. She actually seems as though she thinks through most of her actions and is able to stand up for herself unlike her sisters. Although I know it is only a play, in a way it frustrates me that characters such as these are killed. I guess part of this can relate back to society. Even those who do everything right and try their hardest every day, may end up hurt in the end.