In Shakespeare’s classic tragedy, titled King Lear, the topic of sight and the importance of clear vision is a persistent theme. Shakespeare’s primary way of exposing this theme is through the characters Lear and Gloucester. While Lear can physically see, he is blind in the sense that he is lacking insight, understanding, and direction. On the contrary, Gloucester happens to become physically blind, however achieves the type of vision that Lear lacks. It is apparent from these two characters that clear vision is not a result solely based on physical sight. Lear’s inability to realize this is the primary cause of his downfall, while Gloucester gains the knowledge and understanding to achieve clear vision, and as a result avoids a future comparable to Lear’s.
Throughout the majority of King Lear, Lear’s vision is fogged by his lack of vision. Since he cannot distinguish other people’s characters, he can never know them for who they truly are. At first Lear disowns Cordelia simply because he does not get the flattery from her that he wishes to hear. After this Kent tries to reason with Lear, this fails because Lear continues to refuse to be open-minded. Lear responds to Kent with, “Out of my sight!”, Kent answers, “See better, Lear, and let me still remain / The true blank of thine eye” (Act I. Scene i.). Here, Lear is telling Kent that he does not want to see him, for the reason that Lear could never truly see Kent for who he was or his good intentions. Kent was only trying to do what was best for the well being of the King, but Lear was unable to see this. Kent’s knows that the only way to stay in close proximity to Lear is by wearing a disguise. Lear’s vision is one-dimensional and he is easily fooled by the physical clothing and simple cover-up that Kent wears. Lear barely discovers Kent’s noble and sincere character just before his death, when his vision is cleared. By this time, though, it is too late.
Lear’s vision is also flawed by his lack of direction in life, and his poor perception, his failure to foresee the penalty of his actions. He cannot see the cost he will pay for his selfish and juvenile actions. This, in addition to his lack of insight, destroys his relationship with his most adored daughter, Cordelia. Lear asks all three of his daughters a hard question, which one loves him the most? Lear belives that Cordelia has the most love for him, which in reality is the truth, but, when Cordelia says, “I love your Majesty/According to my bond, no more nor less” (Act I. Scene i.), Lear cannot see what the underlying meaning is. Corelia is attempting to show her father that Goneril and Regan are only putting on an act. Goneril and Regan do not truly love Lear as much as they put on. Cordelia says this because, she has seen her sisters’ front, and she does not want to link her true love with their false love. Lear, however, is pulled into believing that Cordelia does not love him.
Kent, who has plenty of insight, is able to see through the discussion and knows that Cordelia is the only daughter who in fact loves Lear. He tries to prove this to Lear by, saying, ” Answer my life my judgment,/Thy youngest daughter does not love thee least” (Act I. Scene i.). However, Lear only sees what is on the surface, and is not aware of the underlying meaning of the daughters’ words. As his anger grows, his insight weakens as he becomes progressively more irritated and small-minded. When Lear abandons Cordelia, he says, “We/Have no such daughter, nor shall ever see/That face of hers again” (Act I. Scene i.). Lear cannot see what this action will cost him in the future. As luck would have it, he soon learns that Cordelia is the only daughter he desires to see, asking her to overlook and forgive his actions. By this time, he has finally began to gain a little direction, and his vision is becoming clearer, but this gain of vision is far overdue and too late to save his life. His lack of sight had predestined him from the start.
The character of Lear displays Shakespeare’s theme of clear vision by indicating that physical sight does not assure clear sight. Gloucester portrays this theme as well, by demonstrating clear vision, regardless of his lack of physical sight. Prior to becoming blind, Gloucester’s vision was similar Lear’s. He was unable to see what was really going on around him. Instead, he only saw what was on the surface and did not explore the deeper meaning of things. When Edmund lets him see the letter that is allegedly from Edgar, it does not take much persuasion for Gloucester to believe it.
The moment Edmund points out that Edgar could be scheming against him, Gloucester says that he is an “Abhorred villain, unnatural, detested, brutish villain” (Act I. Scene ii.). He does not even stop to think whether Edgar would indeed do such a thing because he is unable to see into Edgar’s character. At this point, Gloucester’s life is started down a path of distruction similar to Lear’s because of a comparable lack of sight. When Gloucester loses his physical sight, his deeper vision actually clears, in that he can perceive what is going on around him.
When Gloucester is captured by Cornwall, Gloucester incites him to pluck out his eyes:” But I shall see the wingèd vengeance overtake such children. / Cornwall. / See’t shalt thou never. Fellows, hold the chair. / Upon these eyes of thine I’ll set my foot. “(Act III. Scene vii.) When Gloucester says this, he still lacks clear vision, and would by no means have seen retaliation taken upon Cornwall. When Cornwall plucks out Gloucester’s eyes, his vision happens to clear from this point on, and he later learns that Cornwall was killed. Ironically, Gloucester is not capable to see vengeance until after he is blinded. In this sense, Cornwall too has a form of clouded vision because his passing is the result of his blinding of Gloucester, as a servant murders him. As a result, Gloucester is out of danger and his mental visualization is cleared, while Cornwall has become a quarry of his own flawed vision.
From this point on, Gloucester learns to see undoubtedly by means of his heart to see as a replacement for of his eyes. It is apparent that he understands this when he says:” I have no way and therefore want no eyes; I stumbled when I saw. / Full oft ’tis seen, Our means secure us, and our mere defects Prove our commodities.” (Act IV. Scene i.) Here, he is saying that he has no need or desire for eyes, because when he had sight he could not see precisely and has better vision without them. After he loses his eyes he realizes that when he had sight he was confident that he could see, when in reality it took the loss of sight to clear his vision. Afterwards, he has an enhanced sense of vision when using his mind as an alternative for his eyes. Because of this Gloucester’s vision can be compared with that of Lear’s. While Lear has the physical sight that Gloucester lost, Gloucester has the clearer vision that Lear will never gain.
When Lear and Gloucester assemble by the cliffs of Dover, Lear questions Gloucester’s state: “No eyes in your head, nor no money in your purse? / Your eyes are in a heavy case, your purse in a light, yet you see how this world goes. / Gloucester. I see it feelingly.” (Act IV. Scene vi.) Here, Lear cannot truly understand Gloucester because his vision is not clear, and he wonders how Gloucester can notice and observe things in the world without eyes. Lear has seen and understands that he made mistakes, although he still thinks that sight comes merely from the eyes. Gloucester informs him that sight comes from within. Vision is the product of the mind, heart, and feelings put together, not only physical sight. This is a notion that Lear was never given the chance to fully understand. In King Lear, clear vision is a feature represented by the main characters Lear and Gloucester. While Lear depicts a lack of vision, Gloucester discovers that clear vision does not derive from the eye.
In this famous play, Shakespeare is showing the audience that the world cannot accurately be seen with the eye, but with the mind. This is something that everyone will have to learn at some point in their life. Lear’s demise was a consequence of his failure to comprehend that the outer surface does not always signify reality. Gloucester steered clear of a similar downfall by learning the connection between the surface of things and reality. If Lear had attempted to look with more than just his eyes, he may have avoided this misfortune.
