His family and friends attempt either to redirect him and his thinking into the right path or to take advantage of it. In addition, in the poem there is Gloucester, who is a friend to King Lear and is betrayed by his son Edmund in believing that his other son Edgar is coming up with a plan against him and trying to kill him. At the beginning of the poem with Gloucester is branded a traitor for helping King Lear, and he is blinded by Cornwall who is the husband of Regan and when his eyes are taken out, he realizes that his son Edmund betrayed him, “All dark and comfortless. Where is my son Edmund? Edmund, enkindled all the sparks of nature to quit this horrid act” (Lines-85-87). Then he finds out the truth that Edgar was the son that always was on his side,

“Oh, my follies! Then Edgar was corrupted and betrayed by Edmund. Kind Gods, forgive me that, and prosper him” (Lines-88-89).

In the poem Edgar is with his father wants to show him how valuable life/faith is and that he shouldn’t be gone from existence.

So he takes his father to the place he wants to go but, he doesn’t take him toward the cliff instead they are on top of a hill. Edgar tells his father to jump, Gloucester does jump and he thinks that he has fallen off of the cliff, in reality he just falls on his face. Edgar tells him different stories during his time with him to restore his faith in religion and his faith in living. Upon the hill with Edgar, Gloucester gets on his knees and says, “O you mighty Gods! This world I do renounce, and in your sights shake patiently my great affliction off” (Lines-35-36). Within the poem there is another article that I read which is called, “I Stumbled When I Saw”: Interpreting Gloucester’s Blindness in King Lear”. Which talks about, Gloucester’s blindness is the same as Lear’s madness, both of the characters representing the destruction of themselves and their human existence.

Both are major issues with the way the play works and its tragic clash with the characters themselves in the play as well. Shakespeare understands how human emotions work when they come out when Gloucester is blinded by Cornwall and the powerful meanings behind what is being done in the play. Another key element in the poem is, when Cordelia and Lear are imprisoned, locked up together. Before, Cordelia is about to be killed, Lear kills the guard who is trying to hang him and he kills the guard who strangles Cordelia to death. In an instance it is shown that Lear shows compassion and more faith and shows that he is a father more than a king in that instance when h