King Lear- Journal #3

I am tracking misconceptions, especially with people's intentions.

"LEAR: Hear me, recreant; on thine allegiance, hear me! / That thou hast sought to make us break our vows- / Which we durst never yet- and with strained pride / To come betwixt out sentence and our power, [...] / If on the tenth day following / Thy banished trunk be found in our dominions. / The moment is thy death" (1.1 191-194; 200-202).

In this passage Lear is discussing Kent and his banishment after Kent stood up for Cordelia. Lear took Kent's actions as a form of treason, showing Kent's disloyal heart. However, throughout the play Kent proves to be very loyal to Lear, and it shows that Lear acted based upon his misconceptions about Kent's intention when he was sticking up for Cordelia.

"LEAR: Dost thou call me 'fool,' boy?
FOOL: All thy other titles thou hast given away. That thou wast born with [...]. No, faith, lords and great men [...] will not let me have all the fool to myself," (1.4 152-154; 156-157).

This passage highlights the Fool calling Lear a fool, and not only Lear but all men of great power. Lear does not take Fool seriously though, because Fool's job is to joke around and make everyone laugh. Lear automatically assumes that Fool was simply joking around with him when the Fool was not.


So far, the motif of misconceptions/intentions is changing from the actual misconceptions to the affect those misconceptions have upon the characters.