Madness of Lear & Edgar

Madness is considered to be the root of all endings. In addition, the overall mental and physical state of insanity is seen as shameful to many people, as well as disrespectful to oneself and others. With that being said, the motif of fury one thing that no man wants to experience. But in Shakespeares King Lear, madness appears in various forms and functions as the central national, and leads many of the characters, including Lear himself, to their demise. In the beginning of the flirt, Lear is characterized as a very superciliousnessful individual, who is obsess with power and self-love.But as the plot of the play progresses, numerous situations arise and Lear endures a rollercoaster of emotions, which ultimately shape him into a different person. Lears overall changes throughout the play all have something in common a decrease in power and an increase in grief and sympathy. Each obstacle that Lear goes through pushes his pride more and more towards self-pity and sadness, which are emotions that a King of his stature is not used to having to deal with.Through his perspective at this point, he fears that he is going mad, and Lear is so obsessed with control that the thought of losing it all makes him believe that he is losing his sanity as well. However, later on he constantly gets pushed to experience self-evaluation with each situation. Lear undergoes a rebirth, steady though it is too late for the King at this stage of the play. Another character in King Lear, Edgar, also endures the plays central theme of madness, but in a different way.Edgar feigns his insanity to stay alive, by disguising himself as the beggar Poor Tom, in order for his father, Gloucester, to accept him after Edmund, Gloucesters illegitimate son, tricks their father into thinking that Edgar is a madman and wants to murder his father. Edgar fames madness throughout the play and disguises himself as the madman that Edmund has betrayed him to be, since at the time the hebephrenic wer e virtually invisible to society. Ironically, Edgars time as a supposedly insane beggar prepares him to defeat Edmund at the close of the play.Shakespeare uses both of these characters to mirror and direct contrast one anothers states to madness and to illustrate the plays deeper meanings. While Edgar pretends to be mad, Lear is actually mad. Edgar stimulates insanity and foreshadows Lears madness, as it grows stronger throughout the play. The ii end up joining, and it ultimately provides Lear with important wisdom by reducing him to his bare humanity, stripped of all royal pretentions. However, the real madness ofLear and the assumed madness of Edgar both play against one another to make out of the chaos a harmony in the kingdom through self-revelation, wisdom, and humility. Eventually, the madness comes to an end. Edgar unveils his disguise of madness and overthrows Edmund, while Lears madness leads to his demise. Overall, Shakespeare delves into the issues of age, power, lust, betrayal, and most of all, pure madness. The play shines a light on various faults in humanity, including self-indulgence and the desires to only think close to oneself. In the end, greed and egotism can really only result in madness.