The Abuse Of Power And Its Effects In King Lear – Free Essay Example

The desire to gather power and to control what one wants to encourage their greed can be a dangerous quality. King Lear, written in 1608, by William Shakespeare, is a tragedy that represents the horrible impacts of abusing power and leads to his death. The abuse of power plays an immense role all throughout the character’s lives in this play which in turn leads to their demise. They utlilize their position to exile anybody with no clear reason, abusing the gatekeeper’s trust, utilizing their control and power to torture others, and mishandling the power they become intrusted with. The greed and abuse of control have negative impacts and will end up leading to a dangerous circumstances.

The misuse of power is shown in the beginning periods of the play. King Lear has enough measure of power first and foremost. He is always addressed to with appropriate terms, it’s anything but difficult to realize that he has a lot of power and is regarded since all of the notorious acts he has committed, nonetheless, he misuses it. King Lear is so up to speed with his very own power and authority, he figures he shouldn’t be addressed and studied for dividing up parts of his power and legacy based on the affection he receives alone as he is blinded from the truth and reality. Lear recognizes that he is a ruler and thinks he has the option to be dominant. After Kent cautions him about the potential challenges he will have to move his power, he fiercely outcasts him and even threatened him with execution. Lear abuses his power on Kent, ”Kent, on thy life, no more’ (1.1, 165). When Lear asks Cordelia to speak and she refuses, he states, “nothing will come from nothing. Speak again” (1,1, 95). Lear acts like a child in this scene, he has trouble understanding something as abstract as love. Even when others show him the reality, his pride in being a king blinds him from the truth. Kent calls himself, “the true blank of thine eye” (1.1, 170). As Kent, later on, states that Cordelia is a genuine little girl and Lear is committing an error, despite everything he won’t listen in as he chooses blindness instead. Kent and Cordelia are helping him, not frustrating him. King Lear’s confidence is letting go from the power he has and in the long run turns into the victim of his pride. King Lear uses his power, mishandling it, and afterward loses control. Lear using his power on Cordelia and Kent has set up a dangerous and corrupted future for himself.

Edmund’s dangerous effects are shown after he begins to gain power and trust from Gloucester. Edmund’s corruption comes after controlling his dad. Edmund wants to gain his dad’s riches and land. His greediness for power and control transforms him into deceitful man creating brutal outcomes. After framing Edgar, he at long last persuades Gloucester to give him all his inheritance. In the wake of being granted the Earl of Gloucester and picking up the legacy, he requests that they murder Cordelia. Since he has gained so much power and inheritance, he believes that he can become dominant and request to submit such corrupt acts without any consequences. In addition to the fact that this ends up resorting him toward the end, yet he additionally repents the unimaginable acts he has committed. Edmund has a change of heart as he states, “This speech of yours hath moved me, And shall perchance do good. (5.3, 235).” He tries to save Lear and Cordelia, but it’s too late. Edmund had a heart however his increase of power transformed him. The abuse of his power culviates regret, that regret executes him at last. He mishandled his power by requesting to get Cordelia executed yet it would wound up crushing him toward the end as he is thinking twice about it. Edmund’s abuse of power is demonstrated when he requests the execution of Cordelia, this makes a destructive and undermined death for Edmund as he apologizes for what he did minutes before he died.

Cornwall abuses his power by enjoying seeing other characters suffer. Cornwall is a very brutal character in this book, an example of this is shown when Kent is put into the stocks, “Kent in the stocks for disrespect Fetch forth the stocks! As I have life and honor, There shall he sit till noon” (2.2, 135). By placing Kent into the stocks, he is expressing that he is better than the king. Cornwall’s capacity has given him the privilege to mishandle it and use it to humiliate Kent. He gains joy seeing him suffer. Him picking up control through his wife gives him over the top pride. Another case of this was the point at which he tore out Gloucester’s eyes for offering shelter to King Lear. This was pointless and was excessively extreme. He has a desire to slaughter Gloucester for submitting minor treason, be that as it may, he knows there could be consequences for murder, he essentially tortures him and feels unrivaled doing so. After gaining all this power, he misused it by torturing characters without reason which shows the dangerous impacts of gaining lots of power. Cornwall’s inheritance of power makes him a very abusive person, thinking that he could do whatever to anybody and have the right to enjoy it.

In conclusion, the abuse of power can corrupt and have dangerous impacts. Lear, Edmund, Cornwall, Goneril, and Regan all create a destructive environment because of their misuse of power and greed for control. They’re all ready to execute such horrible acts just to feed their greedy attitudes. Once that desperation for power is achieved and is later on mishandled, dangerous and destroying results will happen.