discuss King Lear as an uplifting as well as a horrifying experience.

discuss King Lear as an uplifting as well as a horrifying experience.

The old filial bonds that we have come to rely on have been torn apart in this play: parents abandon their children, children turn against their parents, brother turns on brother just as sister turns against sister, master banishes loyal servant the the bonds of matrimony are shattered.
The scene where Gloucester's eyes are brutally plucked out is utterly horrifying, not only for the act itself but also for the fact that Cornwall and Regan seem to relish the cruelty.
Edmund's villainy, even though it is absorbing, is horrifying. He is the ultimate Machiavellian where the end really does justify the means. He seems to be devoid of all scruples.
The suffering of Cordelia in Act One is horrifying. One cannot fail to sympathise with the daughter whose only fault is to 'Love and be silent'. She is disowned and further humiliated by her dowry being withdrawn.
Lear's suffering is horrifying. The ruthless attack by his daughters is, at times, difficult to watch. We see him spiral from ruler to a figure no better than 'Poor Tom'.
In Act Four, Scene Seven we see a man so penitent for his actions and so overwhelmed by the evil that was inflicted on him that he climbs to the top of a mountain to take his own life.
The evil forces in the play kill the symbol of good in the play, Cordelia. She was completely altruistic throughout the play but ended up being murdered. There was no happy ending for her or for anybody else in the play.
Many people die in the play and those who do live are grieving.
There is an air of pessimism in the play; one cannot believe 'man's cruelty to man'. Gloucester is commentating on this world when he says: 'When we are born, we cry that we are come
To this great stage of fools.'
It is harder to argue that reading or watching King Lear is an uplifting experience, but here are some points to consider:
King Lear may show you the very worst in man but it also shows you the very best. Cordelia, Edgar and Kent all display the best...