Blindness/motif Of Eyes Flashcards
“My son Edgar had he a hand to write this? A heart and brain to breed it?”
-Gloucesters repeated questions shows he is easily believing of Edmond’s plot
-shows he is blind to the truth (foreshadowing his blindness)
“How now what art thou?”
- Lears inability to recognise Kent shows how he has a disability to see the reality and how he blind to the truth.
-also could be a dementia symptom (agnosia) giving someone the inability to recognise people they know well
“Old find eyes, beweep this cause again I’ll pluck ye out”
-Lear says he will pluck his own eyes out to stop him crying
-shows how he was blinded by Gonerils sycophantic behaviour
“All that follow their noses are led by their eyes but blind men.”
-the fools metaphor referencing people being untrustworthy
-lear is not seeing the truth and is following his “nose”
“Her eyes are fierce but thin do comfort and not burn”
-personified eyes: Regan has comforting eyes
-Lear still fails to see the truth in Regan
“Cornwall puts out one of Gloucesters eyes”
-allegory for how Gloucester has been blind to the truth and believed Edmond
“Then Edgar was abused”
-Gloucesters anagnorosis as he realises the truth
-ironic as now he is blind he can see the truth
“I stumbled when I saw”
- despite having his sight he had not seen the truth
-“stumbled” metaphor for being gullible
