Why, despite everything, do we love Lear and are we on his side?Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on “Why Violent Video Games Should Not Be Banned”? Get an original essay. Ultimately, any pathos that weighs on Lear is because he, like all of Shakespeare's tragic heroes, does not deserve the severity of the punishment. he receives. He is, through his lack of wisdom, the victim of circumstances. Lear's catastrophic decision to divide the kingdom highlights his diplomatic stupidity and immediately shows the audience his one tragic flaw; blindness. His thoughtless banishment of Cordelia, who was previously his favorite daughter, "our joy", "your best object" and of Kent who seems to be his only "faithful" servant, suggests that he is a very poor judge of character and, as Regan eloquently suggests. at the end of the scene, a Lear "never knew himself except very vaguely". Kneeling before Regan in Act II, Scene IV, visually suggests that he has a child's mentality when he wants something and his outbursts aimed at Cordelia in Act I, Scene II, "The Barbarian Scythian", “I decline all my fatherly care,” further emphasizes the emotional temerity of Lear's thought and his lack of sage wisdom. At the end of Act I, Scene III, Goneril says that "old fools are babies again" and she is right in Lear's case because Lear seems incapable of making a mature, informed decision about anything . However, we do not turn against Lear because we recognize that, like all humanity, Lear has faults and merits. Lear's actions are not the result of any corruption or depravity, but simply the direct result of him being systematically blind to the reality of the situation around him. In retrospect, our sympathy turns to Lear when we realize that he is a “blind” victim in the situation. Goneril and Regan show us at the end of the first scene that they do not love Lear "dearer than sight, space and freedom" as they declared in the love match and that they have actually manipulated Lear into the position they wanted him because they realize "how poor his judgment is now" and intend to pursue their own Machiavellian goals. The ending scene of Act I sees the two “sisters” plotting to “strike together” “I have the heat”. The long sentences of dialogue at the end of scene I, coupled with the lack of punctuation, quicken the pace of the dialogue and give it a rhythmic, almost cursed feel. Paired with destructive adjectives such as “cripple,” “choleric,” and “temperamental,” we begin to sense that something sinister and perhaps even supernatural is being plotted against Lear. This helps to suggest that Lear, from the beginning of the play, will not escape the manipulation of those around him because he is not yet wise. Lear sincerely believes that he is handing over his bureaucratic functions "to younger forces" and that "future conflicts can be avoided" through the division of the kingdom. However, he is once again upset by his "blindness", which is subtly suggested by Lear's continued references to eyes. When he speaks of Cordelia, he says he hopes the lightning will cast its "blinding flames/into her scornful eyes." The Fool also repeatedly mentions eyes, "fathers who wear rags/make their children blind" and Lear threatens to pluck out the Fool's eyes. "Eyes" and "sight" are mentioned ten times throughout the main play and the word "see" is mentioned thirty-eight times in reference to the fact that Lear subtly drums at the audience through the repetition of the idea that everyone in.