King Lear is one of the most tragic parables ever presented in literature, dealing with betrayal, family deceit, madness, and violence . In presenting such tragic themes and ideas in his work, Shakespeare uses a subplot to mirror the main action, thereby increasing the effect of the lessons of the parable. In both stories, the parents are deceived and betrayed by their own children, one of the most heinous crimes of Shakespeare's time. It was this mistreatment of children that drove Lear and Gloucester to madness and then death. But they are not completely innocent victims, victims of their children's bad intentions. Both made critical and consistent errors of judgment that caused their downfall, and they both must realize their errors before they die. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on “Why Violent Video Games Should Not Be Banned”? Get an original essay In the first scene of the first act, we are confronted with Lear's misguided reliance on artifice and flattery that catapults the he action of the play and leads to both his positive transformation and, unfortunately, his death. Before dividing his kingdom between his three daughters, Lear asks “which of you shall we say loves us most,/that we may extend our greater generosity” (King Lear Ii51-52). From the beginning, it is evident that Lear equates quality with quantity, since he so blatantly states that he who says he loves him most will receive the most. He does not realize that exaggerated praise and flattery are not the same thing as honest love and affection, something Lear will have to learn very painfully. The responses of his daughters Goneril, Regan, and finally Cordelia further demonstrate Lear's lack of understanding. Both Goneril and Regan make exaggerated and blatantly dishonest declarations of love. For example, Goneril describes her love as "a love that makes it hard to breathe and makes speech incapable" (King Lear Ii60), which is quite surprising given that she is actually speaking at that moment. When Cordelia, Lear's loving and honest daughter, explains to Lear that his sisters are lying to him, "why have husbands for my sisters if they say/They love you all?" (King Lear Ii99-100), and that she loves him too much to lie and flatter him and that she will therefore say nothing, he cruelly misses the point. This opening scene clearly introduces the reader to Lear's major error in judgment that he will have to overcome by the end of the play. While Lear relies so heavily on words and flattery, Gloucester trusts too much in what his eyes see and therefore falls prey to Edmunds. trickery and deception. In the second scene, Edmund begins his plot to discredit Edgar in the eyes of Gloucester so that he, the illegitimate son, will obtain everything, including property, title, and material wealth. While Goneril and Regan use words to get the answer they desire from Lear, Edmund plays on Gloucester's trust in appearance and his own eyes to deceive him. He claims to have a letter from Edgar that he is trying to hide from him when in fact he knows that Gloucester will demand to see the letter. Gloucester himself alludes to this reliance on sight and appearances when he asks for Edmund's letter in his use of vocabulary. He says "let's see. Come, if there is nothing, I won't need glasses... Let's see, let's see" (King Lear I.ii.35-44). Because he himself read these words, Gloucester does not doubt their validity for a single moment and immediately becomes angry with his son without even.