Imprisonment in King LearIn the play King Lear, by William Shakespeare, the idea of ​​imprisonment is fundamental to the plot and central ideas. All the characters are imprisoned, whether physically, socially or psychologically. Every character suffers from “imprisonment” in one form or another. King Lear is one of the most closeted characters in the play. He suffers from both social and psychological incarceration and this is one of the main reasons for his descent into mental hell and his inevitable downfall. Lear is imprisoned by the role he must play in society and by his own internal chains. The abdication of the throne initiates the action of the play, through the resulting chain of events. However, this indicates that Lear is imprisoned by his responsibility to society, a social harness binds him. He renounces the throne to live the rest of his life in pleasure and in doing so he disrupts the Great Chain of Being, he challenges the position given to him and thus his family and even the entire nation sinks into the disorder and chaos. The storm is symbolic of this event; time imitates the state of men. “A spirit like time,” the gentleman recognizes the worry and restlessness of the storm, as a manifestation of the turbulence of society at that time. He is not only responsible for the harmony of a nation, it is also his duty to maintain harmony in his house. This he does with little success when he “bribes” his daughters to fuel his own ego. "Which of you will say that he loves us most, / That we may give him our greatest bounty", Lear asks his daughters to participate in a "game" of words, he does not really wish to know who the 'loves most, he simply wishes to be flattered, because of this he is recklessly aba...... middle of paper ...... Bevington, David, "Introduction to King Lear." The Complete Works of William Shakespeare. New York: HarperCollins, 1992. Elton, William R. King Lear and the Gods. San Marino, CA: The Huntington Library, 1966.Halio, Jay. "The Imprisonment of King Lear." Shakespeare Quarterly 67(1999): 221-3. Hoover, Claudette. “Women, centaurs and devils in King Lear.” Women's Studies 16 (1989): 349-59. Jackson, Ken. “Review of Judy Kronenfeld, King Lear and the Naked Truth.” Early Modern Literary Studies 6.2 (September 2000): 10.1-5. Leggattt, Alexandre. King Lear. Boston: Twayne Publishers, 1988. Shakespeare, William. King Lear. The Complete Works of Shakespeare.Ed. David Bevington. New York: HarperCollins, 1999