ENG4U1 King Lear Essay Old Age and Wisdom Are Not Synonymous In, King Lear

1. King Lear Essay
Old Age and Wisdom Are Not Synonymous in, King Lear
There is a familiar belief that old age comes with pronounced wisdom. Wisdom is gained
through different experiences in life, and encompasses the ability to act with insight, knowledge,
and good judgment. Old age and wisdom are correlated, with wisdom increasing with age. For
this reason, elderly people are considered to wiser due to the accumulated experiences
throughout their lives. However, contrary to popular belief, old age does not necessarily come
with wisdom. Shakespeare’s tragedy, King Lear, illustrates how both Lear and Gloucester reach
old age without much wisdom. Both are blind to their children’s’ deceits and treachery, and
exhibit neither insight nor wisdom that is expected of their old age. Ultimately, Lear and
Gloucester could have avoided many catastrophes and their tragic demise had they been wiser.
Henceforth, Shakespeare establishes that wisdom and old age are not synonymous in the play,
King Lear.
King Lear’s naïve beliefs exemplify how wisdom does not come with old age. The
elderly Lear intends on relinquishing his throne to his three daughters. He reasons: “To shake all
cares and business from our age, /Conferring them on younger strengths while we /Unburdened
crawl toward death” (I,i,37-39). Lear is of the belief that he can simply retire. This is foolish
because Lear’s decision only disrupts the great chain of being; in the Elizabethan era, kings were
expected to rule until their death. Moreover, Lear expects to keep the title of the king and be
treated as such despite giving up his crown. He tells his daughters Goneril and Regan, “Only
shall we retain /The name, and all th’additions to a king. /The sway, revenue, execution of the
rest” (I,i,135-137). Simply put, Lear wants the title and treatment of the king without doing any

2. 2
work. Lear’s utterly asinine and unrealistic belief is recognized by Goneril when she says, “Idle
old man /That still would manage those authorities /That he hath given away!” (I,iii,16-18). Lear
is foolish to believe he can still wield the powers he has given away. Correspondingly, Lear gives
away everything to Goneril and Regan upon relinquishing his throne. He gives away his
kingdom, his power, authority, and wealth, only to be left with the naïve belief that he will be
taken care of by his daughters. Lear is completely oblivious to his daughters’ treachery, showing
no foresight in their betrayal. All in all, Lear’s naïve beliefs and execution of foolish decisions
emphasizes his lack of wisdom in his old age.
Likewise, Lear’s pride and vanity renders him susceptible to Goneril and Regan’s
duplicity. Lear wants his daughters to publically express their love for him to justify their share
of the kingdom. Goneril and Regan falsely praise and flatter King Lear with empty words in
order to get a part of the kingdom; Goneril claims that she loves Lear more than eyesight,
freedom, wealth or anything else valuable and Regan boldly states that she rejects any joy except
her love for Lear. Lear is blind and unable to see past the lies that Goneril and Regan cocoon him
with. When Lear’s youngest daughter, Cordelia, is honest with her love, Lear is insulted by her
lack of grandiose praises and immediately disowns her. Cordelia refuses to bend to Lear’s
irrational desires of hearing flattery and praise, and simply tells him: “I love your majesty
according to my bond, no more nor less” (I,i,91-92). Lear’s quick decision to disown Cordelia
conveys how he acts irrationally with poor judgment. Ironically, Lear says “Let pride, which she
calls plainness, marry her” (I,i,6). Evidently, Lear’s pride blinds him from the truth. Goneril
recognizes Lear’s foolish actions when she says: "He always loved our sister most and with what
poor judgment he hath now cast her off appears too grossly" (I,i,290-293). This depicts Lear’s
poor judgment as he banishes Cordelia because she did not comply to his wishes of being

3. 3
praised. In short, Lear makes foolish decisions because his vain nature prevails over logical
thinking.
Additionally, Lear is ignorant to the truth, and lets pride get in his way of better
judgment. This results in the banishment of the people who truly care about him. Lear only wants
to hear others agree with him; when others disagree, his pride is hurt and he reacts defensively.
To exemplify, when Kent pleas with Lear to see Goneril and Regan’s true demeanor, Lear is
outraged that Kent questions his authority. He immediately banishes Kent, and states: “Hear me,
recreat! On thine allegiance hear me. /That thou hast sought to make us break our vows,…Which
nor our nature nor our place can bear, our potency make good” (I,i,168-172). Evidently, Lear
cannot distinguish between those who care about him, and those who use him; simply taking
Kent’s questioning as an insult to his power. Furthermore, Lear disowns his favourite daughter
Cordelia when she refuses to entertain him with dishonest flattery. Lear takes Cordelia’s silence
as a stab to his ego and says: “Here I disclaim all my paternal care, /Propinquity, and property of
blood, /And as a stranger to my heart and me /Hold thee from this forever” (I,i,112-116).
Evidently, Lear is ignorant to Cordelia’s love for him, and banishing his favourite daughter is a
sign of his rash and poor judgment. All in all, Lear banishes both Kent and Cordelia when they
refuse to bend to his irrational wishes. Lear’s foolish decisions result in him being left only with
people who want to use him.
Gloucester is another character who reaches old age without achieving any wisdom.
Gloucester’s gullibility and blindness results in him being duped many times throughout the
play. In the beginning, he falls right into his bastard son, Edmund’s, ploy to bring down both him
and Edgar. Edmund claims that there is a letter written by Edgar wishing Gloucester to be dead
so he can receive his inheritance. Without any evidence, Gloucester immediately turns against

4. 4
Edgar. Gloucester states “Oh villain, villain! His very opinion in the letter!...I’ll apprehend him.
Abominable villain!” (I,ii,73-75). The lack of evidence makes the validity of the letter
questionable, however Gloucester jumps to conclusions and condemns Edgar without giving him
a chance to explain. Notably, Gloucester is rash, close-minded and gullible; he is blind to one
side of the story and jumps to conclusions while missing the truth. He’s lack of wisdom is shown
through his lack of foresight to his Edmund’s actions, and through his rash actions in
condemning Edgar. Overall, Gloucester’s inability to distinguish the truth from lies highlights
how wisdom does not come with old age.
Both Lear and Gloucester’s lack of insight and their foolish actions exemplify how
wisdom and old age are not synonymous. Lear and Gloucester are marred by their lack of good
judgment, and their rash and impulsive nature. Both lack the insight and knowledge an elderly
person like them should possess. However, as the play progresses, Lear and Gloucester are
enlightened and begin to exhibit wisdom and maturity that has been absent from their presence
thus far. They gain wisdom through the unfortunate incidents, and are spiritually saved before
their demise. Although old age should come with great wisdom, much like the saying, “there is
no fool like an old fool”, old age is not equivalent to great wisdom.