Betrayal Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Betrayal - Essay ExampleFocusing on the theme of devotion and betrayal, William Shakespeare chose to deploy it in several story arcs at once, vary it in scale. Betrayal as a recurring theme is present throughout the play, being a thread that connects characters and events incorporated in it. Lear, the elderly world power of Britain, is about to resign, and thus wants to pass the prosperous kingdom to one of his daughters who loves him most. Whereas the two elder daughters, Goneril and Regan, choose to flatter and feast the fathers ears with honey words, the youngest daughter, Cordelia, favored to express love to her father decently and modestly insisting that love must be proved with deeds, not with pleasing words I am sure my lovesmore richer than my tongue (Shakespeare). The standpoint of the youngest daughter infuriated Lear who loved her most and expected to hear more than he actually did and made him dissever the kingdom between Goneril and Regan outcasting Cordelia. This wa s the turning point that triggered numerous consequences and tragic losses. However, there is a secondary storyline focusing on the tragedy of the earl Gloucester and his sons Edgar and Edmund. Being a bastard and having morbid ambitions for respectable position and power in Britain, Edmund ventured upon the blatant deception a recognizest his father and brother trying to sow discord between them and gain Gloucesters favor. The overwhelming lies on the side of Goneril, Regand and Edmund results in awful betrayal and deaths. At the same time, it can be seen that the motif of betrayal and its consequences is traced in divers(prenominal) situations and levels of narration from as narrow as a separate family to as wide scale as national affairs. Shakespeare demonstrates the fruits of wickedness in both the familial and political realmshere, brothers betray brothers and