King Lear

Robertson Nicole Robertson 1
British Literature 1
27 August 2003

A Great Tragedy:
The good misunderstood and the evil accepted
Shakespeare’s King Lear and Marlowe’s Doctor Faustus is a detailed description of the consequences of one mans decisions that ends in a tragedy. Lear and Faustus decisions greatly alter their lives and the lives of those around them. These two stories are defined as tragedies because they meet the criteria of what a tragic hero stands for, i.e. a hero is larger than life, and both stories have a tragic fall caused by some error or moral weakness. It is not till the end of the plays that the honest people are recognized. The stories reveal a fatal error in judgement and a character flaw, which causes their downfall, suffering and enlightenment.
In the opening of Shakespeare’s King Lear the first error in judgement is introduced in scene 1.1 lines 95-98, where Cordelia confesses her love for her ...