King Oedipus and King Lear: Comparisons on Tragic Heroes

King Oedipus and King Lear: Comparisons on Tragic Heroes

Assignment: A comparison of King Lear and Oedipus as Tragic Heroes

Lear and Oedipus share similar roles as tragic heroes although Oedipus is the one who truly fits the definition of a Tragic Hero as expressed by Aristotle, “A man who is a mixture of both good and bad yet portrays a higher moral worth though he still discovers misfortune and suffering due to his error in judgment but also achieves a greater learning through his past actions,” also regarded as hamartia.

The most important similarity to note, amongst both kings, is their errors in judgment whilst they were dubbed as a mixture of both good and bad. Lear’s inability to perceive his daughters, Goneril and Regan as the manipulative ones and disregard his truly loving Cordelia brings about his rash decision to disown her. This shows his lack of insight towards the sincerity of his children and that he clearly values appearances over reality due to his majestic requirement of flattery. The complications created by this mistake are grave and have an adverse trickle down affect on the story. Although Lear’s favorite daughter as in the beginning of the play is Cordelia when he talks highly of her, yet imposes his decision, “Come not between the dragon and his wrath. I loved her most, and thought to set my rest” (I,i,124-125) and goes on to make another uncalculated error by lashing out at loyal Kent, his humble nobleman, and banishes him for defending Cordelia, losing out on another trustworthy being from his kingdom. In contrast to this incident, Lear was a changed and humble man when returning un-entertained from Goneril’s and Regan’s palaces. During the storm, his humility was enough to befriend a mad man (Edgar), and later even shed tears when his disowned daughter found him abandoned and mistreated during the battle between France and England. This shows Lear as a loving father yet a human being capable of making a mistake not by vice or depravity, but by error of frailty, which comes back to...

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