Another way Shakespeare presents change in Lear’s identity is through the use of mental derangement. At the beginning of the play he is sane but mad. We can see this through Lear’s absurd decisions to decide the next rulers of the country with a ‘love test’. The self-inflated dignity of Lear. Has caused him to place the future of 8th century England in jeopardy in exchange for a mere few praises to affirm his status as king. A king is meant to be wise and partial, yet Lear is contradiction to this as he succumbs to his own egoistic nature, The decision to pass down kingship to his daughters may seem fine on the surface, yet when we look deeper, it is actually an inversion of gender roles and this disrupts the natural order, which leads us to further question Lear’s sanity. Within the proceedings of the ‘love test’ itself, we continue to see the madness in his sanity as he disowns a forthright and sincere Cordelia, which in honesty could not ‘heave [her] heart into [her] heart’, resulting in her not lavishing praises onto him, unlike her sisters Goneril and Reagan, which we know through dramatic irony were insincere in their overflowing praises, and only had eyes for the throne and the kingdom. To further worsen the situation, in the heat of Lear’s rashness and madness, Lear banishes The Earl of Kent, a loyal subject to him for , for speaking up for the disowned Cordelia. As Lear was blinded by his egocentric yet insecure nature, he saw any from of challenging his decision as a form of impunity that would not be tolerated. Therefore, through Lear’s sane but mad nature, Lear had banished those who love him most, both Cordelia and Kent, who would protect him form his other two daughter’s impending betrayal. In Lear’s moments of irrationality, it represents a prelude to his madness, whereby in Act II, we can see last traces of his already vanishing sanity when Lear says, “My wits begin to turn.” The dissension into madness ends in Act III as after being thrown out...