Character is destiny

Shakespeare's tragedy has a recurring theme: "Character is destiny." The characters of KingLear, Gloucester, and Edmund in the play King Lear serve to illustrate thisidea. Each character's traits and responsibilities within the play's social yimpact their fate and how other characters treat them.

Lear displays severaltraits that might be characterized as his tragic flaws throughout the play.Lear's illogical reasoning for dividing the kingdom among his daughters in theplay's opening scene reveals that he is used to dishonesty has a quick temper,is impatient, and is ignorant of human weaknesses. He shows that he is used toflattery by inviting his daughters to express their affection for him openly.This also shows that he takes great pride in his capacity as king. King Learalso exhibits his simple personality by disowning Cordelia and banishing Kentin the first act. Lear immediately disowns Cordelia as his daughter afterhearing less than what he had anticipated from her. He is used to exerting hiswill based on this.

It also shows that hethinks he can control human emotions like love, thanks to his status as aruler. Lear also gives Goneril and Regan a significant portion of his realm asa reward after telling them what he expects from them. This reflects hisgullible, generous, and naive character. Lear's traits are mostly made clear inthe play's first act. He is used to expressing his will without restraint andis credulous, ignorant, and unaware of human limitations. These traits are histragic defects, which ultimately determine his fate.

Because of his tragicdefects, Lear's fate is set at the play's end. He disowned Cordelia because hethought he had the right to decide what love was because he was the king. Learalso divided his kingdom between Goneril and Regan due to his generosity,gullibility, and lack of suspicion toward the two uncaring sisters. Lear'straits prevent him from being able to anticipate how his actions will turn out.He cannot see underneath the deceptive surface of Goneril and Regan's claimsdue to his gullibility and lack of suspicion. As the play continues, Goneriland Regan can use Lear's traits against him to strengthen their own positionsand weaken his.

King Lear is strippedto nothing as a result; he loses his house, his comforts, and the final tracesof his regal authority. His tremendous loss is evident in the scene where Learfaces the storm. This scene shows how Lear lost everything because of hisirrational reasoning, credulity, and inability to see human limitations. Inthis scene, he first encounters Poor Tom and compares himself to the beggar.Lear slips into mental isolation and madness due to being reduced to nothing,subjected to the elements, and living with the consequences of his acts. Hisphysical and mental suffering led to his death. Shakespeare's tragediesfrequently let characters decide the outcome.

Character is destinycan also be seen in Gloucester's character traits and the destiny he encountersin the play's finale. Shakespeare portrays Gloucester as a kind, credulous,hurried, weak, and superstitious guy with a good heart. Gloucester shows histwo boys and Lear affection through his acts. He exhibits his naive side sincehe accepts Edmund's accusations against his brother and the information in thefake letter. Gloucester's tendency toward superstition can also be seen.Throughout the play, he frequently alludes to gods and natural forces"These late eclipses in the sun and moon portend no good to us: though thewisdom of nature can reason it thus and thus…yet nature finds itself scourg'dby the sequent effects. Love cools, friendship falls off, brothersdivide."  (Shakespeare and Foakes[1997] 2013), 1.2.103-107,)

Gloucester's impulsivecharacter can be shown in his quick judgments of Edgar. In numerous instancesduring the play, Gloucester demonstrates traits similar to those of King Lear.Gloucester reveals that he is a weak character, in contrast to Lear, who maintainsa strong attitude despite the actions performed against him. This frailty isevident in his wish to end his life as well as his attitude about life ingeneral: " No further, sir; a man may rot even here."  (5.2. 8) Shakespeare thus portrays Gloucesteras gullible, superstitious, feeble, and impulsive.

Gloucester's traitsdetermine his fate at the play's end. He dies at the end of the play as aresult of his gullible and fast judgments about Edgar, his superstitiousnature, and his weak personality traits. Gloucester suffers bodily andemotional pain due to Edmund's acts against him, leading to his death. Thegentle and trusting nature of Gloucester is ideal for Edmund's objectives.Edmund can take advantage of Gloucester's traits and make Gloucester emotionallyexhausted and blind. Thanks to Gloucester's naive personality, Edmund canacquire his father's estate and trust.

Additionally, itassists Edmund in creating a conflict between his father and Edgar. Whendepicting Edgar as having "Stood he in the dark, his sharp sword out,mumbling of wicked charms, conjuring the moon to stand auspiciousmistress." (2.1.37-39) Edmund again takes advantage of Gloucester'ssuperstitious beliefs to intensify the conflict between his father and hisbrother. Gloucester is able to put his father through both physical andemotional stress because of his naïve, thoughtless, and superstitious nature.Gloucester's stress ultimately leads to his death; Gloucester passes away atthe play's conclusion because he has endured a great deal of pain and becausehis weak character has finally gained the upper hand. As a result, Gloucester'sfate effectively illustrates how character determines destiny.          

Edmund'scharacteristics closely resemble the characteristics Shakespeare develops forother villains in his other tragedies. Edmund shows courage, the persistence ofpurpose, and egoism. Based on his birth status and social standing, he excuseshis treatment of other characters. He has a very egotistical desire for wealthand power. When the chance presents itself, he is compelled to pursue the crownafter being determined first to seize his brother's heritage. He pursues hisinterests and sees friendship, family, alliances, and relationships with peopleas obstacles to his true aim. Edmund's relationships with others are based moreon business than emotion.

His description of hisfather and brother, "A credulous father and a brother noble...I see thebusiness" shows how he perceives them. (1.2.177-180) Edmund believes thathe belongs in the animal's natural environment. According to him, just asanimals compete with one another to stay alive or in order to accomplish theirgoals. He commits to nature, where the most robust law is always prevailing.Edmund's evil ultimately self-destructs in the play's conclusion, as in othertragedies by Shakespeare. Edmund loses like an animal at his own game due tosociety's denial of tragedy's wickedness. Therefore, Edmund's fate results fromhis egotistical, self-centered, and ambitious personality.

Character qualitiesfrequently serve as a predictor of a character's fate in Shakespearean tragedy.This may be seen in King Lear in the personalities of Edmund, Gloucester, andLear himself. The three characters had traits that affected how othercharacters interacted with them and how they responded to the play's events.King Lear and Gloucester both exhibited soft-hearted and gullible traits. Thesetraits made it possible for their unappreciative children to plot against them.Their tragic character faults caused their deaths. Furthermore, Edmund's fateis brought about by his villainous character, like in other tragedies byShakespeare.