Vision and Blindness in Shakespeare's "King Lear"

Paper Summary:

This essay takes a look at how a Structuralist would view the main characters weaving through the plot of "King Lear". Structuralists believe that there is a structure (that can be located) in every piece of literature that makes the plot happen; without structure there would be no story. The first line of this paper is: "The continuous reiteration of references, both explicit and implicit, to vision and blindness in King Lear renders its resultant symbolism an obviously necessary part of the play's construction." The paper goes on to prove that if Lear hadn't lost his physical eyesight and gained a spiritual kind of sight, there would be no story. That is the structure of the play.

From the Paper:

"The continuous reiteration of references, both explicit and implicit, to vision and blindness in King Lear renders its resultant symbolism an obviously necessary part of the play's construction. This language pattern plays a structural role in defining Lear's fall from self-assumed grace to what he belatedly recognizes as an enlightened perspective; he fails to "see" truth until he has lost his visions of grandeur along with his eyesight. Therefore, without King Lear's intellectual and spiritual blindness, there would be no meaning assigned to his eventual clarity concerning morality. His lack of vision in the beginning is what allocates meaning to his eventual clarity. Each recurring allusion to eyesight in the play is like a verbal organ that composes the framework for a whole body of paradoxical meanings relating to a larger picture of the human condition. "To have eyes, and to see not, is to be at the mercy of evil?" (Heilman 51)."

More papers on Vision and Blindness in Shakespeare's "King Lear":

• Analytical Essay # 65427 : "Blindness in "King Lear"
• Analytical Essay # 31382 : "Madness in "King Lear" and "Twelfth Night"
• Analytical Essay # 4956 : "Theme and Technique in Shakespeare's Sonnets"

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