"How sharper than a serpent's tooth it is

To have a thankless child" (Act 1 Scene 4 lines 285-6)

These lines spoken by the eponymous hero of Shakespeare's "King Lear", sum up the main theme of the play. Lear is a king nearing the end of his reign, who decides to split his kingdom between his three daughters. In this play Shakespeare presents us with a patriarchal family. It would appear that Lear raised his daughter alone, just as Volumnia raises her son, Coriolanus alone. In the play "Coriolanus" we are presented with the reversal of Lear's family, by seeing one of the matriarchal dominance. Through comparing these two plays one can see how Shakespeare tackles the problems arising in single parent families.

We delve straight into Lear's relationship with his daughters in Act One. Lear, in order...