King Lear | Themes & Symbolism

King Lear Principal Topics

Double Plot

Commentary on the double plot or subplot in King Lear frequently combines discussion of its function in the play with critiques of Gloucester, Edgar, and Edmund. Historically, critics have pointed out the many parallels between the two plots, as well as the verbal echoes and cross-references from one story to the other. But more recently the differences between them have been highlighted by critics who demonstrate the discrepancies in circumstances and themes in the separate tragedies of Lear and Gloucester. In the judgment of most modem critics, the subplot is much more than a repetition of the principal story. They see it as intensifying or heightening the central themes of the play, including the Ingratitude of children, disorder in the family, human fallibility, the concept of individual identity, and the notion of spiritual development and rebirth.

Two scenes in the secondary plot have received the most attention: the blinding...
(read more)