What learned from Lear

This “semester” of Shakespeare has been so awesome!! The discussion was amazing and I learned a lot from just listening to the “old people” discuss and talk. These are some of the lessons I learned from essays, listening, and a couple I thought of while writing this essay.

Lesson one: Don’t let flattery guide your actions

There is a difference between flattery and compliments. Flattery is a way to get things and a compliment is a way to show and express your love and appreciation for someone. Flattery is wrong, and compliments are good. In King Lear Goneril and Regan were using flattery to convince their Father to give them something. Cordelia had didn’t want to convince her Father at all. She wanted him to see that she would love him no matter what and wanted to show him that she could love him without flattery.

Lesson two: Listen to your good friends! Anything done in anger you will soon regret.

I think that the first lesson I learned from King Lear, Kent taught me. In the first scene, King Lear is angry at Cordelia because she does not use flattering words to show her love to him. Because of this Lear gets angry and says that she is not his daughter any more. Kent sees the error of his words and tries to help Lear see that anger is clouding his mind, and that the anger is making the King say things he will regret. Lear ignores him and later on regrets it.

Lesson Three: Family relationships are important

Obviously King Lear was not a very good parent. I think that if he had spent more time with his daughters and had no favorites, they would have been a happy family. I think that Regan and Goneril would not have been as selfish. Also if the sisters had still been selfish, he would have seen past their flattery because he would have known them as Cordelia did.

Lesson Four: The Golden Rule

Do unto others as you would have them do unto you. Isn’t this a great motto? Imagine how it would be if all of the characters in King Lear lived this. Edmund would have really been benefited by living this. He would probably have been kinder to his half-brother, Edgar. Also he wouldn’t have tried to lie and cheat his father, Regan, Goneril, and everyone else in the play!

Lesson Five: When you act in love, you act well

Cordelia and Kent are both good examples of this lesson. They showed that love and concern is one of the best ways to act towards others. When we act with love, we are rewarded in the end. If not physically, spiritually.

Through these things, we won’t make the mistakes that everyone in King Lear did. Shakespeare really taught me many lessons from this play and I plan to learn from them. I wonder how many people do this when they read Shakespeare?