King Lear Self-Knowledge Quotes

You see how full of changes his age is; the observation we have made of it hath not been little. He always loved our sister most, and with what poor judgment he hath now cast her off appears too grossly.

– William Shakespeare

King Lear, Act 1, Scene 1. Goneril can see Lear’s growing instability and poor judgment more clearly than he can see himself – Lear has little self-knowledge. Goneril is concerned that Lear has just disowned the daughter he loved most. Not because she cares for Cordelia, however, but because of Goneril’s self-interest and concern that Lear’s poor judgment might affect her and Regan. This foreshadows the conflict that will arise between the older sisters and Lear.

This is the excellent foppery of the world, that, when we are sick in fortune, – often the surfeits of our own behaviour, – we make guilty of our disasters the sun, the moon, and the stars: as if we were villains by necessity; fools by heavenly compulsion; knaves, drunkards, liars, and adulterers, by an enforced obedience of planetary influence; and all that we are evil in, by a divine thrusting on. An admirable evasion of whoremaster man, to lay his goatish disposition on the charge of a star!…I should have been that I am, had the maidenliest star in the firmament twinkled on my bastardising.

– William Shakespeare

King Lear, Act 1, Scene 2. The amoral Edmund has nothing but scorn for people like his father who blame higher powers when things go wrong. He ridicules the foolishness of those like Gloucester who blame the sun, moon and stars for their fate. He believes that the motion of the heavenly bodies has nothing to do with determining human actions, including having a depraved nature. And he should know! He admits that his own evil is self-taught, indicating that he has a deep level of self-knowledge.

LEAR: Doth any here know me? This is not Lear.
Doth Lear walk thus, speak thus? Where are his eyes?
Either his notion weakens, his discernings
Are lethargied – Ha! Waking? ‘Tis not so.
Who is it that can tell me who I am?
FOOL: Lear’s shadow.

– William Shakespeare

King Lear, Act 1, Scene 4. King Lear can’t believe the way he is being treated by some of those around him. Having been described as a fool by his court jester, and his daughter Goneril tearing into him with complaints about his rowdy knights. From being undisputed King and ruler of his kingdom, he now watches his power and dignity slipping away from him. He questions who he is, asks if anybody knows him, wonders where are his eyes, and who can tell him who he is. The Fool’s clever answer, "Lear’s shadow," has multiple meanings. The Fool is the King’s inner conscience, he shadows him wherever he goes, telling Lear who he is in his witty social commentary and wise criticism. But since abdicating his throne Lear has also become a shadow of the man he once was and is beginning to lose grip on reality (just before this passage he asks Goneril: "Are you my daughter?"). There is a sad of despair in the words of Lear and the Fool’s reply, as Lear searches for some meaning to his life in an existence that now appears increasingly meaningless to him. This passage reflects the play’s nihilism theme.

Rumble thy bellyful! Spit, fire! spout, rain!
Nor rain, wind, thunder, fire are my daughters.
I tax not you, you elements, with unkindness.
I never gave you kingdom, called you children,
You owe me no subscription. Then let fall
Your horrible pleasure. Here I stand your slave,
A poor, infirm, weak, and despised old man.
But yet I call you servile ministers,
That will with two pernicious daughters join
Your high-engendered battles ‘gainst a head
So old and white as this. O, ho, ’tis foul!

– William Shakespeare

King Lear, Act 3, Scene 2. In the middle of the storm on the heath, Lear rages against daughters Regan and Goneril who have turned him out of their homes. Seeing himself a victim of injustice, he accuses the storm of joining forces with his two wicked daughters to strike his old white head. The storm serves as a metaphor for Lear’s inner turmoil and mounting madness over his daughters’ unkindness. In this passage we also see him becoming aware of his powerlessness, as he first shouts orders to nature and then realizes that he has no power over the elements. He invites the storm to do its worst to him and "let fall Your horrible pleasure." Wallowing in self-pity but indicating that he has begun to acquire true self-knowledge, he describes himself as a "slave" and "poor" and a "despised old man."

I am a man
More sinned against than sinning.

– William Shakespeare

King Lear, Act 3, Scene 2. Lear would say that, wouldn’t he? Acknowledging that he’s not a saint, Lear feels that he is more the victim of sin than a sinner. While he has begun to acquire some self-knowledge, he has a long way to go. He is blind to the fact that it was entirely his foolish pride made him banish his most loving daughter and reward her two evil, self-serving sisters with the keys to his kingdom. He has been unjusted treated, he protests, but he has been very cruel and unjust to his youngest daughter. The author of his own downfall, he hasn’t yet owned this.

O, that way madness lies; let me shun that;
No more of that.

– William Shakespeare

King Lear, Act 3, Scene 4. Lear is caught between self-pity and the thought that he will lose his sanity. He recalls the betrayal of Goneril and Regan, but reminds himself that dwelling on this will only drive him to madness and he must avoid that. He is demonstrating some self-knowledge, the lack of which is very evident in the early part of the play. This is also foreshadowing Lear’s fate late in the play when he goes competely crazy. The fuller quote: "O Regan, Goneril, Your old kind father whose frank heart gave all! O, that way madness lies; let me shun that; No more of that." But "kind father"? Lear is not a kind father, he was very cruel and unkind and showed no compassion to his youngest daughter Cordelia, who gave him nothing but her love and honesty and was rewarded with banishment and disinheritance.

Poor naked wretches, whereso’er you are,
That bide the pelting of this pitiless storm,
How shall your houseless heads and unfed sides,
Your loop’d and window’d raggedness, defend you
From seasons such as these? O, I have ta’en
Too little care of this! Take physic, pomp;
Expose thyself to feel what wretches feel,
That thou may’st shake the superflux to them
And show the heavens more just.

– William Shakespeare

King Lear, Act 3, Scene 4. Being homeless now himself, Lear shows some compassion for the vulnerability of the homeless and poor in the terrible storm. Prior to this he had never really thought about their plight. But in the storm he is learning to empathize with those at the bottom of society. He acknowledges that as King when he had the power and authority to effect social change he could have done more for them. Men who live in luxury should expose themselves to what the poor and homeless feel, he declares, so they can give their surplus wealth to them and make the world a more just place.

I have no way and therefore want no eyes.
I stumbled when I saw. Full oft ’tis seen,
Our means secure us and our mere defects
Prove our commodities. O dear son Edgar,
The food of thy abused father’s wrath!
Might I but live to see thee in my touch,
I’d say I had eyes again!

– William Shakespeare

King Lear, Act 4, Scene 1. This reply by Gloucester to the Old Man who expressed concern that he will not be able to see his way is a beautiful piece of irony. Before Gloucester lost his eyes he was blind to the true nature of his children, trusting the scheming and treacherous Edmund over the honest and trustworthy Edgar. Now physically blind, he can see how wrong he was and has become more self-aware. Often having something makes us spoiled, and being deprived of it turns out to be advantageous, he says. The loss of his eyes is a metaphor for his mental blindness. There is a sad irony about Gloucester’s next words as he praises Edgar to Poor Tom (Edgar disguised) and repents for the "wrath" that he showed towards him.

Ha! Goneril with a white beard? They flattered me like a dog and told me I had the white hairs in my beard ere the black ones were there. To say "ay" and "no" to everything that I said "ay" and "no" to was no good divinity. When the rain came to wet me once and the wind to make me chatter, when the thunder would not peace at my bidding, there I found ’em, there I smelt ’em out. Go to. They are not men o’ their words; they told me I was everything. ‘Tis a lie. I am not ague-proof.

– William Shakespeare

King Lear, Act 4, Scene 6. The mad Lear believes Gloucester to be Goneril with a beard. In this revealing soliloquy, Lear realizes that his two daughters Goneril and Regan are liars, who "flattered him like a dog" (simile) and told him that he had wisdom before his time, but in reality they care nothing about him. He takes responsibility for not seeing this when he wore the crown and occupied the throne as ruler of Britain. His moment of enlightment came during the storm when he was subjected to the forces of nature. He only appeared to see his own stupidity and susceptibility to his daughters’ false flattery, when he stood powerless in the face of something greater than himself. There is irony here, since when Lear was sane he could not see his daughters’ deception, but now mad and wearing a crown of flowers and weeds he sees them for what they truly are and that he is not "ague-proof."

Thou hast seen a farmer’s dog bark at a beggar?…
And the creature run from the cur? There thou mightst behold the great image of authority: a dog’s obeyed in office.

– William Shakespeare

King Lear, Act 4, Scene 6. This passage is part of Lear’s tirade against authority and the abuse of power. Like most of what he says to Gloucester in this scene, the words are the ramblings and pontifications of a crazy man dressed in weeds and flowers. But they make a lot of sense and contain much wisdom and truth. For Lear has gained self-knowledge through his own suffering and madness. He has learned about the nature of power, something he possessed in abundance and lost. He has a better understanding of the nature of justice and society and power, which eluded him when he ruled as King. In this passage he concludes that authority is just a sham. Even a dog can take up an office of power and is obeyed by people because they fear being bitten. He is now revolted by the very thing that he has been, King of Britain, and sees himself as no different to a farmer’s dog barking at a beggar. Lear is going through a radical metamorphosis from the ignorant, arrogant Lear the King to a more self-aware Lear the man, who has empathy for the poor and dispossessed – the "little" people. In saying how even a dog can come to rule with brute force, he may be commenting on his daughters Goneril and Regan. Lear has already used some uncomplimentary animal images and insults to describe them ("like a vulture," "unnatural hags") and so has Kent ("dog-hearted") and Albany ("monsters of the deep").

Through tattered clothes small vices do appear.
Robes and furred gowns hide all. Plate sin with gold,
And the strong lance of justice hurtless breaks.
Arm it in rags, a pygmy’s straw does pierce it.

– William Shakespeare

King Lear, Act 4, Scene 6. Continuing his passionate attack on human justice, Lear says to Gloucester that the rich can afford to use the facade of robes and furred gowns to conceal their true intentions and deceit. He paints an image of the false and hypocritical justice enjoyed and operated by the rich and powerful. In this world justice is dependant on social class and power. In his madness and misery Lear has a heightened understanding of how justice operates in his kingdom. He realizes the hypocrisy of his court, where money and power can conceal wrongdoing and injustice.

If thou wilt weep my fortunes, take my eyes.
I know thee well enough; thy name is Gloucester.
Thou must be patient. We came crying hither;
Thou know’st the first time that we smell the air
We wawl and cry.

– William Shakespeare

King Lear, Act 4, Scene 6. Lear finally recognizes the blind Gloucester and sympathizes with him. He offers him his own eyes in return for tears of pity for his own miseries. Both men have been spurned and cast out by their children. Lear reminds Gloucester of how human it is to cry, saying that they both came here crying and the first time we see the world as newborns, we wail and cry. Having lost his kindom and power, Lear has grown in self-knowledge to accept that the once powerful King is merely a humble man like any other man.

I am a very foolish fond old man,
Fourscore and upward, not an hour more nor less;
And, to deal plainly,
I fear I am not in my perfect mind.

– William Shakespeare

King Lear, Act 4, Scene 7. Lear in his madness finally sees his true self, a foolish old man of more than eighty years old who is not in his right mind. He has come a long way from the opening scene, when driven by pride and arrogance and the supreme belief in his kingly power he banished Cordelia and abdicated his kingdom to her two deceptive and self-serving sisters. This paves the way for reconciliation with Cordelia, the closest that Lear will have to any sort of redemption. It is ironic that it took insanity for him to realize all this and finally see the error of his ways.

LEAR: Be your tears wet? Yes, faith. I pray, weep not.
If you have poison for me, I will drink it.
I know you do not love me, for your sisters
Have, as I do remember, done me wrong.
You have some cause; they have not.
CORDELIA: No cause, no cause.

– William Shakespeare

King Lear, Act 4, Scene 7. Lear does not hold back his new sense of shame over the injustice he has done to his daughter Cordelia. In one of the play’s greatest tender moments, he takes responsibility for the hurt he has caused Cordelia and says he would willingly drink poison if she gave it to him. He believes that he justly deserves death for the wrongs he has done to her. But Cordelia shows her great capacity for love, compassion and forgiveness, by simply saying: "No cause, no cause." Lear has come a long way on his painful journey to self-knowledge. Abandoning his destructive pride, he is now a more humble person.

No, no, no, no! Come, let’s away to prison:
We two alone will sing like birds i’ the cage:
When thou dost ask me blessing, I’ll kneel down,
And ask of thee forgiveness: so we’ll live,
And pray, and sing, and tell old tales, and laugh
At gilded butterflies.

– William Shakespeare

King Lear, Act 5, Scene 3. Even if there is evil in the world, the good will still be there. That is what Lear seems to be saying in his "gilded butterflies" speech to daughter Cordelia. Lear accepts his tragic fate, unlike many Shakespearean characters who rebel against theirs. He is excited to be in prison in the company of Cordelia’s goodness. He fantasizes about a future in which they will share life together like birds in a cage (simile). He speaks about a tender and joyful relationship with her in their prison cell, where they will sing like birds, tell old stories, pray together and laugh at pretentious courtiers. Who, in the circumstances, would begrudge Lear his flight from reality and vision of a simple happy life reunited with his favorite daughter? Yet in the midst of Lear’s unreal fantasy, he is still sane enough to be aware of his own guilt. When Cordelia asks for his blessing, he says that he will kneel down and ask for her forgiveness.
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