When we are born, we cry that we are come
To this great stage of fools.
– William Shakespeare
King Lear, Act 4, Scene 6. Lear is completely disillusioned with the world that he inhabits, describing it in a metaphor as "this great stage of fools." He has a low and cynical opionion about his fellow human beings and their motives and has sunk into a deep and dark despair. The ironic thing is that his situation is largely his own doing, he himself was the fool for dividing his king between his two corrupt older daughters. Lear is disintegrating into complete madness here.