You must bear with me.
Pray you now, forget, and forgive. I am old and foolish.
– William Shakespeare
King Lear, Act 4, Scene 7. No longer full of his old obstinate pride and arrogance, Lear instead shows humility as he asks Cordelia’s forgiveness for the way he mistreated her. He offers his old age and foolishness as the reasons for his bad behavior. He has gained much in self-knowledge since his tyrant-like ways and unbridled pride in the play’s first scene.