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.