King Lear vs the Stone Angel Blindness - 1504 Words

Blindness; a flaw with insight` It was once said, What you lose in blindness is the space around you, the place where you are, and without that you might not exist. You could be nowhere at all.(Kingslover) This is a quote that can relate the characters in The Stone Angel and King Lear. In the tragedy King Lear, written by William Shakespeare and in the novel The Stone Angel, written by Margaret Laurence, the term blindness has an entirely different meaning. It is not a physical flaw, but the inability of the characters to use their thoughts and emotions to see a person for whom they truly are. King Lear, Gloucester, and Hagar are prime examples of characters that suffered most by having this flaw. Nevertheless, from this blindness†¦show more content†¦Alone, Lear is isolated from his family, his power and starts to go mad. Gloucester, much like Lear is isolated from the only son that truly loves him, the legimate Edgar. In addition Gloucester is isolated from the truth, which Edmund hides. Edmund manipula tes Gloucester to believe It is in his hands my lord, but I hope his heart is not in the contents(I.ii. 67-68), Edgars hands that is, that wrote a letter plotting to kill Gloucester. Edmund also convinces Gloucester to leave the castle, and when Gloucester does leave he too is alone and isolated. After John dies, Hagar once again does not cry. She feels she must not only bear the pain alone, but that she cannot allow herself to be comforted by others. A matron puts her arm around her and says, Cry. Let yourself. Its the best thing. In response, Hagar remembers, I shoved her arm away. I straightened my spine and that was the hardest thing Ive ever had to do in my entire life, to stand straight then. I wouldnt cry in front of strangers, whatever it might cost me (Laurence 242) When she got home, Hagar found that she was not able to cry. The night my son died I was transformed to stone and never wept at all (243). Her pride leads her to become isolated, she never wants anyone to comfort, or help her. In addition, in the hospital Doris tells Hagar about an old friend and I never realized until this moment how cut off I am. (294), is the