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Theme of Madness in King Lear - Coggle Diagram
Theme of Madness in King Lear
Different types of madness
Feigned madness - Edgar as Poor Tom
Madness as insight - Truth is revealed through madness
Real madness - Lear's descent into insanity
Lear's decent into madness
Storm scene - his mind mirrors the chaos of nature
Moves from rage to self awareness - madness forces him to see truth
Increasing loss of control as daughters betray him
Final moments - sanity restored but filled with sorrow over Cordelia's death
Starts with blindness to reality - believes flattery, rejects Cordelia
Madness and truth
Lear, at his maddest, sees the world's cruelty most clearly
"Reason in madness" - Lear and Poor Tom both speak deep truths
The Fool's wit and wisdom show Lear's folly
Edgar's feigned Madness:
Disguises himself as Poor Tom to survive
Uses madness to reveal Gloucester's blindness and later lead him to truth
Glocester's Parallel Madness
Thinks the world is "a cruel place ruled by the gods"
Edgar's trick at Dover Cliffs helps him regain hope
Not insane, but emotionally destroyed by betrayal
Madness and power
Goneril and Regan's hunger for power is its own kind of madness
Edmund's ruthlessness blinds him to consequences, leading to his downfall
Lear loses power and loses his mind
Recap
Lear finds wisdom too late - he understands love and loyalty, but Cordelia is gone
Edgar's controlled madness helps others, showing it can be a tool for survival
Madness exposes truth and strips away illusions