intorductions and 45 marker phrases

Love, Loyalty, Family and Betrayal — Thesis

In King Lear, Shakespeare dissects the fragility of familial love, exposing how betrayal festers within supposed bonds of loyalty; love becomes a battlefield where sincerity is crushed by opportunism, and the disintegration of family mirrors the collapse of personal and political order.

Sight and Blindness + Appearance vs Reality — Thesis

Shakespeare uses blindness — both literal and metaphorical — to explore humanity’s fatal addiction to appearances, suggesting that true vision lies not in the eyes but in moral and emotional discernment, a lesson Lear and Gloucester tragically learn too late.

Nature, Natural Order + Chaos vs Order — Thesis

Through the disruption of natural hierarchies — familial, social, and cosmic — King Lear dramatizes how human ambition and betrayal unleash chaos, replacing the fragile equilibrium of nature with violent disorder and existential despair.

Fate and Free Will + Justice and Injustice — Thesis

King Lear interrogates the existence of justice in a chaotic universe, oscillating between visions of merciless fate and human cruelty, ultimately portraying a world where divine order is either absent, indifferent, or devastatingly cruel.

Authority, Kingship + Madness and Sanity — Thesis

In King Lear, Shakespeare entwines political collapse with psychological fragmentation, suggesting that kingship is as much a fragile performance as an inherited right, and that the loss of power strips bare both reason and identity.

Shakespeare masterfully explores…

"Shakespeare masterfully explores…"

Demonstrating…

"Demonstrating…"

Shakespeare carefully frames this exploration within the context of…

"Shakespeare carefully frames this exploration within the context of…"

Shakespeare carefully demonstrates…

"Shakespeare carefully demonstrates…"

Shakespeare encapsulates this…

"Shakespeare encapsulates this…"

This mirrors…

"This mirrors…"

Shakespeare demonstrates a concern for this through…

"Shakespeare demonstrates a concern for this through…"

Ultimately, this leads to and clearly represents…

"Ultimately, this leads to and clearly represents…"

This idea is exemplified further…

"This idea is exemplified further…"

This reflects…

"This reflects…"

Arguably, this acts as commentary from Shakespeare on…

"Arguably, this acts as commentary from Shakespeare on…"

Shakespeare emphasizes this…

"Shakespeare emphasizes this…"

This is contextualised further…

"This is contextualised further…"

A critique of contemporary society’s…

"A critique of contemporary society’s…"

Arguably…

"Arguably…"

Eponymous protagonist

Eponymous protagonist

Antagonized state of mind

Antagonized state of mind

However it also be argued

However it also be argued

Mirroring in the subplot universalizes and emphasizes…

Mirroring in the subplot universalizes and emphasizes…

Edmund’s Machiavellian cunning challenges the rigid determinism of the Great Chain of Being…

Edmund’s Machiavellian cunning challenges the rigid determinism of the Great Chain of Being…