What is William Shakespeare's take on maturity in King Lear?
In his novel King Lear, William Shakespeare reiterates his depictions of maturity in Oedipus Rex-- then takes it one step further. In Oedipus Rex, Shakespeare illustrates through the story of Oedipus (a man destined to marry his mother and kill his father) that maturity entreats an acknowledgement of reality, although that reality may be brutal. In Oedipus's case, it was. King Lear advocates a similar message, which Shakespeare conveys through the characters Lear and Gloucester, and their journeys to seeing reality as it really is. King Lear banishes his daughter Cordelia after she refuses to publicly profess her love for him, and in doing so, ignores the only daughter who truly loves and respects him. Over and over, Shakespeare declares King Lear to be "mainly ignorant" (4.7.74), using similar terms to emphasize just how "old and foolish" the King is for what he did to Cordelia (4.7.98-99). Since foolishness directly contradicts maturity, we know that the author is sending a message about what maturity looks like through Lear's actions. Shakespeare claims Lear as "foolish", for desiring the "glib and oily art" of public affirmation from his daughters (1.1.258), at the expense of sincerity. He banished Cordelia for refusing to compete with her sisters in praise of their father, although the sisters' adoring words were not authentic. Regardless of Lear's exact motives, they were foolish and inherently selfish, and Shakespeare is clear to point that out. Based on this passage and Shakespeare's descriptions, the reader can conclude certain truths about maturity. Maturity sees through falsehoods, upholds truth, and values truth above self-want.
Similarly to his King, the character Gloucester also banishes a child who does not deserve it. Gloucester believes the lies of his "loyal and natural" son Edmund (2.1.98), who deceitfully leads his father to believe that his brother is a "strange and fastened villain"(2.1.98). Edmund gives Gloucester false information, and out of pride, anger, and an "old heart" that is "cracked" (2.1.106), Gloucester banishes his other son. Only when both of Gloucester's eyes are gouged out, does he see the tragedy of his "follies" in believing Edmund's lies (3.7.111). Gloucester later makes the ironic remark: "I stumbled when I saw" (4.1.20)---
Meditate on that one for a second. "I stumbled when I saw."
Both King Lear and the nobleman Gloucester, in their high and comfortable societal positions, were deceived, manipulated, and unwise. However, when the King vanquished his power to his insincere daughters and was thence treated as a worthless madman, and Gloucester's eyes were gouged out, they both were able to see reality in a way that they never did before. Shakespeare's message here about foolishness and maturity is scandalous. Shakespeare deliberately paints this picture where "the madmen lead the blind" (4.1.54): an idea that seems uncomfortable, unnatural, and backwards according to society. Shakespeare himself called it "time's plague" (4.1.54), yet what he is insinuating holds deep truth to it. People, by nature, are foolish. Oftentimes, those who are the most comfortable in society- who are rarely challenged, who experience little hardship- see the least. They are blind to those truths that adversity brings about. King Lear affirms this idea later when, stranded in a storm with little clothing (a situation a poor person would likely find himself in at some time), he determines to "feel what wretches feel" (3.4.39), for he had "ta'en too little care of this" (3.4.37-38). By that last line, Lear admits to some deep self-reflection as the leader of a country, in that he did not pay enough attention to those whose needs he did not notice.
Oftentimes, until we are in our lowest places, do we come to full humility. As Shakespeare said, "neither wise men nor fools" are greater than the elements of a storm (3.2.15), or even the elements of their own humanity that lead them to stumble. In our pride, we fall, just as King Lear and Gloucester fell both position-wise and as fathers. It takes real maturity to admit to our own mistakes, and especially our own eternal propensity to make them. Maturity means acknowledging our own shortcomings, and living in that kind of humility. That is real leadership.
In King Lear, not only does Shakespeare reemphasize the importance of acknowledging truth within the world and ourselves; he admits that sometimes we are blind to these truths, and we can do nothing about it. This seems like a paradox, as Shakespeare challenges us to see and then tells us that we cannot always, yet his theory really works in fluid relationship. We must live in humble acknowledgment that we are blind creatures, and then and only then, are we able to start to see. Maturity entreats both sight and humility, and the two work together as essential elements of growth.
